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!

[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!

[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

[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...

[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.

[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?

[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 .....

[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!

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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 ...