Allergies getting worse... anyone?

[krazykat]

I don't know whether I have just hit that magical stage in a womans life where your biochemistry starts to change, but over the course of the last year my allergies have got substantially worse. This time last year i suffered from mild hayfever, an allergy to cats and couldn't drink rum as it causes me to have an asthma attack.. at the most i would sneeze two to three times a day. This year, my hayfever has been horrendous in relation to tree and certain grass pollens, I have developed a whole load of allergies to tree nuts and fruits (from what I have read this is very much related to hayfever), have found myself reacting to certain cosmetics and my daily sneeze count has gone up to about fifteen. Even the way in which i sneeze has changed... in the past, even when my allergies kicked in, i would only sneeze in singles, whereas now i tend to sneeze in singles/doubles when not affected by allergies and when the allergies kick in the minimum sneezing fit is always four sneezes, and then there are normally multiple sets. Anyone else find that their allergies/sneezing patterns have got worse as they have gotten older?

[count tiszula]

No, sadly; I suppose this sounds unethical but I am so jealous; I would love to discover that something had suddenly started making me sneeze.

I thought that generally allergies diminish with age, though I know some people around here have reported allergies both coming and going.

[Trillium]

Sure. In fact, I didn't develop allergies until I was in my 40s. My allergist told me that it's very common for women to develop allergies, or for their allergies to worsen, at the time of great hormonal shifts -- puberty, pregnancy, and menopause. For me, I think it started during my pregnancy, and worsened in perimenopause. (Hope that is not TMI for the guys!) I have a good friend who had the same experience, only her allergies got worse with each of her three pregnancies.

The other thing to consider is an interesting phenomenon called "priming." When you have a big exposure to an allergen, your immune system goes on ultra-high alert, and thereafter you have a bigger reaction to less allergen than you otherwise would have had. So, for example, if the tree pollen was bad this year (and you did not control your exposure to it), you'll have bigger reactions to your other allergens, not only during tree pollen season, but in grass pollen season, etc.

Irritants can also amplify your allergic reaction. So if, in your allergy season, you're exposed to smoke or perfume, your allergic reaction will be worse. (This has actually been proven in medical clinical trials, with cigarette smoke and ragweed pollen.) Exposure to air pollution can also amplify your response. In fact, one of the reasons proposed for the global increase in allergies is the increase in air pollution, which both promotes allergy and greatly increases the growth of allergenic plants such as ragweed.

The reaction to fruits could be something called "oral allergy syndrome." Google it and read more.

This is an interesting topic, for sure.

[Guest LadyErisana]

I dont have allergies, necessarily, but I had a horrible sore throat over the past few weeks. The only thing that made the pain stop was allergy meds, and I discovered I was suffering from post nasal drip...something I've never experienced before. so I would guess it's quite possible for allergies to worsen when you get older...just as when they appear for the first time in that situation.

Boyfriend, too, thinks he's getting them as well, though is dealing with more of the nasal symptoms

[krazykat]

No, sadly; I suppose this sounds unethical but I am so jealous; I would love to discover that something had suddenly started making me sneeze.

I thought that generally allergies diminish with age, though I know some people around here have reported allergies both coming and going.

I don't think that being jealous is unethical as what you are effectively saying is that you wish that your immune system was going on an all out rebellion over exposure to perfectly normal stuff and if that were to happen you would be the only one who would either enjoy the resultant effects or suffer. I only say suffer as two of the allergies i have developed over the last year are fairly serious in terms of leaving me gasping for breath and needing to take a few hits of the old inhaler... needless to say i avoid the offending allergens like the plague. On the whole my new allergies have been a positive addition to my life, but that has been balanced by a few negative aspects, and if you were to suddenly wake up sneezing your head off tomorrow morning and you had no other adverse health effects then i would say gesundheit and wish you well

[Vetinari]

i'm jealous too...although yay for Trillium. There's still time!

[Guest danky]

I didn't used to have any allergies worth mentioning. Then, in 10'th grade, the idiot sitting next to me in class snuck his mom's pepper spray into class and started goofing around with it. (the humor in this was that the teacher's name was Pepper) He accidentally let off a small puff, and the room had to be evacuated for the day. Ever since then, every year I've had worsening seasonal allergies. If I ever found the kid again, I'm not sure if I'd rather sue him or thank him for giving me the gift of a reliable triger for producing a natural sneeze.

It also had one more benifit, a year later. (nessesary background info: I live in the USA, and every year there are big festivals with HUGE fireworks displays on the Fourth of July, our Independance day.) On the fourth, I was at a big festival with a friend who's name and gender keeps changing anyway, so for now we'll call ... him/her... M. It was finaly dark enough to start the fireworks, and they were indead spectacular this year. We were in a big croud, listening to the music over the loudspeakers and watching all the beautiful explosions, the finale nearing, when I noticed an odd taste on the air. I figured it was just burnt firework particles floating down, but I paused my breathing for a moment because I didn't like the taste. As I was rummaging for some scrap of cloth to breath through, someone next to us shouted "OMG I JUST GOT F***ING MACED!" There was panic, the croud quickly dispersed, and M and I bolted upwind. M, you see, has Asthma. And the person who was maced had crashed into M trying to escape. Right next to me, as I had just happened to be holding my breath at the time. Needless to say, we missed the finale. I spent the next hour glued to M's side, trying to flag down the paramedics, and realizing that I had probably subconciously recognised the chemical on the air, or had just experienced a huge coincidence that I don't quite feel luck can account for.

Some foolish twit had unwittingly done me two huge favors in life: fettish fodder and giving me what I needed to be there for one of my closest friends in a time of great need.

(concidering moving this to observations, but felt it was apropriate to post it here for now)

[snuffles]

A few years ago I've been told by my doctor that I have allergies, which shocked me because I'm not a sneezy person. Pollen and dust don't seem to bother me, although I will admit sometimes dogs rubbing against my leg might make it itch.

However just the other day my ever observant grandma told me that I have a bad habit of rubbing my nose and I should stop this habit. Until she mentioned this, I never noticed I did this. But now that I know this, I've become self conscious about it. My nose starts to itch and I try desperately to not rub it and relieve the tickle. It's not strong enough for a sneeze but incredibly annoying. I don't know if this is a recent occurance because I've never noticed it before

danky: WOW I'm not sure to be impressed or shocked about that.

[foreverajerseygirl]

As a kid, I didn't really have allergies. But in my twenties and now my thirties, I do. Doc says every decade as a woman's body changes, this can happen. Now I must sneeze 15 times a day at least as opposed to just once every day or so when I was younger.

[resolution]

No, sadly; I suppose this sounds unethical but I am so jealous; I would love to discover that something had suddenly started making me sneeze.

I thought that generally allergies diminish with age, though I know some people around here have reported allergies both coming and going.

I think they frequently appear in either the teen years or in the 20's (sometimes later).