I’ve had my dog for 2.5 years now. This might seem like a silly question to most, but I’m kind of oblivious to some things that are obvious to most people (e.g. having allergies, knowing when I’m hungry, when I should go to the doctor, etc.) so I would appreciate helpful responses.
Signs
- If my dog gets on my bed, I sleep poorly until I change the sheets.
- If I sleep with my dog in my room, I wake up tired and like I had trouble breathing all night. It’s like if my airway was smaller/tighter. I’ve already been assessed for sleep apnea and they said I’m okay.
- Even without my dog in the room or on the sheets, when I sleep at home, I wake up pretty tired and it takes me a while to get going in the morning. This doesn’t happen when I sleep elsewhere like at hotels.
- If I clean up my house really well and change the air filter, it seems like I have more energy for a few days.
- If I take a cetrizine (Zertec) or loratadine (Claratin), I feel a little better in the morning, but it’s not like if I slept elsewhere. I don’t feel fine, just a little less bad.
- Basically, I’m always tired when I sleep at home.
- If I pet a dog and touch my eyes immediately after, my eyes get itchy until I wash them out. This will happen with their saliva as well.
- If I run my forearm across a dog’s back from tail to head and the dog has thick fur, I will get hives from the fur slightly poking my soft skin.
- If they lick my skin and I don’t rinse it off, I may get hives too.
Contra
- I’m mostly fine throughout the day with regards to what I assume are allergies. My nose is fine, and I rarely sneeze. It’s only related to sleep.
- My nose doesn’t get stuffy like I see in other people.
Writing this out, it seems like it’s highly probable. If so, what options do I have?
- Could it be something else causing the sleep issues at home?
- Is this a reason to see a doctor?
- Are there meds that work better than Zertec & Claritin and wont make me feel funky like with Benadryl?
- Do I need to accept that I can’t have a dog?
- Maybe I can make my dog an outside dog? But that seems terrible for a dog that’s been inside their whole life and follows me everywhere I go in the house (she’s a Rottie). I don’t want to sleep poorly and be at 60% for another 10 years.
This is a lot 😬
Edit: Alright, I’ve got an appt with the doc in 2 weeks. Thanks for the help, everyone!
Yeah, see a doctor. There might be medicine to mitigate the symptoms.
Allergen panel at a doctor. They check for a bunch of things at once, in a grid on your arm or back. The spots that react indicate your sensitivities.
Sounds like you have already convinced yourself the answer is probably yes.
You could also have a high sensitivity to dust mites. Talking to an allergist could help you narrow down what specifically bothers you. Allergy tests aren’t that big of a deal to have done.
Before trying to rehome the dog, do your best to make your bedroom a dog free zone. Keep the door closed and don’t let her on your bed. Shower before bed and don’t touch your dog between showering and getting in bed. Wash your bedding often. Don’t ever sitnon or get in your bed in clothes that have been around your dog or on furniture your dog is allowed to lay on. An air filter can help, but is limited in what they can actually accomplish. Filters can help with dust that comes in through your hvac vents, but any sources of allergens in your room will easily produce irritants at a much greater rate than a filter can capture them.
I’ll avoid specific medical recommendations, but I will list a few things worth checking out. Non-steroidal nasal sprays could help your sleep. Nasacort was the one recommended to me by a doctor. One lesson I had to learn with that is to not use it right before laying down. You need to give it time to drain. It does bother my stomach a bit, so timing it with a meal or snack can help. Pataday and opcon-a drops have both been helpful for me. Opcon-a does cause a temporary burning sensation. I would recommend starting with lower dose twice a day variants The extra strength stuff also hurts my stomach. (your eyes and sinuses drain down your throat.) Eye drops and nasal sprays are more targeted than tablet antihistamines so they can be a little more effective.
You might want to ask your doctor about a sleep study. In my unprofessional opinion, I would suspect you are experiencing apnea.
If you have a polyfill pillow, try switching to foam, or better yet buckwheat. Polyfill is a dust sponge. Every time you toss and turn it will release a cloud of dust right by your face.
You’ve lived this long with your dog, so it’s worth trying to find ways of improving your sleep hygeine and symptom management before jumping straight to no dogs. Although, a no puppies after this dog rule could be warranted.
As far as not having some of the symptoms you think should be present, chronic exposure vs acute exposure can have different reactions. If you are always mildly reacting to your dog, then you won’t experience some of the acute responses. (Again, not a professional)
All of the above plus: allergy covers for pillows and mattress, nasal irrigation with a neti pot or squeeze bottle (they sell the nasal rinse bottles and saline mix near the allergy medicine at the pharmacy), bathing your dog frequently . An allergist will have a really specific list of recommendations. Making your dog an outside dog is a terrible idea, it would be better to find a new home for your pup, rather than exposing them to the elements and leaving them outside all alone with no companionship
Those are good addendums, but I’ll add one more qualifier to your nasal rinse suggestion. Never use tap water. Use only distilled water or water that has been boiled. Pharmacies also sell aerosol cans with saline solution, which is what I use for the convenience factor. Then you don’t have to worry as much about sanitized water and mixing up a solution. Saline rinses should also have at least half an hour of being upright before laying down. Don’t do a rinse then immediately lay in bed.
If budget isn’t tight, all bedding including the allergy covers benefits from getting in duplicate so you can take your time with the laundry. I was a lot worse about washing bedding when remembering late in the day meant there wouldn’t be enough time to wash and dry before bedtime.
Hives are one of the clearest signs of an allergic reaction. There is basically no normal circumstance where those should occur.
It sounds like there are potentially other factors contributing to your symptoms at home, but the last couple of things happening with dogs in general strongly suggests that you have a dog allergy.
I have to echo other posters here and urge you to see a doctor about testing (if financially viable) and mitigation advice.
Anti histamine, don’t have a dog, or put up with your histamine
There’s a lot of good advice here already, so I’ll just add the potentially expensive (depending on insurance) next step: allergen immunotherapy. I’m about as allergic to dogs as you are, and some of the advice I got was “why not make them an outside dog?” — first of all, hell no, they’re family, and second, I lived in an apartment at the time, so that was impossible.
The immunotherapy, or allergy shots, starts with the tests others mentioned. They can do skin pricks or blood draw, and to save you a lot of misery, I suggest the blood draw. Then you get vials drawn up that effectively tincture allergens over time into your body for about three-ish years, so this is a time commitment.
Some advice on allergy medications I’ve received: avoid Claritin and Benadryl due to their links to dementia in long term use, try Zyrtec and Xyzal to see which works best (Costco/sam’s has the best value for these).
A higher MERV filter in my air unit, based on what it could handle, and an air purifier helped me a lot.
Go get yourself tested for god’s sake!
Allergies only get worse, so you want to deal with it ASAP before you, for example, get asthma from it. You might also have other allergies you haven’t “figured out” just yet.
Until you get the tests done, don’t let your dog sleep or be in your bedroom, better ofc not at your place at all :-/
Watch out for vacuuming, it doesn’t filter dust mites (dead dust mite “parts” are allergenic too) so it just fills the air with them and if you are allergic you’ll have a bad day. Sweep up the dust, or beg someone to vacuum for you (air everything lots during and afterwards).
Source: got super allergic because I didn’t know stuff like this.
Its either the dog or dust mites. And dust mites love dogs.
I would absolutely advise talking to a doctor about this. That very much sounds like an allergy, and although there are many meds that may help, none of us online can safely advise them for you, you really do need a prescriber with access to your medical records/bloodwork for that.
As far as first steps go, regularly taking OTC allergy meds and developing a daily cleaning schedule + filters for the bedroom + keeping your dog off the bed at the very least, and ideally out of the bedroom entirely, will help. Also frequently bathing your dog can help keep the dander down.
That’s odd. I’m allergic to cats but ended up with one. Took me about three months of misery sneezing and runny nose, but after that my body became used to it, and I was fine for years after that. But that’s somewhat different than your symptoms.
We have dogs that are hypoallergenic, but my girlfriend still has allergies to dander, dust, etc from outside. We make it a point to wash their paws every time they come in from being outside to reduce that. The issues with hives from petting or saliva though are a bit concerning though. The petting could possibly be the same with dander from being outdoors, but not sure for the saliva part.
