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.

Stop panicking. It's not deadly, just really really annoying.

Wash him down, give him meds.

if he's totally exhausted I'd keep him off school.

And keep going back to the GP until they find something that works.

Right, prevention is always better than cure. Get him to stop eating dairy foods of all types. Completely. Or it could be a reaction to orange juice and tomatoes.

A natural cure is turmeric, you can get capsules or mix ground turm. with some olive oil then take 2 spoonfuls with a large glass of water. At each meal.It works very very well BTW.

A pharmacist cant give you nasal sprays etc for an under 18 without a prescription so you will either need to get a one or lie about who it is for.

Your poor son! Hayfever is horrible. Do go back to the GP and get advice on other meds he can take. In the meantime, minimise exposure to pollen by wearing wraparound sunglasses.

For his nose, try nose filters. These ones [[https://www.rhinix.com ]] have just come on the market and are clinically proven to help. I've been wearing them and found them unobtrusive and really helpful. You can get a sample pack to get the right size.

I really wouldn't go cutting out major food groups like dairy from a teenager's diet without medical advice. And local honey tastes nice on toast, but sadly won't help with hayfever.

Piriton does nothing for me, thankfully there are other things to try. I take loratadine, doesn't totally rid me of symptoms but near as dammit!

drbadbride There are plenty of vegan children (my GD is one and she doesn't have a sniffle) who are much healthier than the normal ones. We're not cows it's no wonder a lot of us are allergic to milk that is intended for calves which stand up almost immediately. The proteins are too large for the human gut to cope with and therefore people get the allergies.

Leave the poor medics alone fgs you don't need medical advice to cut out cow dairy food for teenagers !!

I have severe hay fever and each year get to a point where I haven't slept for days despite numerous antihistamines being taken. I have to drive a lot for work so taking more than 2 antihistamines is frankly dangerous. I am allergic to many things but severely to grasses which I know from a skin prick test. At this point I do go to a private doctor and get an injection which used to be available on the NHS. It is called Kenalog. It costs £80 for the appointment plus £40 for the injection which I appreciate is a lot of money but generally at that point I would sell my granny to make the symptoms stop....As it is a steroid based injection and you should know that Doctors are reluctant to administer unless they are satisfied that you have tried all other routes I.e nasal sprays, tablets, eye drops etc. however I understand from my friend whose son was taking GCSE's last year that the NHS will administer in exceptional circumstances. If you have tried all over the counter medicines and nothing works maybe ask your doctor about it? Managing hay fever in my experience (and I didn't get it until I was in my 20's) is a trial and error situation. Try as much as you can first and good luck!

There is a big difference between being a proper vegan with a balanced diet and just cutting out dairy.

DD gets bad hayfever, but it has been especially awful for the last few days. It's definitely worth going to your GP. My DD already takes fexofenadine and beconase nasal spray. She also has eye drops and uses Hay Max in her nose. I took her back the GP yesterday because it is really terrible at the moment. He has given her a salbutamol inhaler for the night time as she wheezes in bed, and also some steroids to help her fight it a bit more effectively. It was such a relief to be taken seriously as I was feeling a bit helpless given the severity of the symptoms this year.

Of course Soup did I say any different? There is more calcium and plenty of protein in watercress than dairy anyway.

You would sell your granny Prada have you tried giving up dairy?

Another vote for Fexofenadine... I get debilitating hayfever all sodding year round (perennial allergic rhinitis, grrr) and it works brilliantly. It's only available on prescription though. The best OTC antihistamine I've used is loratidine but I often had to take more than one for it to work. Best of luck!

Of course Soup did I say any different?

Pretty much, yes. You said cut out all dairy, completely."and then justified it by saying that vegan children were healthy. The two are not the same at all. Cutting out all dairy without proper dietary advice on maintaining calcium intake etc is stupid.

My DD takes certirizine and found it works really well. She also wears wrap around sunglasses to keep the pollen out of her eyes. I make sure she has a shower when she's been out in the garden on sunny days.

With all these, we're managed to keep it under control and she able to enjoy sitting outside.

Oh your poor DS. I've had it since a kid - best thing I did was to wear sunglasses. All the time - indoors and out.

I've never found eyedrops work, always irritated my eyes - according to the woman in specsavers, the preservatives can be an irritant.

Unfortunately the good nasal sprays (I use fluticasone, which used to be pirinase) aren't for under 18s.

Never seen the cutting out dairy before - I suggest you tread super-careful if you try that, as my hayfever has mutated and I'm now also allergic to soya(milk) as well as many, many fruits.

Wizard Hay fever and cat allergies etc. are symptoms of intolerance to dairy. Try doing it and see what happens.

BTW SoupDragon Calcium is obtained in a much easier to digest form from greens and fruit. Gorillas don't have dairy.

If we were all soo healthy on dairy there would be no osteoporosis which still continues despite the vile free milk we used to get.

Ppeatfruit - yes gave up dairy years ago as a teen owing to nasal issues. Can't even blame that.

antihistamines take a couple of days to work properly.
loratadine ans cetirizine are usually first choice.

in addition you need to follow a pollen restriction programme, like washing bedding and drying indoors, only open windows after dark/after a rain, no changing clothes/brushing hair in bedroom...
damp dust bedroom.

cold flannels on face relieve it a bit as well.
good luck

Ask the doctor to prescribe Beconase spray, great stuff ime. Kids can have it under 18 but only if prescribed. That can be taken with an antihistamine tablet too.

If anyone is going to the USA (or knows someone who is) Fexofenadine is available on the shelf, brand name Allegra. It's worked so well for DS this year, he's actually had a normal summer.

Beconase is the only thing that works for me. A gel eye mask that a keep in the freezer really helps. I also don't dry my bed linen outside and I keep my bedroom windows closed.

It sounds to me like he likes some stroids, alongside the antihistamines. Speak to your GP,

Beclamethasone nose spray is fab. Piriton doesn't touch my symptoms but nose spray and eyed drops are good job. Also try loratadine If he doesn't fancy spray as they work for me too. You can buy them cheaper if u ask for drug name think brand is clarityn