What is the best climate for me? Where should I move? What can I do to get relief from these allergies?
The first step is to see your physician. Your physician can help you determine the cause of your symptoms. They may not be related to allergies. If your physician and you feel allergies may be the culprit, your doctor can do allergy testing to determine the specific allergens involved. Only then will you be armed to make a decision about climate.
For example, if it is found that your only allergy is dust mites, it would be pointless to move to another climate for help. Dust mites are everywhere. There are environmental controls that can help with dust mite allergy, but moving to another climate won’t help. You may want to see:
Where does house dust come from?
Once you know what is causing your symptoms, you will be better to decide if moving to another climate is something you want to consider.
Illinois (Chicago area): Awful. Lived there as a child, was often miserable.
Northern New Mexico: Moderate symptoms, but a tremendous improvement from Illinois.
Northern Utah: No symptoms whatsoever.
Eastern Washington (Tri-Cities): Bad, too much airborne dust.
Western Washington (Seattle): Light symptoms, dramatic improvement.
Western Oregon (Portland): Awful. Ryegrass season was sheer hell. 80-90% of the world’s ryegrass seed is produced in the Willamette Valley! Brought back long-suppressed bad childhood memories.
Coastal California (Santa Barbara and San Francisco): Very few symptoms.
Best compromise between personal preference in climate and symptoms has been Seattle area; probably anywhere on coast or Puget Sound area would be as good. — DWB, Washington
I’ve lived in southern California (Los Angeles), western Montana (Missoula and Bozeman), Arizona (Tucson and Phoenix), and northern Oregon (Portland). The best experience I’ve had is Tucson and the second best is Phoenix. The worst so far has been Portland.
My opinion is that in Arizona it’s so dry and hot that after April nothing blooms again until January or February, giving a person 9 months of light allergies to complete allergy relief. However, beware that Arizona has become not as good for allergy sufferers over the years due to the increasing amount of grass (golf courses and master planned developments); that being said, there’s a movement to introduce more xeriscaping (desert landscaping) which may, in time, restore the natural balance in the area.
In Montana, there are some rough months (May/June/July) but it’s so cold and wet that there’s not a lot that happens allergy wise from October through April.
Portland, OR has been terrible. Every day’s worth of rain brings days worth of blooming and, when things aren’t blooming, they’re moldy. I’ve yet to find a prescription or OTC medication that manages my Portland hay fever. Symptoms range from constricted breathing to extended sneezing sessions. — TK, Oregon
4ys ago moved to Tacoma WA USA from Sydney NSW AUS. Declined in health with no plausible cause. A doctor advised move out of Tacoma - we moved to Seattle. Last year I experienced anaphylsis first hand and was placed on numerous meds. My husband placed me on a ferry from Bellingham to Ketchikan Alaska. By the time I arrived in AK I was breathing very well and experiencing quality of life again. After return to Seattle and almost dying the doctors got me medicated well enough to travel back to Sydney. This was to re-set my body clock.
I returned to Seattle with fewer symptoms. Then this year my husband took a job in Ketchikan AK for 6mths with an option - we are here now in the height of the allergy season!!! Life is good!!! No Life is wonderful - Big Smiles!!!
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My son has pretty severe asthma/excema. We currently live in Denver, Colorado, but have been considering moving to Hawaii. Do you know how the asthma rate is there? Is this a good move for my son? — Cari, Denver
