Spring is season for sneezin’
Is it just me or is the spring allergy season starting early and intensely this year?
Our warmer than normal winter gives pollen plenty of opportunity to pillage our senses this spring and last week was probably the worst case of spring allergy symptoms I’ve ever had. I’ve read that warm winters don’t kill off insects as much as colder winters and also make for winter allergies due to mold spores and a stronger spring allergy season since plants fertilize early. Great!
I’ve been an allergy sufferer most of my life and even used to get allergy injections to desensitize me. I think they worked somewhat when it comes to mold and the occasional migraines I used to get in hot, humid weather. As for trees, grass and weeds, I still sneeze just as much as I always did.
Over-the-counter antihistamines are a daily ritual in spring and summer but I never had the onslaught of ragweed symptoms in fall or spring pollen reactions that affected many other people until recently. For the past three to four years, my eyes have been itchy and watery every early fall until the first frost (ragweed), and my nose has been running like a faucet each spring (tree pollen, I think) so much so that I need to either plug it or cut it off.
Last weekend, my nose got so stuffy and congested and my eyes started watering so much while at work I looked and felt as if I were suffering from a bad cold. I even rinsed my nose out with hot water in the bathroom to try to get some relief. My senses were so irritated that I nearly started sneezing in the middle of delivering my late-night TV weather forecast. I’ve never had that happen in all the years that I’ve worked in television, and I wasn’t sure whether to back out of the camera shot in case I sneezed. I just powered through, trying not to think about my burning nostrils and somehow got through it until the sneezing impulse finally passed.
Thinking back, I’ve only had hiccups once on air during my entire career. I’ve had to cough a few times while enduring a mild cold. Lightbulbs have blown out; flies and gnats have flown in my face, and I’ve even had bees buzzing around me during live reports. This was the first incident of nearly sneezing on air.
When temperatures plunged and snowflakes started flying a week ago Monday, I was thrilled. Maybe the frosty air will kill the pollen! On Tuesday, my allergies were briefly better. Will that be it for this spring? Or will warmer air bring another round of profuse pollen?
If so, I’ll keep trying different antihistamines and nose sprays until Memorial Day, when my sneezin’ season will finally end!
Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.