So… here’s a mystery that I can’t find the answer to. Maybe there isn’t one, but SURELY all the smart people on here have some theories.
Last spring, I had the worst allergies ever. Just a nightmare. Weeks and weeks and weeks of them. The start of April was actually the worst time. But this year…
Nothing! Not one sneeze, one itch, one runny nose, one antihistamine, one anything. I absolutely don’t get it. I live in Portland (OR) and we had a very mild winter. Everyone else is in the middle of the worst allergy attack ever. If anything, I’m spending even more time outside than last year. And I’m running around through fields of pollen without a single sniffle! So… any theories?
I’m another Portland resident who is experiencing the same thing. I keep waiting for the misery to start, but so far. . .nada. Since spring was early, I’m wondering if there is something that just is stubbornly not blooming yet. Perhaps mold/moss production was low because of less rain?
Thinking more about this: while rainfall has been about average, it’s tended to come in bursts this year, rather than steady drizzle. In between the bursts, we’ve been getting beautiful sunny days with low humidity, which is the enemy of mold. I took the cover off the RV yesterday and noticed that mold growth on the caulk joints is far less than usual.
My allergies just stopped a few years back: right out of the blue.
I’ve suffered seasonal allergies my entire life and then just . . . . nothing. I can’t explain it.
Maybe you’ll be fortunate like me. I’ve heard of this happening to people, but I was probably 49 or 50 when mine just disappeared. (Although cats still bother me a bit.)
Hey fellow PDX-er! None of the other things changed that people mentioned in the comments. Something along these lines COULD be it… but the thing is that a lot of other people here have been going through the worst allergies ever. (If you ever go to the Starbucks in NE halfway between the two New Seasons, there’s this one unfortunate barista who can’t stop sneezing.)
Okay, here’s one thing that did change. One of my epilepsy meds was lowered compared to last year. ???
I’m allergic to Starbucks. I don’t get to NE often enough, even though we have a musician friend there; lots of new restaurants over that way (I’m about as far in the southwest corner of Southeast as you can go and still be in Multnomah County).
I wonder if it’s possible to literally be allergic to Starbuck’s? My sister is addicted, and she pulled me into it… there’s some kind of addictive substance added to the iced coffee, IMHO. But seriously, it really is amazing how many people seem to be having allergy problems this year.
Okay, I’m updating this because of new info… according to the National Weather Service, rainfall has been above “normal” every month in 2015 so far except January. There was almost an inch more than “normal” in both February and March. So I think the low rainfall theory has to go! The mystery remains… O.o.
I didn’t say ‘low rainfall’. What I said was that the periods of rain have been intense, and followed by longer periods of sun and warmth than is usual (especially in the past coupld of months). Warm, sunny weather dries things up, of course, and is not a happy condition for mold growth.
It’s certainly different from all the other springs I’ve been here… the rain is usually a lot more constant… we may have a winner! Or it could be all those sacrifices to the Gods of Stop Sign Cozies. :rolleyes:
The thing is, what other people’s allergies are doing doesn’t necessarily relate to yours.
Maybe some of you are allergic to (say) pine pollen, while others are allergic to (say) leaf mold and others still to (say) dust mites.
Some weather or living conditions might increase one, and decrease the others. So some of you get less allergies this year, and others get more allergies.
“allergies” are to specific things or classes of related things. They aren’t generic.
So… any theories?
None of the other things changed that people mentioned in the comments. Something along these lines COULD be it… but the thing is that a lot of other people here have been going through the worst allergies ever. (If you ever go to the Starbucks in NE halfway between the two New Seasons, there’s this one unfortunate barista who can’t stop sneezing.)
I don’t get to NE often enough, even though we have a musician friend there; lots of new restaurants over that way (I’m about as far in the southwest corner of Southeast as you can go and still be in Multnomah County).
My sister is addicted, and she pulled me into it… there’s some kind of addictive substance added to the iced coffee, IMHO. But seriously, it really is amazing how many people seem to be having allergy problems this year.
Or it could be all those sacrifices to the Gods of Stop Sign Cozies. :rolleyes: