Something in House Making Us Sick, Help

Definitely sounds like allergies -- Good that you checked for mold, but you may need to actually take out some of the drywall somewhere to see if mold's behind it. Age doesn't affect whether the house has mold, any age house can get it. Check online for companies that mitigate mold and see if you can get advice from them on whether it sounds like mold or not.

This also could just be sensitivity to very dry winter air. Running our heat dries out our houses badly and the nasal passages can really suffer. Try cool mist (NOT warm mist!) humidifiers in your bedroom and baby's all night and start them a few hours before sleep time. This helps a lot with nasal issues.

Also, have you ever had the heating/AC ducts professionally cleaned out? Companies come and suck out everything in the ducts. Can't hurt. Be sure that whoever does it covers every vent inside the house or you'll get dust pushed out through the vents -- making things worse.

And see a doctor for you, not just for the baby! Good luck and feel better!

Hmm. 6 weeks ago. That would be right about before Christmas. Did you put up a Christmas tree? Live trees can bring in a lot of mold spores. They will dissipate after awhile. Artificial trees can be dusty, but the dust will clear after awhile.
If you are using a humidifier, sometimes it can make the air too moist and encourage mold and dust mites. We only use one at night when someone has a cold.

Have you added anything like drywall or done any construction lately?
I find that something in new construction seems to set me off (I have asthma) until it settles. I don't know if it's drywall dust in the ventilation or what. But I've had random problems like this in recent years when both my inlaws and my parents have built new homes.

Have you changed the filters on your furnace? That'd be my next thing to try.

Hmmm...you might need to have your house inspected in more detail for mold. I don't know that you can always see the mold, that it can be in the walls or the basement where it can't be seen. Newer houses have had more mold problems than older ones.

Otherwise, it sounds like you've done what can be done, other than get an allergy test to try to identify the source.

Does your system intake from the garage? Have you put anything new in the garage recently? stored something in there? We are very careful about what we put in our garage since the ventilation system pulls the air from the garage as its source.

I would suggest having the home inspected for mold. It can be anywhere, attic, inside the walls, in vents etc. A friend had the same problems years ago and they ended up finding mold that had become airborne and settled in the back of the top pantry shelf. It was a bad kind and was only found after hospitalization prompted the inspection, but it is such a nasty thing and can grow anywhere, places we can't see.

Also, the pets....we had dogs for 10 years and never had any problems. They would usually be outside as we are in a warmer climate but would come in from time to time. Suddenly when our female had pups and she was inside we all had "cold" symptoms for weeks. We bathed her daily, no help. We moved her to the garage and deep cleaned and we were all better in a day! Now anytime my son is around a dog he is instantly stuffy, sneezing.....these allergies can develop suddenly. just a thought...

I totally feel your pain. Not being able to open the windows and air out a house in super cold months traps EVERYTHING inside and the air can bother some. We are struggling right now too BUT both daughter and I have sinus infections, but the dryness and allergies are making it worse. We have a humidifier running and even though it is cold I try to open up the house once a week for an hour to just air it out a bit..

Suggestion: get someone in who can test the air, if you can afford it.
They should be able to tell you what is in the air, and might even help figure out with could be making you feel sick.

Have ducts furnace and A/C cleaned out if you have not done that in the past 5 years. We had it done when we first bought the house and I think it needs to be done again... it really does make a differance.

tm

Keep looking for mold. We had a similar experience and it took forever but the landlord finally moved us to another unit. I'm not saying specifically that's what it is, but it is possible. You've had all of your vents checked? And if you have an attic or crawl space you've looked in there as well or the basement? It can hide really well, especially in the walls. I'd be very serious looking for that. At this time of the year, it's worse because we have the house/apartment sealed due to the weather. No open windows to air things out and dry it, etc. We had the problem for a long time before it got bad enough our landlord moved us. Basically, it was in our ceiling and walls and then, one winter it was wet enough that it got just what it needed and started spreading out into our living area growing on the windows, behind furniture, etc. It's possible too that it isn't mold, but due to the weather and the house being closed up, it's still affecting you. Is there anything you added to your environment that you didn't have last winter?

Hi,
I have recently experienced the same and my doctor told me to get a humidifier, the dry air can cause chronic sinutitus or drainage giving you a sore throat, drippy nose and no temp. We have a humidifier in our very new aircon but its not good enough apparently one in the room where you can actually see the steam is required. Worth a try if you haven't tried already.
Hoovering your mattresses is also good for housemite allergies.
Eliminating household cleaners to eco ones or using a steam mop that requires no chemicals etc can also help.
I joined Mightynest on Facebook and they have all sorts of healthy living cleaning tips etc on there, good luck hope it gets solved!

I saw something on this at the beginning of the winter. Use a vaporizer/humidifier in all your bedrooms especially at night. Everyone thinks that in winter there isn't any allergies, molds, etc etc. Actually there are, and there are some that actually grow more in the dry winter air. The dry air is probably what is making your sinuses swell and your nose run, it's not that your actually sick. My kids and I have always been the same way, but went and got all of us Vick's cool mist vaporizers and it has been such a huge difference.

A lot of studies have shown that the caustic chemicals that are in our cleaning products, cause tons of allergies. I used to be the mom that disenfected her toy with bleach and lysol! Not anymore, my daughter had similar symptoms to yours. Just something to consider :0)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSCXxMa4x4k

H. M.
http://www.switchingstores.com/lovingeveryminute

Just wanted to note that yes, a humidifier can help with dried up sinuses by humidifying the air, but also be aware that dust mites THRIVE in a moist enviornment, and dust mites are a very common allergen. I see that you've taken some precautions against them, but they might still be a factor, with carpeted floors, draperies, upholstered furniture, stuffed toys, blankets, etc., etc., etc. Unfortunately, I found this all out recently when my son was diagnosed with a host of allergies, with a strong reaction to dust mites...

If you suspect dust mites might be contributing to your allergies, there is a ton of info out there about how to avoid them, but it's daunting and overwhelming. As you know, dust is everywhere, and while there are things you can do to limit dust mite exposure, you will never escape it totally.

Sorry for my dust mite rant.

My first thought is ventilation. In the spring and summer you might have windows open but not so much in the winter. You have all sorts of chemicals in your home (cleaners, personal care products, laundry detergent) and although closed they give off odors (just walk down those aisle at the store if you don't believe me). I have made a great improvement since making changes at home.

Another thought is mold.

are you using a humidifier? All of our homes have had whole house units which are attached to the furnace.

That said, it's very important to routinely clean those humidifiers!

New laundry detergent, new dryer sheets, new anything?

We had that problem when we moved into our current home. My son started getting sinus infection and ear infections all the time! The thing that seemed to help the most was getting the ducts cleaned. A local carpet place came and had a vacuum that went in next to the furnace. They had a wireless camera so we could see how much crud was in there - it was disgusting! I've also heard that a humidifier can help, the moisture weighs down the dust particles in the air. Good luck!

I know you a lot of other posters mention mold.... but my first two thoughts were 1. the air ducts or 2 Radon. When my first daughter was around 6 months she got a running nose, cold like symptons EVERY time we went to my in-laws. It was starting to drive me crazy and my husband would not let me say anything b/c he didn't want to hurt his mom's feelings. Finally I made a comment about it and maybe had something to do with being the the country (but not the house! so hubby wounldn't be mad!) And it got her thinking and she had her air ducts cleaned. She was SHOCKED when she found out how much dust was in there. About the same time a friend of hers found out they had Radon and suggested she borrow there self testing kit for Radon. Well come to find out they did, not a lot, but some. So they had to do somethings to there basement to vent the radon (sorry don't know a lot about it). Well the first time we went to visit after that... no running nose at all. I'm not sure which it was, but doing both those things really did help. You can google Radon testing, I think they have self testing kits you can purchase.

Did you recently get new carpet?? This happened to a friend of mine... and eventually, they found out that it was in the carpet. It got REALLY bad.. she lived there over a year without knowing what it was. She temp. went BLIND in one eye and got cancer too.. if you got carpet... rip it out!!! LOL. She sold the house and moved away during all of this. Tried to sue the carpet company-- I think it was that discount joe's carpet... i will check with her... but basically, it was impossible to prove. However, removed the carpet, aired out the house and it was just fine! it was doing something called "off gassing" or something like that!

Have you changed your HVAC filter lately? We tend to get stuffy and congested if we wait too long to change ours. We have a Labrador Retriever and change our filter monthly. Makes a world of difference.