Have you moved to help your asthma?

[FearNot]

My husband and I are trying to figure out what to do now that wildfire smoke brings asthma attacks for me. He has two more years until he retires and we can move near the ocean, where the air tends to be cleaner.

Two years of suffering in the summers is hard to contemplate. I suspect that might worsen my asthma or introduce other breathing issues. We're doing what we can to keep smoke out of our house, and I wear a mask outside. However, it's not the same as having good air to breathe.

An option we're considering is to buy land where we want to move and build a small cabin where I can shelter in bad-air times. We don't know yet if we can swing that financially, and we'd have to live apart during the work week at times.

I'm curious if anyone else has had to move due to your asthma. If so, I'd love to know your story.

[hypercat54]

Well I have never had to move coz of my asthma but now I have copd as well I am very glad I moved many years ago from London to the seaside. I don't think I would be as well as I am if I still had all that pollution to contend with. I can't prove it's made a difference but I am sure it must have. x

[FearNot in reply to hypercat54]

Thanks for the tesponse. I'm glad you're doing so well. I've read a couple of articles online about the healing benefits of sea air. There was a study of surfers with a lung disease that improved.

[IChoose]

I know that I could not survive one minute in fire smoke, as well as in the brush with the pollen that many of these areas are known for. Right now it is costing a lot of money to live in an area where we sometimes get ocean breezes. An IQair air purifier or total home system by IQair for where you are now is an option. They say Cape Coral Florida is a best place to live for asthmatics in the United States, but I have never been there. I don't envy you your situation at all. Wishing you and your family well.

[FearNot in reply to IChoose]

Thanks for your perspective, advice, and well wishes. IQAir doesn't give away their air purifiers, do they? Installing a whole-house system might solve the problem, and I imagine it would raise the value of our home. Is this the air filter you use?

[Matman]

One reason I moved out of London was because of the Air Pollution. I live in the sticks now with little risk of wildfire smoke (so far).

Before deciding if (and where) to go, you might - for a few months - want to keep an eye on the Air Pollution Data on the DEFRA Site and any similar Sites. Think you can subscribe to the DEFRA Air Quality Twitter Updates too.

Air Pollution from both UK Urban Centes and Mainland Europe moves round a lot depending on wind and temperature factors. Changing weather patterns will make it increasingly difficult to determine to what extent an area (even coastal) is impacted in the future.

I’ve often fantasised about living in Cornwall, but it’s huge Holliday Traffic in Spring and Summer ensures even Cornish Citizens get a fair dose of traffic pollution from that source alone.

It maybe if you moved somewhere like the Northern Coast of Scotland or the Western Isles you could get some signicant air quality improvement, but then you’d probably be miles / hours from a hospital if you suffered a bad asthma attack.

Hope you solve the problem.

[eachy in reply to Matman]

Stornoway on Lewis, Western Isles has a great hospital and respiratory consultant and do Xolair injections. Been on my holidays there four years in a row, air quality is great, would live there in a flash but think the long dark winters would be a consideration and my reluctant teenagers...

[FearNot in reply to eachy]

Thanks for the information. The pictures of that place look amazing. No wonder you return.

[FearNot in reply to Matman]

I should confess that I'm an American who has snuck into the UK group. I couldn't find any other forum that focused only on asthma and other serious respiratory issues. I'm an author and plan to spend six months at a time researching my books set in locations within the UK. I didn't plan this, but these all happen to be within reach of the sea. We'll live in a cabin near the ocean in the Pacific Northwest the rest of the time.

Funny your mentioning northern Scotland. I've fallen in love with pictures of the Highlands. My grandmother was a Campbell. I wonder sometimes if our ancestral homelands call to us.