4 ms·
Anecdotally, I grew up in the Chinese countryside, spelunking through mud at the local pond to catch frogs for dinner and bathing maybe twice a week. It was onl
by howlingfantods 10y ago
Anecdotally, I grew up in the Chinese countryside, spelunking through mud at the local pond to catch frogs for dinner and bathing maybe twice a week. It was only when I moved to the US, land of hand sanitizers and abundant soap, that I suddenly developed a mild allergy to pollen.
- chestervonwinch 10y agoAnecdotally, I grew up in the land of hand sanitizers and abundant soap, playing in mud, weeding the garden, and catching bugs. I had allergy shots until my teens, and I often still feel like I have a permanent minor cold, which gets better or worse, depending on what's blooming. Moving from Michigan to north Florida seems to have made it worse.
- TylerE 10y agoSimilar story here - Home is in eastern NC, terrible allergy area, tons of pine trees and moisture) - but mostly places I visit I feel better, and then feel substantially worse when I return home.
- brewdad 10y agoSame as you, I grew up in MI. Moved to Phoenix and my allergies cleared up. About 5 years later, I had seasonal allergies again and they seemed to be worse than ever.
- edwhitesell 10y agoI grew up playing outside all hours of the day/night, every season in Michigan. Rarely hand washing before eating and that kind of stuff. I never had issues with allergies. I've lived in Boston and Seattle, no issues. Now I live in Dallas (again) and allergy season is not good. Pretty much a guaranteed sinus infection twice a year.
- dflock 10y agoDifferent pollen, which your immune system had never seen before.
- Broken_Hippo 10y agoThis is correct - it is common for folks that never before had allergies to develop them when they move to different countries. This is regardless of where folks grew up. Even moving from one region of the states to another can cause this in some folks, especially if the move is large.
- pavel_lishin 10y agoIt can work in the other direction, as well - my Russian uncle brings my nephew to America for a few weeks each summer to avoid birch allergy season.