Allergists of MeFi, I have a question

February 16, 2018 10:24 AM

I would like to know what pollen/other allergen that blows up my hay fever when I visit Poland in April-June.

I'm from the US, and generally I just have reactions to Bermuda grass and mountain cedar (acting up in the spring and fall, respectively, but usually not too badly). When I visit Poland in the springtime, however, I basically sneeze nonstop through April and May. Is there a way to cross-check allergens in northern Europe that don't also exist in North America? I'd like to find out what it is that makes me suffer (not that it'll make a difference).

posted by orrnyereg to Health & Fitness (4 answers total)

PollenInfo.org's page for Poland might have some leads; for different destinations in the US I've found Pollen.com very useful. I've never used PollenInfo but it seems to cover a lot of Europe with varying degrees of up-to-date-ness; the site itself is Austria-based.
posted by mskyle at 10:44 AM on February 16, 2018

Not an allergist, but used to live in Poland. Look at birch and birch pollen and things that mimic birch as possibilities. Article in Polish here, English here.
posted by mdonley at 10:48 AM on February 16, 2018

I also suspect birch. But the grass species are differnet too. Where do you live in the US? That would help a lot to narrow it down.
posted by fshgrl at 12:02 PM on February 16, 2018

For a "pollen calendar" in Poland see here

The pollens vary by month AND region. The names are in Polish but should be easy to translate via Google Translate.
posted by M. at 1:46 PM on February 16, 2018