We're moving from summer to fall, and things could go from bad to worse for many allergy sufferers. We've had record amounts of rain this year, and with all the recent moisture brought by the remnants of hurricanes, things haven't dried up. That means plants and trees are thriving, but it also means pollen and mold are plentiful, and driving some folks close to crazy.

Here comes Fall, one of the peak allergy seasons, right on the heels of a summer that has been miserable for allergy sufferers. "I had to stay on Claritin all summer long," says Ashley Schaeffer.

"Oh, it's been bad. I'm a landscaper. I work outside- it's been real bad," says Mark Todd.

"It seems like we've had quite a bit of run-on in the last few weeks with allergies," says Family Medical Walk In Clinic Physician's Assistant, Kevin Kelly. For the past few weeks, Kelly has seen many patients with those common allergy symptoms- "scratchy itchy throat, clear nasal drainage, itchy eyes, a little bit of a cough," he says.
Schaeffer says, "I've had the symptoms like headaches, sneezing, the cough and the drainage and stuff. It was all summer long."

Mold counts were up much of August, and now weed pollen counts are high. "It seems like the grass and trees are staying greener a lot longer this year, and everybody's, consequently, having to mow their lawns more frequently this year, and I think that's contributing quite a bit. People are spending more time outside doing their yardwork," says Kelly.

All the rain this year is great for all the trees and flowers, but it's also great for weeds like ragweed. It's causing a lot of discomfort for allergy sufferers. In fact, Kelly and staff at Springfield Indoor Air Quality believe ragweed has actually become a problem earlier than usual. "I've seen ragweed this year as tall as a man," Todd agrees.

Of course, they'd like to get rid of the ragweek, so allergy sufferers are hoping for cold weather soon. "I need it to snow, so my allergies can go away," Schaeffer says.

To try and control your allergies for now, Kelly recommends trying to stay in the air-conditioning, maybe some extra showering to get rid of that pollen, and try over-the-counter medications. But if your symptoms become too miserable or you start to get a fever or chills, you'll want to seek medical attention.

To predict what is to come, Jim Echols at Springfield Indoor Air Quality says he looks at pollen counts in the the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and he says whatever is there, usually ends up here in 2 or 3 weeks. Not all allergens are local; they can travel a long way by air.