Terrible hay fever in 9yo what on earth do I do

[pinkjeanbea]

Unfortunately moving is not an option but of course we live smack bang in the middle of the countryside with seemingly every type of pollen going

My poor 9yo is affected so badly, I hate the idea of constantly giving her antihistamines but so far it's all I feel I can do. Her eyes stream and go red, she sniffs all day and walks around with a packet of tissues constantly. I don't care having to pay or do anything to stop her suffering, halting the incessant sniffing would also be delightful!
I have no allergies so really not sure what I'm doing. Any ideas gratefully received!

yes,
one of my dc gets exzema with hayfever.
skin rashes are a very common allergic reaction.
bepanthen eczema cream helps somewhat, but if it gets too raw it need treatment with a hydrocortisone cream.

You need to get her decent antihistamines. Don't mess about with Piriton etc. go to GP and get some decent stuff. Fexofenodine was a game changer for me.

Also, insist on seeing a GP. If it was you with the symptoms you'd be banging down their door.

Loratadine/ another antihistamine daily, piriton is shit (please do not withhold safe medication from your child who is suffering)

Sunglasses
Hat
Wipes to wipe face off periodically when out and about
Shower every night

Do not hang her washing outside
Keep windows closed as much as possible

at that age look at the tablets. they are tiny and a lot cheaper than liquid versions.

Start using certrizine every morning, no prition, this is no longer recommended by NICE. It will just make her sleepy.

Also you can apply a small amount of Vaseline to under her nose to reduce the amount of pollen she inhales. Nasal sprays are good as are eye drops if the anti histamine is not fully effective.

Other little things, Hayfever is worse at dawn and dusk, close all your windows and doors before dusk and leave them shut for a good hour after she has had her anti histamine. Showers in morning and bedtime, or a really good face and hand wash! Sunglasses during the day.

Do you know what she is allergic to? You could always get her tested and it will tell you when the pollen is active, so birch allergies are April and grass June. Not sure exactly of the others but it's easy to get an allergy skin test and see so you can be more prepared.

One other thing, I had awful hayfever as a teen and I still have it but it's a lot milder now. The same for my mother, very bad but as she grew it improved. So it may get better with time.

Hayfever is miserable. I had it terribly at her age. Definitely see a GP. I had antihistamines, a steroid nasal spray and eye drops from mid-teens as nothing worked.

@Orangebadger thank you I will look into finding out what's she's allergic to, we live in the middle of woodland(!) with fields either side of the house and a farm across the road. Really not ideal in these circumstances so I'm not quite sure it will make much difference as so many trees/grass/plants.

I truly have no idea about allergies. I reading all of these suggestions and realising my ignorance!

I don't have hay fever but I've taken at least 4 x 10mg antihistamines a day for 27 years now
Still here

have a look at the local weather centre's pollen forcast to see what's in the air right now.

usually trees are early, elder first, then birch and nuts (ornamental hazel!). grass is usually later. mould/fungal spores in autumn.

www.ukallergy.com/pollen-allergy-peak-seasons-in-the-uk/

Here's a comprehensive lots of timings and causes of Hayfever throughout the year. What month did she start getting symptoms? Some poor people have it all year round!

Move on from the Piriton!

There are very few reasons to use Piriton anymore as it is old, full of side effects and totally outclassed by modern antihistamines. Try cetirizine.

She needs them daily and ideally starting at least 2 weeks before she would get hay-fever.

As I am an idiot who can't remember when that is, I just take them year round. Its normal if you have allergies.

While you can't do much about some allergies, it is worth having an idea what pollen is triggering it.

I was very miserable with mine last spring and saw it was Hazel and willow season. I had 2 trees of both in my own garden!

Trees are now gone and my lungs are thanking me for it.

Why would you hesitate on the antihistamines? I take fexo and use beconase every day through pollen season, it's much easier to keep on top of rather than than try to treat symptomatically if that makes sense. My kids take Lortadine every day.

Hayfever is bloody miserable.

Not giving her antihistamines every day is like making her walk on a broken leg. She needs them every day. Give her a longer-acting antihistamine like Cetirizine (Benadryl).

All this is very helpful, and of course I've just remembered our gardener cut the grass last week and dd has been particularly bad in the last week. We have a lot of grass too so I'm now wondering if it's that...

I am definitely going to get dd on the 'newer' antihistamines asap am eternally grateful for all of this advice and taking it all down.

Fexofenadine has been life changing for me (coupled with Beconase, Opticrom and Actimist.) The GP recommended that I start taking it about a month before I would usually start to have symptoms and that has helped too.

@pinkjeanbea why are you against her having antihistamines? I agree with PP, would you be against her having a plaster cast on if she broke her ankle?

You're preventing her from feeling better , why would you do that?

@FangedFrisbee
I had hoped there would be an alternative method to long term medication and yes I'd have looked into the same for any other long term medication. But of course if it's not possible then dd will have to take it.

What really makes the difference for my DD is consistency- a couple of years ago when she first suffered I used to give her a tablet if the levels were high or if she was suffering, but the GP said the amount builds up in her system, so last year she had half a tablet morning and evening and she was noticeably better for it.

Also she has Optrex eye drops and an Optrex eye bath sent into school for the summer term and if her eyes are especially bad, often after playtime, lunch or PE when she's been outside, the TA will help her wash her eyes out so she isn't sitting there suffering in lessons. Schools prob have different policies, but for DD the eye stuff has to be a sealed ziplock bag with her name on it, there has to be name labels on the actual bottles inside and I have to fill in a form with the office once a year stating why she's got it and giving permission for it to be used.

Anti histamines are the way to go. Don't skip a day.

Also:

Industrial strength air purifiers, one in her bedroom, one in living room/ family room. Change filters regularly.
N95 mask for DD when outdoors, including at school.
Clothes change as soon as she gets back home. Clothes worn outside the home washed daily.
All laundry should be dried indoors.

Keep windows closed.

Carpets - if possible get rid and replace with tiles or wood flooring. Damp mop daily.

If you can't get rid of your carpets, get them professionally cleaned and hoover every day. All upholstery needs to be cleaned and hoovered daily too.
At least get rid of carpeting in DD's bedroom.

Replace curtains with blinds that can be damp wiped. If you can't do this, then have your curtains cleaned.
At least get rid of curtains in DD's bedroom.

Get rid of extra cushions, blankets, throws, etc, that you may have - all such need to be laundered if you want to keep them out.

Windows cleaned indoors weekly.

DD needs to shower daily, with hair washed daily too, and her bedding needs to be hot washed twice a week.

Having a shower as soon as she gets in from school would be a good idea.

Some people find wearing sunglasses indoors and out reduces eye irritation.

You don't have to post on Twitter to read other people's posts.

Giving antihistamines daily is absolutely fine, it will do zero harm and a lot of good. My six year old and I both take them daily from April to September.

You sound a bit extreme in your views, rejecting medicine on the basis of fear and refusing to go on a specific website to read information.

I don’t have much to add to the excellent advice already shared, except to echo the recommendation for cetirizine as a once-a-day antihistamine. If you want to try fexofenadine I believe you will need a prescription for an under-12.

I am glad that you are asking for help and that you seem open to the advice given. It would be cruel to deny a child a safe, effective treatment simply because you don’t like the idea of it.