Here’s why you’ll want to start taking your allergy medicine

With spring in full swing, allergies are on the rise. Jack Wu with the 22 News Storm Team is live in the studio with how to keep your symptoms at bay. Hello, Jack. Hey, Brian. While there is no one singular solution, there are multiple things you can do before pollen season ramps up. Pollen count tends to increase in western Massachusetts in mid april. While medication is the first gut reaction to symptoms, it may already be too late. Dr Jackie Garrett explains why while you why you should take your medication early. They're not going to work immediately. Even the things that say that they start working in 25 minutes or 30 minutes, it actually has to build up in your system beforehand. So you actually need to start your meds at least a couple of weeks before the pollen season actually gets really elevated. Dr Garrett also warns of prolonged cold symptoms like a nose and coughing could actually be the results from allergies. And as we approach allergy season, we could see as many as 20 more heavy pollen days this year than the historical average working for you. I'm Jack Wu with the 22 News Storm Team.