Anyone up for a hayfever support thread?

[galen]

I never used to get hayfever till 4 years ago. Then that summer I just got it out of the blue. Really badly. Had it every summer since. The thing is till I had it i always used to think "hayfever - whats all the fuss about?" but boy do I know different now!
Today I have been so bad. My eyes tend to be the worst(although streaming itchy nose, tickly cough and sore throat arent much fun either!) Today my eyes are so bad ,they are all swollen, one even bleeding beneath the surface, streaming, stinging and iching so badly I want to tear themout
So far I have tried natural remedies, nasal spry, eye drops and cetirizine. This year I am now trying benadrylas I,m not BF for the firt time in 4 years!

Anyone else want to pop in for some support, tips of advice!

[DerrDaddy]

Having had allergic Rhinitis for some 45 years I have picked up a few things and I thought I would share.

1. Clarityn (Loratidine) takes a while to build up its effectiveness and is an every day, once a day thing. I grew up on Actifed, switched to Clarityn on prescription and its worked well.

1. However, like all drugs, it has a break through time. Roughly every 6 months it simply does not work, nothing works. Its like the body has said I am pushing past this.

1. A pint of cold milk from a cold glass milk bottle drunk in one go and cool your throat, nose and head to such a level that it stops the symptoms.

1. You can take Benedryl on top of Clarityn, so a Walgreens pharmasist told me when I stayed in a brand new hotel full of brick dust .. serious allegen for me. That slowed the symptoms, but did not stop them.

1. The Lloyds red lights up the nose ... work. Not perfectly, but 15mins after use nose is clear ... 3 to 5x a day and you can contain the symptoms. I found this thread when looking to figure out how the work. They work with the majority, weird eh?

1. Spoon of honey from a local farm a day, this is good too .. although as its a training method it needs to be taken about a month before silly season. It has to be local, needs to be pollen based from local soils and pollen sources.

1. Vaseline on the inside of the nose, this works too ... as does the glasses, but as I wear glasses for vision I cannot wear wrap around sunglasses.

So, Clarityn, Vaseline and lights up the nose ... work well.

That said, this year has been the worst I can recall for that feeling of under attack from pollen ...

[kittycatty]

Kittybrown- ive spent quite a few afternoons snoring very loudly also

Glad to hear some are feeling better, ive had a few ok days but still too many bad days.

[mumgoingcrazy]

I havn't read through all of this thread but just wanted to say that my DD1 (4 yr) has awful hayfever and as a result of this has eczema as well from April through to September every year. She was on daily prescription antihistamines and endless steroid creams etc etc. We were on a slippery slope, so this year after 2 lots of anti biotics and the usual stream of anti histamines, drops etc we got desperate (nothing ever really sorted it out properly) and saw a homeopath. Her skin is now perfect with just the usual moisturisation, and her sneezing and sore eyes has stopped. All prescription drugs and creams are in the bin and she is so much better.

Thought I'd share.

[kittybrown]

I must admit last week especially towards the end and the weekend were awful for me. I only got 2 hours sleep on Friday night. It was my own fault really, we'd spent the evening at the summer fair at peak pollen time. Got to sleep at 2 with a flannel over my face and woke up at 4 even itchier. Then spent Saturday afternoon snoring really loudly and annoyingly!

Thanks to the rain it's been managable here. Yesterday was bliss as it drizzled all day. not looking forward to Friday as it's supposed to be a scorcher again here. perfect for all the pollen to come out and play after all the rain.

I hate wishing sunny days away.

[ibbydibby]

Just wondering how everyone is now....my good news is that, touch wood, DS1 seems much better - for now anyway.

He has had 3 very miserable weeks and then woke up last Thursday a different child - woke up of his own accord, got dressed, did himself breakfast. And has been like that ever since. Am not sure if this is due to the combination of meds that we started last week (loratidine twice a day, beconase spray, eye drops) or that the pollen count has dropped (at least, of the pollens that were causing him problems). It is only now that he is himself again that I realise how bad he had got. He still has symptoms but they are manageable.

Am hoping that eevryone else's symptoms are lessening as well.

Just want to say thanks to everyone for all your helpful comments and support. Wish MN had been around when my DSs were babies!

[damnhayfever]

yes ive had it forever
feel like ive snorted white pepper at the mo
can take a whole box of antihistamines and they dont do a thing
got some stronger tabs of docs called fexofenadine but even these are nt workin today
would consider the steroid injection but its not good for heatlh longterm
sympathy to other sufferers too
dont want to take ds swimmin cos i feel so bad feel guilty .....

[kittycatty]

Having a really bad time this year, eye's, ear's and throat itchy. Can't stop sneezing etc. Head feels like im full of cold. Can't go outside or even hang washing out cause im so bad.
just been told to stop being a drama queen and to stop feeling sorry for myself and you only get one life go live it! Also it only lasts a couple of months so stop moaning! (im on hayfever meds feb-oct, so its not just a couple of months)

How can i go live my life when i can't go out? Just had enough why dont people take hayfever seriously?

[kingprawntikka]

I have had hayfever for pretty much all my life,and have found the following things to be a help.

1. take antihistamines every day during the season,they are more effective with regular use
   2)put eyedrops in before leaving the house
   
2. tumble dry bedding so pollen doesn't get on it.
   4)have a shower when i get home and will not be going back out so all pollen is washed out of my hair.
   
3. use a nasal balm designed for hayfever. Boots do one called Haymax. I think it is safe to use even in pregnancy. you rub a little inside your nostrils . the theory being that the pollen can't then make contact with your nasal lining and so you don't react to it.I find it works really well and make sure i do it before leaving house and reapply as necessary
   
4. wearing sunglasses helps keep pollen out of your eyes.
   
5. if you do feel rally awful I find steaming your head over a bowl of boiling water with a couple of drops Eucalyptus oil added to it helps too.
   
   I seem to have less hayfever as i get older so I really feel for all of suffering with it at the moment.

[stealthsquiggle]

ibbydibby - double dose of loratadine and nasal spray should help a lot with the sore throat. Good luck with that - hopefully it will be under control in time for his trip.

I am sure DD's key worker thought she was making me cry going through DD's Early Years assessment stuff this morning - my eyes are so weepy...

[chloesmumtoo]

Your poor ds ibbydibby. I think you done the right thing. least he will be home soon. Would be a nightmare PE and Sports Day and its so so humid. Dd has gone off ok. Got her still on max doses of cetirizine, dont usually like giving her so much! Was up in the night creaming her due to her scratching her eczema and had the ol flannel on the eyes again. its so horrid for them

[ibbydibby]

We got some nasal spray from the GP yesterday - we finally saw our own and he was surprised that no-one else had prescribed it. Also suggested changing back to Loratidine, as he can take 2 a day. So with these and the eye drops (which we forgot today) we are hoping for an improvement.

Packed DS off to school today, though he has sports day this afternoon and PE just before lunch - so wrote his form teacher a letter asking for him to be excused these, and I will collect him late morning. Am not sure how they will take this, but to me it seems better to get him in for some lessons than none at all.

DS also had 2 teeth out by local anaesthetic yesterday afternoon - was unsure if to go ahead with this, but had cancelled last week's appt (due to hay fever), and GP yesterday thought it should be ok to go ahead. By last night he was feeling v weak and took ages to wake up this morning. Suspect this is due to teeth extraction on top of hay fever.

Just feeling a need to write all this down!

[kittybrown]

I'm with you with the supremely itchy eyes Stealth! I hid behind my sunnies on the way to school but still had tears streaming down my face. Cue lots of "oh, what's wrong" which I'm not keen on as I usually like to blend in to the background. It's hard though to be quiet and inconspicuous when your a snivelling wreck.

I have found the perfect place to be though. It's the cinema. I went with friends on Friday night and within 20 mins my eyes and nose were normal. They must have some super-duper air-conditioning I reckon. As soon as I came out my eyes starting to prickle and itch. I want to live there!

[stealthsquiggle]

ow ow ow ow ow my eyes itch. I can't wear sunglasses to work (using computer). I can't work with the windows shut (I would cook - it is 27 deg in my office with windows open and fan on). The gardener (well, lawn-cutter) is strimming right outside my office which is driving me nuts and making my eyes worse. DD (2.5) was complaining that "there's something in my eye, Mummy" this morning [sigh]

Grr. Mondays. Who needs 'em?

[chloesmumtoo]

She has been alot better over the weekend thanks ibbydibby, mind you we did stay in. Windows closed, fan on lol! Fully dosed up. She had sore throat late last night again but seemed to cope with it. I think trying to manage school in the week and with all their symptoms just tips them over the edge doesnt it. Not easy for them. Dd is seven, by the way. Im hoping it goes well this week. Poor you having his trip to france ahead of you. Not good. I know what its like, here a couple weeks ago I was sat fretting just over her school day trip!

[ibbydibby]

SOunds like a lot of you are suffering, how is DD now chloesmum? How old is she? DS1 only started getting hayfever when he was 9, this year has been the worse by far. In the last 2 weeks he has had 5 days off school and 3 trips to GP. Thanks for tips about washing washing bedline, stealthsquiggle, had been drying it indoors, but not washing at 90 degrees. Will try that. DS1 has now been unwell for over 2 weeks, we can keep what I regard as the "primary" symptoms at bay in the daytime, but he has a persisitent sore throat which he seems unable to shake off, and often feels sick.

At the moment I feel as if we are just clutching at straws every time we go to GP and get a different prescription. DS is due to go on school trip to France in July, for 4 days, and I am now wondering if he will be fit to go.

Am up at this unearthly hour (well it is early for me!) as I woke up worrying about him.

[teenycalls]

Hi fellow sufferers, I too have quite severe hayfever but it affects my chest more than my eyes/nose (after reading some of your comments especially about blisters on your eyeballs I now feel lucky!)I have been rushed to hospital 3 times over past couple of years as literally could not breathe, my airways get really swollen and my lungs produce the same mucus that other people's noses do!

Anyway, whinge over, just wanted to let you all know not to dry your clothes outside during hayfever season as they get covered in pollen that can live for up to 3 months. (Sorry if you already know this)This is especially the case if they are out late afternoon or evening when the count is highest. This applies double for bed linen and towels and triple if they have been out during a shower or damp evening. A homoepath told me this and I have noticed a massive difference especially with bedding. Bit of a pain but worth a try

[ilovepeppapig]

hi
can i join this thread?

my hay fever has been thev worst ever. In particular my eyes have been swollen, watery, and on friday they were bleeding beneath the surface. I am a teacher and i have even taking to wearing dark glasses in the classroom. It is terrible. I have tried to be happy and jolly but even the children keep asking me if there is anything that they can do to make my eyes feel better!

i have got eyedrops but like someone else said it is like putting bleach in my eyes. usually i have had to go to bed at 8 in a darkened room with a cold flannel on my eyes.

i take zirtek and sometimes clarytin.
today my eyes have been alright!

[stealthsquiggle]

ibbydibby you probably have more advice from GP by now but yes, I would suggest your DS takes his one dose per day at bedtime, after a shower to get pollen etc out of his hair (and making sure bedding is washed at 90deg to get rid of allergens and then dried inside). I firmly believe that once the symptoms get hold, as it were, it takes a lot more to stop them - one dose late at night should at least get him through the school day, even if he is then miserable in the evening - it is easier to spend the evening lying on the sofa with a cold flannel over your eyes than to suffer through the school day.

[LoveBeingAMummy]

mummyhill, i was pg last year and had started taking my meds cause i didn't know, was really scared when midwife advised me to stop taking them.

[Mummy2Scarlet]

I went out for a walk on Wednesday and walked down a grassy lane(with seed heads on), almost as soon as I had come out of the fields, my eyes began to swell, although I didn't touch them, because they stung so much, and they were also watering like mad. When I got back to the office, I was alerted to the fact that something was wrong because a colleague immediately came up to me and said, "Oh my goodness, have you been beaten up?" and sure enough my eyes were like golf balls. I went home, but they continued to swell so that I couldn't see, and my daughter (5yo) couldn't look at me when she got home, because my eyes made her feel sick. It's Friday now, and my eyes are still swollen and puffy, although better than Weds. I've already had one course of steroids this year, and my GP won't prescribe another. I'm also taking antihistamines (neoclarytin), eyedrops (olapatadine?) and a nasal spray. What can I do?

[mummyhill]

MY GP is refusing to prescribe anything cause I am 28 weeks pregnant and I am in hell. Symptoms not much better even though we have had non stop rain since 3 this afternoon. Although we do have a cat so that may not help. We have had him for 10 years though and I thought I had become desensitised to him?!?!?!

On looking through this thread I think I may be going into the chemist for a light up the nose thingy!

[glitterchick]

I am absolutely dying at the moment with hayfever. I think it's particularly bad this year because the weather has been super - pollen having a bloody party! I have been overdosing on Clairtyn, Zirtek and and new thing called Cetrine - none of which work. Last 2 summer's have been complete crap and rained all the time not allowing pollen to get into air so not much hayfever. I would seriously consider the injection but a bit dubious about the fact it's a steroid.

[LoveBeingAMummy]

Hi All

I can't believe how bad it is, I'm 33 and have had this since I was 2/3 years old. I feel sooo crap in so many ways. I am beginning to think it might not just be hayfever, bbut aafter reading this I think it is.

Sorry no tips to report.

However Dh who has never really got it like some of you have said, did get some symptoms the other day and it has diffo changed how he is with me re my hayfever....think he thought i was overactingbefore.

[gardeningmum05]

not read the whole thread so someone may have mentioned this before.
i think the reason that hayfever is much worse this year is the lack of bees. there are not enough bees to get rid of the pollen.
i have struggled terribly this year, my eyes are red raw. i put cucmber gel on them and that seems to soothe them abit

[chloesmumtoo]

Oh ibbydibby, I was just looking on this thread to see if there was anything written about feeling sick with pollen allergies. Dd has been really affected. Had her on 2 doses of cetirizine evening and morning. Although you cant tell by looking at her (from other peoples point of view eg school ect) she has been going through it at home. Getting cold flannels at night for her eyes, worsened eczema and itching, feeling sick, and like you say has gone off food. She was very upset last night and distressed, took quite a bit to calm her down. She gone school today with a letter, because I honestly didnt know if the feeling sick was to do with it or whether she was just feeling low and depressed. Had her home recently feeling sick for days but didnt really understand what was up with her.