Hayfever in 8 year old

[Mumtothelittlefella]

My 8 year DS has awful hayfever. It’s got progressively worse with age and lasts from March to July. It’s awful for him. He’s obviously had medication - tablets, nasal spray and eye drops prescribed from our GP - but on bad days they don’t seem to make any difference. I will ask if he can increase he’s medication but I just want to check to see if we’re missing something. He’s allergic to grass and tree pollen so eating local honey sadly doesn’t help (although he’s loves honey). We’ve read about the steroid injections but they have quite significant side affects so need to explore those further.

It’s been so bad this week he not been able to do any school work and has cried himself to sleep with a damp flannel over his eyes. I don’t suffer with it so I have no idea how it feels but I can see the physical effects. Does anyone have children who have the same issues and if so, how do you manage it? Thanks

You won't get a steroid injection I'm afraid.
I'm exh had TERRIBLE hay fever which came on suddenly in his late 30's and did have the injection a couple of times over a couple of years and it was brilliant but the GP refused to prescribe it after a couple of years due to the side effects (none of which he had!) but it is a big dose of steroids so has longer term side effects too.
I'm sorry your son is struggling, it's miserable.
My son also has hay fever but we can manage it with over the counter medication currently.

Vaseline up the nose first thing. Very effective but has to be done before anything can irritate the nose.

Standard hay fever hygiene. No outdoor clothes indoors, don't dry bedding outside. Shower when you come in. Don't air the rooms at the worst time of day. Sunglasses which are close fitting.
Make sure he's drinking enough water, you lose a lot of fluids with all the sneezing/running nose and can give you a headache.

Does he take the medication as soon as he gets up? Are you already giving him one at night too? Might be worth checking with the GP is you can give one type in the morning then a different one at night?
We don't dry any clothes outside and he has an air purifier in his room. This seems to make the respiratory effects less.

Make sure he takes his medication every day without fail. I feel for him as i have horrebdous hayfever and there are a few days a year where no anti-histamine will touch it. It’s utterly miserable when it’s bad. Contact the gp again, if he’s using honey then he must take it every single day of the year even in winter but it’s not guaranteed to work.

Was going to say what @Likethebattle has said. Must try to take medication everyday without fail... my son has very bad hay fever too. Tried all the natural stuff but it doesn't work.

Yesterday he had to come inside after rolling on the grass as his skin really started to itch.

I feel so bad for him.

I get an itchy throat etc with it.

He puts his ‘armour’ on every morning when he brushes his teeth and again when he goes to bed.

Sorry, I should have said, he has a nasal cream too (when it’s bed he gets nose bleeds from ‘itching’.) And we have an air purifier in his bed room. I only tumble our clothes and bedding now and don’t open windows in his room.

We kept him in all day today and the difference was notable. But how can we keep him in for weeks/months on end? He’s normally an active boy and needs to get rid of his energy. Is there a time of day the pollen tens to be lower?

*tends

I’ll speak to the GP again on Monday. Thanks for all the replies. We’ve moved to a new house (end of last year) with a bigger garden and mature trees and now I’m thinking it was a mistake for him.

@Mumtothelittlefella

My son uses eye drops, nasal spray & citrizine twice a day.
These just about tide him through when he's at his worse.

I know my his symptoms are less severe when his eyes don't bother him as much. I then reduce the nasal spray to once a day. This is only because it's a steroid one.

I use to get really bad hayfever but it's not been too bad for the past 5 years. At it's worse I too would get nose bleeds and very bad headaches.

I hope you get through to the GP on Monday

Would immunotherapy be an option?