DS' hayfever is 'ruining his life'

[getearnow]

Overdramatic title for attention, although he did say that!

DS (8) has been dreading spring because his hayfever is pretty extreme. It has started already, he said everyone at school kept accusing him of crying but it was the hayfever.

We have tried over the counter age-appropriate tablets (both cetirizine hydrochloride and loratadine) in previous years but they don't touch the sides. I really want to help him, is there anything I can do?
Is it too much to take him to the doctors? I don't want a judgmental Drs receptionist accusing me of time wasting..
I was thinking of asking a pharmacist for advice but I think they'll just point us to things we've already tried.
Does anything work?

Just to check - if it is worse at bedtime, you don't have feathers or down in his bedding do you?

I suffered terribly from hayfever when young (it reduced a bit in middle age), and in those days they did a prick test for common allergens (I'm not sure if they still do this). My biggest reactions were for feather and dust as well as pollens and moulds. I had always had feather pillows and duvets and getting rid of those made a huge difference.

Have had hayfever since about 5 years old, definitely see the GP and loads of good advice on this thread.

Just wanted to add, it’s definitely worth doing the non-medical stuff alongside the medical.

Eg barrier stuff like sunglasses to keep out the pollen, haymax or Vaseline around the nostrils

And then supplementary stuff: The saline nasal sprays you can get are brilliant for ‘washing out’ the pollen, and can be used as well as medical sprays.

Having a few additional options always makes you feel a bit more in control. Hope he has a better summer this year

Opticrom eye drops, Vaseline around his eyes and nostrils, sunglasses, local honey and hay fever band. They all help my ds. I never had hayfever and never knew it could be so debilitating until I saw him suffer with it. Second everyone who says no drying washing outside, keep windows closed early evening and night time and shower and wash his hair before bed and fresh pillow case every night. Also build the antihistamine up in his system. I always thought you just give when affected but give it to him even on rainy days or days the pollen count isn’t high.

The doctor can prescribe stronger anti histamine than you can buy otc. They also will prescribe nasal sprays which work far better ime
You can also out your foot down (which I did) and get a referral to an allergy clinic. I then found out DS had an allergy to something I wasn't aware of (dust mites)

I got an air purifier with a hayfever filter a few years ago. I keep it in my bedroom, running full blast with my door shut and windows shut. Shower and straight in for some relief and get back to a comfortable state. Also helps with being able to sleep because you can breathe!

I was using sprays, fexofenadine, eye drops, showers, inhalers. Having a room where the air was just breathable was amazing.

Take him to the doctor. I had it very bad at his age and my eyes would be streaming. I had my adenoids removed (I think linked to this!). I also had to have a steroid nasal spray, eye drops and antihistamines.