Allergy season in NY

Yes! The weather keeps changing back and forth and it is wreaking havoc on my poor head. It's so lovely out but, man oh man, my nose is constantly running. I guess, in Atlanta, there is this film of pollen all over everything. So, I guess we have it better than some?

I've got some bad allergies, but they're mostly to do with wool/kinds of cloth and feathers and general dry skin. Change in climate tends to wreak havoc on my skin, though - when I went to work in Italy I got the most horrendous ezcema all over my arms - not great if you're teaching bratty twelve-year olds. Believe me, they notice!

My roommate has terrible allergies, but she's been feeling it. Must have something to do with all those beautiful blooms everywhere...

@BroadwayBK; My sinuses have really been bothering me lately. I hope the weather gets better soon so I can stop sneezing.

Never had allergies, lucky me.

I opened this post and just started sneezing! Clearly pollen can transmit itself over the internet.

I saw the pollen today outside my window and was convinced it was snowing.

I went out to do some reading in the sun and was sniffling the whole time. And I don't get allergies, so I'm sayin' the air must be thick to make me sniffly...

This Spring has been horrible for allergy sufferers and even people who do not typically suffer from allergies. I know tons of people who are trying a variety of allergy medicines to help alleviate their scratchy throats, runny noses, and watery eyes.

@DBlack my husband has been suffering a lot .. he is glued to his neti pot which seems to providing him with some kind of relief for all the zyrtec and claritin do not seem to be working.

I've definitely been feeling it recently! And not only feeling it on the inside, feeling it on the outside sadly :(

Bad experience on the subway today.. I was sitting next to this woman and her lil boy.. it was around noon I believe..

We were all stuffy and runny and just sneezing up the place.. I'm pretty sure we were all caught in the crossfire of each other's shots. We were all pretty good sports about it luckily, even shared tissues when I was out... Luckily everyone else in the car was kinda tuned out and didn't really notice.

It was pretty funny that we took it so well actually.. there are a lot of fun people in this city!

@adthagreat Sounds like you had quite a good experience on the subway runny nose.sneezes et al...usually people on the trains try and get away from a person who sneezes excessively for many NYers are intensely 'germophobic'..

@uptowngirl well I'm pretty sure we would've moved if we could.. but it was packed so we just decided to bond through our misery :D

That's great @adthagreat. I like it when strangers are helpful - it makes me feel proud to be a New Yorker and part of the city and community.

@everybody: I hate allergy season. I told my doctor that today and he told me many people are allergic to pollen.

I've been sneezing all day! This is ridiculous! I don't get allergies!

Is that whole allergy season thing still going on? How long does that last?

@DBlack apparently if you live in NYC long enough you develop allergies.. I sure hope that isnt true...

Who said that allergies only happen to people who live in wealthy countries...? If that's true all New Yorkers are probably suffering.

@NeverSleeps Wow, that's rich...so...allergies are linked to the contents of your bank account?

NeverSleeps: I don't know about you, but I sure suffer from allergies. My head hurts around the eyes sometimes, especially yesterday.

There's supposed to be a link between consumption of sugar and allergy - proneness. Perhaps that's what the whole allergies in wealthy countries thing was about? Most countries outside of ours doesn't have a diet heavy in sugar / gluten / etc that we have?

@JenMac: Many people have allergies. Some have allergies to cats, while some have allergies to pollen. Perhaps there are people who have allergies to sugar.

@Everybody I dont think allergies are limited to wealthy countries..they do exist in the less developed world as well..maybe its all the pollutants in the atmosphere due to modern living?

@Uptowngirl: In less developed countries, the biggest lack thereof is nutrition. These countries do not have the luxury of having good food like we do. Some of them are literally starving to death. When your body lacks certain nutrients, your body can't fend off bacteria and other toxins that can cause allergies. So in less developed countries there is lack of nutrition, while in more affluent countries, there is a lot of pollution.

I wake up with a really sore throat thats dry and I can't talk. That's why I've been quiet with my writing lately. That and allergies is hitting my nasal cavities bad. For instance, I woke up this morning with a small fever and couldn't talk once again. I thought I was getting a cold or something. So, I had some herbal tea with some sugar and cream. I felt better after my third cup. I can talk now.

@JenMac Yeah...I knew it was something like that. Not a direct link to your bank account...just to the bank accounts around you I guess. Maybe it's not so much about pollen allergies, though, as it is about killer food allergies - like how some people can't even be in the same room with peanuts.

From Wikipedia: "Allergic diseases are more common in industrialized countries than in countries that are more traditional or agricultural, and there is a higher rate of allergic disease in urban populations versus rural populations, although these differences are becoming less defined.[35]"

And: "Studies have shown that various immunological and autoimmune diseases are much less common in the developing world than the industrialized world and that immigrants to the industrialized world from the developing world increasingly develop immunological disorders in relation to the length of time since arrival in the industrialized world.[30] Longitudinal studies in the third world demonstrate an increase in immunological disorders as a country grows more affluent and, presumably, cleaner[31]. The use of antibiotics in the first year of life has been linked to asthma and other allergic diseases.[32] The use of antibacterial cleaning products has also been associated with higher incidence of asthma, as has birth by Caesarean section rather than vaginal birth.[33][34]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allergy

Totally, @neversleeps.
@hhusted: I wasn't saying that people have sugar allergies (although, apparently, most humans are allergic to gluten), I was saying that sugar is linked to autoimmune diseases such as allergies and asthma. This means that a diet high in sugar, leads to a body high in yeast and a body incapable of properly digesting and removing waste which leads to histamine release, and so on and so forth. Basically, the argument is that a diet that is high in breads, grains, processed sugar, etc leads to allergies to pollen . . . not allergies to sugar. And, wealthier, more developed countries are more likely to have diets high in sugar.

@JenMac: Agreed. Thank you for your post.

It feels really amazing to not be allergic to anything (knock on wood)!!

Another sneezy, wheezy day for me. I have only had this kind of reaction to pollen once before, a few springs ago, in my entire life. I had a meeting today and was barely focused on what I was saying. I really really hope this is an isolated thing with me, because I would definitely not want to go through this every spring...

@DBlack poor you..I do hope its a one-off and not an annual malady .. I see my husband and friends suffer through the season and its not pretty...more than nasal allergies .. I tend to be allergic to certain kinds of grasses that seems to have subsided ever since I have moved here thank god...

When I lived in WA, I loved the greenery. But in the spring, my sinus' itched like none other. Then in the mountains where I grew up, I seem to get sick easier. I don't know why. Especially just before Christmas.

I'm sick this week too. A full-blown fever/sore throat/runny nose. I kept looking out of my window at the beautiful weather and wishing I too could be a part of gorgeous spring! Alas, not. But at least I'm feeling a tad better now

I'm feeling the pollen the last few days, and I definitely thought I was immune to allergies. It's not too bad with me, though, just watery eyes and such. But as per first post on this thread, i think th pollen count has been especially high this season.

@ajadedidealist I suffered similarly in mid-April but I do think my illness was caused by my copious consumption of icy pops.. once the weather turned I couldnt stop downing those babies.

@UpTowngirl: I have a load of those in the freezer. I like the reds, pinks, and blues.

As for me I am feeling better. My nose still bugs me and I've used too much tissue. I have a cough that attacks me at anytime. Other than that I feel okay.

@ajadedidealist: I also felt that way while being sick. My dughters wanted to go outside to the playground and I wanted to take her. But I wasn't up to it.

@Freyja4 my favorites are the grape flavored icy pops

@Uptowngirl: I love icy pops. I think I am going to get a box of them.

@hhusted I usually get the Popsicle sugar free kind or Edy's real fruit icy pops with Splenda .. they are all so yummy I really have to rein myself or I will have a constant throat ache.

@hhusted: Agreed. Oh, I can't do Splenda. I have taste buds that can taste a wide variety of things (remember those tests they did in school. The sour strip test? I could taste it before it touched my tongue). With Splenda, the after taste for me if horrible. I tried that berry flavored 7-Up (the one that Kelly Ripa did commercials for) once and it was good until I had a horrible after taste. I looked on the bottle and sure enough it had Splenda. I had to hand it to my friend Isaac.

@hhusted It's not artificial...it's made from sugar. And none of that stuff has been PROVEN to cause cancer...except in rats.

"The bottom line is that the FDA has found no cancer causing properties in the usage of Splenda.

"The cancer stigma that surrounds artificial sweeteners is believed to stem from the 1970s when lab rats developed bladder cancer during a saccharin trial. Although no case of cancer in a human has been reportedly linked to saccharin, the stigma still remains." http://cancer.about.com/od/cancercausesfaq/f/splenda.htm

But I am with Freyja4 - that stuff does not taste good.

@uptowngirl I LOVE those Edy's popsicle things!

@hhusted then If i cant have splenda I will have to get the full sugar variety which I really dont want .. there is no real alternative unless I puree fruit myself and freeze it popsicle moulds.. thats the only way to avoid sugar/splenda and anyway i dont mind splenda..the Edy's fruit popsicles with splenda dont have an after taste at all.. I dont usually have splenda in my tea/cofffee as I tend to drink my beverages without sugar anyway.. the only time I use a bit of splenda is to sweeten oatmeal otherwise it tastes like mushy cardboard. :)

It's actually pretty scary that no one really knows what effects ingredients like high fructose corn syrup will eventually do to people...

Man, Splenda doesn't sound like something I'd want to ingest.

@Neversleeps: If taken in high amounts. Of course that goes for just about anything.

I'm not a fan of Splenda, either. I'd rather just watch my sugar intake than adjust my taste buds to the acquired taste that sugar replacements require.

@Freyja4 Yeah, but that stuff is in EVERYTHING. And who's to say what will happen after 30 years of ingesting small amounts of it?

I tend to use splenda for dietary reasons, but I must admit that when there's no splenda afoot and I use real sugar it tastes so, so much better. makes such a difference!