In my view, ALL allergy symptoms begin as reactions to airborne allergens. In almost every case I see, there is an initial history of the most common of all allergy symptoms… nose congestion and/or eye irritation. Pollen and mold are the two most common allergens in the air. Some people react to chemicals in the air, but these are a small minority compared to the vast number of people who react to pollen and mold.
The most common reactions to airborne allergens include stuffy nose, red or irritated eyes, throat irritation, and cough. These occur FIRST, and usually seasonally, when allergic reactions begin. Most people will realize what they are reacting to because there are clearly defined SEASONS when the most common and the most powerful pollens occur.
Fall, for example, is RAGWEED season. So, if you get a stuffy nose and a low-grade fever (up to 100 degrees) during August or September, you are probably having an allergy attack. If this occurs in December or January, you are getting “Cedar Fever” (at least in Central Texas you are). If your symptoms occur every spring, you are reacting to trees or early grasses. In summer, it’s the grass pollen. You can tell it’s allergies because viruses generally last FIVE DAYS, induce a fever MUCH higher than allergy fever, and the mucus from a cold (virus) explodes forward (think of boxes and boxes of Kleenex for a bright red, drippy nose). Allergy mucus drains down the throat, not out the front.
There is much throat clearing (harumph, harumph, etc.). It goes on FOREVER (several weeks or the length of the pollen season).
There is often a low-grade fever of up to 100 degrees. Symptoms are often worse at night and many will find themselves “soaking” their bedclothes or pillows during the night. The fever connected with allergy has been described for three centuries and has many popular names. The two most common are “Hay Fever” and “Cedar Fever.” Most people first experience allergy symptoms during one season. As the years go by, they experience symptoms in two seasons. Eventually the person will become so sensitive that they will react ALL year round. Then, they decide that it’s time to call the allergist!
Probably even more common than pollen allergy is mold allergy. While pollen affects people seasonally, mold affects us every night with little regard to seasons. Pollen is released during the hottest part of the day so that the thermals can carry the pollen far and wide. Mold goes off during the night. (A process called “sporulation” as opposed to pollen’s “pollenation.”) Mold cannot tolerate sunlight so the most efficient mold will sporulate at the darkest time of the night. The highest mold counts occur in our homes around 2:00 AM when spores begin to blow out of our air-conditioning systems and spread throughout the house. Like most of us, I first react with swelling in my mucus membrane (my nose stops up), followed by the release of my emergency allergy hormone… ADRENALIN. Many of us, who are sensitive to mold, will find ourselves waking up about 3:00 AM, wondering why we are awake. It’s the Adrenalin. I head to the bathroom. Then I realize that THAT wasn’t enough to wake me up. Then I realize that I cannot breathe out of one side of my nose. That is what mold typically does to us. The symptoms you get when you first go to bed, the symptoms you have during the night, and the symptoms that persist into the morning when you first get up, are caused by MOLDS.
