We live about 2 hrs east of Dallas, TX. Both my husband and 7 yr old suffer from awful allergies. I've never had a problem until the last 2 yrs. Anyway it's gotten so bad we are considering relocating. Any ideas? Are there parts of the country that are better than others? In TX is seems that everyone suffers eventually. Besides the incredible heat, grasshoppers have nearly wiped us out the past 2 yrs, so maybe it's time for a change.

-- Sherrie Holcomb (ester@communitygate.net), June 15, 2000

Answers

Well, Sherrie, the old standard advice is to move to the dry SW. Not going to work for you I'm afraid. Do you know what it is that you're allergic to? If you move north, allergies tend to be more sporadic given the cold winters. But if you're also allergic to household allergens, you'll be spending a lot of time closed up inside during the winters.

I don't know where to find any, but I have seen tables of pollen counts and usual dates for high pollen for various areas, probably searching under allergies would get you to them. Perhaps you should pick an area for other reasons, and move there as renters for a year or two to see both how you like the area and how your allergies are.

The more humid an area, the more mold and mildew. The drier the area, the more grass pollen. I do know that in Texas there are some serious air quality issues with petroleum by-products. Perhaps just getting out from that would help. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), June 15, 2000.

My daughter has allergies and is bothered when we cut the grass or the farmer cuts his hay. I have her taking bee pollen capsules and that really seems to help keep her nose from plugging so much. They say chewing on a honey comb from the bees in your area will help considerably. If it's mold, try running a de-humidifier more often. Just trying to help!

-- Pat (pmikul@pcpros.net), June 15, 2000.

Hi,

Local honey and chewing it's comb help my wife and I a great deal. Make sure it's gathered locally (less than 50 miles) from your home.

Also, visit a _good_ health food store and tell them your story. They should be able to offer you something that will help, both short-term and long-term. You've got to strengthen your system so it can better cope with whatever you're allergic to.

We take a Nettles-Eyebright combination that helps, as does echinacia (sp?), both in capsule form.

There are a lot of non-drug solutions that will help.

Best of Luck.

J

-- j (jw_hsv@yahoo.com), June 15, 2000.

Two hours east of Dallas? You're probably getting nasty air from Houston as well as mountain cedar from the Hill Country. I live northwest of Ft. Worth but until recently I lived north of Dallas and got their nasty air. My plans are to be in Southwest Texas in the near future. I lived there before and had no allergy problems.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), June 15, 2000.

Moving may not be the best solution for your allergies. I also suffered from allergies for many years. I also lived in New Mexico for a while, and my allergies didn't improve. What has improved my allergies has been a change of diet. A year ago I cut out all dairy and wheat products. This is the first year that my allergies are almost non-existent. It seems drastic (and of course there is an occasional piece of bread and a splash of cream in the coffee), but it sure beats the misery that I had for half the year for the past 19 years. I tried this remedy after a lot of reading about natural remedies and allergies. I highly recommend Joseph Pizzorno's books on natural health. (Sorry I can't remember the titles.)

-- Melissa Schultz (lakukulu@yahoo.com), June 15, 2000.

Come on up to New Brunswick! We have friends who lived in Ontario and the father had terrible allergies. Then they moved to the Maritimes and his allergies bothered hime no more. Later they moved back to Ontario and they're bothering him again. Actually, there are probably many places you could go where the air is clean and easy.

-- Abigail F, (treeoflife@sws.nb.ca), June 15, 2000.

I'm interested in Maine, Abigail, love lobster! What's property going for up there? Is there work? I've heard the taxes are high in the east. My husban visited once & loved it. Where in SW TX Joe? El Paso? As for what we're allergic to..to many to go into..but mostly dust, mold, mildew & dampness. Also it's gotten so I can hardly go outside from mid July thru Oct because the heat makes me sick..weird. Seems we've tried just about everything (most of the natural remedies) some help a little but none have made it barable for my husband & son. We did try the doctor who offered tons of pills..some of the pills helped dry them up but caused sinus infections, so we gave up on that. My husband uses garlic which doesn't cure him but helps him get by, the 7 year old does eat our honey (from a neighbor) I don't really see any improvement but we do it anyway. If you have time Abigail give me any details you can think of on your area. Thanks all - Sherrie

-- Sherrie Holcomb (ester@communitygate.net), June 15, 2000.

An alternative to moving would be to take a good vitamin to build up your immune system. My son ran the gamut with ear tubes, nasal sprays, covering his mattress and pillow with plastic, treating the carpet, and endless rounds of antibiotics. Nothing helped until we put him on an immune builder vitamin. Not only has he not suffered from allergies but when the rest of us come down with something he still stays healthy. We buy Shaklee's Formula I but there might be other high quality vitamins that might help as well.

-- Kathy (DavidWH6@juno.com), June 16, 2000.

Not El Paso but around San Angelo. No mold, mildew or mountain cedar. I've heard from "experts" that most people in North Texas suffer from mountain cedar which cover the Hill Country in Central Texas and the pollen or whatever blows up through north and northeast Texas. Then, of course, there's that stuff from Houston and Dallas that's killing everybody. Around San Angelo and southwest of there where most of the wind comes from, there's a totally different ecosystem with the desert and all that. Around San Angelo the air's clean and there aren't a lot of different kinds of weeds and trees and stuff. Check it out.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), June 16, 2000.

I recently started a low-carb diet (Protein Power, similar to Dr. Atkins) and have read that a lot of people on low-carb diets find their allergies diminish greatly. Also asthma gets better, along with a lot of other stuff. Of course, the doctors recommend some pretty good supplements, too, which probably help.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), June 16, 2000.

Come on up to Kansas. It is much drier, humidity-wise, and cooler. Our family had problems when we lived in Tulsa,OK but since moving to KS we are all better. It is amazing what a couple hundred miles can do for the climate.

OK, here goes the sales pitch: Good climate, not too hot in the summer and not too cold in the winter (usually), creepy crawlies not bad, no Cottonmouth/Water moccasin snakes, low land taxes, great people, land prices affordable.

-- Vaughn (vdcjm5@juno.com), June 16, 2000.

I've known many people who have suffered as Melissa said, even my father-out-law; and Kathleen could even be another example of the case. Borderline or (almost) sub-clinical allergies - typically to wheat or cow's milk or both, or related things like rye or barley or beef. Acts as if you're being kept just on the boil, and susceptible to other allergens which wouldn't be such a worry if the threshhold hadn't been raised or your resistance lowered by the basics you've been eating. Look into elimination diets to discover whether you have food allergies - search on the Web.

I'm conscious of food allergies because one of my sons is really allergic to maize and blueberries - if he eats a sauce or gravy thickened with a little maize flour it's like he's drugged - stupor or at least stupid within ten or fifteen minutes. If he eats sweets, one of which is blueberry-flavoured, then it's instant upchuck. Believe me, that makes you aware of food allergies.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), June 17, 2000.

I just wanted to caution you before you try all the vitamins and herbs people are suggesting....there's no doubt in my mind that the NATURAL ways are BETTER BUT I am allergic to a lot of vitamins and a lot of herbs so you really need to be careful! (One example is vitamin C which can almost put me in the hospital!!!!)

I have chronic environmental AND food allergies. I don't know if any one point in the country is any better than any other now except try to stay out of really polluted areas!!! Best wishes! allergies can be lived with succcessfully but you have to take CONTROL of your own treatment and medical care.

-- Suzy in 'Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), June 17, 2000.

Hmmmmmm... Good question :o) I'm just a youngin' and don't know much about that sort of stuff, but I'll do my best to help you out. You could have boughten a beautfiul farm near Houlton a few months ago, but its sold now. The weather is beautiful and much cooler compared to some places. We've been fairly fortunate in the Winter and there haven't been as many storms or as much cold weather. It was very humid the other day, but this morning was perfect. It was warm and sunny, but there was a slight breeze. Tonight is a beauty if you don't mind the bugs. Anyway, enough about weather....Let's see if I can answer your other questions. Work? Um...if you looked around you could probably find some. What kind of work are you aiming for? As for property, I'm not sure what its like in Maine, but I can perhaps tell a bit about our part of New Brunswick, which is extremely close to the border. I assume you are looking for a country place, not town. In Long Settlement there is 105 acres for 75,000 dollars Canadian. I'm not sure what's good and what's not, but there seems to be plenty of country places for sale and always land. If you need anything else, just holler!

-- Abigail F. (treeoflife@sws.nb.ca), June 19, 2000.

Well, I can tell you Arkansas is terrible. I asked a simlar question a few weeks ago. Here is what I've found helpful. 2000mg vitamin C (if it irritates your tummy try working your way up or use ester C) 3 times a day, echinacea 2 times per day for 2 weeks, a good multi-vitamin 2 times per day, cut out sugar as much as possible, and the local honey. Not really sure if the honey works or not but it sure is yummy!:) I have found this to be a tremendous help. Hope it helps you too.

-- Kathleen (KathleenRoberts@webtv.net), June 22, 2000.

Try a Neti Pot! See the link about Neti's....it clears out the nasal passages. I live in Tulsa OK and had a horrible time with allergies until I started doing Neti, drinking and infusion of Nettle leaf (also in some remedies with Quercitin and Bromelin at the health food store) Also try a negative iron generater from breathefree.com.

Good luck!

-- Dayl (dayl_bug@yahoo.com), March 08, 2002.