Cross your fingers, close your eyes, hold your nose and count to three. Now wish for a tolerable allergy season. If we’re lucky, slightly colder winter temperatures and a trio of March Nor’easters in Connecticut will help.
But, more likely, we’re doomed to another season of uncontrollable sneezing, itchy eyes, runny noses and an inevitable crankiness. It’s more than an inconvenience.
Sometimes allergy sufferers don’t know whether they’re suffering from seasonal allergies, a nasty cold or even asthma that might require a doctor’s attention. Unfortunately, your immune system doesn’t know, either. Your body can’t distinguish an actual infection from a cold and the symptoms caused by harmless pollen or mold. It treats inflammation in the nose and sinus the same: It releases cytokines to counteract an infection, even if one doesn’t exist.
In some cases, cytokines’ interaction with the nervous system and brain can affect a person’s mood. Lack of clarity, or brain fog, is an unmeasurable but common reaction, say allergy sufferers. The Atlantic, in report last spring by Olga Khazan, cited several studies that link springtime allergies to elevated suicide rates. In one, from 2005, researchers found the suicide rate among young women increased 100 percent and among older women by more than 400 percent. It might not be an American phenomenon, either. A paper published in Environmental Research in May found that increased pollen counts caused an increased risk of suicide in women in Tokyo.
For other people, the question becomes a tossup: Seasonal allergies or asthma?
The number of people suffering from seasonal allergies is staggering. An estimated 20 million people were diagnosed with hay fever in the previous 12 months in the latest government survey, published in 2015, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If you’re a seasonal allergy sufferer, you probably know your triggers. (Ragweed, anyone?)
To see a list of the state’s biggest springtime pollen producers, visit the Pollen Library (a sister site of Pollen.com) and its too-long catalog of trees, weeds and grasses. Know how to protect yourself by keeping track of the pollen count the same way you check weather forecasts. Download a pollen app — check out a few candidates here — and treat your symptoms with decongestants, antihistamines, steroid nasal sprays and a big dose of avoidance.
An allergist can determine exactly what causes your allergy symptoms by exposing your skin to specific allergens, pricking it, then checking for a reaction such as a small, itchy bump. That kind of reaction means you’re allergic. A blood test also might help. Allergen immunotherapy, commonly known as allergy shots, then can provide relief for many people without medication. The shots contain a small amount of a specific allergen to stimulate your immune system without causing an actual itchy-watery-congested reaction.
When allergy season kicks in, help yourself by:
- Showering at night so you don’t bring pollen picked up during the day into your bed.
- Knowing when pollen is at its highest levels: check your favorite pollen-tracker app or
- Close windows in the home and car on days with high pollen counts.
- Start taking your medication, whether prescription or over-the-counter, before the allergy season starts.
- Clean your pets frequently: They’re carriers of dander, pollen (if they go outside) and other allergens.
- Do not dry your clothes outdoors.
- Remove decaying leaves from gutters and around the yard.
That’s only the beginning. It’s a long season.
Need a primary care provider? Contact Hartford HealthCare Medical Group.