Hayfever-Loratadine not cutting it?

[SiouxsieSiouxStiletto]

I've been taking it since the beginning of the year but now the thing I seem to react to the most is coming into flower, I'm struggling.

Can I take 2? Is that allowed?

Go to the GP, they have better ones they can prescribe! Loratadine did next to nothing so I switched to fexofenadine and it helped massively. If you don't want GP try a different OTC antihistamine such as cetrizine and see if thats any better.

I've never found loratadine that good for me. I always use cetirizine.

My GP told me I could take two when it got really bad - do for about two weeks a year I take one in the morning and one in the evening.

I take 2 cetrizine a day, one in the morning and one in the evening. The GP told me I could take up to 4 if necessary. I tried fexofenadine but it made me feel fuzzy.

Fexofenadine can be bought over the counter now. It's the only one that works for me.

You can buy fexofenadine otc although it's considerably more expensive than loratadine/cetirizine. However a month supply cost is around same as getting it on prescription if you pay for your prescriptions.

I also use beconase as found I need a nasal spray as well. If you are really struggling though GP might give you a strong nasal spray

Allevia is Fexofenadine over the counter. It's much stronger than loratidine, I use Fexo plus beconase and it helps. My husband now has the Hayfever injection and he swears by that now!

Thank you everyone! It's the bloody rape they grow around here. As soon as I see those bastard yellow flowers I know I'm going to be in for a rough few weeks!

Another vote for fexofenadine and the becodefence nose coating spray.

The injection is fantastic until you read the long term side effects

I take Fexofenadine on prescription and use Mometasone nasal spray twice a day.

I sometimes take a cetirizine in the evening if my nose gets stuffy.

Alevia is the brand name of fenofexadine. It's brilliant. Wash hair when you come in from outside too and don't dry washing outside, my DS has asthma which is triggered by pollen and washing hair is the biggest thing that will help aside from drugs. You don't get the cycle where the pollen stuck to hair gets on pillow and you spend the night rolling around on it,

I thought they had stopped doing the injection? My ex used to have it as he suffered terribly but was told about 15 years ago it wasn’t available anymore.

Don’t take cetirizine! It is physically addictive and withdrawal is horrendous (I speak from experience)

I find loratadine to be the only one that doesn’t make me feel drowsy. I double up on it when the pollen is particularly bad, my mum was advised to take 4 tablets a day for a month by her doctor after having an allergic reaction so it should be fine.

Loratadine stopped working for me so I take cetirizine hydrochloride instead now. I used to take two pills every day but had to reduce to one because of really bad restless leg syndrome, which apparently can be a side effect of antihistamines.

My DS always found that the nose sprays work best.

@SecretVictoria you can definitely still get the injection but has to be done privately, NHS don't offer it anymore. My husband has his done through a private local surgery, cost about £150 I think

Ah, I see. It was his (NHS) GP that said it wasn’t available.

I find attacking it in various forms helps- so tablets and nasal spray and eye drops all together. Much better than just tablets.

I have never found a tablet that touched my hayfever but Beconase nasal spray (or generic own brand version with the same active ingredient) was a game changer for me. You need to take it every day (I only take it in the morning but you can do twice a day) and it doesn’t really kick in for a week but then keep taking it all season and it was LIKE NOT HAVING HAYFEVER!!!

Don’t pay for Allevia. Fexofenadine is available in supermarkets and pharmacies cheaper. TreatHay is the brand I buy, it’s £7 for 30 which is more expensive than cetirizine but still cheaper than Allevia.

The pollen this year is horrific. What symptoms are troubling you the most?

Hayfever wipes and barrier balm are available at places like Asda and Home Bargains and can help a little.

Beconase and eye drops can be useful to people as well.

Unfortunately hayfever sufferers need a multipronged approach when it’s this bad.

On the other side I've had no issues with it
Taken 4 a day for 36 years and often stop for a few weeks and restart

When my hayfever is at its worse I use nasal spray as well as my daily anti-histamine, the one I use has fluticasone and azelastine in which I find works so much better than the sprays that only have a steroid in. I know you can't get it OTC in the UK (as I searched everywhere last summer when I ran out) but perhaps on prescription, or then use both a steroid spray and antihistamine spray.

Same here. Absolutely no issues here. I alternate it with others too. I don’t ever have any problems with medication though-never get any of the side effects. I can neck Ibuprofen on an empty stomach and nothing happens but my DH can’t.