Sorry - I know this is way OT but… the pollen count is 96 in Atlanta today! :shock: It’s March 7 and the pollen count is already in the “High” range?
Oh, man… I love Spring but I’m thinking that I need to invest in some of the companies that make allergy drugs because it’s going to be a runny-nose kind of Spring in Georgia. :crying: For those of you wishing Spring would hurry up to your area… be careful what you wish for!
Angela
bleah!!! sorry you are so sniffley!!! ya, not looking forward to THAT part of spring!!!
I can truly empathize. Spring sprung early here in northeast Texas, and I have been miserable for a couple of weeks now. I love being outdoors this time of year, but the allergies make me miserable. I can’t take allergy medication because I can’t stand the medicine-head feeling, like I’m walking around underwater or something.
Despite that, spring and fall remain my favorite seasons. 
[color=blue]Yay Pollen! :rollseyes: sorry :oops: . Will be driving through on Saturday… can’t wait to see green.
anne
southern maine[/color]
It isn’t even thinking about spring here. It snowed all day today!!
Pollen is my worst fear… Ohhh bring on the flonase and claratin :rollseyes:
I send you my best wishes that a cold spell will go through your area 
I think the pollen is getting high here in Kentucky too. I’ve been getting sniffly, watery eyes, etc. lately when I go for my walks in the park. Louisville (along with Atlanta!) is always at the top of the list for cities with the worst allergy problems. But I must admit, all the blooming going on aroung me is such a welcome sight after the cold weather!
I didn’t think to mention this before but for those of you coming to visit or who have recently moved to Atlanta or new knitters - pollen season means taking precautions with your yarn and knitting!
Once the thick, yellow pollen starts coming down it is too late to pack all of the handmade things away - they end up needing a good wash. Now is the time that I start packing away all of those handwash items and my yarn stash gets protection.
I didn’t think to mention it before but it hit me that there are new knitters who may not think of this. :doh: It’s bad enough what happens to your car but to have it happen to your expensive yarn and all those FO’s that you’ve worked so hard on is heartbreatking!
Hey… my pollen report might end up being a good thing! It’s time to start thinking about how to best protect your knitting so… what do you do? I actually use my cedar chest - all knitted things and my stash go in there. Hope it helps!
Angela
The pollen count is high here along the gulf coast as well. Has been for over a week now. All the azaleas are in bloom almost a month early. And guess what? I’m allergic to azalea pollen. And guess what? I have 17 varieties of azalea on my property. So guess what? On top of having the flu, I’ve been going bonkers with allergy issues. Why did I ever leave Oregon?
Here, the sidewalks are getting yellow, the cars are getting yellow…and this is just the beginning. I’ve already posted elsewhere about my allergy woes; apparently, I am severely allergic to Bradford Pear pollen. I walk out the door and start sneezing. :rollseyes: Thank goodness we’re going to have high winds and thunderstorms later today to clear the air.
I’m dreading spring. My ‘winter allergies’ (dust mainly) have been bad this year… and to make matters worse, my usual OTC allergy medicine is now behind the counter. Apparently the Patriot Act won’t allow pharmacies to put pseudoephedrine out on the shelf, you have to ask for it now…because someone in Washington decided that meth heads = terrorism or some such.
Whatever happened to “We have nothing to fear but fear itself”?
So our local pharmacy is selling a ‘similar’ product now - looks just like my old medication (which is why we accidentally bought it), only it’s phenylephedrine hydrochloride. When I first realized the change I thought, okay, shouldn’t be a big deal.
It is a big deal. This med gave me side effects the original never did. Dizziness and insomnia.
I am so sick of big govt. meddling in my health affairs. :evil:
I call this Dry Mustard season. Actually, the worst of it is over here in south Florida. It happens twice a year. The pollen gets so thick that I have to use my windshield wipers. I can actually see it the pollen bursting off the pole pines in a Poof! Poof! sort of mini-explosion. My contact lenses last about half a day while this is going on. I can’t even cook without re-cleaning all the kitchen surfaces. Blech.
Ugh!! I haven’t noticed any pollen inside. We don’t really open windows in Spring so that we can keep ourselves as pollen-free as possible. I’m not sure how well that’s working, mind you!
Re ephedrine: I hate taking it! I only do so when I’m desperate. Even if I take it in the morning, it keeps me awake at night. And it’s a tired-awake, which is just miserable.
I’m torn on gov’t intervention on ephedrine products. On the one hand I don’t like them regulating OTC drugs (I mean, they’re OTC!), but we have so many crystal meth busts around here, mostly involving children who live in the same houses/mobile homes where the crystal meth is being cooked, that I’m happy about the limited accessibility that the drug has.
It’s just another of those cases of a few people ruining the lives of the rest of us. I needed a painkiller desperately a few months ago–I was weeping b/c the pain in my shoulder was so severe–but neither of my docs (GP or specialist) would give me any painkillers. “We only do that for people who have had surgery.” GAH!! So instead I got supermega-doses of ibuprofen. The result: it’s okay that I could get liver damage, because apparently that’s far better than the remote possibility of a drug addiction that might have been the result of getting a script for loritab or some such. I’m still really angry about that.