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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To wish hayfever was just sneezing?

83 replies

LittleMissGerardButlerfan · 03/07/2013 18:45

Some people I know think hayfever is just sneezing and are genuinely shocked when I say it's so much more!

I get sneezing, itchy eyes, sore throat, sinus headache, nausea from the drip of snot at the back of my throat, drowsiness and just generally feeling blah!

Antihistamines aren't even helping much this time. :(

It's a lot more crippling than people realize! evil pollen grrr

OP posts:
TheSecondComing · 03/07/2013 21:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Jcee · 03/07/2013 21:53

I'm suffering - the year has been the worst in ages. I have blocked sinuses, sinus headache that makes my head feel like it will explode and then copious amounts of snot when my nose decides to empty itself..lovely!

SunshineBossaNova · 03/07/2013 21:54

YANBU

Antihistamines aren't even touching my wheezy chest and i can't sleep properly for coughing. I've got my blue inhaler glued to my side.

ShaggingZumbaStylee · 03/07/2013 21:56

I wheeze badlly

ipswichwitch · 03/07/2013 21:57

It's bloody horrendous. I'm coughing up so much gunk (thanks to nasty post nasal drip) that I'm vomiting daily. Yes I am pregnant, but I know it's not morning sickness and will cheerfully chin the next person who suggests it is.

My eyes constantly water, in fact my whole face is dripping, my eyes are red and swollen, and I'm itchy all over. Funnily enough, I've not been sneezing so much conpared to my other symptoms.

loopyluna · 03/07/2013 22:00

Bizarrely, mine has been surprizingly mild the last two years (touch wood) but I totally understand OP. Not sure what is worse between the totally blocked up everything, being barely able to breathe or the wanting to rip off my skin and bathe in ice cubes. Especially the scratchy head. Awful.

Relieved but confused as to why I'm not suffering much this summer... But totally not complaining!

handcream · 03/07/2013 22:06

I suffered when I was a teenager. All the stuff everyone is mentioning. Then I found something that worked (loratine and nasonex). My family are a group of hayfever sufferers.

Please, all of you keep going back to the Dr where the real stuff is and keep going back until you get something that works for YOU! Wouldn't wish hayfever on anyone!

ThreeBeeOneGee · 03/07/2013 22:12

These are some of my least favourite things about the pollen season:

Waking up wheezing and trying to use an inhaler in the dark.

My soft palate starts getting very inflamed and swollen and I HATE IT!!

Watching DS3 suffering: he can honestly sneeze a dozen times in one go, is blinking constantly and can't get to sleep because his nose and throat hurt so much.

scripsi · 03/07/2013 22:16

What antihistamines can be doubled up? Tonight my hayfever is awful. I have clarityn and some acrivastine (benadryl). On the train home certain people insisted on having the windows open and that has finally done for me!

KobayashiMaru · 03/07/2013 22:26

I use loratidine and certrizine together.

oohdaddypig · 03/07/2013 22:28

YANBU YANBU sorry to take comfort in others' misery but this thread has cheered me up. My sinuses are agony today..... My hayfever is not as bad as when I was younger but since my DCs I have shitty sinuses that can't cope.

In case it helps anyone here is my largely drug free approach that works pretty well -

  • neti pot/nose rinsing twice a day (ghastly but effective)
  • medinose red light prong thing (could be good at Xmas too for rudolf impressions)
  • haymax sticky stuff in nostrils before venturing outside
  • sodium cromolyn nasal spray is FAB. You can only get it off amazon from the US because the stupid powers that be don't allow it here but it's v safe and has been around for years

If I stick to the above I don't reall need to resort to stronger stuff (which make me feel dozy)

youarewinning · 03/07/2013 22:33

YANBU - my DS (8) can tell people sneezing is the 'good' bit about hayfever.

The swollen eyes, pressure urticaria, swollen throat and a few times mild anaphylaxis is the reality. Sad

LittleMissGerardButlerfan · 03/07/2013 22:56

Oh and how could I forget a weak bladder and sneezing are a bad combination especially when you need the toilet and happen to be crouching down, I don't recommend it

OP posts:
SomewhereBeyondTheSea · 03/07/2013 23:09

I had been wondering if it's a particularly bad year - been really feeling it.
Glad to find out it's not just me!

vintagecakeisstillnice · 03/07/2013 23:55

This is a really bad year for it, and 'they're' saying that next year is going to be bad too, sorry.

I'm not too bad a bit snuffly, but OH used to really suffer.

This is whats worked for him, might help others or not. .

Antihistamine at night, as well as the morning, the pollen is dropping then and cause he's warm we have the window open. . .

So for him the symptoms would build up and he used to wake feeling grotty. So taking an antihistamine then was like throwing a welly up Oxford street.
This helped a lot

Vaseline around the nostrils and in, before he leaves the house.

Eye drops and sunglasses the whole time while outside.

Paracetamol when bad, helps as a antipyretic and the aches and dried up his nose a bit.

And the biggie, we found some local honey and he started taking at least a spoonful of that a day. That will be no use now and may make you worse, but after your symptoms go, give it a few weeks for your histamine levels to drop and start.
Theory is it desensitises you, I thought it was woo till I looked it to it, and for him it's gone from him hating leaving the house between April to June/July to being a bit of a bother. . .

It's really crap isn't it.

Oh and one other thing is we have patio doors that are open all day if/when the weather is good. We have voile full length curtains on them if its a good day we wet and wring out the curtains and rehang, sounds like a faff but it means we have air moving throughout the house (we both coworker from home a few days a week) it's a cheap form of air conditioning and a damp curtain catches the pollen rather than it moving in to the house.

Only issue is I have to take the curtain down 'cause its full of pollen. . .

deeplybaffled · 04/07/2013 00:09

Whilst I wouldn't wish it on anyone, I'm so glad to hear this year is bad and it's not just me being a hypochondriac! Totally sympathize about the snottyness, itchy soft palate et al, but would also add bunged up ears with wax and being embarrassingly out of breath by things that are normally easy like a few flights of stairs:(
But I refuse to worry about a prediction for next year when they struggle to get the weather right more than 48 hours in advance...

minouminou · 04/07/2013 00:31

Anyone having unusual hassle with contact lenses?
I've been suffering mild (sorry) hayfever this year (I usually get nothing) and my eyes have been reacting to either my lenses or the solution I use.

This means it's a bad year, so sympathies.

PerchedOnMyPeddleStool · 04/07/2013 00:34

Awwww, poor love.

Take a spoon of honey Hun. It'll make you all better.....

(I'm imitating fuckers in case anyone thinks I'm a Hun)

EMUZ · 04/07/2013 02:33

YANBU
I don't have it but I have cholinergic urticaria which people like to say "ooh you've got a heat rash"
Until they see the hives and me lay in a bath of ice water trying to make it go down
I take 4 cetirizine a day which helps but doesn't stop it. The worst is when I get hives on the palms of my hands or soles of my feet. The itching!

SunshineBossaNova · 04/07/2013 03:05

YY minou. I've hardly been able to wear them this year, my eyes are so itchy.

AdoraBell · 04/07/2013 03:21

YANBU in the léast

Mine lasts for three seasons and I can't tell when I actually have a cold in autumn because I've been sniffling, wheezing and coughing my way through spring and summer so a cold makes little difference. And no, antihistame doesn't cure it, it can, sometimes, help to make it a little easier, not cure it.

LittleMissGerardButlerfan · 04/07/2013 06:14

minou I can't wear my contacts at the moment either and haven't been able to for a couple of weeks.

Aww thanks perched (((hugs)))) Wink

OP posts:
Heiderose · 04/07/2013 07:45

Yanbu. It's really bad this year.
I've just been back to the doctors to swap my medication for the second time this year. I've been sneezing so much I've had nosebleeds nearly everyday for the last few weeks. Really hoping the new stuff works.

bettycocker · 04/07/2013 08:04

It's awful this year, one of the worst I can remember.

I'm really glad that I saw this thread, because I've been wondering whether I am just being soft.

I stopped smoking 6 months ago and have developed a hacking cough and wheezy chest, I feel completely drained, ache all over and have an itchy nose, ears and eyes.

Does anyone else get a nasty reaction from isect bites? I was outside for most of the weekend and got a couple of really nasty ones, my whole leg aches and the glands have come up in my groin.

claretandamberforever · 04/07/2013 08:21

I normally control it with two cetirizine but I don't know if I have got immune to them or what. I've switched to Acrivastatine (Benadryl) which are pricey at £8 for 24 but they seem to be working