Winter allergies Florida vs. Arizona

My wife has several pollen allergies, and I'm allergic to cold weather. We're both doing fine this winter in southern and central Florida. ;)

Snowman9000 wrote:

mileshuff wrote:
In AZ if you stay outside populated areas such as a state park the pollen's will be lower. In the city people plants lots of non-native vegetation.

I don't know about that. We are in Lost Dutchman SP, and our allergies are the worst here by far on our trip of about six weeks. One of the main plants is pollinating. I don't know what the plant is. It's a good sized bush with small green leaves and very small yellowish flowers. Anyway it's bad right now.

I think the bush you're talking about is called brittlebush. It covers the state park's hillside and is beautiful in bloom but I guess you're not enjoying it very much. :(

Snowman9000 wrote:
I don't know about that. We are in Lost Dutchman SP, and our allergies are the worst here by far on our trip of about six weeks. One of the main plants is pollinating. I don't know what the plant is. It's a good sized bush with small green leaves and very small yellowish flowers. Anyway it's bad right now.

Its an unusual winter in AZ with temps 15 degrees above normal. Seems to be causing plants to bloom en-masse and very early. I too have very bad allergies and this years been a problem.

mileshuff wrote:
In AZ if you stay outside populated areas such as a state park the pollen's will be lower. In the city people plants lots of non-native vegetation.

I don't know about that. We are in Lost Dutchman SP, and our allergies are the worst here by far on our trip of about six weeks. One of the main plants is pollinating. I don't know what the plant is. It's a good sized bush with small green leaves and very small yellowish flowers. Anyway it's bad right now.

I have more than 100 allergies, & am doing just fine here in south Florida... :B

In AZ if you stay outside populated areas such as a state park the pollen's will be lower. In the city people plants lots of non-native vegetation.

The higher elevations have less allergens in the winter months but it can be too cold or possibly snowy depending on elevation.

GoPackGo wrote:

sjholt wrote:
Loratadine(AllerClear) and Wal-phed(Pseudoephedrine HCL) are your friends.

But not if you have high blood pressure.

Yup, I was about to say the same thing.

They can do some really good allergy tests now to determine what it is that you are allergic too. My sister had bad allergies and after the testing was done she was able to just stay away from certain things. Plus, then they could treat her allergies with medication better when they knew exactly what they were treating her for.

sjholt wrote:
Loratadine(AllerClear) and Wal-phed(Pseudoephedrine HCL) are your friends.

But not if you have high blood pressure.

It depends on what you are allergic to, how long it takes you to become sensitized to something new.

I grew up in southern Michigan, my allergies were to what was growing there. In summer we could get away from most of those allergens by going to the U.P. or the northern parts of the L.P. Going south into corn country, they just got worse.

Twelve weeks in San Antonio, either my Michigan allergies were still acting up or my fellow trainees kept reinfecting me with rhinoviruses. Two years in coastal Carolina I was mostly symptom free, two years in Indianapolis got me back into allergy country. Then in Central Florida, I was symptom free for the first year but before the end of the second I had been sensitized to Florida pollens and molds.

The usual problem in Arizona is that all the migrants from the Midwest and Northeast have brought their favorite ornamental plants with them, in that climate they just need watering. When you get into the frost-free parts of Florida, a lot of the northern plants don't do well, so you are mostly dealing with a new flora, exposing yourself to mostly new allergens. It takes a while for your overactive immune system to respond, but eventually it will.

I have allergic like symptoms simply from prolonged exposure to very dry air. I have to run humidifiers 24/7 in the winter time around here.