Outdoorsman from NJ with allergies in CA - is Fairbanks, AK better?
I used to be a competitive runner, cyclist, and nordic skier and used to be absolutely crazy about the outdoors. ~1 year after moving from NJ to CA I have started experiencing intermittent asthma symptoms, which eventually grew into full-blown asthma in a matter of a week when I got sick with a viral infection. I am now on 10 different medications, including 2 inhaled steroids. I have a great job, but my productivity at work has dropped ~3 times. The symptoms are essentially constant (chest conjestion, shortness of breath, sleep problems) and improve ~3 days after I travel out of California, and get much worse when exerting in CA outdoors. The symptoms are debilitating enough to freak me out, but not strong enough to kill me (which sometimes I dream of). I am allergic to essentially all trees, and, essentially, non-allergic to grass and weeds.
I understand that moving is always the last resort, but I am afraid that if I stay in CA any longer the inflammation in my lungs becomes irreversible. So at this point it’s a question of a life worth living.
Even though every area has its allergens, naturally, it seems that areas with less vegetation and a long “down” season would have less pollen. California, essentially, has no down season. I am therefore considering Fairbanks, AK. They have trees blooming in the spring, but the blooming seems to last for only a month. I could manage a month os symptoms, but I can’t stand the CA year-round nightmare
I guess, high desert also makes sense, but there are no jobs to be found in my specialty in these areas (I work in nanotechnology). Fairbanks has a research school which I could work at. — RCS, California
