Has you ever became ill after using a line-trimmer?
The last two times that I've trimmed growth that was as tall I was, I ended up inadvertently inhaling some of the pulverized debris, and each night after that, I've ended up with a brief upper-respiratory infection.
I figured is was the inhalation of mold or fungus that caused it.
I was just curious if this could be a common thing when line-trimming massive amounts of vegetation.
Either way, I'm going to have to start remembering to use dust-mask from now on.
Not so much from string trimming, but when I use the lawnmower it kicks up a lot of dust and then for the next couple days I sneeze a lot. Or when I do other landscaping projects that raise the vegetation dust I get what feels like upper respiratory allergies. So I wonder if you are also having a kind of allergic reaction. I take Claritin (over the counter) and that helps a little.
That statement seems to contradict itself. If I *don't* have a strong immune system, then my histamine response should be weak. If my histamine response was too *strong*, then that would be a manifestation of an allergic reaction, an *overactive* immune system.
Anyway, the symptoms took at least 6 hours to reach its peak, long after the job was done, and the only thing that seems like a reasonable explanation to me is that mold/fungus had infested my upper respiratory tract, and my immune system reacted swiftly and dealt with the intrusion.
If it were simply an allergic reaction, I would think that the symptoms would have developed far more rapidly, and then resolved in a similar fashion.
Mowers never bother me, even the dustiest of conditions. They simply cut and throw the vegetation, whereas my 4-cycle trimmer does a good job of pulverizing everything into a fine mist.
What were your symptoms? Earlier you wrote it was an upper respiratory infection, but infection is more like a diagnosis, not a symptom. For example, hard to breathe, pain anywhere, sneezing, stuffy head, sore throat etc.? When I get the allergies from dust kicked up while pulverizing vegetation, my symptoms are a stuffy head, lots of sneezing, and my voice changes. It feels very similar to a cold.
Doing much of anything to the green stuff outside bothers me. (Why did I buy a house again?) Not just breathing in the dust/pollen/whatever, but even skin contact. It does seem to bother me less in hot muggy weather, when I am sweating enough to block easy entry to the skin pores, I guess. Or maybe the pollen is just at a low point by then, I dunno.
Anyway, a dust mask and safety glasses to keep stuff from spraying right into your eyes may help. I always jump right into a long shower right after working outside, that seems to minimize the symptoms.
What I really need is a steady supply of teenage kids that work cheap, but there do not seem to be any of those around here. And I'm too cheap to pay the $50+ for a lawn service. (That is the old fellow in a beat up pickup- the guys in the shiny trucks start at twice that.) But if you are bothered that bad, it may be worth it to you to make arrangements with somebody in the area to at least do a rough-cut a few times a summer, or even just as needed when you call them a couple days before you arrive.
Your 'temporary house' must be in an isolated area. Around here, even in this barely-governed rural township, once weeds and such get over knee high, and any neighbors or passers-by can see them and complain, they mow it and bill you.
Hi, Histamine is a result of your immune system not knowing what the allergen is(i.e. does not know how to take care of it). Maybe you have a genetic weakness in your bronchial passage. Knowing genetic weakness is very important for a person. I know mine.
It is a good answer. If the OP didn't let it get so tall there would be significantly less stuff blasted all over. So one possible remedy might be to have someone else attend to it when they aren't there.
Now, please tell me how you KNOW that there is not a genetic weakness in your bronchial passage, or anywhere else for that matter. Or am I saying this to someone that "regulars" already know to be a nutcase?
It could be allergies, toxic plants, fumes from the trimmer. I got sick enough to have to go to the emergency room a few years ago after trimming a lot of Azaleas I did not know the sap from them was poisonous.
Hi, Family history? Chronic problem? Always same part of your body bothers you? As far as I know we all have certain weakness. Have ever seen anything PERFECT in this world?
Well, the blame has certainly been established. Now let's get on to the good part, the guilt.
I saw nothing in the way of positive statements that said the same thing or offered suggestions: You could mow it more often; you could apply herbicide; etc, etc, etc.
When you insert why into an answer, it loses any credibility.
Maybe the OP is disabled, like myself. Maybe he's working all the time to keep up with the Obamas. Maybe he's spread thin with all his responsibilities.
Some solutions: Don't let it get so high. Wet it down to keep the dust down when you are in there. Go buy a $25 respirator with changeable cartridges and know that you're not taking that stuff in. All that dust can't be good for you, no matter what is in there. And there is some rodent and insect particles in there that can downright kill you. Hantavirus. Valley fever, and a dozen other things.
I used to drive forklift at the Las Vegas Convention Center. For years, we'd get a gift show where people from all over the world would exhibit. Called ASD/AMD. I would always get sick after that show, from what I believed was inhaling particles off the merchandise and crates that were made in dirt shops all over the world, then transported as general cargo.
I wear a dust mask when I just do my weed eater. Well, not a dust mask, but a two cartridge respirator.
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