Southwest Florida as refuge for allergy sufferers?

It's been suggested, everything else having failed to fix my allergies, that I find somewhere to live that's close to sea level and has lots of water to the west. Southwest Florida sounds like a good fit and pollen.com says the pollen count drops off nicely just south of Fort Myers. Nonstop flights from Detroit Metro to SW Florida International are relatively cheap.

Has anyone else done this, especially anyone else from Michigan? How'd it work?

Any suggestions for where a single guy would want to live? It doesn't have to be in Naples but job opportunities for accountants/IT/software are important (if I can get these infernal allergies to subside so I can think again I can finish up my CPA cert, or go back to software engineering, or any number of things). I'd take at least a couple of weeks vacation to try things out before making any permanent moves of course.

Fine, I'll just stay here and suffer... <sniff>

Actually, it kinda sounds like the mold count in Florida would more than wipe out any improvements in the pollen count, so maybe this wasn't going to work anyhow. I think I'm just doomed.

I suffer from allergies - not terrible but enough -- and they were REALLY bad in New Jersey.
But in Naples, not so bad.
Wouldn't worry about mold - never had a problem with that.
On "high pollen" days I might get the sniffles now, but NOTHING like Jersey.
It's worth it. Nothing's cheap down here, but there's a reason why ppl keep coming down here in droves. And not just for vacation anymore - but to stay permanently.

Why wouldn't you worry about the mold? For those of us with severe mold allergies, that's a big issue. Do you know something about the mold in Florida that leads you to say you wouldn't worry about mold, or do you just not realize what a problem mold can be?

You might want to reconsider Naples/Ft. Myers. I had allergies when I lived up north. Then I moved here. At first, no symptoms. After a year or so I noticed I was suffering during the late summer. Now it is all year. I have never had such awful allergies and they continue to get worse. My doctor has tried every prescription out there with only limited success. The side effects of the meds are awful so I stopped taking them.

Besides worrying about allergies, you should look into the cost of living compared to salaries here. The median home price jumped to almost half a million the past few years but salaries remain considerably lower than the national average. I don't know anyone who hasn't taken a pay cut to live here. Many people have left because they can't afford to live here anymore. And have you heard about 'season' down here?

From September to Easter the snowbirds come. The roads are impossible and traffic fatalities skyrocket because of the sudden increase in volume and the influx of drivers who don't know where they are going. If you like old people who must be on the road during rush hour to catch that early bird special and you don't mind if they drive 35 MPH all the way, by all means, come on down. Ther aren't many social activities for young professionals in the area.

The beach is not great either. The water is highly polluted from runoff (fertilizer & pesticides) which has caused a real problem with algae overgrowth. Do a search on red tide. Talk about allergies. Red tide causes such bad respiratory problems here that the ERs in the hospitals fill up. The polluted water is causing the coral to die off, the fish to become toxic, and the estuaries are becoming inhabitable for the sealife that reside there. The water is undrinkable here. It is yellow (from rust) and it smells (from the runoff that pollutes the drinking supply.)

I just got my MBA in Finance and I am looking to move to southern California. There ae no jobs here, or at least jobs that pay a decent wage. Unfortunately you are probably going to face the same situation as far as career. The decent paying jobs are in the cities where the cost of living is high as well. Oh well, at least it's dry in Irvine and the lack of mold is a relief. The Maleluca trees are not prolific enough to cause problems (Maleluca is a severe allergen.)

I moved here from Northville MI 10 years ago. I had hay fever so bad in Michigan I needed steriod shots to get any relief. Since moving to Naples I have never had any injections of any kind, and only occasionally take an OTC allergy reliever. However, the downside to this is the cost of living in Naples. Even with the bubble bursting in the housing market, the average home here is still one of the highest in the nation and certainly the highest in Florida. Taxes are going through the roof and home insurance is getting tough just to obtain - most insurers are leaving the state because of the hurricanes lately. Me, I'm going to move to Tucson.

We had mixed results. My husband is allergic to many things up north, but is symptom-free down in Broward Co. We've lived here 4 years and are soon moving soon to the Naples area. I've never had allergies before and am starting to get some symptoms. The only way to know for sure is to try.

Gulf Coasters do complain about the red tide respiratory troubles. The toxins don't stay in the water, but are transported on aerosols.(That was news to me.) If you are prone to asthma, bronchitis, etc., you might want to live well inland. The pollution problem needs to be fixed by better policy...something that each citizen needs to express loudly and often to representatives at all levels of government.

S. Florida is expensive, but so are most metropolitan areas along the coastal US. People down here are in shock because prices have risen fast recently, but it's no more of a problem here than Boston, NY, SF, Orange and LA Counties, Ann Arbor, or any other desirable area. It's a fact of life.

P.S. My geography isn't that bad - I do realize that Ann Arbor isn't a coastal city. It is desirable, though, from what I hear. I've only lived in Pellston, MI.

florida helps asthha too

bob wrote:

florida helps asthha too

Is Florida better for allergies? This is what I'm fishing for. My daughter recently felt so much better while we vacationed in Daytona.

Let me know your thoughts

Thank you

Brian, if you are still interested, I will try to help you and others out. I, too, am originally from Jersey, and I've been down here (just outside Ft Myers) for ten years now. I, too, suffered badly in Jersey. It would seem that the industrial pollution affected me more than I ever imagined (I lived just outside NYC). I had always thought that tree and grass pollen got me the worst. For seven years down here I really cleared up, sinusly speaking. ;)Then I discovered Red Tide. It was the year of Hurricane Charley, and also a year I suffered from the worst flu and severe allergies I had ever been through. It turns out that there was almost a year long "bloom" off of South and West Florida. I ended up with pneumonia to boot. The bloom dissipated and I've been back to better health. I now receive bi-weekly red tide alerts emailed to me so I can be extra careful about being outside, as well as pollen counts, which are almost useless btw, unless you happen to be near a counting station.
That said, I'd advise you to take a vacation here to check it out. Red tide hasn't been back for a couple of years, and Sandy (above)seems a bit over the top concerning "all" the so-called pollution. It is absolutely beautiful down here, and the beaches are fine. While you are here, pick up the local news: Ft Myers News-Press and/or Naples Daily News for job openings. Google red tide and learn about it. As for the traffic, yes, it gets bad during "season", but being from north Jersey, it hardly compares to any daily commute.
So, is Florida better for allergy sufferer's? In a word, YES. Remember too that once you are here for several years you will become more prone to suffer from the local allergens. But for me, other than that one year with Red Tide, nothing has ever come close for me.

BrianAA wrote:

It's been suggested, everything else having failed to fix my allergies, that I find somewhere to live that's close to sea level and has lots of water to the west. Southwest Florida sounds like a good fit and pollen.com says the pollen count drops off nicely just south of Fort Myers. Nonstop flights from Detroit Metro to SW Florida International are relatively cheap.
Has anyone else done this, especially anyone else from Michigan? How'd it work?
Any suggestions for where a single guy would want to live? It doesn't have to be in Naples but job opportunities for accountants/IT/software are important (if I can get these infernal allergies to subside so I can think again I can finish up my CPA cert, or go back to software engineering, or any number of things). I'd take at least a couple of weeks vacation to try things out before making any permanent moves of course.

I'm an allergist and suffer from pollen allergies. When I'm in SW FL I am clearly better. The molds are an issue, but if you are mostly pollen sensitive, Marco area is a great place to be. Stay near the water.
Word of warning -- none of us are born with allergies. We develop sensitivities after exposure. There is a risk you will develop new allergies once you've been in FL for a while.
Personally I take allergy shots and medications and live in ragweed heaven with only minor problems. Without full treatment, I am a mess.
Good luck.

My sinus headaches and watery eyes are gone when we vacation in Myrtle Beach SC as well as Fl. and Hi.
I'm in Ct. w/ sinus pressure, burning eyes and one stuffed nostril right now. I don't use prescribed meds because I'm afraid of the side affects and have tried a few otc brands and have noticed that I feel crappy from being overly dried up or something weird with my forehead, any suggestions for something that just relieves the problems without a trade off. Thanks, KB

I spent early childhood in Tenn/Ga, my high school years in SE FL, college in Tallahassee, a decade in Tampa with visits to SW FL, and the last 8 years in the mid-Atlantic. I've had severe pollen (trees, weeds, grasses) pet, and mold allergies and asthma since early childhood. I thought I had outgrown my asthma and experienced tremendous improvements with my allergies when my family moved to SE FL. Went from months of suffering to a few days now and then. Tallahassee was more like before moving to Florida, and I had problems in Tampa for several weeks in the spring and fall. Moving to the mid-Atlantic region has brought back the months (Feb-June/Sept-Nov)of suffering and the return of asthma with greater frequency and severity. I've been taking allergy shots for the last 3 years and take 3 prescription and 1-2 OTC meds just to be able to function. I frequently travel to Tampa to visit family and always feel better. There are no trees, weeds, or grass growing in the ocean. I'd say that has a lot to do with my experiences and living within 10-15 miles of the coast has been best for me; the further south the better. If you have problems with indoor allergies (pets, mites, etc) then that has to be dealt with separately.

I was born and raised in Florida. I have lived in Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, Daytona Beach, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. Why so many cities you ask? My husband and daughter have severe allergies to trees, mold, grass and weeds. We have tried prescriptions, shots, herbal derivatives, accupuncture, etc. The ONLY place they are stable is in South Florida. From Naples down! Florida is not known for the "smog" that they have up north, but we do have naturally occurring pollen year-round. We either have to stay in South Florida or move above Georgia in order to live a "comfortable" life. It basically comes down to quality of life and not rushing to emergency rooms because you cannot breath. We HATE South Florida because it is expensive, too many northerners have moved here and people have become rude, money-greedy and dirty. We have been flying to Charlotte and Nashville three times per year to see if my family can breathe there as well as here since we want out! Good luck to you. Consider everything before the move! We know......we are experts at moving!

I strongly agree with AIA who posted above in May 2007. Being allergic to MOLD is a huge problem and Florida can often get extremely high levels of mold. For example, while it is not all that often that the New York area gets MOLD levels higher than 5,000, Florida often gets MOLD levels higher than 30,000 and sometimes 50,000. When I told my allergist that I wanted to move to Florida, he laughed. He said, "yeah, with your mold allergies???!!!--No Florida Diandra, no Florida".

I moved to St. Petersburg from the Lake Ontario south shoreline in NY in Oct 2006 when I got engaged. Ive had allergies all my life. When I was a kid, it used to be that once we left NY my allergies went away; not so anymore. I am in the process of undergoing allergy testing due to the rise in asthma related problems I have been experiencing since Ive been here. Oak is definitely a major allergy for me as Ive found myself in ERs in Feb 07 and O8 when Oak is the predominant pollen here.

As for mold, the mold count for Tampa today is 13,000. This is rainy season, and it rains just about every day now so Im sure the mold count will skyrocket.

Id say that it depends on what you are allergic to if Florida will be a good place for you or not. But then, like someone else suggested, you may also develop new allergies. I will be interested in seeing what the results are from the allergy testing being conducted now.

Moved to the Crystal River area in January. Allergies were horrible. I was highly allergic to oaks, pines and malelucas. Couldn't breathe. Returned to Pennsylvania in June.

I seem to be the opposite! I live just outside Ft Myers (have for over 10 years). I came from New Jersey where I had NO allergy symptoms but now that I'm in Florida, I have HORRIBLE allergies...had my allergies tested...as far as pollen, I'm allergic to just about anything that grows! Same with Mold spores too! I am currently under doctor's care for my allergies! NOTHING seems to help! Sorry!

I learned one thing. Never permanently move to an area until you have visited there every season of the year, then you will know if allergies will be a problem. Too many people I have encountered in Florida were miserable from allergies.