'Tis Allergy Season Yet Again

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Scottmi

Lifer
Oct 15, 2022
4,025
58,772
Orcas, WA
Title edited.

Weather is turning, and with it mushrooms are sprouting, and various spores are are in the air.. and teasing my allergies from one day to the next, with sporadic sneezing. In the last week, I had a day where my smokes tasted flat all day, next day good in the morning, but gone again in the afternoon, then all good again for a day, and this morning, with a regular tobacco in a pipe that works well with it, etc.. nothing. a little of the scent from the jar, but when lit, no smell or flavor coming through.. Carried on though as it was -smoking- great: easy burn, cool smoke, kept going... Analyzed it as I puffed and with retro.. so curious how that olfactory sense can be so muted, say, in the morning, but good again in the evening or vice versa. Anyone else ever find themselves along the edge like this?
Shall i blame you, Shaggy Mane?
IMG_5680.JPG
 
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Servant King

Lifer
Nov 27, 2020
4,817
28,054
39
Frazier Park, CA
www.thechembow.com
Here in the northerly reaches of Southern California, allergies usually rev up in mid-April (coinciding perfectly with my birthday, how joyous). This last winter was extremely wet, so I was naturally expecting the burst of pollen to happen either on time or ahead of schedule. However, it was also an extremely cold winter, and the cold lasted well into May. This delayed things, but once it was warm enough, BAM! Pollen with a vengeance. I'm at 5,300 feet, so it's mostly pines with just a few deciduous trees, and pine trees produce a hell of a lot of pollen. There was a yellow dusting all over everything, played hell with my allergies while it lasted. Fortunately, the monsoon rains came early and knocked most of it down to the ground. Not a lot of fungi here, though, so there's that.

Smoking wise, I did not notice much in the way of olfactory/taste interference. What I did notice, however, was that burley suddenly took on a new harshness, to the point where I had to make a significant change in the blends I was smoking. If burley was present, it had to be as a condiment, not as a base. Due to the fact that this is still an issue for me well after allergy season makes me unwilling to necessarily point to airborne pollen as a scapegoat, but perhaps it played a role to some degree. I'm not really sure. I just jarred or traded away most of my burley heavy blends (which were not especially numerous to begin with), and rolled with the change.
 

vosBghos

Lifer
May 7, 2022
1,632
3,588
Idaho
I have a friend who swears by fasting he does not eat at all for 7 days and only drinks water and tea.
Sounds crazy especially if you have to wrk or be around people but he says it cures him of any and all allergies, guess he does it once a year. Linked an article , who knows?

I try to wake up my palate each day with a small glass of orange juice seems to help.

 

Scottmi

Lifer
Oct 15, 2022
4,025
58,772
Orcas, WA
I've had the whole local honey and local apple cider vinegar so many times... I just gave up. I live on Claritin for the 10 months of the year that it's allergy season here.
Spring-early summer is claritin time for me. I find there are interesting little one to two-day other hits that get me from time to time, weather or changing locale seems to trigger.
 

WVOldFart

Lifer
Sep 1, 2021
2,273
5,338
Eastern panhandle, WV
I just got allergy tested, and pigweed is blooming and driving me crazy. I had suspected it was golden rod, because it blooms at the same time, but…. No. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen pigweed growing in real life.
Golden rod gets blamed frequently for our sinus problems, but it's pollen is sticky and seldom gets airborne. Ragweed is not very flashy or showy, but it's pollen is the culprit.
 

sardonicus87

Lifer
Jun 28, 2022
1,395
14,198
37
Lower Alabama
Spring-early summer is claritin time for me. I find there are interesting little one to two-day other hits that get me from time to time, weather or changing locale seems to trigger.
I just last week was on a trip to Alpine, TX. Had absolutely no allergy problems out there. Got back here (lower Alabama) and they're right back started. Actually, they started back the night I spent in Hammond, LA.

Right now, the main environmental allergens here are mold spores.
 

renfield

Lifer
Oct 16, 2011
5,183
42,503
Kansas
There are farm fields around here that look to be pigweed and ragweed plantations. Makes it miserable for allergy sufferers. It can interfere with enjoying the pipe for sure.
 
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FLDRD

Lifer
Oct 13, 2021
2,329
9,508
Arkansas
Title edited.

Weather is turning, and with it mushrooms are sprouting, and various spores are are in the air.. and teasing my allergies from one day to the next, with sporadic sneezing. In the last week, I had a day where my smokes tasted flat all day, next day good in the morning, but gone again in the afternoon, then all good again for a day, and this morning, with a regular tobacco in a pipe that works well with it, etc.. nothing. a little of the scent from the jar, but when lit, no smell or flavor coming through.. Carried on though as it was -smoking- great: easy burn, cool smoke, kept going... Analyzed it as I puffed and with retro.. so curious how that olfactory sense can be so muted, say, in the morning, but good again in the evening or vice versa. Anyone else ever find themselves along the edge like this?
Shall i blame you, Shaggy Mane?
View attachment 252852
Shaggy mane are edible... Get back at it and eat it and all family members you find.
In some cases, people are able to reduce their allergy symptoms by ensuring they maintain a healthy level of hydration. Many are chronically dehydrated and the tissues are more easily irritated due to that reason.
Sometimes the local honey idea can be helpful, but it's not a quick fix/response; more results from longer term ingestion. And for others it will have no effect.
 

HawkeyeLinus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2020
5,857
42,247
Iowa
Just get old(er), lol. I grew up with only totally ineffective over the counter allergy meds available and was miserable from mid- August through freeze up forever - sniffled and sneezed all through the open window non-A/C educational buildings of my youth. And end of summer season working on the grandparents' farm? Kill me now. With age, allergies just got progressively better, but there is much better medication available now - when I need it, a Zyrtec handles the effects.

To the point, yep, all sorts of conditions affect smell and taste and being a little plugged up for me makes enjoying a bowl pretty useless. A clear "system" and a crisp, clean outside air day on the deck is perfect. Today it's a folding camp chair in the garage, haha, but I'll suffer through it!
 
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Dec 3, 2021
5,544
48,157
Pennsylvania & New York
Ragweed has been kicking my ass like a fresh cauliflower! I wasn’t expecting it until October/November, but it arrived early this year in August, and I’ve been suffering since. The congestion has decreased in the last week or so, but August and September were brutal—I was coughing up everything but the half shell.
 

didimauw

Moderator
Staff member
Jul 28, 2013
10,727
37,713
SE WI
Me and my girls all have to take a regular general allergy pill every morning. It's no fun. I never used to have allergies either!