NE1 Move to TX as an Adult??? We Are New to TX and Sick!

Welcome to the area. When I moved here several years ago, I asked the same question. Although there are exceptions, it seems that from my observations, folks who have moved here from the west coast suffer from far less (allegies, colds, etc.) than those who move here from the east coast. But it does get better. Unfortunately, it may take 1 to 2 years. :(

Hi S., I hope you and your family are feeling better. My family and I had the same problem it was terrible. we have been here for about a year now and it is alot better now. instead of every other month its now less frequent. It will get better, just hang in there it will get better;)
T.

S.,
We moved her 2 yrs ago and have had no problems. Hopeing it's just a run of bad luck that will clear up soon for you. I love it here also.
Lonie

My husband and I moved here from Charlotte NC in 1989. Same story......allergies and sinus that we never had before. We were on regualr allergy meds but now only use them on occasion. This week has been tough. We found out we have reaction to cedar elm and our lot is covered in cedar elm. We are to a point where they just act up on occason now. Our daughter, born here, has never had the issues like we have. She rarely has seasonal allergies.

I hope you all feel better soon and adjust.

Susan

Hi S.~
My family and I moved from Northern Va 15 years ago! Same situation as yours. I seemed to have the worst of it; my husband actually was less allergic to everything here vs. Northern Va. My children were 9 and 2 yrs at the time and the youngest was fine...just minor illnesses. The 9 yr old developed allergies and asthma. She is 24 now, does not have asthma anymore, but still exhibits allergy symptoms. She is in grad school at OU and for the past 6 yrs of college, exhibits various allergy symptoms depending on whether she is in TX or OK. Both of them take allergy meds now and they are 24 and 17 now. My husband is having a tough time this week; our Doctor said that ragweed is extremely bad right now. I too was so ill for the first 6 months after moving to TX. Looking back, I now know that all of the illnesses that I experienced were due to allergies. I think my immune system became worn down due to constantly battling the allergens. I also thought that I was having a hard time adjusting to TX!!! But I had a great family practioner who recognized after a few illnesses that I probably was allergic to something. I had the simple blood test (not the multiple skin tests) and the results showed that I was highly allergic to 5 different things...bermuda grass, some trees, etc. Not things that I could stay away from! So I started shots once a week...very painful! I stopped after 1 yr. I also took a prescription med and nasal spray. And someone gave me some advice which I did take...buy honey native to NE TX and use it frequently. It supposedly helps build up your tolerance to pollens found locally. Through trial and error and medical improvements, we are all on Zyrtec and Flonase. Everyone in my family has been on one allergy pill and nasal spray at one point, but we are all fine on that particular combination. I also take 1/2 Benadryl when I experience itching and other allergy symptoms. I hope you find the combination that works for you and your children! We were so miserable until we pinpointed the cause! Do not open the windows in your home! This exasperates the situation. And one more thing, I am not medically inclined...I just wanted you to know that those two particular meds solved a lot of issues for my entire family and maybe can cut down on some trial and error time for you and yours! Good Luck, Kathie

Welcome to the area! I agree with the other posters and I would add that we are experiencing a very bad bad fall for allergies. This is b/c we had enough rain earlier in the year to allow all the allergen to spore. In times of little rain, allergens can not flourish quite as much.

You might want to get allergy tested. This way you know what you and your family reacts to. This can also help you and your doctor figure out the appropriate way to treat.

For me, I find taking 2 regular medicines is a life saver - Nasacort (helps with the sneezing, itchy nose and drainage) and Advair (for allergy induced asthma). If I stop taking these, in a matter of days I feel the consequences.

Allergy covers for the bed are also useful. Mattresses and pillow harbor LOTS of dust mites. Think about how much time you spend in your bed with your face right on your pillow?

My allergist has always said focus most on the bedroom since you spend the most amount of time there. No animals in the bedroom, no windows open, etc. We invested in an ionic breeze in our bedroom and I do think that helps.

Two last thoughts for you...first, you probably were dealing with lots of stress from the move. Usually this tends to lesson your body's immunity to things. Second, we recently moved to Frisco from Corinth and I've noticed that germs around here seems to travel REALLY fast, especially with my daughter. We've gone back to using hand sanitizer when we've been in public, touching public items (shopping carts, after being picked up from preschool, etc).

S. -

Be assured...this is actually pretty common when moving cross-country. I didn't experience it so badly when I moved here from North Carolina 3 years ago, but it hit BIG TIME when I moved to North Carolina several years back after spending my entire life in California.

In California, I was a business traveler (west coast and even occasionally overseas) and always pretty healthy, so I figured I had pretty good immunity established. Then I moved to NC. I was sick that ENTIRE winter. It took 3 courses of increasingly stronger antibiotics (that messed my digestive system up big time) and 2-3 months to get rid of my bronchitis, plus I had upper resperatory stuff & miscellaneous other stuff. I was miserable!

My boss, who had moved to NC a few years before me after spending most of his life in Illinois and was also a business traveler told me that he had the same experience when he moved to NC. And both of my kids have had similar issues when we brought them to the U.S. as international adoptees.

It has been explained to me that out of the thousands of cold viruses, each area has some more than others. So you develop immunities to the ones that are prevalent in your area, and only tend to catch the new ones that come in each year. When you move to a new area, particularly one with a different climate, you tend to catch not only the new bugs for the year, you get all the ones that have been around that area for a while but that you aren't immune to yet.

It took me a bit over a year to develop my immunities in NC so I was basically healthy again - not catching every bug that came through. It took my kids about six months and twelve-sixteen months, respectively, to develop their immunities here in the U.S. so that they weren't sick all the time. So take heart, you should come out of this OK.

Now, allergies can be a different matter. If you're allergic to stuff here that wasn't where you were before, that could be a longer term issue that you should discuss with your doctor.

Hope this helps.

B.

You just answered yourself. When you move to a new region like that you may or may not experience allergies you haven't had before. The first thing I would do is get your air ducts cleaned and make sure there isn't mold in the house. I know of a very good air purifier that does wonders in cutting down dust and cleans the air. It's a little expensive, but when you're miserable all the time, you would rather spend the money there than at the doctors. Another thing to look at is the trees in and around your yard. Some people are very allergic to certain kinds of trees. I had a friend move from Dallas to Longview (east Texas) and was miserable her entire time there because she was allergic to pine. When you have allergic attacks it weakens your bodies immune system. You may need to go on some type of regular medicine whether it's oral or nasal spray or shots. Good luck and welcome to area!

In addition to all the other responses, figure that with 3 kids and a cross country move, you are tired and your immunities were probably down, then clobbered by new allergens. We moved from CA and didn't get sick. Maybe this is more similar to a west coast environment and substantially different than east coast.

We moved here from Utah a little over a year ago and we've all had allergy problems since. I had 2 sinus infections within 3 months because of it. The allergies are especially bad this year because of all the rain in the spring and it's so dry now, so that's part of it. Stomach bugs also seem to have hit our school earlier this year. DH and I have lived all over the SE US, so we've always experienced changes in different regions, but it does seem to have been worse this time around. You will adjust, but you may be allergic to stuff around here that just wasn't around as much in VA, so seeing an allergist might help. Good luck and enjoy your new home! We love the Allen area!

We moved to Allen almost 2 yrs ago, and we also have never been sicker. But, when you move to a new area there are all new germs, allergens etc, so it is kind of expected to be sicker the first year or so till your body adapts. The first year was awful, its been better the 2nd year, although we found out my 5 yr old is allergic to ragweed, so he's had a little rougher time. Good luck to you! Welcome to Allen.
H.

Hi S.
Don't worry....It happened with us too, the same thing !!!!
We moved leat year em September and we were sick for about 3/4 months....Now we are ok. We went to more doctors here than in 7 yeards in Florida !!!
I hope you guys get better.
Le

Hi S.,
Well, I have heard other families that have moved to the DFW area have these issues too. One family's children ended up on breathing treatments.

I would start you and your children on Xlear...it is a natural fruit sugar that makes the inside of your nose slippery so the allergens can not get into your system. I have been using it on my girls since infancy and I use it daily. I am a native of Texas, but I have allergies as well. What a lousy welcome. I hope it gets better for you and your family.

I moved here from Seattle about four years ago, and I am actually sick less than I ever was up there. Same with my DH. This past year I have been more times than I have been in the last five or six years, but it's not related to the move. I think the past year has been rough on most people I know, illness wise.

We moved here from NYC and had the same experiences. I think because we are use to living by the water the dry land field that we live in is affecting us. There is no where bacteria to go so it just sits here. I can open the window for 2 minutes and have a sinus headache that will last for hours. Good luck to you.