As the temperatures start to dip, you may be thinking about turning on the heat for the first time this season. But before you fire it up, be prepared that feeling nice and toasty may also come with a stuffy nose, dry throat, cough or even a headache. These cold-like symptoms are referred to as “heater sickness.”

“This happens because dust, pollen and other allergens accumulate in your ducts during the warmer months,” Dr. Jesus Lizarzaburu, a family physician in Yorktown, Va., tells Yahoo Life. “When you turn on the heat for the first time in the season, these particles get blown into the air, which can lead to sinus congestion, sneezing, coughing, sore throat or other allergic symptoms.”

The dry air produced by heating systems can irritate your nasal passages and throat, which can in turn cause discomfort, Lizarzaburu adds. Dry air can also make it harder to fight off colds. According to Cleveland Clinic family medicine physician Daniel Allan, “The mucus that normally should be gooey and thick and can trap infection gets drier. So you’re more likely to get a cold because your mucus is not as able to catch things that you breathe in.”

Jeffrey May of May Indoor Air Investigations and co-author of “My House Is Killing Me!” says that there can be a variety of allergens including pet fur, mold, mites and pollen in furnace blower cabinets and duct systems.

“In addition, there is dust that has accumulated on the heat exchanger over the summer that is burned off the first time the furnace lights up, so the air stinks from burned dust,” he tells Yahoo Life.

Ways to avoid heater sickness
If you want to reduce your risk of getting heater sickness, experts recommend the following: