Daughter has Asthma and Eczema... moving to Spain

Tom1971

Our daughter has Asthma and Eczema and we are at our wits end. As she gets older her condition has continued to deteriorate. We have literally tried everything including as a last resort some months ago starting her on methotrexate. Unfortunately this has not been a great sucess.
We are now exploring the possibility of taking her abroad most likely to Spain. She has always improved greatly on summer holidays only to deteriorate again on returning home. I'm wondering if there is anyone out there who has been in a similar situation and who has actually moved away? We would plan to take her out there next month initially for a few weeks. We want to be sure that she will improve at this time of year not just in the hight of summer. Any advice / experience will be gratefully received.

Pretzill

It's really hard to say whether moving will improve your daughter's situation. Childhood asthma often improves with age, but not always and excema seems to follow asthma too.

I developed asthma in my late teens (but I think I had it earlier as I always suffered a winter cough) my asthma seemed to disimprove with weather conditions and damp - bad in the winter months and also bad at the height of summer with heat and pollen thrown in.

I did move, not out of the country but to a more rural setting and had awful asthma at first (very damp house) - my asthma only improved to the point of it not affecting me anymore when I moved to a drier home, stripped all the carpets out of it and put in a closed stove (coal, turf fumes bothered me too) kept areas like the bedroom as dust free as possible and had my medication changed to seretide preventer and let go of and now hardly ever use Ventolin -

Basically I learned to recognise my triggers and tried to eliminate them - I also learned to keep a record of my lung function in case is dropped.

Also my immune system got a bit of a boost as it probably got stronger in a rural setting. This is crucial a drug like methotrexate can really lower the immune system and that's a little catch 22 for an asthma sufferer - personally I wouldn't recommend anyone to take that drug unless they are significantly older and have no other options.

I only had a slight amount of excema but the warmer climes would help with skin conditions - but I wouldn't be able to say whether moving to Spain would clear up the asthma.

Of course my opinion only but it would be worth talking to her asthma nurse or consultant and getting a medical perspective on it.

Graces7

Spot on re triggers. I lived in a damp house where there was, unbeknown to me, black mould that had been painted over with no treatment. I got very sick, wheezy and with permanent sinus trouble. When I moved it cleared up and now am in the mountains and realise I almost never even use Vicks.

Waiting to see if seasonal hay fever in a new place will kick in as new tree pollens did that. But no forestry within sight here.

I am very careful re nothing perfumed in the house too. I notice the difference when I am in shops.

K.Flyer

Not quite the same, but maybe useful.
I lived in Spain for a number of years and the air and environment was much cleaner and fresher.
I met this chap shortly after he moved over and he had very bad psoriasis, on his arms, back, legs, and head. Within a few months you could see the change, and it wasn't too long before it had almost cleared up with very little trace left. Obviously he felt much better in himself and his confidence levels went up considerably. So for him the better weather made a huge improvement on his skin condition.
Moving to Spain can be a much bigger shift than people think, but a lot of people do it for health reasons. You will need to consider education, work etc if you are going to move over.
If I can be of any help to share our experiences with you, feel free to p.m. me.

0lddog

Somewhat O/T but I'll post it anyway

Many say that one of the best climates in the world is an area above Las Palmas ( Gran Canaria )
( broadly from the top of the university up to the botanic gardens on to Santa Brigida town and up towards San Mateo )



You can pick up last years weather for the area by playing around with the month on :
http://www.accuweather.com/en/es/santa-brigida/306904/month/306904?monyr=7/01/2016



If you need a start with the language, the public libraries ( around Dublin at any rate ) have a selection of teach yourself Spanish courses in talking book format.

K.Flyer

Another tip for learning Spanish is to watch some of your favorite movies with the language and subtitles flipped around in Spanish / English.