Local News

Allergy Clues May Not Be On (Or In) The Nose

(WCCO) Oh, blessed Spring. The long-awaited thaw. The great re-awakening. Which also re-awakens many people's allergies.

"It's miserable," said Scott Hughes as he strolled up 5th Street in downtown Minneapolis. He said this time of year it only takes a couple of minutes for him to know if there is pollen in the wind, because his nose will start to run.

Hughes thought childhood allergy shots had banished his suffering for good. Then when he hit 30 a few years ago, they came back and have been getting worse each year.

"I like to jog and go for bike rides. And when the allergies get real bad, that becomes tough. If you can't breathe it's tough to do outdoor activities," said Hughes.

So he turned to allergist Pramod Kelkar who said with so many over-the-counter and prescription treatments available, everyone should be able to find relief. The first hurdle is to get a diagnosis and learn which things you are allergic to.

Kelkar also said we need to look beyond the usual symptoms of watery eyes, runny nose, and sneezing. Often the histamines our bodies produce in response to allergies can also produce headaches and persistent cough. Some patients may experience only the cough.

"These patients don't have any shortness of breath. They don't have any chest tightness, they don't have any wheezing. The only symptom they have is a persistent cough," said Kelkar. "We call it cough variant asthma."

Kelkar added that we can do some of the detective work ourselves. If you are one of those people who seems to always get a cold in the springtime, he suggested asking yourself questions about the timing.

• Do the symptoms start when the trees bud out or the grass is coming up?
• Do the symptoms fail to improve after a week or so?

Custom blended allergy shots may be Hughes' solution again. That makes his wife happy. She told him his snoring always gets worse in the spring when his allergies flare up. So, if you don't get treated for yourself, do it for someone you love.

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