FAQ/Mold/Airborne Allergies
Are ozone machines are poisonous?
Sent: Friday, November 08, 2002 2:29 AM
Dr. Roby Answers:
Ozone a "poisonous" gas? True, in high concentrations. But, so is oxygen in high enough concentrations. Our ozone generators put out enough ozone to kill all mold while not enough to cause a sniff or sneeze in the people around them. I run one continuously in my home and office. Have for years. No deaths (or illnesses) yet!
Allergies flared up in moldy workplace, quit job, but still having problems.
Tuesday, August 27, 2002
Question:
Well, where do I begin? I am 37 years old. My allergies flared up when I started working in a moldy work environment. Went to Mayo in April of 2000 and they started me on allergy shots with mold mix. The first 9 months went well and then I began having reactions to the shots and they didn't seem to be working as well anymore. In March of 2002 I had sinus surgery in a last ditch effort to keep my job. I have better air flow but that's about it. Finally a few months ago, I decided I had enough and quit my job. I began to feel a little improvement after a month, but I'm still having problems. My left ear has fluid in it, I am not sleeping at night. On Friday, I see an ENT specialist. I have also been perimenopausal, menopausal, around the same time the allergies started flaring up. My LMD had me on birth control so I would have periods. He did a blood test a month ago and my estrogen was low. He was surprised at that as he thought the birth control pills would have all the estrogen I would need in them. He put me on Premarin for a wk. and I felt a lot better - even allergy-wise. Then he decided to put me on this new ortho-evra patch and I'm not feeling as well again, so my question is can being low in estrogen cause allergies to flare up? Also can they check if I'm low in cortisol with a blood test? Any other suggestions you may have?
Dr. Roby Answers:
Your hormones are critical in allergy. When you get near forty your estrogen naturalyy, goes down. As a result your body will use hormone assets to try to keep the estrogen up. It will diminish cortisol production in favor of estrogen. Cortisol is what you are suppoosed to use for allergy, energy, and stress.
As cortisol goes down you will feel more allergies, amazing fatigue, sleep disturbances, loss of short-term memory and diminished sex drive. You may also begin to have skin and weight problems.
Many of your questions relating to allergy and other symptoms are addressed in my section on "Hormone Allergy" on my website. Please read that section carefully and let me know how much of that material applies to you. I can then address your specific questions much more efficiently.
My son has allergic symptoms after swimming in a (bromine) pool?
Tuesday, October 01, 2002
Question:
My son has asthma but it has never had an effect on his swimming. He has been swimming on the summer outdoor team for 8 years and did some indoor swimming several years back without incident. I recently enrolled him in an indoor session at a facility that uses bromine to sanitize the water. When he gets home from swimming within 8 hours,(this occurs in the middle of the night) he becomes tight and stuffed up as if he had a very bad cold. These symptoms last for two days and everytime he goes back to swim the cycle continues.
Dr. Roby Answers:
Well, stranger things have happened. However, I think it more likely that the pool that uses bromine is in a particularly moldy environment and it is this increased mold load that results in his middle of the night symptoms (see my section on mold allergy).
Will the ultraviolet light hurt cats' eyes?
Tuesday, October 01, 2002
Question:
Will the ultraviolet light hurt cats' eyes? Are there goggles one can wear to protect one's eyes? Is there a shield on the light. I am having trouble visualizing a place where I could put the light without seeing it directly.
Dr. Roby Answers:
Dogs and cats are apparently brighter than humans. It seems humans are the only mammals on the planet that will stare at the sun. Go figure? Only looking directly at the light is harmful, and that takes more than a few seconds. The glow is not harmful, only the direct light. (People often place these in the A/C return air duct).
Ozone machine for newly built mold infested home.
Monday, September 30, 2002
Question:
We purchased a home a year ago yesterday (9/2001) and ended up moving out 2/2002 because of mold which was causing illnesses for our entire family, including profuse nose bleeds in our ten-year-old son. I have recently purchased an ozone machine for use in abating the mold in our personal possessions (i.e. books, non-porous items) prior to cleaning up the inside of the home. The internal cleaning will be done by trained professionals.
My husband has constructed an 8' x 12' room of chipped board with a door and roof in which to place the items with the ozone machine. I have been receiving varying reports on how I should proceed with use of the ozone machine. What is your "protocol opinion" in using this type of machine, including any venting that needs to occur after use. Thanks
Dr. Roby Answers:
See my section on ozone machines on the website. I use them daily in my home and closet. A very few people are particularly sensitive to the ozone and they may experience breathing discomfort until the rooms (or clothes) are aired out. That never takes more than a few minutes. I truly blieve ozone is safe and effective. Many schools in this area are using ozone machines to get rid of mold.
Where do I put the UV light?
Question:
Where do I put the UV light?
Dr. Roby Replies:
You can put it anywhere that very bright sunlight would be all right. It will fade anything colored just like six month's exposure to sunlight. That is why the best place is in a duct or behind a refrigerator. It is safe so long as one does not get too close (2 or 3 feet) and does not look directly at the light.
For more information on killing molds, click here.
Cleaned house, but mold keeps coming back causing severe reactions
Question:
My wife and I moved from Austin to Boise, Idaho 9 months ago. In our new house we have obvious water damage, stains and mold. There is also a musty odor prevalent in the garage. My wife has severe allergies to mold (4+). We cleaned EVERYTHING as best as possible. My wife cleaned all the fabric items with vinegar and detergents, each item 2 or 3 times. We dry-cleaned the items, which required it. Everything else we cleaned with Lysol and/or Chlorox. Unfortunately many items simply could not be cleaned. Unfortunately, we are finding the mold coming back. I have no known allergies. Now for the past few weeks I wake up every morning with swollen eyes, a tight throat and tight feeling chest. It goes away by the time I get to work.
My wife's symptoms are even worse, radical mood swings, difficulty breathing, etc. She is now on constant medication (Flonase and another inhaler). She never required this type of medication (not even in Austin and Cedar pollen is another of her 4+ category allergies). Now she is unable to go without meds unless she is out of the house for more than an hour or two. Even when cleaning, she could avoid major attacks by working only for an hour or two then getting away from the garage for an hour or so. Please help!
Dr. Roby Replies:
You and your wife are definitely suffering from mold allergy. The nighttime symptoms you describe are a classic case of mold allergy. Try an ultraviolet mold light to kill all the molds. The light is a Phillips germicidal UV light, product number G15T8 (visit our Wellness Store). You only need one light for the entire house. We recommend that you keep the light behind a dresser, refrigerator, or in a return air duct. When the air containing the mold spores passes by the mold light, the mold spores will be sterilized. In order for this to work, you must place the light where there is airflow. WARNING!!! Do not look directly into the light because it will cause severe and immediate eye damage, especially to children. Warn all adults and children not to look at the light. Also try an electrostatic air filter, an inexpensive room air cleaner such as a 3M Filtrete Ultra Allergen 1250 to help filter out all the mold, pollen, dust, smells, etc. from your home.
Nose swells at night and in the mornings
Tuesday, September 03, 2002 10:04 PM
Question:
I recently read your information covering molds and their effects. I believe i am suffering from mold problems; even though i am extremely allergic to ragweed and only a little to the mold i was tested by my allergist. I have been to many doctors, in hope of finding out what causes my nose to swell at night and in the mornings, but none has helped me. Every night, at first, i would wake up with my nose looking swollen. I would tell family members of my problem, but they would ignorantly just say that my nose is just getting bigger. Eventually, things started to get worse! and my nose soon started to look odd and swollen all the time. Now, i wake up with my face feeling weird, and blood coming out of my nose when i attempt to blow it. I say attempt, because when i blow my nose nothing comes out, even though i feel mucuos is in there, the only thing that comes out of my nose is a loud sound, and a little blood and really dry and sticky white stuff. My nose is Essentially my quetion is how do i stop my nose from swelling at night and in the morning? I recently bought the air filter you recommend for my A/C, and thankfully the swelling of my nose was not as severe as it usually was. But, in a few days the problems returned. And now, i do not know what to do. i have not bought a 20X20 fan yet with a filter for it, because i was not sure if would help me since the filter for my A/C only helped me succesfully for a few days. My mom is planning to get the A/C ducts/vents cleaned. i was wondering if that would help? Lastly, i have killed the mold around my A/C unit outside and use a hepa filter in my room at night. But, my nose still swells, please tell me what to do? is it possible if i can get filters to fit in my A/C ducts in the rooms in my house?
Dr Roby Replies:
It is still the mold causing the night-tine problems. You cannot put a terrific filter in your central system because those filters are so dense your a/c fan isn't powerful enough to pull air through the filter. The best filters are 3M Filtrette 1250's. They are so dense they will filter everything out of the air down to and including bacteria. They are also cheap...$13.50 at Home Depot. You get one that is 20X20 inches and attach it to the back of a 20X20 box fan (also about $14.00). Use this in your bedroom and I think you will find your symptoms dramatically reduced.
Allergy related chronic headaches??
Wednesday, September 04, 2002 9:54 AM
Question:
I began experience intense chronic headaches that begin at the back of my skull in early July. I went to my General Practicioner and he performed a CT scan to confirm that there was no brain injury, checked my ears and eyes and nothing was wrong, and the only conclusion he could come up with is that it was tension headaches even though I told him that I was not under lots of stress, and that there had been times when I was much more stressed than I am now and haven't experienced headaches. Then about a week and 1/2 ago, I began to have sinus difficulties, went to a doctor and was diagnosed with a sinus infection and impetigo in my nose related to the irritaion from the sinus infection.
Now, I wake up feeling fine, and get progessively worse during the day. I have been on two different antibiotics for my sinus infection and it has not gone away (I have never had a sinus infection before and while I don't think that this is typical, I am not sure)I am still having the "tension" headaches for which I have been prescribed a caffeine / aspirin / barbituate combination drug that does not really alleviate the pain of the headaches.
Now, at work we have discovered a severe mold problem. Testing is still being done to determine the types of mold and the extent of the problem, but the area the mold was discovered in is an area where I alerted them to a water leak at 5 months ago, and the ceiling tiles were never replaced. Could my headaches be related to this mold problem, and if so, how do I choose a doctor to see to help me eliminate this problem? Thank you for all your help.
Dr. Roby Answers
It could be related to molds. You would see an allergist about that. It is also going to be related to your changing hormones as you grow older. See my section on "Hormone Allergy" (Hormone Imbalance) on the website www.onlineallergycenter.com. Many types of allergy have their basis in hormone reactions. This is particularly of ladies who experience increasing symptoms as they undergo hormone changes, usually in their late twenties or after the babies are born. Check out that section and let me know how those characteristics apply to you and then I can get more specific. You may find some useful areas to explore in your search for medical solutions... areas such as dietary changes, low level exercise and alternative approaches to solving medical problems.
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