Allergies in Spring (Phoenix: home, live in, fence)

[spoonman1]

I’v been here in PHX for 2 years, but this year my allergies have seemed to go crazy. The last month and especially last week have been rough. I understand that pollen counts are high which is no surprise looking at the blooming Palo Verde trees and other plants. Can anyone share some information about the allergy seasons in PHX?

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by spoonman1

I’v been here in PHX for 2 years, but this year my allergies have seemed to go crazy. The last month and especially last week have been rough. I understand that pollen counts are high which is no surprise looking at the blooming Palo Verde trees and other plants. Can anyone share some information about the allergy seasons in PHX?

Allergy season starts on January 1st of each year and generally ends on December 31. It's not Palo Verdes, but all the non-native plants that people have brought here. One or the other bloom all year. Want relief? Go out in the real desert away from Phoenix.

[ElleTea]

The high winds the last couple of days have really made it extra bad for me. I had spring allergies when I lived in Iowa and they got much worse when I moved here and now last all year. I've finally figured out a good regime of Zyrtec (claritin wasn't cutting it) once a day, Flonase nasal spray once a day, and allergy eye drops. It's pretty ridiculous.

[WilmaWildcat]

There was a dust warning for driving in the news a couple days ago. Ponderosa is right in that people used to come to the desert precisely because they weren't allergic to desert plants. In my case, the (non-native) privet pollen used to irritate my nose a lot; our neighbor had a fence of it. Allergies are a prominent issue, and you can check various services that post what type and level of pollen or allergen is currently annoying people. Googling "allergen count phoenix" returns a graph showing "grass" the whole week, for example.

[Pink Jazz]

Note that our subseasons don't line up with typical guides. For example, while grass season for most of the northern and eastern United States is typically May-July, due to our unique plants, our grass season starts earlier.

[Finger Laker]

Avoid blanket statements, everyone had different allergen triggers.

I for one am allergic to most native trees and have no problems with most non- native stuff

The seasons are long though and the wind on Thursday definitely didn't help anything

[loriwass]

We moved to Phoenix in August from the Midwest. I have had seasonal allergies (as well as to cats) for my entire adult life. Our former home was in a highly wooded area near a forest preserve and I had horrific spring allergies. I used Flonase, Claritin, and Zaditor (for my eyes) for about 6-8 weeks. This is my first spring here--we have a shedding palo verde tree out front and live in an area with desert washes--and everything is blooming like crazy. I find I can get by with Zyrtec a couple times a week. Pleasantly surprised :-)

[Colt AZ]

Allergies in Spring

Someone once told me that "there ain't no such thing as allergies!"

Asked I: You mean it's just a bunch of hypochondriacs out there?

He answered, "You got THAT right. It's just another big fake money-making pharma thing, like the flu!"



Wow! That's good to know. Thanks! Said I.

[Pink Jazz]

Note that even though our allergy seasons our longer, the maximum pollen count in the peak of allergy season (February to May for the Valley) is lower than in other areas. Usually, the lowest pollen count will typically be after a freeze (usually occurring late December/early January, although we didn't have one the past two winters), and in the rare occasions that we get a hard freeze, that can actually suppress the allergy season for at least two months.

[BIG CATS]

My allergies never go away here. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... I'm in misery.