May I ask those who have bad dust mite-induced asthma to share their know-hows for dust mite-proofing their sleep? I am particularly interested in alternatives to those "dust-mite proof" coverings for mattresses (those never worked for me). For example, are there "inherently" dust-mite proof mattresses, like air mattresses or water mattresses that can be washed/wiped daily, do not smell (non-vinyl), and do not make too much noise while moving around? I understand they all are not "breathable", but it's OK. I looked at water mattresses, and they all appear to be vinyl. Hammocks?
I very much apologize for the long text below, just wanted to share my current situation living with dust mite asthma. TLDR: it is not easy to avoid dust mite if your own body is the main source of food for the mite, and you are exposed to it 8 hrs a day.
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Following a severe exacerbation, for the last 3 weeks, I've been living and sleeping in an a pressurized HEPA tent in our living room, on sick leave, waiting for xolair. The exacerbation was most likely pollen-induced (so the sensitivity to dust mite also flared up). The HEPA tent (together with pred, singulair, seretide and qvar) keeps me alive for now; I could not step outside the tent into the living room for 2 weeks, w/o wearing a respirator -- until the pred and the singulair kicked in. So, the tent works for now, but my spouse and I need to find less severe measures.
Before the exacerbation, we slept in a HEPA-filtered room (air is ducted from a HEPA in another room, so no issues with the noise). We used a foam mattress+ pillows in Goretex bags which, I thought, worked better than regular dust mite covers. But Goretex still has pores (the notorious "breathability" which I do not care much for), and dust/skin flakes can still crumble and get in/accumulate in the top fabric layer. In addition, polyurethane foam in the mattress oxidizes, crumbles, and releases particles as it ages. E.g. there was a recent FDA recall of a Phillips breathing apparatus which used polyurethane foam for sound-proofing; the foam shed particles into the airstream, causing airway irritation and inflammation in intubated patients.
I've tried numerous breathable covers for mattresses/pillows, marketed as "dust mite-proof". Their claim is that the pores are too small for Derp1 particles to get inside, but I see no reason why Derp1 can not crumble into <1 micron particles. I never saw an improvement particle-count wise/symptom-wise with those breathable coverings.
I apologize again for the long text!
Stay well!
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runcyclexcski
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Hi,I am sorry to read about your difficulties. Unfortunately I can’t help with your problem but I am sure like others I have read your post and feel for you.
It’s difficult when looking for a solution or something concrete to help a situation and there isn’t an easy answer.
I’m very sorry to hear of your predicament, and great sympathy for a major exacerbation brought on by pollen. House dust mite is also my main asthma trigger. I don’t know if this will help, but I recently bought a steam cleaner which I’m going to use on my mattress, probably every week as the steam is supposed to kill the house dust mite. After using the HEPA vacuum of course. Special covers never made any difference! I have considered buying a n expensive mattress filled with pure new wool, which is naturally resistant to mite occupation. As you say we ourselves provide the critters food, so we have to be in the equation..masses of laundry is what I do! It’s difficult, no doubt about it! I hope you’ll soon be out of the HEPA tent and recovering.
Thank you Some12! The steam cleaner sounds like a great idea. Have you tried it yet? How would you deploy it -- would you need to do outside? Is this something that an asthma nurse recommended, or did you read about this? I am really curious to know more.
I am also thinking about ways of doing aerosol measurements of derp1 in my flat. I need to read papers to see much protein material is sufficient to trigger an attack and what sensitivity I would need. I checked some "kits" available online, and they all sound like snake oil to me. Still, I could I could order several kits and see how consistent they are.
If I make it back to the lab, I may apply for a grant to build a real-time aerosol particle counter for common allergens, like derp1, pollen, spores etc. Sort of like a Geiger counter, but for biological particles, with results out in <30 min (Geiger counts are real-time, but 30 min is not bad, either). We have developed some aerosol nanotech probes for Cov-19, and the same idea might work for allergens
Sounds so frustrating! I have had good luck with bags that seal in the mattress. No ideas for a mattress recommendation. Take good care, sorry to hear you're still struggling!!
Amazing, RunCycleSki! I see how it would work, I do hope it’s a solution. I’m not sure a military style camp bed would be for me. Comfort is also an issue, and sleeping badly worsens my asthma symptoms!
Here’s a link to my source of information on steam cleaning.
I’m waiting for my house cleaner to come to do the mattress vacuuming. The steam cleaning I plan to do inside with windows wide open. Or maybe I’ll ask if they are willing to do that also. I usually vacate the house for the day.
It’s fortuitous that you are a scientist, and can look into designing an aerosol system to count common allergen particles based on work you have already done in the field. How interesting! I didn’t know about the testing kits already available, I’ll look into it but I believe you that they’re likely not worth it. I’d be most interested to know how your research goes, if you feel like posting on here. Thank you.
I hear what you are saying about the military-style sleeping situation. I guess i got used to it: I slept entirely mattress-free (on an acrylic sheet) for 2 years, and I got used to it, I guess. So I can give up a lot in terms of comfort as long as I can breathe. I will post more findings here -- found some "luxury" air mattresses that my spouse may approve.
I surely can post here if I manage to publish a paper on the allergen the sensors, but my research is so "blue sky" that it would take a long time to come to fruition. Sort of like Xolair: the proof of concept paper came out in 1993 (which means that the actual work at Genenetec was started in ~1990), and the drug was FDA-approved in the USA in 2006. That's 16 years, and I am at the "1990" time point LOL. The good news is that I am not the only one thinking about it. Covid has exposed that there is no reliable/portable/rapid method to probe aerosols for biologically active particles in public spaces. We still rely on patient testing, and by the time the data are in (2 weeks from the infection) the outbreak is already in place . There are only 2-3 cyclone machines on the market that trap particles in water, from which they need to be extracted, concentrated, etc. -- takes 1-2 days per sample. What I had in mind would take 30 min, you could count particles (not just overall mass), and I am sure I am not the only one thinking in this direction.
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