To be panicking about ds's hayfever

[Doubtfuldaphne]

I don't have any experience of hayfever and now my teenage ds has got it. Every day he looks as though he has two great black eyes - swollen, unable to open them, constantly watering and red.
He's been in tears as they sting so much.
He's sneezing a lot too.
He has been prescribed eye drops but that and piriton just doesn't seem to do anything.
Can anyone give me advice? Should I keep him off school? He's exhausted from it.

Why are you panicking? Trip to GP?

just get an antihistamine end of problem relax

You can get the one spray or actually medicine

nose spray

Also take it first thing in morning I find works better rather than half way through the day.

Also shower/bath when come home as pollen sticks to hair

Ask for a different anti histamine, and as a pp said try changing clothes/washing hair when he gets in.

Go back to the GP - or very least pharmacist see what else there is to try.

Look at all the tips out there - closing windows - drying bedding indoor, Vaseline round nose before stepping outside for the day, would an indoor air filter help, any other allergies making it worse -pet hair or dust mites - stuff that was there already but with hay fever on top is making it all worse.

I believe it often hits/get worse in teenage years. It was when I first developed it but it's never been that bad since.

You can use a nasal spray and take an antihistamine. My GP suggested I try both when I found one on its own didn't do much.

I find loratidine (Clarityn is a branded version) works for me, but the other common antihistamine doesn't.

Go back to the doctors and get his medication sorted out.

I can sympathise with your DS. My hayfever was similar for a long time - swollen eyes to the point I couldn't open them, unable to breathe properly etc. Tablets etc didn't do much really - they had me on all sorts of trial treatments. I would suggest trying a different antihistamine- Zirtek or Claritin. Combine that with flixonase or Beconase. Get him to wear sunglasses when out to try to stop pollen going straight to the eyes. Vaseline as others also suggested. Agree with others re shower when get in. Try to avoid being out when sun is setting as pollen falls due to drop in temp. Same in the morning as it heats up - pollen rises - but that isn't always feasible. I hope he feels better. It is miserable when you suffer badly.

Last year, I was able to stop my antihistamine when I started taking a teaspoonful of local honey every day. My hay fever is back with a vengeance and I have restarted the Claritin and the honey. I'm waiting for the honey to start working again. It is expensive and I have to make a special trip to my local health food shop - but worth it.

Last year, I was able to stop my antihistamine when I started taking a teaspoonful of local honey every day. My hay fever is back with a vengeance and I have restarted the Claritin and the honey. I'm waiting for the honey to start working again. It is expensive and I have to make a special trip to my local health food shop - but worth it.

Piriton (chlorphenamine) is quite sedating so if he is on that it would probably be better for school and life in General that he is on a less sedating antihistamine like cetirizine (which is the same as piriteze) or loratadine. Steroid nasal sprays are also fantastic to avoid the constant runny nose.

Last year, I was able to stop my antihistamine when I started taking a teaspoonful of local honey every day. My hay fever is back with a vengeance and I have restarted the Claritin and the honey. I'm waiting for the honey to start working again. It is expensive and I have to make a special trip to my local health food shop - but worth it.

Thanks everyone, I've been to the gp a few times and I have tried all different types of antihistamine on ds and none seem to have an effect.
I haven't tried the sprays though so I'll try that next.
The only reason I'm panicking is that I don't know much about it and was worried it could lead to anaphylactic shock or something!

Definitely try the sprays, DS swears by Beconase. DS took that from about age 14, I think it does say on packaging for over 16 or 18, but DS and other people I know used it as it was only over a couple of months.

Hayfever like this can be very debilitating.

You may be able to help by reducing the pollen load overnight - ensuring that he showers before bed, not drying bedding (or at least pillow cases) outdoors, airing his room early morning and avoiding having windows open all day.

What antihistamines have you tried? In pollen season I am able to keep allergies more or less at bay with a cetirizine every morning, plus piriton if needed. But there are stronger antihistamines that are more expensive and that GPs are consequently reluctant to prescribe - should be considered for someone with very debilitating hayfever though. A spray may help too.

And be careful with honey as this can be dangerous for someone with severe pollen allergy. I once had anaphylaxis from eating unfiltered honey.

I was going to suggest Beconase, I got it on prescription and it really works. Also Prevalin nose spray is pretty good.

Beconase is great but it does take a few days to build up so don't despair if it doesn't work immediately. You can use it alongside antihistamine tablets

Ask to try Fexofenadine. My DS suffers terribly with hay fever, particularly affecting his eyes. He really couldn't cope during the season without strong antihistamines but thankfully we have a great GP. As PP said, they are expensive so you need to shout loud to get them. Incidentally my DS also has nasal spray, eyes drops and Ventolin twice daily.

Beconase is the only thing that works for me too - I use it every day even if symptoms not bad as it does take a couple of days to build up

Piriton isn't once a day is it?

Try certirizine or loratadine. The latter costs about 60p, don't even need prescription

I went through a lot of different antihistamines. The one that worked best for me was fexofenadine - brand name Telfast but it is only available on prescription, combined with flixonase and opticrom aqueous eye drops - it didn't stop the symptoms though just reduced them - as others have said there are options for the GP to try. Other tips which you may have tried - damp flannel on the eyes for 10/15 minutes, going for a swim, if you are near the coast head to the beach for a bit of respite. When all else failed for me and I needed some respite I headed to an enclosed building or even a car with good air conditioning. I cannot comment on the risk of anaphylactic shock other than to say I have been ok and the doctors have never raised it as a possibility. I hope your DS finds something which works for him.

Not helpful for this year but v helpful for next:

Try to work out when the hayfever started this year. Then next year start using the eye drops two weeks before that - they work best as a preventer and are less effective when the hayfever is already in full swing.

You don't get anaphylaxis from hayfever.