Ragweed pollen ‘very high,’ data shows; allergy sufferers seek relief

Those allergies are starting to ramp up, she said, with different types of weed pollen that tend to mature and pollinate toward the end of the summer. Ragweed is one of the more common ones.

The “very high” weed pollen in the region is typical for this time of year, said Brian Huxtable, RAPCA air pollution control specialist.

“Ragweed season is a pretty defined season. It starts usually in mid-August,” Huxtable said. Early September around Labor Day is usually the time when ragweed pollen starts to reach its peak.

“It just slowly tapers off for the next month, maybe six weeks, typically until you get like a really good, hard frost that kind of kills the plant,” he said. That will be about mid-October.

Local health providers are reaching the time of year when they start to see the peak of people dealing with those bad fall allergies, Coy said.

Symptoms of ragweed allergies are similar to those of other pollen allergies, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Those symptoms include sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion, headaches, irritated eyes and itchy throat.

Allergy sufferers can start taking antihistamines like Claritin or Zyrtec before or after allergies start, Coy said.

“Sometimes you can start that a couple weeks ahead of time even, but certainly once the symptoms start making themselves known, you could start taking one of those antihistamines that help target many of the typical symptoms,” Coy said.

Other methods of symptom relief can include different saline nasal rinses, eye drops and/or steroid nasal sprays like Flonase or Nasacort, she said.

People can also try decongestants, but Coy recommended consulting a health provider about decongestants in case they have specific health conditions that would preclude them from taking that type of medication for too long.

If none of that’s working, people should reach out to their primary care providers, Coy said. There are different prescription medications available, or a health provider can connect patients to an allergist for other resources like immunotherapies.

Coy said other tips include checking on what the pollen counts are each day, trying to stay inside or keep the windows closed and even wiping pets down when they come back in from being outside. People can also keep their shoes outside so as not to track pollen in through the house.

“If you’ve tried some of the different over-the-counter remedies, and they’re really not going away, and you’re still still pretty symptomatic or pretty miserable, then that’s a good time to reach out to either your family doctor or an allergist,” Coy said. “Usually your (primary care provider) is a good place to start.”