Is the pollen extra bad *everywhere*?

[Carrie12345]

I am SO grateful that we don’t have severe allergies in our house. I used to, but not so much since my 30s. I do think my headaches and exhaustion might be related though.

I’ve lived in this house for 16 years and don’t remember pollen this bad ever. Last week was the first time we could keep our windows open consistently since the fall, so they’ve been open. Every morning, the entire inside of my house is coated in pollen. The first day, I deep cleaned. The second day, I cleaned up but didn’t go nuts because I figured I’d give it another day.  We’re somewhere around day 5 now, and I hate the thought of closing my windows, but I have got to get all this pollen out!!!

Sitting outside with my coffee, I have to wipe my iPad down every 10 minutes or so.

I always expect to have to give my car a good wash and hose down outdoor stuff, but this is insane (for my area)!

[HomeAgain]

I'm in the northeast.  This is the first year that ds has been so absolutely miserable due to the pollen.  I don't see it as more than previous years, because everything seems to turn yellow this time of year, but ds is now on two different allergy meds that are bringing him back down to a normal level of sneezing.

[Pawz4me]

It was really bad here a few weeks ago, but we're over the worst of it now. DH takes allergy meds year round, but this was the first time in many, many years that I've had to take them. I can't imagine even thinking about opening windows during the height of pollen season. That's something we just do not do. Even a normal pollen year here is way too bad for that.

[Ausmumof3]

I have had so many people here tell me they have experienced either worse allergies or allergies for the first time in the last twelve months.  I’m wondering if it’s related to the sanitation/hygiene stuff we’ve been doing - either over exposure to disinfectants etc or not enough exposure to germs and over reactive immune systems.  I don’t have anything beyond anecdotal data and it may be some other totally unrelated cause.

[Katy]

I think the pollen is heavier than usual. It’s been warm with less rain than typical here though, so to me it makes sense. I’ve always had bad allergies do I typically turn the AC on as soon as it’s warm enough to not burn it out. 

[Wheres Toto]

I watch the news when it reports on pollen levels and what kind of pollen, and its definitely been worse this year.    We've had high levels more often than usual this Spring.  I definitely think it's the warmth and less rain.  We had to put on the AC earlier than usual and keep all the windows closed.  Ds and I both have bad allergies and I'm pretty sure dd was experiencing some problems this year when she usually doesn't. 

I don't think it's lack of exposure to germs since we're not totally isolated.  

[HomeAgain]

37 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I have had so many people here tell me they have experienced either worse allergies or allergies for the first time in the last twelve months.  I’m wondering if it’s related to the sanitation/hygiene stuff we’ve been doing - either over exposure to disinfectants etc or not enough exposure to germs and over reactive immune systems.  I don’t have anything beyond anecdotal data and it may be some other totally unrelated cause.

I wonder...

Then I look at ds, and he has been the one most miserable this year, like wanting to claw his eyes out because they were so itchy.  He's also the only one of the house that was wrapped in a bubble this year because he is 11 and not the most hygienic person on the planet.😄  He stayed home, except to play hockey, where he was wrapped in stinky plastic-based materials.  We didn't take him places, and didn't over-use disinfectants at home.  Me, otoh, would take him to hockey and pretty much bathe in hand sanitizer.  Everything I touched that touched something else was disinfected.  The same goes for the rest of the people in the house.

Really, I should be the one with huge allergies this year, but he's the one with all the issues.

[Carrie12345]

21 minutes ago, Wheres Toto said:

I watch the news when it reports on pollen levels and what kind of pollen, and its definitely been worse this year.    We've had high levels more often than usual this Spring.  I definitely think it's the warmth and less rain.  We had to put on the AC earlier than usual and keep all the windows closed.  Ds and I both have bad allergies and I'm pretty sure dd was experiencing some problems this year when she usually doesn't. 

I don't think it's lack of exposure to germs since we're not totally isolated.  

We’ve been pretty isolated, but that wouldn’t turn my house yellow, lol.
I do think we’ve been short on rain. Temperature... it’s hard to tell. I think it may have been warmer than usual, which could mean my windows are usually closed more during this period.  If I had AC, it still wouldn’t be hot enough to actually turn it on though.

[Dmmetler]

It's been pretty bad here, too. Which is one major reason why I'm continuing to mask. Both because it drastically reduces the impact the pollen makes on my sinuses and immune system, and because I have enough immune system symptoms that I don't want to make other people nervous, and at least if I'm masked, I'm showing them that I'm trying not to infect them!

 

 

[Faith-manor]

Yes. I would like all the plants out there to stop having sex. Just stop!

[ktgrok]

I'm in Florida and it is bad every spring, but this year is the WORST. And it should be better by now, after the worst of the oak pollen, and it isn't. I'm taking zyrtec every morning, plus steroid nasal spray, and still needing sudafed by afternoon, and sometimes a round of benedryl at bedtime and STILL have post nasal drip, sinus pain, headaches, etc. It's out of control. Normally just the zyrtec or just the steroid nasal spray would control it totally. Now I'm on both and still have symptoms. If I stop one or the other I'm borderline sinus infection in 24 hours.

My son is just as bad. And he works in a vet and they have seen SO MANY itchy dogs with allergies as well. One afternoon a few weeks ago it was the only thing they saw all day! It's crazy. 

[ktgrok]

[ktgrok]

56 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

I wonder...

Then I look at ds, and he has been the one most miserable this year, like wanting to claw his eyes out because they were so itchy. 

I recently discovered Allerway eye drops and they have been AMAZING! I still have my sinus stuff goig on, but now my eyes are not goopy and itchy and painful. It was not instant relief, but I did it twice a day and by end of day 2 I realized my eyes didn't hurt! Like a miracle! I'd been having to take my contacts out and wear glasses and couldn't read at night they were so bad. (Allerway has an antihistamine and a mast cell stabilizer. Zadiator is the same drug, but tends to burn my eyes and Allerway doesn't. Other "allergy" ones are just decongestants that dry up the goopy eyes but don't fix the actual issue)

1 hour ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I have had so many people here tell me they have experienced either worse allergies or allergies for the first time in the last twelve months.  I’m wondering if it’s related to the sanitation/hygiene stuff we’ve been doing - either over exposure to disinfectants etc or not enough exposure to germs and over reactive immune systems.  I don’t have anything beyond anecdotal data and it may be some other totally unrelated cause.

I'd think that, except I can SEE the pollen level in my pool filter when I clean it, and it is way more than last year. 

[vonfirmath]

1 hour ago, Katy said:

I think the pollen is heavier than usual. It’s been warm with less rain than typical here though, so to me it makes sense. I’ve always had bad allergies do I typically turn the AC on as soon as it’s warm enough to not burn it out. 

We have had more rain than normal and allergies are still bad :(

 

[HeartString]

Is it because of the cicadas?  I read somewhere that a lot of forest things are tied to that 17 year cycle.  The dead cicadas apparently fertilize the forest floor, so I wonder if the trees are trying for extra tree babies since the ground will be more fertile.  

[Pawz4me]

2 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I have had so many people here tell me they have experienced either worse allergies or allergies for the first time in the last twelve months.  I’m wondering if it’s related to the sanitation/hygiene stuff we’ve been doing - either over exposure to disinfectants etc or not enough exposure to germs and over reactive immune systems.  I don’t have anything beyond anecdotal data and it may be some other totally unrelated cause.

Here, at least in my area, the county health departments and various other agencies measure and publish the daily pollen counts. They've been sky high this year. I'm sure lots of people would like to blame it on lack of exposure to germs over the last year, but that would not be the common sense assumption given our extremely high pollen counts.

[HomeAgain]

33 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

I recently discovered Allerway eye drops and they have been AMAZING! I still have my sinus stuff goig on, but now my eyes are not goopy and itchy and painful. It was not instant relief, but I did it twice a day and by end of day 2 I realized my eyes didn't hurt! Like a miracle! I'd been having to take my contacts out and wear glasses and couldn't read at night they were so bad. (Allerway has an antihistamine and a mast cell stabilizer. Zadiator is the same drug, but tends to burn my eyes and Allerway doesn't. Other "allergy" ones are just decongestants that dry up the goopy eyes but don't fix the actual issue)

Good to know!  We do have eye drops for him but they work minimally.  Right now he's on Zyrtec and occasional Flonase.  It has done him a world of good this week.

On the upside, we just got a rainstorm yesterday and hopefully that washed away a lot of the pollen from the tree outside his window.

[ktgrok]

20 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

Good to know!  We do have eye drops for him but they work minimally.  Right now he's on Zyrtec and occasional Flonase.  It has done him a world of good this week.

On the upside, we just got a rainstorm yesterday and hopefully that washed away a lot of the pollen from the tree outside his window.

If they are anything other than Allerway or Zadiator, they just make the eyes look a bit less red, or less drainage. I actually found Opthcon A made it worse over time - dried them out too much. The Allerway is miraculous. 

[YaelAldrich]

I grew up near Pawz and every spring everything would get coated in yellow from pollen. I now live in Boston and that never really happened. This year it has. In fact last Saturday morning we were taking a walk and my youngest noticed a weird yellow mini tornado on our street. It was the pollen coming from a cedar tree bring swirled around. Never seen that before even in my pollen filled childhood. At the end of the day (with two Zyrtec and Benadryl at night) I still feel yucky and clogged up.

[ktgrok]

43 minutes ago, YaelAldrich said:

I grew up near Pawz and every spring everything would get coated in yellow from pollen. I now live in Boston and that never really happened. This year it has. In fact last Saturday morning we were taking a walk and my youngest noticed a weird yellow mini tornado on our street. It was the pollen coming from a cedar tree bring swirled around. Never seen that before even in my pollen filled childhood. At the end of the day (with two Zyrtec and Benadryl at night) I still feel yucky and clogged up.

I can take two zyrtec? Will I be a zombie if I do? Cause this sucks. But I'm at a zyrtec each morning around 9am, steroid nasal spray around 10am, and still by 5pm am feeling yucky. 

I will say, we are pulling up flooring and such and have found some mildew and such in places (treated with proper product now) so I'm sure that didn't help, plus dust as we pack stuff that was on high shelves and dusty, but still. Ugh. 

And I shouldn't take sudafed with ADHD meds, so every afternoon I have to decide if I want my afternoon adderal OR my sudafed. 

[wintermom]

I find that they are bad in my part of Ontario. I'm taking anit-histamines every morning, whereas in the past I only take them on days that are really bad. 

[kbutton]

I think they are similar to usual in SW Ohio, but flowering stuff is having a really nice year here. I've never seen irises so perfect/big/populated with blooms as I have this year, and I do normally pay attention--all the irises are show-stoppers this year. We have had a cooler spring (with snow!), but it was on time. This last week it's been unseasonably hot, but I think the worst of the pollen released gradually while it was cool and raining off and on. My parents have had a cold drought all spring (PA), and then it got hot very suddenly, so things are bursting open all at once with nothing to wash it away. I remember this pattern from a weird weather year in high school--really cold, lingering winter, then suddenly everything is HOT. That was the worst pine tree pollen year ever, lol! 

I think the timing of the rain makes a difference too. We've had rain just often enough to wash things out and start over. 

[Tanaqui]

I've been hearing from people everywhere that it's really high.

Quote

I have had so many people here tell me they have experienced either worse allergies or allergies for the first time in the last twelve months.  I’m wondering if it’s related to the sanitation/hygiene stuff we’ve been doing

I check the pollen count every single day. It's high.

When I get back home from walking the dogs, I have to scrub my hands and face. The soapy water turns gray.

OP says that if she opens her windows, the entire inside of her house rapidly becomes coated with yellow pollen.

How can any of this be caused by sanitation over the course of the pandemic?

[Tanaqui]

Quote

I can take two zyrtec? Will I be a zombie if I do? Cause this sucks. But I'm at a zyrtec each morning around 9am, steroid nasal spray around 10am, and still by 5pm am feeling yucky. 

I would not advise it. Zyrtec is a powerful antihistimine with a bad rebound effect. I'm talking hives for months. I'd have to be dying to make more than half a zyrtec, and never two days in a row. I make do on the other days with other allergy pills.

[alisoncooks]

This has been my worst allergy season in memory. Younger DD has always needed meds to get through the worst of it, but I never ever have...until this year! It's been bizarre.  

[MEmama]

The pollen is fierce where I live in midcoast Maine. We have both fluffy white pollen and the evil yellow pine pollen—usually they don’t happen at the same time. Every surface in my house is covered. It’s been unusually hot here too; sweat and pollen is a gross combination.

I started taking Zyrtec early and I’m so glad. It’s working better than Claritin or nasal spray ever has for me.

[Spryte]

We’ve had clouds and clouds of pollen this year, and I do think it’s worse than usual. Thick layer of yellow everywhere outside.

DS, who has the worst allergies, is having his best ever year though.  He’s discovered that wearing a mask helps, and even though I’m always telling him no need to wear it outside, he loves it for the pollen.  Still gets itchy eyes, though.

[Tanaqui]

Quote

Still gets itchy eyes, though.

I put in eye drops before I even go outside, and rinse my eyes with water as soon as I get back inside my house.

Does your son wear sunglasses and/or a face shield? Does he cover his hair when outside, or wash it when he comes in? Likewise, does he change his clothes when coming back in the house?

Edited May 24, 2021 by Tanaqui

[hippymamato3]

2 hours ago, ktgrok said:

I can take two zyrtec? Will I be a zombie if I do? Cause this sucks. But I'm at a zyrtec each morning around 9am, steroid nasal spray around 10am, and still by 5pm am feeling yucky. 

I will say, we are pulling up flooring and such and have found some mildew and such in places (treated with proper product now) so I'm sure that didn't help, plus dust as we pack stuff that was on high shelves and dusty, but still. Ugh. 

And I shouldn't take sudafed with ADHD meds, so every afternoon I have to decide if I want my afternoon adderal OR my sudafed. 

My allergist suggested taking Zyrtec twice a day (along with 7 other medications so I can continue living on this planet). Ugh. It makes me too tired to take it twice though.

[73349]

When I open my car door, I try to get in fast so that the pollen doesn't come in with me! It's a second round that's about as bad as the first round--which I don't particularly remember in past years, but also I've only had allergies since I caught Covid. DS and I both have sore throats now.

I think the weather did it. It was a very warm winter, but then in spring it didn't warm up to the 80s as fast as usual, and it didn't rain as much as usual.

[ktgrok]

3 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

I would not advise it. Zyrtec is a powerful antihistimine with a bad rebound effect. I'm talking hives for months. I'd have to be dying to make more than half a zyrtec, and never two days in a row. I make do on the other days with other allergy pills.

Ugh. Yeah, it is the only antihistamine that seems to work for me. Well, benedryl does, and chlortrimeton, but both knock me out. Claritin does nothing for me at all, and allegra barely anything. 

[Dmmetler]

7 hours ago, ktgrok said:

I recently discovered Allerway eye drops and they have been AMAZING! I still have my sinus stuff goig on, but now my eyes are not goopy and itchy and painful. It was not instant relief, but I did it twice a day and by end of day 2 I realized my eyes didn't hurt! Like a miracle! I'd been having to take my contacts out and wear glasses and couldn't read at night they were so bad. (Allerway has an antihistamine and a mast cell stabilizer. Zadiator is the same drug, but tends to burn my eyes and Allerway doesn't. Other "allergy" ones are just decongestants that dry up the goopy eyes but don't fix the actual issue)

I'd think that, except I can SEE the pollen level in my pool filter when I clean it, and it is way more than last year. 

and on my A/C filters. They usually don't turn yellow....

[YaelAldrich]

6 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

I would not advise it. Zyrtec is a powerful antihistimine with a bad rebound effect. I'm talking hives for months. I'd have to be dying to make more than half a zyrtec, and never two days in a row. I make do on the other days with other allergy pills.

One didn't work for me. Two will. Talk to your doctor

[Faith-manor]

You know how komodo dragons breed assexually in captivity? Well, why can't scientists make some sort of chemical we can put on soil that makes plants asexual and then they don't have to spread their sperm everywhere? Is someone working on this? This is a Nobel Prize winning idea, maybe three....chemistry, biology, and medicine. Stop the pollen. Stop the pollen. Stop the pollen.

That said, I am living on Benadryl. Ugh. I used to use Allegra and it worked so well for me, and Claritin and Zyrtec do not. But I developed an anaphylactic allergy to Allegra! My doctor had never even seen that before. I was so lucky two years ago when it happened. I was on my way for my annual physical, realized it was time for my next allegra, and popped it on the way. I was only a short distance from the doctor's office. I began feeling off as I arrived at the parking lot, and barely made it into the office. The rest was a blur, and involved apparently more than one shot of epinephrine. Since I had not eaten yet that day, not even coffee in anticipation of bloodwork, it was pretty easy to figure out the culprit.

I grieve for my allegra.

[kbutton]

28 minutes ago, Faith-manor said:

But I developed an anaphylactic allergy to Allegra! My doctor had never even seen that before. I was so lucky two years ago when it happened. I was on my way for my annual physical, realized it was time for my next allegra, and popped it on the way. I was only a short distance from the doctor's office. I began feeling off as I arrived at the parking lot, and barely made it into the office. The rest was a blur, and involved apparently more than one shot of epinephrine. Since I had not eaten yet that day, not even coffee in anticipation of bloodwork, it was pretty easy to figure out the culprit.

I grieve for my allegra.

Wow! I wonder if it was to an inactive ingredient or binder or something. That's really wild! I know some people have reactions to benadryl, but it does have PEG, which is an underappreciated allergy. 

[Tanaqui]

So, Faithmanor, as I posted elsewhere part of the problem is the huge preference municipalities have had for male trees (pollen!) over female ones (no pollen, lots of fruit in the fall).

Of course, climate change is also playing a role in pollen production.

[dsmith]

Going by how our car looks, I have seen it this bad in the past, but ds suddenly has allergies that he's never had before. The people I know who normally have allergies all say they are worse this year.