Hayfever. please help.

[NaughtyNigel]

what do you use and does it work?
mine is getting worse by the minute and i feel like crap.
have put this in health too. need all the help i can get.

Have you tried Benadryl? It's the only one that works for me. Contains Acrivastine rather than Loratadine (I think!) which is what most of the others have.

I mean the blue Benadryl, not orange.

If OTC isn't working for you, go to the GP. They can help.

DH says that cetirazine is the best drug (clinically proven).

Lloyds allergy reliever, on phone now will try to post later, meanwhile do google.

You have my sympathies, I suffer badly with hayfever too and it makes me feel so miserable. My GP prescribes me a steroid nasal spray, anti-histamine tablets - I have found zirtek (cetirazine) or neoclarityn (loratidine, I think?) the best), and anti-allergy eyedrops. You need to take these in combination for a few weeks before you notice the full benefits. Good luck x

unfortunately cetirizine makes me sleep. (in fact anything stronger than a paracetamol makes me sleep!). i'm on loratidine which works to a point nut mot completely, also have a herbal thing.
The fact that this happens a few weeks earlier every year makes it diffivcult to judge when to start taking the drugs.
will have to see the Dr i think as my eyes are so puffed up and sore i cant see properly. hence the typing

I started taking cetirizine a couple of years ago and found it the best one aswell. The thing that made the most difference though was the doctor suggested I start taking it about a month before my hayfever normally started. they said the hayfever season was going to start early this year so I started taking them at the beginning of March.

Naughtynigel, I think my GP said that the steroid nasal spray would help with the puffy eyes too. I'm going to have to get started on the tablets and spray asap. I haven't got the full-blown symptoms yet but my throat is sore and that's often a first sign that the tree pollen's coming after me!

I've suffered with hayfever for over 25 years and tried all treatments including steriod injections right across to homeopathy.

I will list in order of what really works (these are all drug free}:

medinose Its changed my life, I used this all of last summer and yes expensive but brilliant, my ds2 uses it aswell.

nasopure try not be scared off by the photo, it washes out all the pollen - thats why you don't get hayfever when it rains or by the beach - lots of good articles and other netipots but the nasopure is the most powerful

vasaline or balm smeared up nose and around eyelashes

plant spray (buy from garden centre £1.00) put on fine mist setting, fill with water and spray over self, furniture, clothes, hair, near windows, pets and others if necessary, I also buy small travel sprays and keep in the car/in handbag. The idea is to keep the air as damp as possible.

Last resort, have a shower, wash hair and change clothes

I have had hayfever for 35 years now. The Lloyds allergy reliever is a cheaper version of the Medinose. I took a lot of convincing that it would do anything but it was on special offer at £15 so decided it was worth a go. I am so pleased I did, it is absolutely excellent. I hardly took any antihistamines last year and no beconase at all.

dh has terrible hayfever, totally debilitating.
last summer he gave up red wine and beer plus cut right down on wheat. The result is incredible, if he has red wine or say a baguette he will suffer terribly for the next few days.

A glass of elderflower cordial works very well for hayfever (I was shocked aswell).

when would you have the elderflower cordial? Regularly preventative or when hay fever is bad.

Also worth taking a good vitamin like Berocca. Do everything you can to prop up your immune system (that is the idea behind the wheat elimination btw, take the pressure off your body)

Have made a list. just a few Qs.
what on earth do you do with the medinose? looks painful.
and i can't give up red wine

red wine is full of histamine.

honestly, you can have white, or G&T, but not red wine. DH loves red wine but come hayfever season he has to stop, and does. That means no more steak, or chilli etc as he can't bear to eat it without red wine.

give it a try. let me know if you find it helps!

I drink red wine and no hayfever

Don't worry NaughtNigel medinose it's fab, it uses phototherapy (red light waves), you just stick the plastic things up your nose for 4 mins each am and off you go, it's not uncomfortable (they are small - my ds2 who is 4 uses it in his tiny nostrils). I was desperate for a cure and paid the full whack for it last year, I remember reading you can get your money back if it doesn't work. I didn't even need to use it every day after a couple of months
I'll try and find their website as I don't understand the science bit....

medinose
It says in my instructions that the red wavelength it uses lessens the oversensitivity of the nasal mucosa!
Amazon is cheaper though

Sorry, my big fat greek wedding was on. Drink the elderflower cordial first thing in the morning, not the chemical stuff though, it needs to be the real stuff.

How d'you define real stuff vs chemical elderflower cordial, avenanap? Are we talking doing stuff to elderflowers oneself, or just a particular brand? Actually even if it's pressing one's own elderflowers I might go for it, and it's not even me with hayfever, I just have to share a bed with DH and his fecking earth-shaking sneezes.

the real stuff is just the elderflower (not the elderflower flavour with all sorts of bits and bobs added). I use Belvoir or you can make your own. There's loads on the market, I think that the organic stuff works better. I hope it works for you.

Thanks, Belvoir I can manage. And if DH won't drink it (he's terribly sceptical about such things) then I will - it won't have any health benefits but I love elderflower!

Can be used to help coughs and colds and to help arthritis. My ds likes the cordial and he's very picky. It should work, my neighbour uses it too and I know this has helped her. Let me know how it goes. It's better to us it as soon as possible. It does increase sweating though so he'll need extra fluids in hot weather.