Hayfever already?

[mumbar]

DS has had runny nose (clear not green) for a few days, today very red eyes along bottom lid and black eyes under and eyelids.

This is his usual hayfever symptoms - is it too early??

dd has started coughing and dp has started scratching so spring has indeed sprung..........bugger

mumbar - v sorry that your DS has it so bad he needs an epi-pen. I am lucky as mine is very annoying, but is in NO WAY that bad. Please note that this will not howver stop me moaning.

Ok, so upon reflection, I am another who has been 'caught unawares' despite 3 decades of hayfever. And I think that perhaps every year I say "oh, the season is early..." to attempt to cover up this idiocy. Hmm.

Yes! After the last three years of suffering from blurry eyes and a head that feels like it's too heavy to sit on my neck properly, I read last year that it can start in February.

True enough, last week of Feb, it all started again.
Now, unless I take neo-clarityn every day, I shall have these symptoms roughly until september.

I hope this 7 yr cycle things hurries up and ends!

I have been sneezing and itching for a few weeks too! Definitely hay fever season starting.....

We have an alder tree outside our house - catkins come in the end of Feb and there is green pollen EVERYWHERE for three weeks or so - I sneeze and sneeze - no-one believes I can possibly have hayfever this early but it happens every year.

i haven't suffered yet but have had allergies to mould this year which is usually worse in autumn. whatever tree it is that is causing the issue i must be allergic to a different one.

Since we're all on here - what antihistamines does everyone use? I've been using clarityn/loratidine as it doesn't make me sleepy, but it doesn't seem to be as effective for me as it used to be - they're meant to be one a day, but if I take one in the morning, by the evening I'm starting to sneeze and itch again.

I used to buy something called Telfast in Australia which worked really well, but I've never seen it here. I also had nasal sprays and eyedrops on prescription for a while (not in the UK, so can't remember the brand) but they seemed fairly useless for me - the nasal spray used to make me sneeze immediately, so I presumably sneezed all the stuff out again before it could work....

Any recommendations?

Yup, DH has already succumbed to his annual sniffling session, as has one of my work colleagues. Amazing that it started in February.

I need to walk away from this thread as it is starting me itching and I have no drugs...

In answer to exexpat, normally loratadine, but have found it wise to have cetirizine hydrochloride (benadryl one a day/zirtek) on hand for days when loratadine, for some unknown reason, just does not work at all.

According to this, Telfast is fexofenadine hydrochloride.

Maybe I just need to ask a pharmacist - it might be prescription only, as I've never seen it on the shelves here.

Yup, exexpat I have had telfast on prescription in the UK. Initially suggested by the allergy specialist and then prescribed by my GP. My hayfever started a few weeks ago too, and I also have oral allergy syndrome/fruit allergy syndrome (although I seem to have 'grown out' of this somewhat recently) and telfast has helped a lot. The allergy specialist also recommended using a saline nasal spray/wash/douche (sterimar was the brand I had) which was a huge help as I often found that all the tubes inside my face (nose>mouth and eyes>nose) would get terribly inflamed but the spray would do fab job at clearing them out.

The wonders of google - I have just ordered a month's supply of telfast online from Lloyd's pharmacy so I'll see if it still works for me. I think the dose is lower than the Aussie one I had (120mg vs 180mg) but I'm going to be in Australia next month so I can pick some stronger ones up if necessary.

I have a very serious allergy to birch pollen but surprisingly enough (considering it hospitalised me the first time) it's dealt with by taking two cetirizine tablets as soon as I feel it coming on, with a few follow up doses, plus showering a lot and not sitting underneath the buggers. But it doesn't come until about June.

Its not the hayfever as such he needs the epi-pen for. In fact no-one knows what that is. He has unknown analyphalatic reactions but we do know he has hayfever iyswim. Actually only 1 anayphalatic reaction but thats enough to be concerned it may happen again.

Interesting about HDM. DS has just had RAST tests for those and grasses. Waiting results but think tree pollen may be the next one!!

Phew, I am itching like mad - am pretty sure this is the reason now! I am stuffing myself with Piriton and it's helping a bit. If it doesn't do the trick will try some other drugs mentioned here.

DS mentioned this morning that he thought his hay fever was starting.

What are the best treatments for a 10 year old? Is it worth a trip to the doctor?

ugh!
my son has woken up with swollen lips, very allergic to tree pollen.

meditrina this NHS page recommends speaking to GP to decide best treatment options. Especially if asthma present (don't know if that's relevant).

In addition to itching skin, I also get itching inside my ears during the pollen season, very annoying.

ClaireOB: thanks! Fortunately, no asthma, but it does sound as if I should make an appointment to work out what the best options are. So far I've used eyedrops and the odd bit of piriton, but it does seem to be coming earlier and more severely each year.

And it's time for him to have a haircut too!

I have Telfast 180 from the GP, are most of you buying stuff, must get a bit expensive?

earwigging - I used to get a prescription (and/or stock up in the US) but the GP (last time I asked, at least) will prescribe one month's worth. Since loratadine is now generic I can get a month's worth from supermarket/pharmacy for less than a prescription charge (and it's a lot easier!), so I don't bother. Telfast, OTOH, is still branded so I would imagine is more expensive?

The month's supply I've ordered was £18, but that included an online doctor's consultation/prescription.

If it works, I might try going to the GP for a prescription next time, but if they only prescribe one month at a time I'm not sure if it's worth the hassle of trying to get an appointment at a time I can do and spending an hour or so sitting around in the waiting room (very busy surgery) plus paying the prescription charge every month.

exexpat - they will (or would, it's worth asking/checking) only do a month's supply on one prescription charge - but that doesn't mean you have to see the GP every month. All GPs vary, but ours does repeat prescriptions by email, or automatically, and a lot of pharmacies will collect prescriptions - so all you would have to do is to find time to visit the pharmacy once a month - still less convenient than online ordering, but significantly cheaper.