This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Summer Sneeze: How to Get Through the Dog Days and Beyond

Whether you're allergic to pollen, mold, cats or dogs, spring is not the only time of year when allergies bloom. As we head into summer, Doctor's discuss treatments for your summer symptoms.

By Donna Leder

Whether you’re allergic to pollen, mold, cats or dogs, spring is not the only time of year when allergies bloom. As we head into summer, Girlfriendz takes a pre-emptive strike against allergens, and assembles a panel of experts to talk about treatments for your summer symptoms.

As soon as we see that yellow dusting on our cars, many of us know we’re in for a runny nose, watery eyes, itchy throat, cough, headache and possibly an asthma attack.

Find out what's happening in Phoenixvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Q: We all know about fall and spring allergies, but what’s the deal with summer?

Glasofer: There’s a weed called English plantain. It starts to pollinate in June through the end of July. In mid-August, ragweed starts to pollinate. Additionally, grass pollen pollinates in June and July.

Find out what's happening in Phoenixvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Lania-Howarth: Global warming has changed our weather patterns, altering the usual pattern of pollination of trees, grasses and weeds. So if there is more rain, the levels of pollens may increase and be higher than normal. More rain will also cause the levels of mold spores to be elevated.

If we have a very warm summer with less rain, we may have higher levels of weeds and mold spores for longer periods of time through the summer months.
A mild winter would result in an earlier start to the release of spring pollen with levels also being higher than normal. A change in the weather pattern can also affect the fall pollen, where the ragweed season that usually starts in the middle of August and ends at the frost, would last even a few weeks longer.

Q: How do microscopic allergens manage to make us feel so miserable?
Berlin:  Pollen impacts the part of the body it touches first, so if it’s your eyes they get watery and itchy; if it’s your nose, it runs and later gets stuffy. If it hits your skin, you might have hives or eczema. If it hits your throat, it becomes itchy and if you inhale, it can lead to an asthma attack. Tree and grass allergy symptoms are very similar. They cause a condition we call hay fever, which affects the eyes, nose and throat. The highest allergen in the summer is something called Alternaria, which is an outdoor mold and grows on decaying plants. Cladosporium is also an outdoor mold you can’t see and can come into your home through the ventilation system. It can cause asthma, allergies of the nose and throat, and is the most common airborne allergen.

Q: What about testing? Anything new on the horizon?
Berlin: Besides the skin tests—known as the scratch or flick tests—and RAST testing—a simple blood test—there are newer blood tests for allergies currently being studied. One is the ImmunoCap, which is more sensitive than the RAST test. But the scratch test is easy and the results are available immediately.

Lania-Howarth: There are false positives and false negatives with the blood testing. The accuracy is not there compared to skin testing.

Glasofer: Another type of testing that’s more sensitive is intradermal testing. We inject a small amount of the allergen underneath the skin to see if it elicits a reaction. We don’t start out with this type of testing for safety reasons. For example, if you react positively to grass pollen on flick testing, we would not do an intradermal test because we don’t want you to have a systemic reaction to the testing itself.

Q: What can we do to just feel better?

Berlin: We desensitize most patients with allergy shots. They reduce the symptoms and how much medicine you need. Shots are given in escalating doses over a period of time, during which allergy medications are used until the effects of the shots takes place—usually within a year. Once the shots begin to work, medications are reduced as tolerated. Over time, they lessen your sensitivity so you can go outside, not have all the symptoms and not have to take as much medicine.

Glasofer: You can start out with antihistamines, nasal sprays and eye drops, but I wouldn’t use the over the counter nose sprays because they cause rebound effects. The salt water solutions are fine. I try to avoid putting my patients on decongestants because some people get revved up by them, plus they have some additional side effects. It’s not always a matter of changing their meds, but adding something else in to give them additional relief.

Some people feel that homeopathic remedies work for them, and as long as they aren’t doing any harm, that’s fine. But some of the supplements people are taking can cross-react to some of the allergies they are trying to fight off. For example, Echinacea cross-reacts with ragweed. It is beneficial to start medications at the beginning of the season. It helps to be pro-active and take your medications regularly without stopping, even when you feel fine.

Lania-Howarth: When a person has nasal congestion secondary to allergies or sinus issues, use of the over-the-counter decongestants is recommended but only for a short period of time because of the side effects, namely tremor, palpitations, insomnia, etc. For those with blood pressure issues, use of decongestants is not recommended. It is not recommended that young children use decongestants. An additional medication that can be used for congestion is Mucinex or Guafenesin, which is a mucus-thinner that can also be purchased over–the-counter. Alternatives to medication are highly recommended. An example is the saline sinus rinse, or neti pot, to cleanse the nose and sinus areas.

Berlin: The newest treatment for allergy sufferers is a drug called Xolair. It’s an allergy shot for asthma, but it’s interesting the way it works. Think of it like a sponge that soaks up liquids. That’s how Xolair works. It soaks up the allergic proteins—or antibodies—your body makes. Your body produces these allergic antibodies against things you are allergic to like ragweed or cat or dog. All these antibodies are in your bloodstream and the Xolair sort of gobbles them up so they’re not available to cause trouble. It’s a shot given either every two or four weeks, depending on your blood test results. If you have a higher amount of allergic antibodies, it’s given more often. But patients who are on this have to stay on it for life.

Glasofer: There is a new nasal spray that is a combination of one of the nasal steroid sprays and one of the nasal antihistamine sprays. Also, there are two new nasal sprays that are dry powders (aerosol) rather than liquid.   Some patients may prefer this type of spray.

Lania-Howarth: Daily sublingual allergy drops, placed under the tongue, are used as a means of desensitization to what you are allergic to. Allergists are not recommending them at this time, though, because the treatment has not yet been approved by the FDA, nor is it covered by insurance companies. In the very near future, this may be a recommended treatment for some allergy sufferers. In addition, at this time, it creates an out-of-pocket expense.

Q: What about non-medical approaches?

Glasofer: We tell our patients to keep their windows closed during pollen season. If they have indoor allergies, we discuss how to decrease issues with pets, dust mites and mold. But if you are genetically predisposed to developing an allergy, your chances of developing one are pretty high. We know that kids who live on farms have a lower incidence of allergies and part of that is because they are exposed to endotoxins from microorganisms—organic material from animals, manure, etc.—which tend to decrease their developing allergies.

Lania-Howarth: In the spring and summer months, it is beneficial to keep the windows shut and the air conditioning on, to prevent the entrance of pollen and mold spores into the home. During the winter months, it is advisable to keep the thermostat at 68-degrees or below to minimize indoor humidity which will keep the levels of dust mites down in the home.
Change the air filter in your heater regularly and always use a HEPA filter. Removing carpet in your home will help with dust mite exposure as well because carpeting is the area in the home which will have the highest concentration of them. Additional dust mite havens are mattresses, box springs, upholstered furniture and stuffed animals.
People shouldn’t exercise or do a lot of things outdoors between 4 AM and 10 AM because many plants release their pollen very early in the morning. When you’re outside for a long period of time, change your clothes and shower when you come in to remove exposure.

Q: What about people who’ve never had allergies, but developed them as adults?

Lania-Howarth: In women, allergy symptoms can manifest as a result of hormonal changes in pregnancy, peri-menopause or menopause. Undergoing chemotherapy or radiation can also affect the immune system, not only making you more susceptible to infection but possibly changing that part of the immune system that controls allergies.

Q: What is the allergies-asthma connection?

Berlin: I have seen people who have allergies and have had no asthma until they get a bad infection and that sort of revs up their immune system which tries to fight the infection. Repeated illness can keep the person inflamed and cause allergies to worsen as they get older.

Glasofer: Allergies are one of the major triggers in asthma. There are many different triggers—viral infections, dust, exposure to cats, dogs, smoke, freshly mowed lawns, strong odors, exercise, changes in weather and pollen. You can also have the genetic makeup to develop asthma.

Lania-Howarth: Asthma can also turn on because a person was exposed to a virus when they were 6 months old. That virus can suddenly interact with their genetic makeup and they develop asthma.

All in all, there is hope for allergy relief, but keep in mind that pollen can travel up to 100 miles. So a tissue run to one of those warehouse stores might not be a bad idea.

_________Our Experts:__________

Paul J. Berlin, MD,
Asthma and Allergy Specialist
Office: Turnersville
Affiliation: Kennedy Health System
www.kennedyhealth.org

Eric Glasofer, MD, PhD, FACAAI
Allergist & Immunologist
Office: Voorhees
Affiliation: Lourdes Health System
www.lourdesnet.org

Maria Lania-Howarth, MD, FACAAI, FAAAAI
Head, Division of Allergy & Immunology
Offices: Voorhees and Sewell
Affiliation: Cooper University Health System
www.cooperhealth.org

 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?