DOCTORS have warned of the dangers of “feather duvet lung” after a man suffered a severe allergic reaction to his bedding.
Martin Taylor, 43, was signed off work and referred to lung specialists after three months of fatigue and breathlessness.
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His symptoms worsened to the point where he could only stand or walk for a few minutes without feeling he was about to pass out.
He managed to do little more than sleep all day and night, medics at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary have revealed.
“I was unable to stand or walk for more than a few minutes at a time without feeling like I was going to pass out,” he said.
“Going upstairs to bed was a 30-minute activity as I could only manage two stairs at a time and then needed to sit and rest.”
He said there was a small bit of mould in his bathroom and he owned a cat and a dog but doctors ruled these out as potential causes.
Duvet swap to blame
Mr Taylor, from Aberdeenshire, later told doctors he had recently swapped a synthetic duvet and pillows for feather filled bedding.
Blood tests identified antibodies to bird feather dust and his chest x-ray was consistent with hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP).
It is a condition in which the lungs become severely inflamed as a result of the body’s immune response to something breathed in.
I was unable to stand or walk for more than a few minutes at a time without feeling like I was going to pass out
Martin Taylor
The 43-year-old was diagnosed with feather duvet lung – a type of HP caused by breathing in dust from duck or goose feathers in duvets and pillows.
Repeated exposure can cause permanent lung damage.
Mr Taylor was given steroids to calm the inflammation and told to revert to synthetic bedding.
His symptoms began to clear after two days and he returned to full health within a year.
Docs warning
Dr Owen Dempsey, who treated the patient, said it is not known how common FDL is because medics rarely ask about feather bedding.
He added: “Healthcare professionals are typically taught to ask patients with respiratory symptoms whether they have pets at home, such as birds.
“But in our experience, history taking does not usually extend to asking about feather exposure in duvets and pillows.
“This is an important omission since the use of feather, rather than synthetic, bedding is common.
“During the last half century, feathers stuffed linens have increased massively in popularity in the UK.”
Mr Taylor, said after treatment he started to feel better within days.
“The steroids which were prescribed after diagnosis by Dr Dempsey had a transformative effect within two days,” he said.
“At the same time, having assumed that a possible cause of the allergy was feather bedding, I replaced them with hypoallergenic bedding.
SIGNS YOU COULD BE SUFFERING ‘FEATHER DUVET LUNG’
THE severe allergic reaction, known as hypersensitivity pneumonitis happens when the lungs react to something you breathe in.
That then causes inflammation of the lung tissue – or pneumonitis.
Symptoms include:
- a cough
- shortness of breath
- fever
- joint pains
These symptoms can come on suddenly after you’ve been exposed to the allergen.
In other cases, the signs can come on more gradually, sometimes over years as the lungs get scarred.
For more information visit the British Lung Foundation.
“The course of steroids continued ultimately for 12 months, with a gradual reduction in dose over time.
“I have thankfully been able to stop them completely.
“My life is pretty much as it was before.”
The incident is reported in the journal BMJ Case Reports.
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