Have I Developed Hotel Room Allergy?

March 13, 2016 7:28 AM

Since last autumn, the day after I'm back home from a hotel stay, my sinuses go nuts. Nothing happens at the hotels. What's going on?

The hotel stays -- Hiltons and Marriotts -- have happened about every 3-4 weeks. Different hotels in different parts of the U.S., with different weather. Sometimes I've flown, sometimes I've driven.

Stays have varied from one night to five nights.

Here's the pattern: Come home. Wake up the next morning with noticeable sinus pressure, congestion, cough from the drip. Gets worse quickly, then slowly subsides over 1-2 weeks. Night coughing is really annoying -- debilitating -- and is the last to go. No throat soreness, just that tickle thing.

Once it clears at home, it does not return until the next hotel stay.

Tried the typical OTC things: Claritin, Allegra, etc. Not sure if they help.

I am not otherwise plagued by allergies.

I've also stayed in private homes in the same time frame and none of these symptoms occurred when I came home.

So, something's changed. Is it me? Or is it the hotels? Have they all switched to some new kind of cleaner or something?

I know I can ask for an "allergy-free" room and I may do that next time. Also wandering if starting to take an OTC a few days before a trip might be useful.

posted by justcorbly to Health & Fitness (14 answers total)

I live in pollen-rich Louisiana and take Zyrtec every day to survive. Whenever I travel, I get a bit of relief from my allergies but, when I return, it's like a slap in the face, like I have to get used to my own air all over again. I try to make it better by cleaning my house and changing filters before I leave, and I ask my mom to come over and move the air around a bit but, nothing really helps. I just have to suffer through for a few days back while I'm planning my next trip or wishing for a bubble to live in.
posted by myselfasme at 7:47 AM on March 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

The allergens are generally in the place you're at when you get the symptoms. If you go to a hotel for five days, come home, and feel like crap the next morning I'd be really surprised to find out the allergens were somewhere other than your home.
posted by SMPA at 8:00 AM on March 13, 2016 [13 favorites]

I live in Virginia, also an allergy 'heaven', and never get allergies unless I stay in a hotel. I think it must be some combination of the cleaning products used.
I've not had the 1-2 week annoyance that you describe, though if I did I think I would take a prophylactic dose or two of OTC before traveling!
posted by PlantGoddess at 8:03 AM on March 13, 2016

Yeah, the allergen must be in your house (pollen, dust, mold, second-hand cigarette smoke?). Probably you build up a tolerance while you're exposed to it daily, but when you return from an absence your immune system overcompensates on producing histamenes. Have you ever been tested by an allergist to find out exactly what you're allergic to?
posted by oh yeah! at 8:23 AM on March 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

Could it be the copious amounts of bleach that hotels use in their cleaning? That would explain why taking allergy meds doesn't help (I think?).

Have you tried any of the allergy friendly rooms that Hilton offers to see if that helps?
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 9:31 AM on March 13, 2016

Hey I just got back from four days at a Hilton and have the symptoms you described! My take is basically that their rooms are actually

- hyperclean as opposed to my dusty place
- vaguely bleach-y and scented with various things
- air conditioned which dries out my nasal passages

So while I am at home I usually am sort of used to whatever the stuff is, the hotels are more clean-room style and then when I sleep with AC on (b/c it's quieter) my sinuses get wrecked and this primes them for flipping out when I get back to my normal-allergen-level house.
posted by jessamyn at 10:03 AM on March 13, 2016 [3 favorites]

In terms of treatment, have you ever tried sinus rinsing? There is a product called NeilMed that is not as awkward as the Neti Pot. It's made a huge difference in my allergies. I wonder if it would help you flush out all the pollens or dust or whatever from your sinuses.
posted by radioamy at 10:19 AM on March 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I think the allergen is probably at your house, something that you adjust to when consistently exposed (happens with me and my cats).

Maybe try pre-dosing with OTC allergy meds: take a zyrtec when you leave the hotel and for the first few days ast home.

I'd also think about scheduling a doctor's appointment. If you can ID what you're allergic to, maybe you can minimize it at home.
posted by ghost phoneme at 10:58 AM on March 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

This happens to me. It's because the hotel room is way cleaner than your house in terms of dust, etc. (No disrespect to your housekeeping! Hotel rooms are cleaned daily! My own house definitely is not.)

Do you have anti-dust-mite pillow cases and mattress cover? It helps my similar allergies SO much.
posted by Countess Sandwich at 1:04 PM on March 13, 2016

I also have vague unknown sinus issues now and then, and I'm also inclined to think that it's something at your own house that you're reacting to. Not that you're a bad housekeeper; but a hotel room is going to be cleaned way more frequently than your house just because of he nature of the business, so your sinuses get a break and then you get home and they're all "oh crap we forgot about this" and they freak out a couple days while you re-acclimate.

Try getting a small tabletop air purifier for your bedroom, so at least that one room in your house will be purer air no matter what. I got one for about 40 bucks and i turn it on high when I get home from work and then down low before I go to sleep, and it runs all night; it has helped tremendously.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:38 PM on March 13, 2016

If dryness seems to be a factor:
The air in hotel rooms is notoriously dry. Putting 2-3 inches of water in the tub before you go to sleep helps.
posted by Coffeemate at 5:41 PM on March 13, 2016

It your house closed while you are gone?

If you are getting sick at home that's where I think the allergen is. You leave and the air stops circulating for a few days and everything concentrates. They you get home and turn on the HVAC and all the allergens circulate.
posted by 26.2 at 9:15 PM on March 13, 2016

There is a product called NeilMed that is not as awkward as the Neti Pot. It's made a huge difference in my allergies. I wonder if it would help you flush out all the pollens or dust or whatever from your sinuses.

I have used the NeilMed and found it to be okay, but an easier-to-use and more effective version of the same principle (IMO, IME) is Ocean Complete. YMMV, and maybe try them both.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 6:20 AM on March 14, 2016

Allergies are not necessarily immediate; in some cases they build up. So, for me, sometimes I'll note gentle symptoms the night or a few days before they make an indisputable appearance.

I don't think hotel rooms are cleaner than people's homes. They're loaded with dust mites. Every American-style hotel I've stayed in has triggered my allergies. They inevitably have carpets, sometimes backed with foam, thick window dressings with linings, myriad overstuffed pillows, dust ruffles attached to heavy bedding, and all this in draft-proof rooms, so energy efficient there are no natural leaks to let in a little bit of real oxygen. A lot of the fabric is fire treated, or waterproofed. Cleaning staff are inevitably using industrial chemicals. Carpets, in particular, are often cited for chemicals that trigger allergies for a lot of people. But it doesn't really matter, the entire scene is a perfect storm if you're susceptible.

So I always try to avoid hotel chains like the ones you describe. When I can't, I open a window and leave it open for the duration. I put a clean towel over my pillow every night (very important!), and keep my face away from all the thick bedding while I sleep. I also make a point of stashing all the many other pillows someplace far from the bed. Between that and allergy meds, I do all right, but given the chance I'd stay at a B&B any day.

Any chance you could arrange to stay at a more "home-like" B&B next time you travel?
posted by Violet Blue at 10:11 AM on March 14, 2016