Missouri, North Dakota, Minnesota, Arizona
I am 25 years old and moved to Kansas city, MO from ND three years ago. Since I have moved, my allergies have gotten out of control. I am greatly allergic to mold and grass pollen. I have had recurrent sinus infections in ALL seasons and have subsequently developed asthma since moving here. I take allegra-D, inhalers and nasal sprays, but it doesn’t seem to do much. My allergies are better when I do go back up to MN and ND, however there are much worse even there than they ever were before I moved to Kansas City. Does anyone have experience with Arizona, specifically Scottsdale, and allergies? — Karri, Kansas City, Missouri
My family has allergies in Arizona when certain things are blooming, and also due to the dust. Beware of dust allergies, as most of the “brown cloud” in the Phoenix area (north Scottsdale is better) is due to dust stirred up by automobiles and construction sites. With that in mind, I would stay away from central Phoenix, where there are both more heavily irrigated lawns/trees and greater pollution/brown cloud. North Phoenix or North Scottsdale would be better.
Comment by Brad — July 4, 2006 @ 12:55 pm
Be careful of Arizona in general! We moved to Arizona from Alaska and our whole family has developed severe allergies. People are not usually aware that the desert has many allergens. We live in the Sedona area which is 100 miles north of Phoenix and the native juniper trees cause many issues for us. We spend time in Phoenix and I can’t say my allergies are much better there either. I am allergic to Bermuda grass and almost all the golf courses (and there are many!) are planted with Bermuda grass. The air quality in Phoenix is awful and nothing has been done about it yet. Our experience with Arizona has been not so good, we take allergy injections weekly and have to take ZyrtecD daily. My husband has constant sinus infections and is often sick.
Comment by Tracey Graham — July 8, 2006 @ 6:59 am
I moved to Arizona from Southern California and despite the pollution there, I found the dust and pollution here to be much worse. My worst allergy is dust and I am also asthmatic. I enjoy bicycling, or I should say, I did. The cold dry air of Phoenix’s winters makes me sick for months and something in the summer (dust in the wind, I think) is making me horribly sick. My lung function went down to 60% of normal. I am taking 7-8 meds and still suffering. I’ll be packing my bags for California soon — this Arizona air is killing me.
Comment by rowena dehanke — August 20, 2006 @ 1:09 pm
I moved to Scottsdale, AZ in 1993 from Minneapolis and Wisconsin where I suffered Spring and Fall sinus infections. However, I have developed major allergies to the present climate here and have Spring bronchitis and pneumonia now each year and it’s getting worse. I am allergic to dust and olive trees and who knows what else in this desert. I am making plans to move to CA where the ocean breeze keeps the air cleaner. I would not advise anyone with allergies to move anywhere near her and Las Vegas (even worse) with all the construction and dust flying around. I have never been sicker.
Comment by Kathleen — April 6, 2007 @ 1:10 pm
I have suffered from hay fever my entire life. We moved to Scottsdale, AZ from Boston a few years ago. I thought there was something very wrong with me within months of being in Phoenix. My normal allergies were so much worse. I’d get hives when I was outdoors, became asthmatic, always felt sick and very very fatigued. Developed a chronic cough too. Had to be on Zyrtec just to function normally. This past year we moved back the East to Raleigh, NC. I have not taken one allergy pill since I left Arizona. Hives are gone, cough is gone. I can breathe.
Comment by Jess — April 26, 2007 @ 12:37 pm
I actually have asthma, and have lived in arizona my whole life just until I started going to college and now I live in missouri. But I loved arizona, and I never had problems with my asthma. I lived in tucson. But now that I live in missouri, I hate it, I am right now as we speak dealing with problems breathing due to the pine and grass.
Comment by christi — April 28, 2007 @ 5:43 pm
Wow, this really enlightens me. I am like most of the people on this post. I have had severe allergies to everything outdoors, grasses, flowers, dust, mold, pollen, you name it and suffer constantly from life-threatening asthma, bronchitis, sinus infections, hayfever, rashes, etc, since I was an infant and I lived in California my whole life near the beach and all over, but I think I am worse her in Tucson since I moved here 2 1/2 years ago. I have nearly died from asthma I think 4 times, and have read in reports that Tucson is the 5th worse city to live in if you have allergies.
Now I am trying to find a better environment also to move to. Thanks for the input on Arizona.
Comment by Jodie — June 19, 2007 @ 2:29 am
weird. Tucson is where I grew up and my asthma is great there, pretty much the only place that I have found where I can go and find relief. I guess it depends on the person. Good luck. Who is your doctor in tucson?
Comment by christi — July 30, 2007 @ 10:25 pm
I live in Minnesota and have allergies. My allergies improve when I go to Arizona in the winter. On the other hand, when I visit my daughter at school in Kansas, I have had terrible allergy symptons, especially in August. Good luck.
Comment by Patty — August 12, 2007 @ 9:11 pm
My husband and I moved to Surprise, Az in June 07 from Seattle. I had allergies there, but I have different allergies here and a bit worse. I am constantly sneezing, blowing my nose and taking OTC allergy pills. I’m sure it’s the dust and this state is dusty. Anybody know a good allergist in Surprise?
Comment by Brenda — October 30, 2007 @ 10:38 am
If you are having a lot of trouble with allergies ask your primary doctor to have your IgE level checked. There is a fairly new medicine called XOLAIR that has helped me breathe well enough that I feel I have my life back. You take it in a shot form 1x a month. I live in Grand Rapids Michigan. I was hoping to move to Scottsdale Arizona this summer with my daughter. I appreciate the information about the dust. Hadn’t thought of that.
Question: Do you think we might have trouble adjusting to a new area wherever it is because our bodies haven’t had the chance to build up an immune system to the new triggers in that area? If so and Xolair helps so much… could it help all of us to adjust? Something to find out about.
Comment by Patrice — January 7, 2008 @ 1:43 am
I live in Michigan and have had chronic year round allergies all my life. Recently was exposed to moldy house and developed HP and new asthma. Just the basic molds in the air here 50,000 count makes me sick.
I visited Az - Checked out the entire state. Zero allergies in the mountains 6000ft. I needed no steroids no antihistamines etc. First time in my life I could breath like most people. Found out no dust mites can live over 5,000 ft or so.
Lower areas like pheonix were not as good but still much better than michigan. Molds and mites and animals are my major problem areas. The counts in Az are like 10,000 times lower than michigan air. No post nasal drip and no snoring for me.
Guess where I am moving soon?
Comment by Robert Jones — January 21, 2008 @ 2:21 am
I moved to AZ (Phoenix area) two years ago and my daughter and I have never been so sick in our lives. I have lived in 7 states and certainly know where allergies are better or worse and there is no place worse then this! My family is moving back to the east coast in 3 months and can’t wait to get out of this toxic environment!
Comment by leavingasap — February 24, 2008 @ 2:55 pm
I have lived in several other states with varying climates and never got sick-just the occasional bug. I vacationed to AZ & NM every few years and loved it. Hiked and drove all over the states and never got sick. Mind you, I never spent much time in Phoenix when vacationing. I finally moved to AZ in Maricopa County 05 and within months became very ill. I never had allergies to anything except pollen once in a while. I figured I needed time to adjust so I’m still here. It’s now 08 and I’m still sick. I’m tired, I’m nauseous, very spacey - things just don’t click. I feel as if I’ve aged 20 years in 3. I look horrible and don’t see things changing. It’s almost as if there is some type of poison in the air. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but this has been my experience. I’ve always had a very sharp mind and was very quick and accurate and I feel like a flake out here. I have no explanation or reason for this and no proof but this is my experience. Other people seem to do fine out here but perhaps that is a false perception as well. In any event, I find myself with no energy to do the things I want, and when I get some energy and do go outside and do something fun, I pay for it dearly. My symptoms are almost like that of the flu but they die down in a 2 day period and then I just feel worn out or “not myself”. It’s extremely hard to define, but I feel “poisoned” or “drugged” for lack of a better term. I get the feeling that people think I’m a hypochondriac which kills me because I was never like that. What is funny is that everyone in AZ denies pollution, they all say “my allergies” are bothering me or “it’s just my allergies”. Everyone is “ON” something out here. They live at the drugstore. I do agree that a majority of the air problem in AZ is the excessive dust and chemicals hovering in the air due to lack of rain. But I think there is something more. What, I don’t know but there is something out here that is really effecting a lot of people. What is sad is that I used to go outside everyday and had the energy of a 12 year old, worked out with weights and was in optimum physical condition and now, I cannot be outside for more than 3 hours or I have to call out of work deathly ill. In all of my previous jobs, I may have called out sick 1-3 days per year. This job I am out a lot. It’s terrible. It generally takes me 72 hours to recover from outdoor activity. So, yes, I too want to get out of here and it’s a shame. I love so much about Arizona and I’ve dreamed of living here for years, but I’ve discovered it’s not a good place for me either- at least Maricopa County. Perhaps way up north is better but I cannot say. I can say that I think 3 years is enough time to adjust to any climate. The other consideration here is the traffic. It takes 1 hour to drive 26 miles on the freeway. Pretty sad. So, yes, I’m outta here too.
Comment by Marie — March 8, 2008 @ 7:27 pm