Feeling helpless please help.
In October I moved into a new place and the HVAC was so filthy I ended up getting very sick. I was eventually able to move into a new place. Upon initial inspection the air felt fine but I requested that they clean the ducts as they were pretty dirty. The upstairs furnace was also a bit rusty, and the drain pan full of rust which I asked they service. I think that kicked something into the air because when I moved in 3 days later it was like a hot pepper in the back of my throat. 2 rounds of antibiotics, daily Albuterol sulfate inhaler and even a steroid inhaler later I’m still dealing with issues.
I’ve switched filters 3 times since then, after the first swap the air felt ok enough to live in. The downstairs furnace started leaking a couple days into us living there as well and they had to replace the whole unit. I’ve since gone all the way up to Merv 14 3M filters but am starting to have allergies again. I swabbed the vents with take home mold kits and we’ve certainly found a few different types of mold.
I’m feeling a bit helpless, everyone seems to disagree on solutions. I’ve replaced my couch, clothes, mattress etc already. The filters tend to go pretty dirty within 2 weeks. Should I have the vents fogged and cleaned again? Is there a leak somewhere? Should I install UV lights in the handlers? Should I forgo central air and just buy standalone units? I’ll include photos below of what the vents looked like when cleaned and what my filters currently look like after 2 weeks of air.
TL;DR: Having massive allergy issues not sure what to do, filters get dirty quick. Fine outside, bad inside. Fogging? Secondary cleaning? UV light?