Mold Allergy - Has anyone been tested?

loveisdivine

Just wanted to see if anyone has been tested for a mold allergy? I know McCabes Pharmacy do some allergy tests but I cant see any mention of mold allergies.

Ever since I moved into a new house (been here 3 years now) my health has deteriorated.

My asthma (which had been virtually non existent since I was 12) flared up, eczema flared up and I've had almost constant nasal congestion. I highly suspect a mold allergy.

The house we are in is very damp and has mold growing on all the window sills. I am doing my best currently to clean it off, ventilate the house and then get the heating on to dry it out.
So hopefully that will help a bit, but I wanted to see if I could get a patch test done for it. I already know, from asthma related tests when I was a kid, that I am allergic to dust mites. So we already keep the house fairly clean.

The nasal congestion is the worst bit. Constant drippy nose, mouth breathing and ears popping. Can't taste my food properly half the time because my nose is so congested.

Outkast_IRE

loveisdivine wrote: »

Just wanted to see if anyone has been tested for a mold allergy? I know McCabes Pharmacy do some allergy tests but I cant see any mention of mold allergies.

Ever since I moved into a new house (been here 3 years now) my health has deteriorated.

My asthma (which had been virtually non existent since I was 12) flared up, eczema flared up and I've had almost constant nasal congestion. I highly suspect a mold allergy.

The house we are in is very damp and has mold growing on all the window sills. I am doing my best currently to clean it off, ventilate the house and then get the heating on to dry it out.
So hopefully that will help a bit, but I wanted to see if I could get a patch test done for it. I already know, from asthma related tests when I was a kid, that I am allergic to dust mites. So we already keep the house fairly clean.

The nasal congestion is the worst bit. Constant drippy nose, mouth breathing and ears popping. Can't taste my food properly half the time because my nose is so congested.

Sounds like many of the symptoms of a mould allergy, I have experienced similar in the past. honestly if the house is as badly affected as you say, then moving out would be your best course of action, if you clean off the mould and it keeps coming back due to no fault of your own your fighting a losing battle that probably cant be fixed quickly or inexpensively.

I am assuming that you don't dry clothes indoors and keep the place well ventilated and heated.

loveisdivine

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

I am assuming that you don't dry clothes indoors and keep the place well ventilated and heated.

Unfortunately these things haven't been happening up until now. We dry a lot of clothes in the house, haven't had the windows open much lately cos its cold and the husband doesn't the like to have the heating on much because he's a fairly warm creature!

All this is changing now though, as I can't put up with it anymore. I think we will give it a few months and see how it goes. If I do get a test and its positive then we will probably have to move out. Thankfully we are only renting.

I only moved to Ireland in October 2009 and for the first 9 months we lived with the Mother in law and I had none of these problems.

Spook_ie

We had our eldest tested with Bruce Mitchell in the Blackrock Clinic a few years back, although she has had mild eczema/hayfever/asthma since she was young, out of the blue she became very bad, she came back positive for grass pollen and mould. She gets 2 injections of Kenalog and that works very well for her.

loveisdivine

Thanks. I've made an appointment with my GP who should refer me for an allergy test.

I'd like to try and manage it without medication if possible. I'm not a fan of pharmaceuticals and I already have to take a beta blocker. So fingers crossed.

Gatling

Drying clothes indoors is bad for asthma especially when theres mould present ,you essentially breath in damp soapy air ,
I'd look into a dehumidifier and air purifier at least ,

I've the same problems asthma flared up for the first time in years ,at first I blamed patches of mould ,respiratory specialist reckoned drying clothes in doors daily in an apartment cause the flare up's