Hay fever: symptoms

Dr. med. Fabian Sinowatz is a freelancer in the medical editorial team.

More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.

The typical hay fever symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing attacks and itchy, watery eyes can be difficult for those affected. There is another reason why you should not ignore them: hay fever can turn into allergic asthma after a while, which is why early treatment is advisable. Read everything you need to know about pollen allergy symptoms here.

ICD codes for this disease: ICD codes are internationally recognized codes for medical diagnoses. They can be found, for example, in doctor's letters or on certificates of incapacity for work. J30

Hay fever symptoms: how do they arise?

With hay fever, the body has an allergic reaction to the protein components of plant pollen in the ambient air (aeroallergens). The typical hay fever symptoms appear where the body comes into contact with this pollen (mucous membranes in the nose, eyes and throat). The pollen proteins ensure that the body releases inflammatory messengers (such as histamine): These in turn widen the blood vessels, causing the nasal mucous membrane to swell. In addition, the inflammatory messengers attract cells of the immune system, which trigger an inflammatory reaction in the mucous membranes. These processes are then noticeable in typical hay fever symptoms, for example:

• itchy, stuffy, or runny nose
• severe sneezing attacks, sometimes lasting several minutes
• Conjunctivitis with itchy, reddened and watery eyes
• puffy eyelids
• possibly itching of the mucous membranes in the mouth and throat
• possibly impairment of night sleep and thereby severe tiredness during the day
• Feeling sick with aching limbs and fatigue (similar to a cold)

The pollen allergy symptoms occur as soon as and for as long as the plants in question release their pollen into the air. In mild winters, for example, alder and hazel can begin to bloom early, so that hay fever symptoms may appear as early as December or January.

How strong the hay fever symptoms are differs from person to person and also depends on how much pollen is currently in the air. Hay fever is extremely troublesome for some people, as they can no longer find a restful sleep and the constantly stuffy, itchy nose with sneezing attacks can be extremely exhausting. As a result, symptoms of hay fever can also represent psychological stress in the long term; some people even get depression.

Cross allergy

In some people, hay fever symptoms are accompanied by an intolerance to certain foods. The cause of this is a so-called cross allergy. The body not only reacts allergically to the proteins in plant pollen, but also to proteins in foods that are very similar to those in pollen. For example, most birch pollen allergy sufferers cannot tolerate apples, nuts, cherries or strawberries. The body of the person concerned then reacts to the consumption of such food as if pollen had "penetrated":

There are allergic reactions in the esophagus and the rest of the digestive system, the mouth tingles and itches, and sometimes abdominal pain and / or flatulence occur.

In some cases, a cross allergy occurs only intermittently, for example during stressful phases of life.

Overview of common cross-allergens:

Pollen species	Possible cross allergens in these foods
Ambrosia (ragweed)	Melon, banana, cucumber
mugwort	Carrot, paprika, celery, mustard, pepper, anise, caraway, dill, parsley, chamomile
Birch, alder, hazel	Apple, hazelnut, walnut, almond, cherry, plum, apricot, kiwi, avocado, carrot, celery
Grasses	Tomato, wheat, rye, potato, peanut, soy

Allergic asthma

If, in addition to the usual hay fever symptoms, there is also an irritation of the throat and possibly shortness of breath, an allergic asthma could be present. It is estimated that around 40 percent of all cases of hay fever lead to this form of asthma at some point. Doctors refer to this as a so-called change of floor, as the symptoms spread from the level of the upper respiratory tract down to the lungs:

The allergic reaction to the pollen causes the immune system in the bronchi to overreact. These cramp (bronchoconstriction) and form a tough secretion. This makes it difficult to breathe out in particular.

Allergic asthma is a serious disease. Precisely because the connection between hay fever and asthma is becoming more and more obvious through research, hay fever symptoms should not be ignored - they can be a preliminary stage of asthma, so to speak. So having pollen allergy symptoms treated makes two sense:

On the one hand, it can improve the quality of life. On the other hand, the disease could otherwise progress until the person affected is plagued not only by hay fever symptoms, but also by coughing and shortness of breath as signs of allergic asthma.

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