I’ve lived in Taipei about 8 years and have suffered some pretty brutal allergies every winter. I have done lots of stuff to minimize the pain (vacuum and cardio being the most useful) but in the end the allergies, and the depression they bring with them, are there every winter. It feels very related to the weather and I get some dental pain also when my sinuses act up.
I was wondering if anyone had a similar situation and found relief in a different city. I am thinking about Kaohsiung but would be interested in anyone’s experience leaving Taipei for anywhere, city or countryside, and if it helped at all.
Indirect experience here, but my girlfriend is magically cured of her severe allergies as soon as we leave Taipei and head south. In her case it is related to humidity, seeing how I can reproduce the effect (to a lesser extent) with a industrial dehumidifier in our room at night.
You quite possibly have an allergy to mould or something dampness related, so moving South could help.
I moved to Taichung, both me and my wife had allergies both in Taipei and Taichung even though it almost never rains. I haven’t had as severe problem but its still been bad for both of us. Air pollution is worse down South in Winter so it may depend on you individually if there is any improvement or not.
Otherwise you could move to an area outside of main cities or the East coast.
It’s hard to say. I also have terrible fall-winter allergies and feel better when going south. However, on a three week trip to the east this spring my allergies were as bad as ever. It’s very dusty there in winter spring and a billion plants are blooming.
Yeah hay fever could be in the mix aswell! Can’t win!
Thanks for the replies. Moving is a gamble, I know. Every winter I swear I will move and every summer I relent. I do feel that my allergies are directly related to the weather but know that I could be allergic to many different things and the weather just primes me for it. I hate playing the “What is the cause?” game. I will just say it again for any new Taiwan allergy sufferers: vacuum and cardio are the two best weapons ive found.
Does cardio mean exercise? What is vaccuum?
A very common cause of allergies are dust mites, especially in bedding.
I bought a drying machine device which heats the mattress and bedding to over 65C to kill the mites and it does seem to work. That and airing and sunning bedding is a good idea.
Also get pillows with dust covers and change fairly often.
I think he means “using a vacuum cleaner”. The other option, I.e. lowering the apartment pressure below 10^-3 Torr, would be very expensive and difficult. Also, it would kill you.
Is there nothing @bestforhome can’t fix?
How about my hemorrhoids?
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Taipei vs. Austin.,
Taipei wasn’t too bad, had some bouts now and then but in general it was manageable with medication.
Austin, TX on the other hand was brutal. They have this cedar thing that happens around winter time, and when it happens no amount of medication will salve it. I suffered for weeks because of that. I spent probably the first 6 months in Austin unable to breathe through my nose because of cedar.
Personally I was fine in Taipei Da an. When I moved to Linkou, my allergies went bananas. Post nasal drip, skin flare ups, everyday all day!! I suspect it’s the tree pollen and the insanely high dampness coupled with the shit humidity levels. Anybody else experience similar events or symptoms?