Handling the Holiday with Asthma

 

It’s that time of year again, the holidays! There are so many allergy & asthma triggers that can make our family miserable. We are a family of 5 – all 5 have allergies, 4 have asthma, and 2 have food allergies.

So we try to be careful year round – but there are more challenges during the holidays.

Christmas trees

I see so many commercials or holiday ads with people driving their car with a Christmas tree strapped to the top. That must be nice I mutter to myself as they drive by.

We are all allergic to live Christmas trees, so we have an artificial tree. I know it’s not the same as the smell of a freshly cut tree, but we can’t have one in our house.

Instead, we have a fairly good looking artificial tree that is scent free. So that works for us.

Stress and strong emotions

Stress is another asthma trigger that gets to me at the holidays. This year, we have decided to take a trip instead of buying sweaters and socks of other ‘stuff’.  My kids are all adults, so none of us really NEED anything. We are going to have a little getaway to escape work and life. We have all had a stressful year and are looking forward to taking a relaxing beach trip. 

And it’s just our immediate family – so we don’t have to worry about fighting with the crazy conspiracy theory brother in law. It seems like every family has that one person who likes to cause trouble, and anger and other strong emotions can trigger an asthma attack for me.

Strong scents

I try to steer clear of the holiday aisle at the grocery store and craft store. Can we please not have highly scented pine cones? I’m also not a big fan of scented candles, essential oils, or plug in air freshners. Luckily, we are home bodies and stay in our allergy and asthma friendly home.

Cold air

This is an asthma trigger that is hard for us to avoid since we live near the beautiful mountains and have fabulous snow. Last night, we went to see an outdoor nativity, and it was beautiful. We just made sure we didn’t stay outside for too long. When my husband and kids go skiing, they usually wrap a scarf around their mouth to warm up the air when they breathe it in.

Dusty decoration bins

My husband is the only one who doesn’t have asthma, so his job is to get the boxes from the garage and storage shed. He wipes off the dusty lid and then brings the bins in for me so I can decorate.

This is just a snapshot of a few of the ways we try to manage allergies and asthma.

I would love to hear any ideas that you have used!