topic Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks. in Community Chat

What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

Colonel Meow — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 16:31:53 GMT

I can't recall another year where I was so consistently wracked with allergies/Spring Cold over such a long period of time. I usually suffer for at most 1 week before my symptoms settle down.

However, I've been sick for the last 3 weeks, and been required to take a total of 4 days off from work. I'm falling behind, and the worst part is that when I do go to work, I'm so uncomfortable from my symptoms that I'm not very productive.

Anyone else really struggling with the pollen this year, in particular?

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

straykatz — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 16:40:18 GMT

This season has been rough for me too.....so I doubled up on my saline spray/nettie pots cleanses and found some relief. For me the worse part is the allergy cough I get because of the trickle into the throat that keeps me coughing even though I don't have a cold. I've taken antihistamines when it gets really bad but they leave my nasal passages too dry to the point of nosebleeds.

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

SuiGeneris — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 16:40:35 GMT

I've been seeing news stories warning about high pollen counts for weeks. Here's one from The Weather Channel:

Every year without a doubt you probably hear these fearful words: “It’s going to be the worst allergy season ever.” Is it just a scare tactic or is there something to it? This year, science can back up the popular claim.

“There’s a couple factors,” Dr. Clifford Bassett, founder and medical director at Allergy and Asthma Care of New York, told weather.com. “One is the rising long term increase in carbon dioxide and its effect on increased production of pollen,” and another is what he calls “the priming effect.”

A study concluded that climate warming and the resultant weather effects are "an important factor" in causing the pollen allergy season to be more intense, and this year Dr. Bassett expects the trend to continue. Climate warming and increased carbon dioxide is having a positive effect on pollen production (and thus a negative effect on pollen allergy sufferers).

“With this carbon dioxide prevalence, we think certain pollens will be more prevalent and more potent, which is a very major factor,” Dr. Bassett said.

Rising temperatures are also to blame. Dr. Bassett explains that hotter summer seasons can result in a stronger pollen season the following spring. “The summer temperature may have an impact on the following spring season as far as grass and tree pollen, which are the representative and most important pollen in the spring.”

To add insult to injury, the wet winter seasons that feature heavy precipitation (like this winter’s record-breaking snow totals) are also having an impact on the upcoming pollen season.

“In some studies, a very heavy precipitation during the fall and winter may be enough to enhance the pollen production, particularly in grass pollen,” Dr. Bassett said. “So we may see more grass pollens flowering early and more robustly from a very heavy precipitation in fall and winter, which we’ve seen in many areas. When plants are under stress, they may make more flowers and less leaves and therefore they’ll be more pollen.”

Are you reaching for the tissues yet? There is yet another factor contributing to scary pollen forecasts this spring: the priming effect.

As Dr. Bassett describes, the priming effect is when temperatures make big leaps in small periods of time. For instance, when one day the weather is around 30 degrees Fahrenheit and the next the mercury rises to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, the doctor says, “that’s when people really start to suffer.”

The constantly changing and highly varied temperatures cause your body to “[rev] up the immune system and further on down the road, you’re going to be even more hyper-sensitive or hyperactive to the new pollen.” Basically, your body doesn’t take kindly to all of the stop-and-go cues from the weather, which causes increased sensitivity to allergens once they’re released.

“So it’s a hodge-podge,” Dr. Bassett said of the different factors leading doctors to expect this allergy season to be one of the worst. “The trees store up energy in the winter and all that precipitation,” mixed with the other available information about influences on pollen production, “I feel, will cause a very robust pollen explosion.”

pollen.com daily national allergy forecast

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

Colonel Meow — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 16:46:19 GMT

On 3/30/2015 straykatz said:
This season has been rough for me too.....so I doubled up on my saline spray/nettie pots cleanses and found some relief. For me the worse part is the allergy cough I get because of the trickle into the throat that keeps me coughing even though I don't have a cold. I've taken antihistamines when it gets really bad but they leave my nasal passages too dry to the point of nosebleeds.

Oh, the cough is the worst! It's annoying, makes my throat even more raw, and causes everyone around me to shoot me the evil eye. (People don't want to believe me when I say it's only allergies and I won't get them sick.)

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

Colonel Meow — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 16:48:19 GMT

SuiGenerous - interesting, so it's not all in my head, huh? Thanks for posting the article.

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

Linders Back — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 18:36:23 GMT

Just got back from a week in Lauderdale that was anything but a "vacation" . Sneezed, blew my nose, and coughed the entire week. Didn't spend much time outside. No tan.

Still dealing with the cough 3 days later here at home. People said it was Mango Trees that were bothering me. Plus a lot of grasses were listed as "HIGH". Never have had that issue in Florida before.

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

Colonel Meow — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 18:40:59 GMT

On 3/30/2015 Linders Back said:
Just got back from a week in Lauderdale that was anything but a "vacation" . Sneezed, blew my nose, and coughed the entire week. Didn't spend much time outside. No tan.

Still dealing with the cough 3 days later here at home. People said it was Mango Trees that were bothering me. Plus a lot of grasses were listed as "HIGH". Never have had that issue in Florida before.

Sorry your vacation was anything but. I'm in North FL - no mango trees (lol). But the pollen here is so dense that my black car literally looks like a soft shade of gray - very strange.

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

straykatz — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 18:54:10 GMT

Thankfully I don't have a sore or raw throat....but I've also heard others say they get a sore throat with allergies.

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

tansy — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 19:00:40 GMT

I had a difficult time controlling my allergies in AZ this year. The worst symptom for me is itchy, dry eyes

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

Zhills — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 20:12:56 GMT

I'm in Central Florida and my car is yellow with pollen! Worse year I can remember for allergies. Always happens when it rains all day and then turns very warm! Plants love it!

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

adelle38 — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 20:26:34 GMT

On 3/30/2015 tansy said:
I had a difficult time controlling my allergies in AZ this year. The worst symptom for me is itchy, dry eyes

Wow, I thought people moved to Arizona to get away from allergens.

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

raven-blackbird — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 05:21:53 GMT

it's been bad in this area also......................................raven

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

arrabella — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 14:23:42 GMT

Same where I live in Ca. Trees, grass and weeds, very high in pollen.Breathing all this stuff gave me the worst case of bronchitis that I've ever had.

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

Vesti — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 14:25:36 GMT

Very bad here. Is it worse everywhere? Part of climate change?

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

Karie2022 — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 14:48:48 GMT

Not sure if it's pollen here yet(pa) but hubby and I and dd have been sick for three weeks...ours started with the flu, cough, achiness, fatigue, etc....now we are still coughing, stuffy, sinus, and tired...dd and I have spring allergies typically every year...I think for us it's a combination of getting over this virus and spring allergies...

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

Pashmina_1 — Tue, 31 Mar 2015 14:52:22 GMT

I'm home sick today so I feel your pain! Sneezing, watery eyes, sinus headache, can't breathe...

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

RedTop — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 16:39:22 GMT

Lilacs are getting ready to bloom here in southern WV, and as much as I love their beautiful blooms and their scent, I feel bad for both daughters who are highly allergic to them, and will be miserable while they are in bloom. Pollen counts are very high here right now.

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

YorkieonmyPillow — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 17:11:57 GMT

My husband has been sneezing his head off.

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

AnikaBrodie — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 17:32:54 GMT

This is a really bad year for colds. I'm on my 5th week of a cold, sneezing, sore throat, cough, tickle, etc., that started as a head cold with several boxes of Kleenex. Then I graduated to a sore throat with a horrible cough which I still have. My ENT said colds last 5 to 6 weeks this year with coughing for another month or more. So, now I'm on my third bottle of cough syrup and the horrible tickle is still there, albeit a little better than it was. I wake up every morning with a cough and sore/dry throat and sore ribs from so much coughing. I am so sick of this (pardon the pun).

Re: What about this pollen?! Fourth sick day in 3 weeks.

Shorty2U — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 23:35:21 GMT

Sorry that you are suffering with allergies. Just a suggestion- Why not go to an allergy Dr. for allergy shots? My husband gets allergy shots every few weeks year round, because he is allergic to everything under the sun. They help him tremendously. I used to be allergic to pollen, but I was lucky, I outgrew it.