Allergies worse this year

If you feel like your allergies are worse than other years, you aren't dreaming, they probably are.

More people than normal are heading to their local pharmacist with spring allergy symptoms.

"I think it's because there has just been a lot of environmental allergens in the air all at once," said Jodi Cunningham, pharmacist and owner of The Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy in Vernon. "I think we went very quickly from winter to spring."

"We ended up having snow mold at the same time as the pollens and the dusts are becoming more prevalent."

I think there was just a high burden of allergens all at the same time."

Cunningham isn't the only pharmacist who has noticed more Okanagan residents with worse than normal allergies.

"I do know that there has been at least some kind of change because we have had a lot of new people coming in that previously didn't have allergies," said Sam Nolan, pharmacist at Nolan's Pharmasave.  "We did have an odd spring and leading into summer we were very cold and drawn out."

"I think normally plants were a little bit more staggered in terms of when they were pollinating. It seems that everything may have come onboard at the same time because everything was so late."

Both pharmacists agree that the delayed spring may have caused more severe allergies.

"When it got hot and dry all the sudden and pollen was in the air everyone all the sudden was exploding out their eyes and noses."

Unfortunately, if you are prone to allergies it may take until the end of the summer for your symptoms to subside.