What antihistamine do you use for hay fever?

[WhatAreWordsWorth]

I can already feel my hay fever rearing it’s ugly head. The last couple of days I’ve had really itchy eyes and a runny nose, and it’s usually worse when I’ve just got in from a walk. I think it’s caused by tree pollen.

Last year it affected my eyes for the first time and it was hell - I didn’t want to go to the doctors due to the March lockdown so I just dealt with it, but it was awful and I spent most days with bright red eyes and sneezing every few minutes.

Can anyone recommend a genuinely good OTC antihistamine, or should I go to the doctors? I currently use Benadryl one a day, but I’m not convinced they’re making much difference.

@DonLewis

Yy to prescription fexofenadine. It's the best stuff.

Ditto.

I have urticaria as well as hayfever & eye dryness, and it really helps, and it doesn't knock me out like Piriton does.

@paddler78

Benadryl but the 3 times a day one, the one a day doesn't help me at all.

This is the only one that works for me too.

I asked my doctor about it one particularly bad year and he prescribed eye drops which I found impossible to use (I don't even like getting water in my eyes) and a nose spray and cetirizine tablets which I was already using and could buy cheaply OTC anyway. I find the acrivastine works much better and I'm less likely to need nose sprays as well unless it's a really bad pollen day.

Wow thanks all, might try and get an appointment at the docs this week.

I’ve been taking Benadryl regularly since the new year, but this week I’ve really noticed a difference in my symptoms. It really affected my life last year - sleep, work etc, it was awful and I don’t want to go through it again this year!

I’ve also just Googled those injections. I would honestly pay for something like that if it would help but apparently they’re not available at the moment due to COVID!

Steroid nasal spray started one month before symptoms (sorry!) & Fexofenadine, all the time, not just when you have symptoms. Eye drops for itchy eyes.

Cetirizine all year round. I can give up over winter but honestly it's easier just to take it all the time than be surprised by the tree pollen every spring.

I buy in bulk over from an internet pharmacy as both DH and I get urticaria occasionally as well.

Steroid drops work best if you take them a few weeks before onset of symptoms - make a reminder on your phone now for next year!

I also have allergy shots - been having them 4 years and my hayfever is massively reduced. I’m in the US and they only briefly stopped doing them due to Covid.

Btw thank you for this thread, after I posted earlier I used my spray and my runny nose is gone, I never even thought. Never had to use it this early in the year before

Loratadine. Certirizene gives me depression.

Kenalog is a wonder drug for hayfever. Mine isn't too severe anymore but when I was late teens/ early 20s it was crippling and that injection changed my life.

Yes I had kenalog to get me through my A levels. It's asteroid injection I think, it dampens down your immune system.

Sorry for the slight diversion, but any suggestions for kid's antihistamines?

Fexofenadine nothing else touches it

Apparently Benadryl is not good for kids - it has a similar effect to alcohol

My son had fexofenadine from about 10 or 11. Previously he had cetirizine which made him very grumpy.

Activastine (3 a day benadryl) works for me. None of the one-a-day ones touch the sides. Absolutely critical is starting Beconase nasal spray at the very first symptoms (or ideally before), and using it twice a day every day May-September. That keeps the blocked nose under control. But you must use it regularly - it doesn’t work on a one off basis.

I’ve also tried fexofenadine but it wasn’t any better for me than Acrivastine. And the latter has the advantage of being a relatively old drug with oodles of safety data, so my GP was happy, on balance of probabilities, for me to use it in pregnancy once out of the first trimester.

Loratadine and cetirizine. I used to just use loratadine but it seemed to get less effective a few years ago and gp told me to alternate the two types and it does seem to work. I use Benadryl spray as well when it's really bad.

Beconase, I meant

Cetirizine for me. Loratadine makes me nauseous. I buy the supermarket own brands since it’s a lot cheaper and the same stuff.