Pets and pollen: could these be your asthma triggers?

Claire Fisher, Asthma UK and British Lung Foundation Respiratory Nurse, shares some top tips on how to deal with allergies if you have asthma.

Pollen

Pollen is a common asthma trigger - but lots of people don’t know this or know which type of pollen sets off their symptoms (it can be more than one over the year). Luckily, Asthma UK has a handy pollen calendar, which shows you what types of pollen are released at different times of the year and when they reach their peak. There’s also useful advice on allergic asthma, which is a type of asthma that’s triggered by allergens like pets, pollen and house dust mites.  

From early spring until the autumn months, depending on the weather, we get lots of calls related to hay fever. At the moment, quite a few trees are at their pollen peak, so if you’re finding you have hay fever symptoms, or that your asthma symptoms are getting worse, this could be why. You can read more about the typical symptoms of hay fever, or how you might be feeling if your hay fever sets off your asthma, on our health advice pages.

Asthma UK also has a really handy symptom checker, where you can compare the symptoms of cold, flu, asthma, hay fever and COVID-19 – I signpost callers to this all the time and they find it very useful. I also signpost callers to the Asthma UK page on worsening asthma symptoms, as it’s so important that people can spot the signs and know what to do.

I regularly get calls on the Helpline from people with asthma and hay fever who don’t take their antihistamines every day, or only begin taking them when their symptoms start up. It’s always best to begin taking your hay fever medicines before your symptoms come on. If you know you get hay fever, it’s important to get your medicines early and take them as set out in the leaflet that comes with them. It’s also important to make sure you get antihistamines that are non-sedating! Always check with your GP or pharmacist about taking them.

I also hear from people who have bought a nasal spray and say it isn’t working for them – and usually it’s because they’re not using it properly. I tell them to visit the Asthma UK website and watch our video on how to use a nasal spray, which demonstrates the correct technique.

The nose so often gets forgotten in a lot of asthma care, but as I always say to callers, it’s the start of your airway – not your mouth! So, if you have problems in your nose (such as allergic rhinitis) and you don’t treat this effectively, you’re not caring for a huge part of your airway and this will impact your chest.

Pets

Another common allergy is pets. Did you know you can become allergic to animals at any point in life? You might have had a pet when you were a child and not been allergic to it, but you may find that being around the same breed now triggers an allergic reaction.

This could be a pet you keep in your home, or one you see regularly, like a dog, cat, guinea pig, or even a bird. You might find your symptoms come on quickly, while you’re around the animal, or you might find they come on a few hours after being around them.

I’ve had calls where people have bought a new furry animal and it’s affected their asthma. Rather than going down the rehoming route straight away, we go through the Asthma UK pets page and look at how well their asthma or rhinitis was controlled before getting the pet, and if we can improve this. I always tell callers how important it is to get an asthma review!

Look at where the pet is sleeping and where it’s allowed in the house. Always keep it out of the bedroom, at the very least. Before committing to a pet, it’s best to really consider whether getting one is a good idea and perhaps trial the pet first.

I’ve also had calls from people in shared accommodation, where housemates have pets and it’s affecting them. In this scenario, I recommend that people speak to the person with the pet first and try to arrange that the pet stays out of communal areas. If this causes conflict, speak to the landlord or housing association. Citizens Advice can also be helpful.

To summarise, I would strongly advise anyone who is easily affected by their triggers to get an urgent asthma review, as it may be that their asthma is not as well controlled as they believe.

Asthma research is severely underfunded

DID YOU KNOW: Research into respiratory diseases like asthma accounts for just 2% of all the medical research funding in the UK.

This underfunding is exactly why we launched the 2021 Research Appeal...