MONDAY, May 22, 2023 -- Maybe you can’t weed your garden without sneezing. Perhaps your eyes start watering when you clean your home. Did your skin begin itching last night during dinner?
You may have an
allergy
, but you’re not alone. More than 50 million adults and children in the United States have a bad reaction to pollen, dust, mold, pet dander and other common allergens, according to the
American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology (ACAAI)
.
What are allergies (
allergic reactions
)?
An allergy is your body’s reaction to an allergen such as pollen, mold and more. Pollen causes a pollen allergy and mold causes a mold allergy.
It’s your immune system that reacts. It is very important because it protects you from germs and viruses, but sometimes it gets confused. “Most people don’t have an immune response to pollen, but a certain percentage of people’s immune systems see it as foreign and dangerous, and they treat it like a pathogen or infection,” said
Dr. Christina Price
, an allergist and immunologist at Yale Medicine in New Haven, Conn.
How your body treats allergens
When your immune system decides that something might hurt you, it fights back. This fight triggers those miserable symptoms like shortness of breath, hives, sneezing and itching, the ACAAI explains. In other words, while trying to protect you, your body accidentally causes harm.
The most common allergy symptoms
Be aware of the different types of allergies and talk about them with your health care provider. He or she needs to know what symptoms you’re experiencing to figure out the type of allergy you have (and how to help you cope).
Seasonal allergies and symptoms
A seasonal allergy (allergic rhinitis) is one that happens only during a certain time of year (summer, fall, winter or spring).
Yale Medicine
notes that the most common seasonal allergens are grass pollen, tree pollen, mold and ragweed. The most common symptom of seasonal and pollen allergy include:
Congestion (fluid in your nose)
Coughing
Fatigue
Itchy eyes, nose and throat
Post-nasal drip (drainage in your throat)
Runny nose and eyes
Sneezing
Some seasonal allergies have been worse in recent years, according to
Dr. Stephanie Leeds
, a pediatric allergist at Yale Medicine.
“With climate change, the general trend has been that we’re getting higher levels of pollen and longer pollen seasons, whether that’s due to warmer temperatures or increased carbon dioxide emissions," she said. "It's probably multifactorial.”
Perennial allergies and symptoms
A perennial allergy can happen during any season of the year. The most common perennial allergens are pet hair and dander, dust mites, cockroaches and molds, according to the
Cleveland Clinic
.
Cat and dog allergies
Cat allergy symptoms and dog allergy symptoms are likely to include the following, according to ACAAI:
Chest tightness
Coughing
Eyes that are watery, red or itchy
Hives (bumps or red marks on your skin)
Pain around your face (caused by congestion in your nose)
Runny or stuffy nose
Shortness of breath
Skin rashes
Sneezing
Wheezing (you’ll hear a rattle or whistle when you breathe)
There are easy ways to avoid pet allergies. But, getting away from the fur and dander may be more complicated than you expect.
“If you remove a cat from a home, you clean all the walls down, do the laundry, do the draperies, it still takes six months for the level of cat protein to get down to normal,” said allergist
Dr. Warner Carr
, an allergist at Children's Hospital of Orange County Mission Hospital in Orange, Calif.
Mold allergy symptoms
Mold allergy symptoms, according to ACAAI, are likely to include:
Congestion (fluid in your nose)
Coughing
Irritated eyes
Itchy throat
Runny nose
Sneezing
Wheezing (you’ll hear a rattle or whistle when you breathe)
Food allergy symptoms
The most common food allergens include gluten, egg and milk. You can also be allergic to shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, soybeans and wheat, according to the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
.
According to the
Cleveland Clinic
, gluten allergy symptoms (gluten intolerance) are likely to include:
Abdominal (tummy) pain
Anemia (too few red blood cells)
Anxiety
Bloating
Brain fog
Constipation
Depression
Diarrhea
Fatigue (severe tiredness)
Gas
Headache
Joint pain
Nausea
Rash
Trouble concentrating
Vomiting
According to
Mayo Clinic
, egg allergy symptoms are likely to include:
Chest tightness
Congestion (fluid in your nose)
Coughing
Hives (bumps or red marks on your skin)
Runny nose
Shortness of breath
Skin inflammation (swelling, heat, redness, pain)
Sneezing
Stomach cramps
Nausea
Vomiting
Wheezing
According to
Mayo Clinic
, symptoms of allergy to milk and other dairy products are likely to include:
Abdominal (tummy) cramps
Colic (babies only)
Coughing
Diarrhea (you may see blood)
Hives (bumps or red marks on your skin)
Itching around your mouth, lips
Runny nose
Shortness of breath
Swelling in your throat, lips tongue
Tingling around your mouth, lips
Vomiting
Watery eyes
Wheezing
No matter how long your allergy lasts or how bad it gets, know that you don’t have to just live with the symptoms.
"Some people have a couple of weeks when they are miserable, and then the rest of the year they are fine, so they think they’ll just grin and bear it," Leeds said. "But there is a better way. You can take steps to minimize those weeks of misery.” Discuss your symptoms with your health care provider.
If you think you’re having an allergic reaction,
Mayo Clinic
urges you to call emergency services or go to the emergency department right away if you experience any of the following life-threatening symptoms:
Fainting, dizziness, unconsciousness
Pulse is quick and weak
Skin changes (hives, itching, redness)
Smaller (narrower) airway
Swelling (eyes, face, throat, lips)
Trouble breathing
Trouble swallowing
Vomiting, nausea, diarrhea
Wheezing (you’ll hear a rattle or whistle when you breathe)
Posted May 2023
