How to deal with early seasonal allergies

Your eyes are itching. You can't stop sneezing. And you've been feeling this way since mid-March. But it's too soon for the spring allergy season, right?

If you had any doubt that you were suffering from spring allergies, the blooming plants and trees that have cropped up in most neighborhoods, coupled with moderate to high pollen counts, have probably put those doubts to rest.

The mild winter and unseasonable bursts of June-like weather are to blame, said Dr. Sharon Markovics, an allergist at Manhasset Allergy and Asthma.

"We're probably about a month ahead of ourselves," she said. "Normally, people would just be starting their preventive medications about now."

Besides the early blooms on trees and plants, people who are allergic to molds may be more miserable this year because there was never a sustained frost that froze the ground and killed off the molds during the winter.

Still, Markovics said, it's hard to predict whether this allergy season might end early or be prolonged. If it gets cold in the next few weeks, for instance, the allergy season could end up longer than usual.

"There is no scientifically valid means by which we can accurately predict an allergy season, whether it will be mild or severe," explained Dr. Michael Grosso, chief medical officer at Huntington Hospital, part of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System.

"Certainly if you take a walk outside now, you can already see everything blooming," and for those who take preventive medications for allergies and asthma, Grosso said, that means it's time to get in touch with your physician to review your treatment plan.

ANTIHISTAMINES HELP

Markovics said she generally recommends that people start taking non-sedating antihistamines, such as Allegra, Claritin and Zyrtec, before the pollen season is at its worst. If you take one type of antihistamine and feel it doesn't help relieve your symptoms, try a different one, she said, because "everybody's different." And if an antihistamine makes you tired, take it at night, she said.

If antihistamines don't work for you, the next step might be a prescription nasal spray.

Doctors generally prescribe a topical nasal steroid that helps to shrink the swollen tissues in the nose, allowing you to breathe freely again.

Topical nasal antihistamines are also available, but Markovics says na- sal steroids tend to be more effective.

Grosso said another oral medication that might be helpful is montelukast (Singulair). "This class of medications is more targeted than steroids and can provide more benefit with less side effects for some people," he said. "It influences the whole respiratory tract so it helps eye, nasal and lung symptoms."

TRY ALLERGY SHOTS

If available medications fail to control your symptoms, allergy shots might be an option. They won't help you this season, Markovics said, but if you start taking them now, you should suffer less next spring. Allergy shots work by desensitizing the body to a specific allergen or allergens. At first, you get a shot every week, and then that gradually changes to every other week and eventually to every three to four weeks. The whole process takes three to five years, according to Markovics.

An allergist's tips

Non-drug steps that can help keep allergies at bay, Markovics said, include:

-- Keeping windows closed.

-- Taking a shower when you come in from outdoors to get the pollen out of your hair.

-- Changing your clothes when you come in the house.

-- Limiting your outdoor activities in the morning, when pollen counts tend to be the highest.