Dust mites? Dust mites!?!?!!?!!?

My medicine. All for allergies!!!!

I've always had allergies.
When I was growing up I pretty much had 2 choices: be a sneezing, watery eyed mess or be in a Benadryl fog.
In high school I got an inhaler for exercise induced asthma which was probably the result of my allergies mixed with running in the cold weather.
Until recently, medications like Claritin kept my allergies in control.
Fast forward to about 5 months ago. My skin started getting itchy, red and gross. I started having asthmatic episodes sometimes at night for no apparent reason.
When our insurance changed in March we decided it was time for me to see an allergist and dermatologist. BUT of course I had to choose a new PCP, go and see her, and have her office make me those appointments.
Finally, the time came for me to see the allergist on Friday. He told me I have allergies(shocking) and should move somewhere cold and dry. He even said he would write me a prescription to move to Utah!!
The craziest part of all was that while I was sitting in his office I started having an allergic reaction and my lip swelled up huge. The dr. wasn't even fazed.

my arm a couple of hours after the testing. before it got huge and red.

They did the allergy testing on my arms and about 15 minutes later came back to read it.
I am allergic to: grass, weeds, pollen, cats, and dust mites. No surprised there. Except the dust mites. Gross. I don't even want to know that those things exist. Little gross bug things crawling all over the place. And now I need to buy plastic covers for my bed, pillows, and all my upholstered furniture. (ok just a joke)
A few hours later I noticed that my arm was getting all swollen, red and hot. I called Lew and he told me to call the Dr. office, which I did. They told me that NO that was not normal and to get back on those big doses of steroids. The bad reaction went away a couple of days later and unfortunately I'm not ready to come off the steroids.
He wrote me about 5 new prescriptions!! (perfect!!! just what I wanted!! I've become BFF with the pharmacist at Target!!)
My eyes are doing well, but every time I skip a day of prednisone (steroid) the dry, swollen, redness comes right back.
The asthma and rhinitis have improved a whole lot, the main issue now is my skin.
He said I have the allergy trifecta--rhinitis, asthma, and eczema. Sweet!!
I'm going to visit the dermatologist next week and hoping we can get to the bottom of all this.
And fast.
Or maybe I can just deal with it for the next 3 years until I can get the heck out of here.
I know that people who don't have allergies think "it's just allergies, get over it" and usually I do just get over it. I have had allergies for my whole life and it's never been bad enough that it gets in the way of my life. "Wah wah" so you have a runny nose. Right? But this is something entirely different. And it's really starting to cramp my style.