I might as well quit my job now - covid has basically ruined my career anyway

[BadHayfever]

Single parent, DC is 7.

DC has really bad hayfever but is literally allergic to every type of remedy available over the counter. The doctor gave me some stuff for them but they still sneeze and cough a lot (they’re also asthmatic).

They’ve been turned away from holiday club twice in the Easter holidays despite negative LFTs and I’ve now run out of the free tests so can no longer test. I can't afford to be spending £5+ every week for tests. They're coughing and sneezing again despite me giving them the antihistamine, nasal spray (which neither school or holiday club allow them to administer themselves and they ideally need every 2 hours) and eye drops (again needed every few hours) so I suspect we'll be turned away at holiday club again.

Last year they also got turned around at the gates at school 2 or 3 times due to the coughing and sneezing and also got sent home. School still have the policy of sending home if coughing and sneezing.

I might as well give up my job for the spring and summer months and attempt Autumn and Winter contracts only (almost impossible) because of it. Obviously some days are better than others with the pollen count and at least I don't have to have either a negative LFT or isolate her for 10 days anymore.

I know it's definitely hayfever as when she takes the prescribed stuff she gets a lot better within 20 minutes (which the GP said was the indicator, if she wasn't getting better it suggests a virus or other illness).

Doctor is going to see us again next week but told me when they called to make the appointment there’s no much else they can prescribe due to the allergies and licensing around prescribing those sorts of things.

I am done, ExH washed his hands of us both when we got divorced bar 1 night a month and my family and I don’t speak due to wildly differing views on covid, so I’m stuck with no childcare.

I know I am BU but covid has already taken away the chance of a promotion and career due to wfh, now I might as well quit my job

Ask to be referred to Immunology. Don't let them fob you off with this.

How old is DC? Ask the club why they are discriminating against children sun chronic illness and what their insurance (and any wellbeing policy) states about helping children with mild medical needs like sprays and drops. Would they refuse them access to inhalers too?

Look at natural therapy like eating local honey?

@SilverHairedCat They don't refuse access to prescribed medications but they will only administer in an emergency, school is the same. I am allowed to go in myself every 2 hours and adminster which is impractical when I work half an hours drive away.

Have you tried the Swiss Flower Remedy tablets; they are natural and work really well (I also have medication allergies which make OTC medication challenging)? The other thing that works, and I don't know if it can be prescribed for children, but I take a double-standard dose of Fexofenadine (on prescription, issued by immunologist) and a course of monteleukast each night.

I won't lie, it's not perfect - I spent two days of two weeks ago not being able to see because my eyes were so swollen, but it has made a huge improvement, particularly during the Summer months.

I really feel for you - can you work offer more flexibility?

What age is the child? It sounds really tough but wait it out this won’t last forever. My kids are older now and there is no childcare for all but 1. It flies by. By the way I’d be refusing to hold your child off school with this. If it is just hay fever and your child is missing their education that is awful. Speak to the school.

Will they administer the medication with a GP letter?

That’s awful. I really feel for you. I don’t understand what parents are expected to do, especially parents of kids with hay fever or asthma. Fork out money every week for tests or have their kids miss an indefinite amount of education? And as for working parents, should they quit their jobs and claim benefits instead?

would a GP letter to the school/holiday club confirming that they differ from hay fever and asthma help do you think or is it just a blanket ‘any coughing/sneezing go home’ policy?

What a nightmare for you.

I would attempt to have a conversation with them about inclusivity and managing your child’s medical condition.

Personally I think it’s reasonable to perform one LFT on the first day of their attendance (club or school) and then monitor for a change or emergence of one of the other symptoms listed on the NHS website. It’s been the case for a very long time that people with chronic coughs or allergies should be monitoring for changes to their normal not permanently treated as covid positive.

For medication during the day, I’d want to know their policies for asthmatic and diabetic (and other conditions that require regular medication) children and why the same policies can’t be followed for hay fever.

They will not administer medication unless it's an emergency. So they will give blue inhalers/insulin etc. if the childs having an attack, but will not administer day to day medications so they won't give eye drops/nasal sprays they won't even give antibiotics. That's the rule at both school and holiday club and seems to be a local policy for the LA, as many schools locally are the same. Children under 10 are deemed not responsible enough to administer their own.

Holiday Club have a blanket no coughs/sneezes policy as they take children from 8 local schools and can't risk anything spreading. School it depends on whose on the gate, if it's the HT we often get turned around and told not well enough, if it's KS1 or KS2 leaders they know DC so let them in but tell me they'll call if they change.

@MissChanandlerBong80 That's a good idea thank you I will speak to the doctor when we see him again next week

It's terrible your DC DC shouldn't be excluded.

My DS has tonsillitis he is constantly coughing sneezing and thankfully hasn't been excluded.

Go back to the GP if he could write a cover letter and refer to immunology. Thanks to the pp who mentioned this test, I'll be requesting a referral for DS.

I'm sorry covid has destroyed your career and caused distress.

Hang in there I hope things improve.

It's often easier to get asthma consultant appointments rather than immunology / allergies - the wait time is much decreased and they can order the same tests.

Antihistamine medication needs to be taken consistently and on a daily basis during hay fever season in order to be minimise symptoms effeco. You may need to try various brands to see which is the most effective. If, like me, some antihistamines make your children extremely drowsy to then I can recommend loratidine, which can be purchased cheaply in places like Wilko or online.
It sounds severe, so keep pressing for a referral to an allergy specialist.

Would a letter from doctors help?

NHS guidelines make it clear new persistent coughs/sneezes are what we should be alert to.

Honestly, I really think you need to push this with the LEA because I don’t see these guidelines changing anytime soon and implementing them so zealously is going to impact your dc’s education unnecessarily even if you do end up quitting work. There are compromises and ways to accommodate individuals who suffer allergies and chronic conditions with coughs/sneezing. It’s unreasonable to exclude every child with hay fever, dust allergies, mild asthma because of a refusal to recognise the difference between a chronic symptom and a new one.

She's allergic to Ceterizine, Loratidine, and Fexofendidine which are all the ones available over the counter for children.

She can't take piriton as it makes her sleep, so while she's symptom free she sleeps all day, which is helpful for my job but not when she has to manage at school/holiday club.

The GP prescribes one that she has to take twice a day but on it's own it doesn't work and she has a nasal spray and eye drops too but school and holiday club won't give the nasal spray or eye drops which she needs every few hours so even though she takes the antihistamine twice a day it's not getting rid of the symptoms on it;s own and she's too young to give herself the medication (even the GP agrees with that).

I will go down the route of a covering letter from the GP I think, even if I have to pay for it at least I've saved my job!

Sometimes you can get used to the drowsy ones, and eventually they don't make you drowsy any longer, so it could be worth persisting with that. Or maybe at least it would show the holiday club that it really is allergies!

The school you'd hope would be fine with a letter from the GP explaining that it's a chronic illness.

Could she learn to take a nasal spray on her own? It might take a practice, but it's not that hard to do really. And if she had it once before she went, and then could do it herself at least once in the day, and you continued it afterwards and in the evening, along with eye drops then, it might be enough to build up. If you start it early in the season and keep it up as regularly as possible, it might eventually make a difference.

total wrap around sunglasses, vaseline below her nose, staying inside whenever practical, changing clothes when coming back inside after being outdoors if possible, hat/pony tail to keep pollen out of hair

@BotCrossHuns Blanket policy at school and holiday club that under 10s can't administer or monitor their own medication which I agree with, DD can't even tell the time and doesn't have any concept of what two hours is so I do get it. And school and holiday club won't administer them, even if prescribed unless their emergency medications like the blue inhalers or insulin.

Have a good read of the NICE guidelines and we what treatments have been tried and what's still available to you. Always best to go armed - I've taken these printed off into appointments before and marked them up with what I want next.....

cks.nice.org.uk/topics/allergic-rhinitis/management/management/

yeah, I do get their reasoning. But something like a nasal spray I thought they might allow, if you could specify that it has to be taken when she has her lunch or something, she might remember, and if she didn't, non harm done. But if they would confiscate it or whatever, then that's a no-go.

@BotCrossHuns I will ask what would happen if it was found in her bag thank you, always good to ask these questions.

@BadHayfever sounds like it's time to challenge the blanket policy on the grounds of disability....

This is a chronic condition affecting your child's quality of life. There is a reasonable and minimally invasive treatment available which assists her greatly but is by no means a cure. In refusing to support her and children like her with something as simple as a nasal spray or eye drops - which would have no real adverse effects if they were given closer together than is preferable - they are excluding children with disabilities from accessing their services. Staff do not need to be specially trained to administer the spray, although it's arguable about the drops. This is discriminatory.

That said, they may come back to you about insurance and liability, so you'll want to be sure of your position.

childlawadvice.org.uk/information-pages/supporting-children-with-medical-needs-in-schools/ Have a read of this as well.

It’s also worth asking where you stand with attendance rules as their policy will result in her missing out on education.

I’d be ready to involve my local MP too because it sounds like they’re not balancing needs with the focus of keeping children in education. I should imagine if you can crack it with the school the holiday club will be easier to approach.

DH gets bad hay fever at certain times of the year and DS also gets it. We bought a hepa air filter unit. It has really helped them both. A few years ago DH was so ill with hay fever he had to lie down for a couple of days. The pollen count was crazy and we were desperate. He also bought a cycle mask with a high grade filter so he could go outside. He didn’t just change his clothes he would have a shower as well when coming inside.