My 16-month theanine self-experiment

For anyone looking for a sleep supplement, before you go down the rabbit hole of Theanine, Mg, etc. Try an OTC Azelastine or Fluticasone nasal spray for a month.

Turns out my chronic poor quality, restless sleep was a dust mite allergy that I should have figured out and treated a decade ago. Would wake up with a stuffy nose and very dry mouth but didn't have too many issues during the day. I was allergic to my bed.

Been using antihistamines, and a dehumidifier for several months now and sleeping better than I have in years. Given how extremely common mite allergies are there's got to be a lot of folks with undiagnosed issues here.

Thanks, but I'm still missing how I would properly diagnose myself. These symptoms might be all too common ... Anything more reliable?

You should consider a dust mite vacuum with UV. I bought one on Amazon (this one but you can check YouTube reviews for others).

https://www.amazon.com/JIGOO-Vacuum-Cleaner-Dust-Sensor/dp/B...

I was surprised how much dust this thing picked up (my sheets get washed often, but it’s hard to clean the mattress itself). Back in the day people used to sun dry their mattresses but no one does that these days.

This dust mite vacuum picked up half a canister of gunk from my dead skin and environmental dust that has accumulated over the years (and it has a light scattering sensor that tells you how much dust is being sucked up). My nose was clear after sleeping on a vacuumed bed. I now vacuum my bed once a week, and it has really helped.

Vacuuming your bed and other fabric surfaces also feels therapeutic. For me, it’s like watching one of those powerwashing videos. You feel cleansed after.

An allergy clinic can run these tests for you.

Been doing immunotherapy for allergies for 3 years and it is a complete game changer. Last year was the first year I could breathe through my nose for the entire year. No more stuffy months.

You can always go to an allergist for a skin prick test.

I'd say hallmark symptom would be chronic night time congestion worsening while in bed (an area of the house that has a very high density of mite allergen).

But running a bit of differential diagnosis on this,

* Inflammatory & Allergic Conditions (allergic/non-allergic rhinitis, chronic rhinosinusitis, turbinate hypertrophy, nasal polyps).

* Obstructive Sleep Apnea (do a STOP-BANG).

* Structural Blockages & Airway Obstructions (deviated septum, adenoid/tonsil hypertrophy, nasal valve collapse, turbinate hypertrophy).

* Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD/LPR).

Got to say after figuring this out I am tempted to ditch the western style mattress and replace it with something like a Japanese futon. I assume it'd be much easier to wash.

In the meantime I need to purchase a mattress encasement, I put one on my pillow and that alone helped a bunch.

Long term maybe desensitization is an option but I'm too lazy for that atm.

Vacuuming one's bed makes complete sense to me, but what is special about the model you linked to that makes it specifically a 'mattress' vacuum cleaner? Many canister vacuum cleaners are more powerful and can be used elsewhere in the home too (with a different attachment for hygiene, of course). There's the UV light, but I can't see how this is effective when used only for short periods of time. The dust won't be removed with it and the mites will withstand it too.

Not wanting to make you feel bad about your purchase, but is there something unique about this kind of device that gives it an edge over conventional vacuum cleaners?

I have asthma triggered by Volatile Organic Compounds. I good activated charcoal room air filter did wonders for me.

Thanks for this idea. Can you recommend a particular model? A quick search found mostly just vacs. I have a vac(s). Perhaps I just get in the habit of treating my bed with UV?

I jumped on the idea but then immediately came to the same conclusion. Now I’m thinking I stick with the vac(s) I have, but get a separate UV. And UV the bed while I’m working. Maybe?

Your thoughts?

Indoor air quality these days is particularly awful.

Was reading that house dust is actually a major source of microplastics aswell.

Get a mattress encasement, it's like a HEPA filter bag for the mattress (cuts off the mites food supply and preventing allergens becoming airborne).

Skips the whole trying to clean porous foam problem.

I read that mites can't survive temperatures above 60C, and wondered then about just a big plastic bag around the item then fill it from a hot air source (hair dryer, fan heater)?

I think the problem would be temperature control, as you don't want to damage the item, but need to maintain an even, specific air temperature, you'd need turbulence. Then vacuum clean afterwards.

Maybe a wallpaper remover style device with a hot air source instead of steam??

Yeh I've thought about whether it'd be possible/safe to use something like an "overclocked" electric blanket to sterilize the mattress daily.

They also need humidity (~50% RH), hence why I got the dehumidifer, which has definitely knocked them back.

Wouldn't changing the matress help? Also, if you using a pillow, consider keep them under the sun every few days. You can even keep the matress under the sun, maybe on the terrace if you have access to it. Pillows can also be washed as well.

Telling you from my own experience. It could work for you if you haven't tried already.

There's sweet FA sun for six months out of the year here in central europe so not a viable option.

You can use a conventional vacuum if it has enough suction (most of these dust mite vacuums are rated at 13 kPa, a sweet spot for extraction without damaging fabric), and if you don’t mind using the same vacuum attachment on other surfaces. These also have rotating polyurethane fins that go close to the surface which helps in agitation — most vacuum attachments have plastic brushes which I suppose will do the job but possibly slightly less effectively.

It’s not a mattress vacuum so much as a dust mite vacuum that can be used on couches, fabric chairs etc. It’s also handheld and is specialized for the job, so it’s more ergonomic to hold.

The UV I can’t really vouch for but can’t hurt. I personally would not run a conventional vacuum on my mattress because I use the same vacuum on less hygienic surfaces, but if you have a dedicated attachment why not — I feel it would be less effective (because in my experience, the suction is often diminished when you use an attachment) but have no data. If you have a high end vacuum this is less of a factor, but most low end vacuums like Hoovers aren’t designed to deliver full suction with attachments.

I’m happy with my purchase because I feel that given it’s small size, I’m more likely to vacuum more frequently. I’m less likely to want to bust out the big vacuum.

Just a data point. I have a mattress encasement which has never been removed (I got it to protect against bedbugs). Dust (dead human skin) still accumulates on the surface. It might not go into the mattress, but it will be on the surface. Since the encasements are never meant to be removed, vacuuming the mattress (with encasement on) still makes sense.

I did a desensitization and it helped a little bit. Despite the regular washing and using a dust mite vacuum I'm still having a hard time getting good sleep though. At least my nose isn't bloody in the morning anymore, so I guess that's something.

I got the exact same idea sadly most electric blanket i could find on amazon where kinda small and had disappointingly low heating power...

It's just a vacuum with an HEPA filter, correct ?

I had the same experience, it just occurred to me that I could vaccum the mattress with the for-textile head and was really surprised with the amount of dust and its texture (transparent dust holder is satisfying hehe)

Incidentally, the author made an (counter-)review of air purifiers : https://dynomight.net/ikea-purifier/

I got the IKEA purifier with the activated charcoal filter after reading that

Antihistamines could even work without any allergy since they are typically used as mild sleeping aids. They are also used often off-label for stress reduction. [0]

[0] https://fherehab.com/learning/surprising-antihistamine-anxie...

I find the steroids even more effective but they seem to exacerbate my anxiety after a few days though. Still haven't figured that out.

With regular use antihistamines quite quickly lose their drowsiness effects. But it's definitely a nice side effect for sleeping challenged folks. Azelastine is a second generation antihistamine so not particularly drowsiness inducing.

One of the interesting Azelastine quirks, is it's apparently somewhat antiviral [1].

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38140540

Pretty much my conclusion as-well.

I guess they just don't want folks giving themselves burns during sleep.

AliExpress as always is tempting [1], but you'd have to be incredibly careful about regulating temperature [2] and adding safety interlocks that'd make falling asleep with it active, or forgetting to turn it off impossible.

1. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007963462500.html

2. Don't blame me when your house burns down, I warned you.

Ok. What do you put between the plastic and the sheets? A standard mattress cover? Won’t the mites just go there as that’s where the dead skin, etc will be?

The plastic would also trap heat between me and it.

I asked above as well, but since you have direct experience, what do you have between the plastic and you? Aside from the fitted sheet? Wouldn’t a regular mattress cover just attract mites as well?

> Prolonged use can lead to increased tolerance, reduced effectiveness, and potential side effects.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/should-i-worry-...

> Theoretically, these drugs might increase the risk of dementia by blocking a particular brain neurotransmitter or increasing brain inflammation. In the past decade, several studies have suggested that these pills might increase the risk of dementia, while other studies have found no risk. And all the studies are inherently flawed.

> Would wake up with a stuffy nose and very dry mouth

I would suggest people look for this symptom first before jumping onto nasal corticosteroids.

Fluticasone and others have low systemic absorption and low side effects in theory, but there are several studies that found some suppression of the HPA axis similar to taking small doses of oral corticosteroids like prednisone. The effect is small, but I wouldn’t suggest trying it out as a 1-month experiment unless you have specific symptoms of stuffy nose in the mornings.

Only Anticholinergic drugs appear to be associated dementia (but as noted the evidence is very weak).

Older first generation antihistamines such as Diphenhydramine (Benadryl), Doxylamine (Nyquil) have substantial Anticholinergic activity.

A lot of the second generation antihistamines have no significant Anticholinergic activity, eg. Azelastine.

Benadryl and Nyquil are terrible drugs. Why they haven't been phased out is beyond me. At least Azelastine is now OTC in the USA.

“Before trying a basic mineral with no side effects, try a corticosteroid for a whole month”

??? You have that backwards.

nice! I recently got dust mites out of my home completely, and it was a miraculous upgrade to my health, including several symptoms that are outside the definitions of allergic asthma/eczema/rhinitis.

One important thing people are missing about dust mite allergy is the many ways in which they directly damage your immune system and body, outside of the usual frame of "allergies" which is based on type 2 hypersensitivity.

This article is a great introduction to the harms they cause at the molecular level: https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(18)30848-0/ful...

I also wrote a free guide to help people get dust mites out of their house:

https://dustmiteguide.com

I’m really glad to see this side discussion on dust mite allergy happening here. I’ve had dust mite allergy since childhood, and I even had adenoid removal surgery at age ~7 to address it. Nothing seems to help.

I think dust mite allergy imitates some of the symptoms of sleep apnea, because your nasal passage gets blocked at night, waking you in a similar way to choking.

I’ve reached my mid-30s, largely ignoring the symptoms, but over the past few months I’ve been experiencing a truly terrible bout of insomnia.

I think it’s time to take the allergy seriously again. I’ll follow your guide and make some changes. If I could suggest an improvement to your guide: it may be useful to have a section (perhaps chapter 5?) on symptom relief. I’ve had friends say that a neti pot works wonders, for example.

Either way thanks for posting!

There's an interesting "subcategory" of sleep apnea under the moniker of UARS. I'm pretty confident that a big chunk of folks in that community actually have allergenic rhinitis (or structural issues).

I actually had a home sleep study done before I figured out it was allergies. Came back negative for OSA but my RIP [1] band data showed a lot of paradoxical breathing and flow limitation indicating significant respiratory effort. So more or less struggling to breathe all night long.

The poor sleep quality really destroys your quality of life.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respiratory_inductance_plethys...

Cortisone is the main stress hormone, of course it makes you anxious

Correct me if I'm wrong, desloratadine won't pass the BBB so I guess it shouldn't cause dementia

I have to write this here it might help someone: I had the worst case of mite allergy since childhood - no smells let alone no breathing from my nose. 5 years ago I started immunotherapy - my good dr basically injected me with the allergen every week for 1-2 years. After that, I got a monthly injection with the max dosage for like a year. I haven't had this allergy ever since. I can smell again and breathe from my nose. My dr has healed this awful disease.

Modern medicine sometimes works like magic. If you have this disease know that you don't have to suffer this bs. Try to fix it with the help of your dr.

As someone who uses a plastic mattress cover I can answer your question: yes, if you let dust build up, mites can and do start to live on the fitted sheet that you put around the mattress cover. However, it is of course easier to wash just the fitted sheet than to remove dust from within a mattress, so I think that a cover is still beneficial.

I'm not sure what you mean by trapping heat - once there are two normal cotton fitted sheets around it, I don't feel the plastic mattress cover at all.

Obviously there are different species of dust mites, but the ones I'm familiar with are nearly invincible. They are able to cling onto smooth surfaces even with a vacuum cleaner right over them. I've noticed that they are 'directional' in their grip though: when the vacuum cleaner is behind their direction of travel, they'll hold fast, but if you move the vacuum in front of them they'll be sucked up. Thus, drawing the vacuum nozzle back and forth repeatedly seems to me to be essential for reliably getting rid of them.

As for UV, I have no idea. They seem to survive on surfaces that get exposed to sunlight though windows, but apparently glass blocks most UV radiation. You'll have to make a new post with your results if you try it :)

Is there a reason to get this over a waterproof bed bug protector? Which you can wash.

Appreciate the resource -- I think my biggest question from reading it: How can you actually tell if you have dust mite problems? How can you tell if they've gotten better or not? How can I tell if I've hit a point where things are about as good as they're going to get? etc.

Look into something like flexwatt tape. Maybe run it during the day when your not sleeping. In my mind, they probably use something similar inside heated blankets with some kind of limiter/thermostat.

Do your research though!! I'm not sure if flexwatt tape could ignite your mattress, but you would definitely want to know for sure yourself beforehand!

There are ways to control heat though; I'm familiar with using flexwatt tape with reptile enclosures, hooked up to a thermostat with a probe in the habitat for temp control. Maybe some math, like desired_temp = watts_supplied * feet_of_fw_tape, where the watts_supplied is the independent variable you adjust based on the required feet_of_fw_tape for your mattress to get the dependent variable desired_temp. Probably include a fail safe, but I'm no electrician, proceed at your own risk.

They do sell self contained fire extinguishers you can hang on your ceiling that deploy automatically at a certain temperature, ideally putting out fire sources they are hung above. Nice to have around for things like this.

Desloratadine is considered to have a low anticholinergic burden, and of course not crossing the BBB readily should reduce risks further.

But it is one of the more anticholinergic second gen antihistamines, make of that what you will, still miles behind something like Benadryl. Fexofenadine is apparently a less anticholinergic alternative.

This causes mold on mattresses due to humidity. I had to throw out a latex mattress.

This causes mold by trapping humidity. Had to throw out a latex mattress be careful with full plastic.

In my country we used to use woolen matresses, which would be completely emptied and washed twice a year, and the wool would be dried in the sun for a good two days, then whipped with a long stick for couple hours, and then filled back in the washed cover again. Nowadays it's very rare unfortunately.

It’s just the fitted sheet.

The encasement I have is actually not a plastic wrap but a zippered tight weave synthetic fabric (polyester).

https://a.co/d/3ut09wO

It’s suppose to prevent bedbugs and others from setting up shop inside the mattress but the surface is fair game. The idea being it’s easier to clean the surface than the insides.

I have had the encasement for years. No problems with humidity but I also live in a less humid area (41-45% rh all year round).

So a dust mite vaccuum still makes sense.

Also interesting fact: dust mites themselves are harmless to humans. It’s their fecal matter (after digesting our dead skin) that are allergens.

You are aware of mattress covers for Dust Mites? And there is an enzyme additive for laundry. Finally a hand steamer for upholstered stuff. I had bad hives from allergies to them, and a medical resident suggested a clearing of all fabric in my life, as best as I could.

Another simple hack is to exit your outside the home outer clothes when you get home. There are virulent extra allergic dust mites, that has really helped my family. And these products can help with laundry at lower temps and harder to launder items. https://elfbrands.com/collections/elf-brands

I think that was Diphenhydramine (benadryl) that may have that long term risk via being an Anticholinergic.

Great example of forgotten cultural wisdom, absolutely would have reduced dust mite pressure.

nice another project to the pile ;p

>I read that mites can't survive temperatures above 60C, and wondered then about just a big plastic bag around the item then fill it from a hot air source (hair dryer, fan heater)?

People do something similar to kill bedbugs, I think they make specialized equipment to do so, but it might just be something like an off the shelf heat gun.

I have asthma symptoms from dust mites, and discovered that sniffing items creates a reaction in my lungs that is pretty sensitive to the amount of allergen in the item. Dust mite allergens also have a distinct but subtle smell you can learn.

Regarding whether or not your health issues are caused by dust mites, if you have any of the allergic disease, or if you have a tested dust mite allergy, it is likely they are causing problems. Disease severity is also associated with dust mite exposure.

Basically, the worse you have allergies, the more likely it's dust mites.

It's an almost certainty you home has dust mites and their allergens, unless you live in a very dry climate.

My advice is to create conditions in your house in which dust mites cannot thrive, which is relatively easy to verify with hygrometers. Over time, this will lead to lead to lower allergen levels, particularly if you are proactive about removing the ones that are currently there.

I tried to send a message to your the feedback email address on your dustmite guide site but gmail told me it was undeliverable because the address was not found.

What I emailed about was asking what you meant by biweekly for washing bedding - is that twice a week or every other week?

I doubt a bit of UV on a vacuum does anything to a mite. They're kinda like spiders with a hard shell after all. One study [1] found you need one hour of hard UV-C exposure to kill most mites. That would probably also degrade the textiles and foam of your mattress, and probably does not even reach most mites/eggs in between threads and foam pores.

1 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3609379/

thanks for letting me know my email fwding is not working. Twice a week. Be sure to wash as hot as your machine can do. I found that the highest setting on my front loading LG washer does 158f and is more effective than the next hottest setting.

In the early days, populations of eggs and protonymphs are high and perhaps you haven't learned to control humidity in different weather conditions, washing 2x a week will be effective imho.

But if you can maintain low humidity for a longer periods, the dust mite populations in your home will go down and frequent washing will be less important.

An air purifier has the same effect and doesn’t require inhaling chemicals. With one i’d back to breathing through my nose instead of through my mouth.