Has anyone had a hay fever injection, had any success with it and did you get it done privately or through the NHS? Thanks

[Ayeayeaye25]

As title says has anyone had any recent experience of a hay fever injection and could give me more info on price, effectiveness, where they had it done and any drawbacks.

Thanks

Something else to consider : if symptoms appear at night, it can also be dust mite allergy, allergy doc confirmed this allergy too, so we had to buy anti dust mite bedding, hand held hoover with UV light to kill dust mites, frequent hoovering of soft furnishings, dehumidifier- dust mites can't survive in low humidity apparently.

To help with hay fever symptoms short term:

• cold, damp flannel over face to calm everything swollen eyes and nose
• sinus wash to flush out pollen , Neil Med sell them on Amazon
• inhalation cup with spout that goes over nose, blob of Vicks in it with hot water
• air purifiers
• Nelson's homeopathic allergy eye drops, really soothing

Finally, acupuncture really helped short term, gave son some respite for a few weeks

Unfortunately waiting until you have symptoms is a mistake - even with meds you never quite catch up.

Nasal spray and eye drops need starting 2 weeks before the symptoms start to have full effect.

My local pharmacy does the injection, and the pharmacist himself has it. It’s £45 there with a booked slot, no walk ins.

I had a series of Hayfever desensitising injections in the 1980s. Unfortunately I had an anaphylactic reaction to one of the injections so I ended up allergic to those as well! I certainly wouldn’t want to have the injections in a beauty salon in case of a reaction.
These days I use opticrom eye drops religiously every morning during the Hayfever season and Floxinase

I would recommend trying dymista spray along with fexofenadine, both on prescription. You can't buy the dymista spray as it's prescription only and the fexofenadine are generally stronger and work out more economical on prescription (more in a pack). The docs will probably try to fob you off with a less effective/cheaper nasal spray but that's the only one that's worked for me and a few others I've recommended it to, I have awful hay fever and since I've been using these two drugs it's been much better.

I would suggest wearing wrap around sunglasses and avoiding the woods. Ask your GP about taking different antihistamines together, then you can take one in the morning and one in the evening.

Starting the meds early is definitely a game changer.
As is learning how to use the nose sprays more effectively.
I’ve just about got through the last couple of years without major hayfever.
It used to really wind me up when people would see my streaming nose etc. and say ‘have you taken a tablet?’
Of course I’ve taken a bloody tablet! On occasion I’d take 3 of them I was so desperate!

Thanks all finally got to sleep and woke up with a very dry mouth and had a major coughing fit coughing up small plugs of yellow green phelgm.

It's bad day and night. We live a few seconds walk away from a wood with lots of very old trees and have lots of trees around our front and back garden from neighbours (I can’t escape them).

I start antihistamines in January and this has made a high difference to my hayfever. I only take regular Claritin but twice a day every day.

My dd has fexofenadine on prescription and she is prescribed seven a day.

7 fexofenadine a day?! Is that every day or a maximum limit when needed?

When needed. Not only that but they are a higher dose per pill than the over the counter ones. And she has injections at the hospital once every four weeks with a different kind of antihistamine.

I used to have 4 fexofenadine and 4 loratidine a day when my urticaria was bonkers.

Apparently they are very very safe drugs.

Like you I live near woodland I’m suffering dreadful this year and I’m going to a private clinic for an injection as I do every year. I wouldn’t let a beautician do it either.

Yes nor would I. I am unsure if we have any private clinics near us what name would they go under or what sort of clinic should I look for? Thanks

Private Doctor/gp look for somewhere that does travel injections might be a good starting point some pharmacists have them too again I do trust them to be using the correct medication and dose hopefully you’ll find something close to you.

FiL has them regularly until about 15 years ago, as there was a medical concern raised, about bone density I think. Anyway, he didn't really like the side effects and he was always a bit so-so about whether it was worth it.

I hadn't realised they'd been banned.

edit: he had air conditioning installed at home which has helped massively, but doesn’t help for outdoor events.

The issue isn't injection technique or using the right medication.

It's that they have been phased out of General Practice due to the high risk of serious side effects.

However people like the concept of one jab for hay-fever so a whole market of prescribers who are happy to make money has grown.

A colleague had it privately this year, no discussion about risks and when she realised she was furious she'd agreed to have it.

It'll cost you but I really think you ought to be looking for an immunology clinic if you're as bad as you describe. I wouldn't bother with GP, but have been under immunology for a few years for different reactions and my life has improved immeasurably.

Last year was a game changer for me. I get fexofenadine on prescription because they are a higher mg than the pharmacy. They stopped working for me quite a few years ago but last year due to my daughter getting married at the end of May which is my worst time, I started taking them in March out of desperation that there was nothing else to be done. What a difference… honestly I hardly suffered and I’m usually so ill in May June and July. My colleagues couldn’t believe the difference in me.

My hayfever is so severe in June/July that nothing works. I’ve had the Kenalog jab for 3 years and it just disappears. However after reading the above article I’m going to think again this year.

OP, have you asked your GP for Montelukast? (Singulair). It is a Lukotriene Receptor Antagonist, so blocks a different inflammatory mediator to histamine. But you can take Montelukast and antihistamines...
It's also the treatment in paediatric asthma.
Do ask for it, it completely revolutionised my utterly debilitating life-long hay-fever.

The only injections I ever had were Kenalog, way back in the early 90s. They lasted 12weeks, a HUGE dose of corticosteroid. They were banned because of concern that they caused a massive leach of bone density.
But, they were BRILLIANT for my hay-fever....!

I believe they may be available privately in some places but are prescribed, if at all, with very robust safety-netting.
I'm not sure if this is what is doing the rounds on SM and being given by beauticians? I would jolly well hope not!

OP. All the best, you have my greatest sympathy. Hay-fever blighted my summers for the better part of 4 and a half decades.

Oh, and Montelukast doesn't cause drowsiness.

My son had to stop taking Montelukast as it have him severe cramps in his legs (can be a side effect apparently), he was probably unlucky but something to be aware of.