Allergy season hits Floridians hard as warm temperatures spring early

When Laura Irwin wakes up in the morning she is not sure if she is going to feel pretty good or feel like she just got hit by a ton of bricks. Her head is congested, her eyes are watering, and her nose is running.

"There are days when I am so sick that I can’t even get off the couch or lift my head," she told FOX 13.

Irwin is an allergy sufferer, like so many Floridians. It has been especially tough for them this year because allergy season came early.

It usually hits about now, but many people in Dr. Farnaz Tabatabaian’s clinic at USF Health have already been suffering for months. She says Mother Nature is to blame.

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"We were a lot warmer in December, so we started pollinating with tree season really early on," the allergist/immunologist explained.

The pollen count fell for a while, then spiked back up a few weeks ago.

Although there are no magical cures, Tabatabaian says allergy sufferers should do whatever it takes to ward off symptoms with over-the-counter or prescription medicine, inhalers, or a trip to the doctor, as quickly as possible.

"It is like a cliff… If you are on that cliff and fall off, it is going to be really hard to come back on top of it," she said. "But if you are ahead of the game, hopefully, you’ll go through the season and not feel as miserable."