We need to move from Ohio. I am allergic to dust mites, trees that are grown in Ohio and the Midwest, and grass. My wife is allergic to molds. I can not even take my 5 year old son outside without getting Bhronchitis this year. We are looking at moving to either Arizonia, Southern California, Colorado or Nevada. Which place would be best? I lived in NW Ohio and Central Ohio except for 5 years in Memphis. My allergies have always been bad in Ohio. My allergies were a little better in Memphis. — Rick, Ohio

I developed allergies in my early twenties. I lived in Northeastern Ohio for a few years and was miserable (grass mostly). Northern California was horrible as soon as the grass began to flower. Couldn’t breathe in Portland. Thought I was going to die in Vancouver,BC. Started to develop asthma.

The only thing that helped anywhere was air conditioning. I was also told about chewing local honeycomb (spit out the wax) starting about a month before pollen season begins. This actually worked for everything except the grass (bees don’t go for grass I guess :o(

Makes sense. The pollen is in the honey and by eating the local kind, one slowly assimilates the local pollen. But what to do about grass?

I’m on Maui now. Different grasses but the Waddle trees here leave enough pollen to coat a house! Shorter season than grass though, and not quite as bad. Cost of living here is killing me instead!

Still looking for comfort. I’m considering Arizona. Any comments??? — BGS, Hawaii

Rainy weather boosted the pollen count this fall in places like Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

But if you live in Cincinnati, Ohio, take heart! Here’s an excerpt from the August 27, 2006, issue of The Cincinnati Enquirer which quotes Anna Kelley, quality assurance and monitoring coordinator for the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services:

Ragweed pollen should be peaking about now….

[but] as far as ragweed goes, “we’re a little behind last year’s values, which is fine,” Kelley said.

See the entire Enquirer story here: Dry August eases allergy symptoms.

I am from Cleveland, OH where I had hay fever and the occasional sinus infection. In 1998 I moved to the metro Atlanta area. My allergies proved to worsen and I developed asthma. I cannot play outside with my kids and suffer frequent sinusitis that often becomes bronchitis. This weekend my ear drum even ruptured. This is after all kinds of meds and 5 years of allergy shots. I want to move back to Cleveland, Oh to at least be able to play outside with my kids. — BAM, Ohio

I grew up in NE Ohio and had hay fever every Fall.

I moved to Daytona Beach, Florida for college and never had any allergies, except for 2 bouts of exercise-induced asthma.

Nine years later I moved to Savannah, Georgia and never had a problem at all.

Next I took a job in Michigan and have never been so miserable in my life. I lived around several lakes and unless the ground was frozen outside I was completely miserable with severe hay fever. Claritin-D helped but while I was pregnant I could not take it and I wasn’t sure what was worse for the fetus; sneezing convulsively 5 million times a day or taking a pill.

Now we have moved back to NE Ohio, and while the allergies are less severe, I now have allergies through the winter as well. They hit me every evening and I rub my eyes raw. I still take Claritin D but it isn’t that effective. I am going to an allergist next week to see what I am allergic to.

We are planning a move back to Florida next year. I hope that I can escape my severe allergies there as I did before. — C.D.T., Ohio

[Originally posted to AllergyNursing.com on April 13, 2004]