List Price: $18.95
Amazon Price: $7.84
Average Customer Rating: 
(13 reviews)
Editorial Review: It's a world we barely see, but it is teeming with life. In the dust of a typical house, carpet beetles, mites, silverfish, and other creatures live and die, producing new generations every few months. Mold, bacteria, and yeast lurk undetected in heating and cooling systems. Debris dispersed into the air from these organisms can cause runny noses, itchy eyes, coughing, headaches, and breathing difficulties. Some people, especially those made highly sensitive by allergies, suffer from devastating health problems and the worry that, as one such sufferer lamented, "My house is killing me!"
Scrutinizing house dust and air samples with a microscope, indoor air quality expert Jeffrey C. May has spent his career helping people identify what's causing their chronic health problems. In My House Is Killing Me! he draws on the dramatic personal stories of his clients' suffering and relief to help readers understand the links between environmental factors and problems like allergies and a...
Customer Reviews:
0 of 0 found this review helpful:
Worked for my family, 2007-01-10
My daughters have a range of chronic respiratory issues to simple allergies. This book helped me realize what I can do for them and it has made a difference. The main point is to find the source of the allergen before purchasing solutions. We thought our air purifier and humidifier were great machines to help with cleansing and adding moisture to the indoor air. Boy, were we wrong. We may have actually been spewing out mold particles and distributing dust mite fecal material into the air. The first part of the book was hard to read because it shows the common causes of allergies - dust mites and other little creatures that may be in your pillow at this moment. The book made suggestions from simple to the complex. Some of our changes were simple like using a wet mop on our floors, adding dust-mite-proof pillow cases, and running stuffed animals through the dryer. Fortunately, we didn't have to go to the extreme to get some relief and my daughters are coughing and sneezing much, much less. This book gives you some tools to help you become an indoor air detective in your home or at least, where to begin to get help.
7 of 9 found this review helpful:
Wonderful resource for some allergies -- but not others, 2005-11-11
"My House Is Killing Me!" is a wonderful book with lots of great information for people who are allergic to mold, mildew, and dust mites.
Contrary to the broadly worded title, this book contains relatively little information for people who are allergic to tree pollen, grass pollen, weed pollen, pet dander, and chemicals (i.e., chemical sensitivity). Unfortunately, I'm allergic to everthing on the second list and nothing on the first list. So, most of this book wasn't very helpful for me.
However, if dust mites, mold, or mildew trigger your allergies, you will find this book quite helpful. Each chapter addresses one room and ends with a list summarizing what you can do to improve that room. The book contains numerous stories about houses triggered allergies of these sorts, why, and what can be done about it -- the presentation of these stories was too mellodramatic for my tastes, but the advice appears to be sound and well considered.
1 of 5 found this review helpful:
excellent book, 2005-09-24
Jeffrey May is a clear, concise communicator. He offers specific, helpful information. Easy to read and useful.
7 of 19 found this review helpful:
Good book, but magnesium supplementation also helps, 2005-05-27
This book is helpful in that the factors discussed in it can contribute to, and exacerbate, allergies and asthma. But there is significant evidence that the root cause of many, if not most, cases of asthma and allergies is deficiency of magnesium. This fact is discussed in detail by Dr. Carolyn Dean in her excellent book The Miracle of Magnesium. Dr. Dean recommends 600 mg of supplemental magnesium daily. People with asthma and/or allergies who follow Dr. Dean's advice about daily magnesium supplementation often improve dramatically even if they have continued to struggle with these ailments under other treatments which omit magnesium supplementation. If you are suffering from asthma or allergies please read Dr. Dean's excellent book and follow her advice regarding daily magnesium supplementation. It may well be the most important thing you will ever due to relieve these ailments. By the way, although a variety of magnesium supplements are available, and beneficial, chelated magnesium -- which is readily available in most health food stores -- is the most effective form.
7 of 7 found this review helpful:
WOW !!! , 2004-11-20
If you own a house or plan to buy one in the future then this book is a MUST read. The author takes you through a list of things to watch out for, room by room, section by section.
Is it possible to find the perfect home? Perhaps not, but the author takes you through a list of common sense steps you can take to improve living arrangements for you and your family, especially if there is a family history of asthma or allergies.
If you buy this book, be warned, it is hard to put down. The author does an excellent job of providing details when needed, but keeps the story line moving and interesting.
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