Cold/ Allergies

Allergies can strike at odd times.
Sometimes it's not the pollen - sometimes it's dust mites and/or mold.
Do you always get a stuffy nose between Thanksgiving and Christmas?
Does it coincide with when the holiday decorations come out or when the tree gets put up?
Sometimes humidity can help a stuffy nose (we use a humidifier in the bedroom at night for a cold) BUT if it's too much humidity it can rebound with dust mites/mold.
If benedryl helps then try some other allergy meds - Claritin, Allegra, Zyrtec - till you find what works for you and when.
Claritin works better for me in the spring while Zyrtec works better for me in the fall.
Allegra never seems to do much for me at all no matter when I try it.

A lot of it depends on the time of year. In the spring, summer and fall I always assume it's allergy. If the allergy medication doesn't work within 2 dosages then I figure it's a cold.

This has been a crazy winter. Our weather has been up and down for a few weeks now.. enough that some flowers have bloomed. A week ago we had 2 days that hit over 80. 4 days ago our highs were in the 40s.
That's really enough for unusual things to put out some pollens... especially grasses or trees. The tree pollen here is atrocious right now.
But just b/c you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there. It's actually the pollen you don't see that is the most insidious. It's small enough that your natural body systems that filter that stuff out (i.e. nose hair, lol) don't catch it.

Where we live, February is one of the worst months for certain environmental allergies. December is about the only month where the isn't something in the air.

Take your allergy meds (whatever you normally would take) for a few days. They tend to be most effective when you take them consistently rather than "as needed" skipping days here and there.

Good luck.

You're assuming that allergies are "seasonal" and that means pollen - BUT you could easily be reacting to a whole host of other things, including dust, chemicals from foam cushions in furniture, cleaning products, and so much more. A lot of foods cause increase mucus, which causes increased post-nasal drip. This clogging up and all the increased inflammation (throughout your body, not just in the areas you've noticed) can make reactions more severe or cause them to occur at odd times. So yes, it's early for pollen in NY, but allergies can be a year-round thing.

Once allergies or other reactions set in, they can kind of feed on each other. Irritated mucus membranes are more susceptible to new irritants. The meds you are using will, at best, treat the symptoms - but they can be drying (that's their main method of addressing congestion) so you can get additional problems or a rebound effect. You can also build up a tolerance.

There is a lot you can do in anti inflammation and in immune system support that will prevent these reactions to begin with, rather than leaving you to treat symptoms after the problems occur. Remember that allergies are auto-immune responses to a normally harmless organism or particle - so strengthening the immune system over a period of months should make a difference. There are very few places you can get immune system boosting - I don't know of anything effective that's sold in the average grocery or vitamin store. The best work being done now is by nutritional epigeneticists, and that is adding in nature's first known superfood which allows you to process these offending trigger foods or allergens without the excessive reaction. It also reduces inflammation overall.

You could continue to take meds while this kicks in - it's not an overnight fix which is what most people expect from a remedy, unfortunately. It's not realistic to turn your body around overnight or in a few days when it's taken years to get to this point. It took me about 3 months to become medication-free and no longer have allergy symptoms, but I got educated and I got support (free) from the epigenetics company, and I was very consistent.

We have had the best luck controlling most of our allergy symptoms by using a neti pot everyday in the shower. It helps with cold symptoms too. You can buy a sinus wash system from most major retailers, but I don't care for the squeeze bottle type.

We use the neti pot, which looks like a little tea pot, with warm water & 1/2 tsp of baking soda. You tip your head, pour it into each nostril & it flushes out all the pollens, dust & mucus that accumulate in the sinus cavities. It took me a while to wrap my head around putting water through my nose, but it made a huge difference in my allergy/cold/sinus symptoms.

We still have allergy & cold medicine around, but they tend to expire before we use them up, because daily use of the neti pot has really reduced the symptoms. Even the kids use it, because they noticed that it helps more than the pills & sprays.

I have a friend who had constant sinus infections & allergy problems, basically lived on antibiotics, allergy & sinus meds for years. Eventually she had a surgery for her it, but she still had problems. During a follow up with the surgeon, still having the same problems that the surgery was supposed to fix, the surgeon said, maybe you should try a sinus wash system. She wasn't too pleased, to say the least. She started using the neti pot & except for for the occasion cold, she stopped having the sinus infections & allergy symptoms & was able to stop taking the various meds.

It may not help, but it's a simple thing to try, once you wrap your head around the ick factor. Good Luck.

The jet stream is what brings allergens in when it's not quite time in our area yet.

I always get sick when there are massive fires out west, the jet stream brings in particles of those areas and our air isn't as clear. I am allergic to so many things in my area anyway and am aware when those things are about to start bothering me.

My son's seasonal allergies have been blowing up this last week or two.
Sounds like allergies.

I woke up with itchy eyes for the 1st time this season about 4 days ago. The trees know spring is coming, even if the weather forecasters are predicting snow again this week.

My 11 year old has been having allergy symptoms since this weekend.

Your best bet? Take the allergy med you know works for you (Allegra, Claritin, Zyrtec, whatever) and see if the symptoms clear up. If they don't....it's a cold. :)