Grass allergies in high-rise?
Is it possible to suffer from a horrific grass allergy when you live in a high-rise in a city and don’t even go outside much??
Last year, beginning in late May, I had what I’m pretty sure were horrific symptoms of a grass allergy. (Post-nasal drip so bad that I was coughing like I had a whooping cough and pulled muscles. It was completely debilitating for over a month.) Flonase helped with runny nose/sinus pressure, but the cough persisted for months and nothing else seemed to help, even a course of steroids.)
Because my symptoms were so bad, I was given multiple prescriptions, none of which gave me much relief, had a couple chest x-rays (which said my lungs were clear) and sent to multiple specialists, including an allergist who said my symptoms were too bad to be caused by my allergies.
I gave up on following up with doctors when my cough starting getting better in August and then it went away in September.
Now it’s May and I’m getting a cough again. (I’ve closed all the windows, turned on air purifiers, and have started wearing an N95-mask pretty much at all times in hopes of preventing the debilitating coughing I had last year.)
I assume that this is all due to a grass allergy that has gotten bad because a) the period of my symptoms for the past few years has tracked perfectly with grass pollen season; b) allergy testing says I’m allergy to grass and the other things I’m allergic to would be year-round (dust) or at a somewhat different time (some obscure trees).
EXCEPT I live several floors up in a high-rise in the city and there isn’t much/any grass nearby and I barely ever go outside. (Although my cough started last week after I’d been walking around outside in the city for about 45 minutes.)
AND I read that grass pollen isn’t supposed to be travel very high up/far.
So that does that mean it’s unlikely that I’m experiencing grass allergies despite the pattern of my symptoms? Or did I read something inaccurate, and they just meant that grass allergies are even worse if you’re close to the ground or rolling around in the grass?
I’ve had the thought that maaaaaybe what I’m experiencing is horrific post-nasal drip caused by air pollution/irritants. If I open my windows or don’t run air purifiers, a fine black dust like soot settles on everything. But I don’t think that would explain why my symptoms track perfectly with grass pollen season (and I had itchy eyes/sinus congestion last year before I shut the windows and started Flonase too).