Allergy Information!

jackkelly wrote:

Hello, I'm an American citizen moving to Malta in a couple weeks. I'll be there from October to June living in a tent outdoors. I have pretty bad seasonal allergies (allergic rhinitis) here during fall and spring seasons. Do I have to worry about this when I move, and if so during what months will I need to medicate?

Where are you and your tent staying?
Depending on the area you may get dust and pollen. A lot of places have mould but may not be a problem if staying in a tent ( although your clothes may get mouldy).

Torrential rain may also be a problem if you camp in the wrong place!

Terry

Hi Jack,

welcome to the forum.

I presume you will be camping on an official site as camping elsewhere is not allowed in Malta.Choose your tent site very carefully to avoid flooding. When it rains it can really come down.

Compared to Philadelphia you will find the pollen season start very,very early and dust is always around unless it is actually raining. The plants flowering will be a lot different to the ones you are used too !

Malta is one of the top countries world-wide on allergies . in particular due to the dust generated on the island and also blown in from the Sahara.

You will probably have to medicate the whole period if you have a bad allergy.

Cheers
Ricky

ricky wrote:

dust is always around unless it is actually raining.

when its mud

Good one George!

Especially when you are out walking on the blue clay and mud when it's wet -))

You may wish to consider buying and eating local honey. However, check that it is truly local as much that is sold here is made from a variety of EU sources. There is a proven link between eating local honey to prevent so called 'hay fever' and other associated conditions. You must be made of strong stuff, staying in a tent,; no way would I do that in those months!!Have you seen some of the storms you can experience out here?
I'd have a look at some of these clips if I were you.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q … FQvtTY_1gY

tearnet wrote:

Where are you and your tent staying?
Depending on the area you may get dust and pollen. A lot of places have mould but may not be a problem if staying in a tent ( although your clothes may get mouldy).

Torrential rain may also be a problem if you camp in the wrong place!

Terry

I'm staying in St Julian's, and I don't mind the occasional storm! I've camped out in some pretty rough storms before and actually really enjoyed it.

redmik wrote:

You may wish to consider buying and eating local honey. However, check that it is truly local as much that is sold here is made from a variety of EU sources. There is a proven link between eating local honey to prevent so called 'hay fever' and other associated conditions. You must be made of strong stuff, staying in a tent,; no way would I do that in those months!!Have you seen some of the storms you can experience out here?
I'd have a look at some of these clips if I were you.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q … FQvtTY_1gY

I never knew that about the honey, but it does make sense considering the pollen content. In America, most of the honey on grocery store shelves isn't actually honey by the world's standards because of a filtering process that removes the pollen. Is this also a problem in Europe? And those storms look pretty intense, but I've camped out in storms before, I actually really enjoyed it! A little more waterproofing on my tent and I'll be good to go!

Hi Jack,

I hope you don't mind me being nosy but where in St. Julians ,of all places, are you going to put up a tent for several months.

Camping rough in Malta is forbidden anyway and for your residency you will need to show a rental contract with an address! Will it be 'tent 1, St. Julians' ?

Or are you putting it up in a friends garden ?

Cheers
Ricky

I'm staying with a volunteer organization so hopefully I won't run into problems when applying for the residence permit!

Hi jack,

ok , but still don't see any site where you could camp out in St. Julians ! St. Julians is totally built up , it's like camping in downtown Philadelphia -)) Are you sure the camp site is going to be in St. Julians?

I remember your posts about organic farming and WWOOF and the Vincent farm. But they are in Zebbieh/Mgarr and not in St. Julians.

Cheers
Ricky

If that's the case I probably will be camped out in Mgarr, the address I was given was in St Julian's, maybe they have some office or administrative building in St. Julian's. Sorry for the confusion, I don't know the area yet!

On a positive note, I had years of suffering from severe Hayfever whilst living in the UK and I have had NO Hayfever symptoms at all since I have been living (3 years) in Malta.

Well that's good to hear! Hopefully it won't be too bad for me

Hi,

I am the other way round. I never suffered from hayfever until I got here. There is something in late March/early April that gets me every year!

I'm bringing a ton of Allegra just to be safe.