feathers vs. down

Hiya!

Lapis - do you (or anyone?) know if Feathers are different from Down?

My QXCI said I was allergic to Feathers - this seems soooo true. About 2 years ago B's mom gave us a feather (crunchy-feeling) thingy to go on our mattress - so we could lie on it and have a comfy bed (I dislike soft beds!)....well, after a few weeks I developed this itchy roof of my mouth! I had never ever had allergies before and this freaked me out....we deduced that maybe it was the feather mattress! Took away the mattress and my itch and puff went away.

Now I'm looking after my mom's place and SHE has a feather pad on her mattress too! And tones of down comforters and pillows. Well...after 5 days I developed that itch again! And this morning I woke up feeling just AWFUL....big bowling ball head, headache, puffy-grog face...ugh...I felt like I had been suffocated and the windows were wide open all night long!

So...I washed everything and did away with the feather mattress....

Question is...is down different than feathers?? I like the down comforter...sniff...

And the QXCI said I had to stay away from 4 things: Feathers, Pork, Red Meat and Wheat.

I can't believe how damn accurate that is!!! nutso! Ain't that cool??

love Tracey Tweet