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Original poster

hayfever and a six year old- ideas?

27 replies

PeachyChocolateEClair · 15/04/2007 13:02

DS2 seems to have developed hay fever, at the same time as me so I guess its tree pollen. Which is a bit of a pain as we're off to a forest camping May DaY! can anyone suggest a non-drowsy med for him please?

Thanks
X

OP posts:

MrsWho · 15/04/2007 15:05

Dd1 can'tcope with the drowsy meds.She has cetrizine/Bendryl there are a few though as gthe gP was talking about changing hers.
Just avoid Piriton!

Fimbles5 · 16/04/2007 16:09

MrsWho - Why avoid piriton??? My six year old is suffering too along with myself. I have been giving him piriton although doesn't seem to have much effect, but was concerned when you said to avoid. Advice please. Thanks for recommendation with Cetirizine - didn't know they could take this at this age, but now going to see if I can get some for DS on prescription, as hopefully this will be stronger.

allieBongo · 16/04/2007 16:14

we have just spent 3 days with dd in hospital due to bloody tree pollen we were prescibed to stay indoors until july

Dinosaur · 16/04/2007 16:16

My poor 7 year old DS is tormented at the moment - he rubs and rubs and rubs his eyes until they are massively swollen and bruised .

Can GPs actually offer anything better on prescription than Piriton?

bozza · 16/04/2007 16:17

I think she said avoid piriton because it can make children drowsy. If your DS is OK with it, no problem. My two don't seem to get drowsy from any meds.

Dinosaur · 16/04/2007 16:18

He doesn't seem to get drowsy with it, nor with Medised.

But I wondered if perhaps you can get something on prescription that works better than Piriton.

Kbear · 16/04/2007 16:19

DD has come out of school scratching her eyes out - hayfever has started early for her this year. She's been on the school field for PE and is in a right state. We have Loratadine from the GP, have tried Pireteze too. Just got some eye drops from chemist too (although you can get them on prescription) which do help. Also a frozen eye mask is good when they are really bad, soothes the swollen eyes.

Poor things, I realy feel for them, summer is a pita for them isn't it.

Dinosaur · 16/04/2007 16:20

Good ideas, Kbear. I find eyedrops very soothing myself. What is a frozen eye mask and where would I get one from?

Wotzsaname · 16/04/2007 16:21

Loratadine suitable for children 2-12 years and adults. My dd takkes it and it works OK for her. I think nearly all can cause side effects of some sort including tiredness.

Wotzsaname · 16/04/2007 16:22

Vaseline around the eyes and a liitle near nose can help too.
Cathes the pollen. My dd splashes her face at school with cold water.

Fimbles5 · 16/04/2007 16:23

Frozen eye masks are great. I suffer really badly from April - September and I couldn't be without mine. You can buy them from boots, or body shop do a good one. They are eye masks filled with a liquid gel. You pop them in fridge or freezer to cool, and then use to soothe the eyes.

Kbear · 16/04/2007 16:30

Body Shop, Boots, some chemists, think I got ours in Superdrug. Top tip, buy two, one the freezer, one on the face!

Kbear · 16/04/2007 16:41

Opticrom eye drops from the chemist have worked really well on DD. We've been in an hour and her eyes have stopped itching and the eye mask has really helped too.

MrsWho · 16/04/2007 19:38

Yeah just said piriton 'cos of the drowsy thing.Dd1 can't take it but dd2 can and does (is actually better behaved )

Dinosaur · 16/04/2007 20:57

Oh, thank you so much for all these great suggestions.

My poor DS1, we spend hours in semi-darkness with me pressing flannels rung out in ice-cold water on his eyes . I feel so bad as he gets it from me as I have always had terrible hay fever.

kittypants · 16/04/2007 21:03

we had to buy piriton as gp said ds couldnt have hayfever as too youngweve been taking him since he was two,hes 6 on thursday,not sure when hes old enough to have itnot nice.we do the wet flannels in fridge for him.

Lilymaid · 16/04/2007 21:09

I had appalling hayfever as a child - eyes, nose, ears, chest etc. Piriton was only of limited effectiveness and did make me drowsy. Now I use Opticrom eye drops and Beconase spray (Beclomethasone Dipropionate) which can be used by children from the age of 6. I believe that a new desensitising treatment (injection?) is also now available, though I don't know whether children can have it.

KathG · 17/04/2007 05:32

we ended up with neoclarytin which tastes ok and seems to work on dd

Fimbles5 · 17/04/2007 08:12

Thanks for all these suggestions. When I took DS to GP last year I was told there was nothing that could be prescribed for DS (like you kittypants, apparently you can't get hayfever as young as 5yrs ). At least this year it appears I have a few options to try. Sympathy to all who suffers.

amidaiwish · 17/04/2007 08:50

my dh suffers really badly with hayfever and
it got to the stage where anti-histamines weren't effective.

he now goes on a wheat free (and no red wine or beer) diet when his hayfever strikes and the results are truly amazing.
Sometimes he really wants a few beers / a baguette and his symptoms return...

worth a try?

homeopathy can also be good for hayfever and usually more effective/quicker results in young children

kookaburra · 26/04/2007 20:16

DS1 got hay fever from age 6, and was prescribed piriton by the doc. Does not make him drowsy and is the only one that seems to work, tho not fantastcialy well. Last summer was hell. he ets asthma on the worst days ( no asthma at all rest of the year)so missed cub camp etc.

JustUsTwo · 26/04/2007 20:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

kookaburra · 27/04/2007 17:06

Very encouraging JustusTwo - hope it continues to be beneficail for our DS - nothing more distressing than to see a child in agony like that. I have about honey and would love to try it, but where we live in SW London we would need to source diesel exhaust honey not many local hives, tho' have conisdered keeping them myself....Please keep us informed on porgress thru the summer - fingers crossed for your DS...

CaptainUnderpants · 27/04/2007 17:20

My 6 yr old started about 4 yrs ago with hayfever. We were prescribed Loratidine for a couple of years but last yera it didn't seem to have much effect so we were prescribed another one ( sorry dont have name to hand) , lasy year he was also prescribed nasal spary and eyedrop s which I didnt use.

this year I have prepared myslef and for the pasy 4 weeks he has been taking Pollensa - over the counter homepathic remedy. I have given the school some and he goes off to the school office each lunch time and takes his tablets - they are very good about it.

I have also asked his teacher to ensure that if has been pn the field at lunch time that he washes his hands before going back into class as he will rub his eyes ,pollen ineyes from hands etc.

At night I put a cold flannel over his eyes if they feel a bit sore.

he suffered so badly last year until the medication was changed. I hope he grows out of it . I grew into it and didn;t start suffering until I was mid teens.

the thing with the Pollensa is that you can take other mediactions with it , so if we think it is going to be a high pollen count or we are going somewher then he can be topped up with medicine , but I didn't really wnat to give prescribed medicne to him twice a day throughout the summer IYKWIM.

CaptainUnderpants · 28/04/2007 11:45

Its not pollensa its POLLENNA by Nelson !

duh !

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