Would you / did you go to the GP to get diagnosed with hay-fever?

[Docdiagnosis]

I consider myself to have hay-fever and have done for more than a decade.
Classic symptoms, often helped by antihistamines. I have never been to a doctor to get diagnosed officially.

Last year, dd (now 8) started showing classic symptoms too. Sneezing, itchy throat + eyes as well as a few nose bleeds.

So I started giving her an antihistamine some days (over the counter, appropriate dose). All the symptoms eased and it was the end of the nose bleeds.

Summer again and here we are again. Same symptoms, no nose bleeds fortunately this time so far. So again I believe she has hayfever and I've given an antihistamine some days.

DH thinks I can't just declare she has hay-fever. That she needs a diagnosis from a doctor and that I shouldn't just be giving her tablets myself.

I think it's a waste of a doctors time unless she had severe symptoms that antihistamines weren't helping.

DH is very anti medication and recently wanted to leave dd with a UTI rather than take her to an out of hours (bank hol and we were away from home for a week). He thought it was a waste of a docs time and it would go away on it's own. (I took dd anyway and came away with antibiotics.)

YABU - Take her to the GP to get diagnosed
YANBU - continue as you are

(Bonus points if anyone can recommend anything safe to treat hayfever in pregnancy please 🤧.)

He's talking nonsense unless she has another underlying health condition. I would speak to a pharmacist. They are v knowledgeable about the different remedies.

If the OTC medications are working then no need to visit the GP.

It happens during hay fever season and it looks and sounds like hay fever. It's hay fever

For hay fever treatment during pregnancy my midwife recommended a hay fever nose spray and eye drops. My understanding is that they only act locally so don't get into your system like the tablets.

I have quite severe hay fever and had only ever taken OTC medication. One day I walked through a field of rape seed and by the time I'd got to the other side both my eyes had swollen shut. Got taken to hospital. Doctors said severe hay fever, they did no tests. They gave me a different anti histamine and sent me home

mild hayfever like you describe doesn't need a dr. especially if it reacts well to the otc medication you give.

all a gp would do is recommend to buy these and to see if they work for you anyway.

worse symptoms (anything chesty) or not reacting to common over the counter meds needs a dr to advise and/or prescribe different medicines.

For suspected hay fever, I’d always ask a pharmacist for suggestions rather than a GP.

If it starts affecting breathing then yes, consult a doctor as it might be allergic asthma.

Really ? What 'tests' does he think they will do to prove it ? Are you not allowed to say she has a cold either...

I see no general reason to get an official hay-fever diagnosis.
One of my boys when about 2 had hay-fever so severely that his whole face swelled up and needed an emergency trip to the docs. They said it was the worst case they had ever seen and we had docs queuing up to see him. Because he was so small they had to calculate what doses of drugs he could take.
But the rest of us I don't think have ever had an official diagnosis, just buy OTC medication.

OP try vaseline around your nostrils.

I’d have a chat with the pharmacist. I’ve not heard that there are tablets for 8 yr olds, I thought it was the liquid suspension, ie Piritese at that age.

The only thing to be wary of is if your DC has asthma as some of the remedies can cause an allergic reaction. For example, I can’t take Piriton and find that - mostly - a couple of Anadin sort me out. Obvs the Anadin not for an 8 yr old.

Nope why would you?

This isn't going to help your DD this year but will next - start the antihistamines at least 2 weeks before her hay-fever season. If it's a mild spring and it might come early, get started even earlier.

They work much better if you don't wait for the symptoms to start.

This especially applies if you are using the steroid nasal spray.

I'm imagine he's thinking that to say money on the antihistamines.

Given that they're peanuts to buy in Aldi, I would be annoyed at the NHS being charged £15 just so your DH can feel better about 'going to the doctor'

Your DH wanting to leave your DD with a UTI has left me speechless tbh.

I did take DS as a child to the GP for hay fever. OTC antihistamines didn’t cut it, and the pharmacist wouldn’t sell me steroid sprays for him under 12. The GP was happy to prescribe them, saying they wouldn’t affect his height much. They were a game changer for DS, who ended up over 6 feet tall!

The only advantage to getting a diagnoses via the GP would be that prescriptions are free for children but saying that, they may not prescribe for hay-fever now
I would continue to ignore DH

Excellent point. He has never objected when I say she's got a bit of a cold.

Probably just keeps it to himself!

The tablets are just cetirizine, Boots brand. The box says half a tablet for children aged 6-11.

She has no other health conditions, no asthma so all good there thanks.

And this is at least one of the reasons that makes it hard to get a GP appointment.

No. A GP appointment is not required for hay fever.

It's not the money. He wouldn't have a clue how much they cost anyway. It's purely that he's anti- any drugs.

My DD whose hay fever has really flared up this year, and exzema and another symptom which made her think she had asthma - so took her to GP - she sent her for blood tests and it came up that yes she was allergic to pollens / grasses but also picked up two other things she was very allergic to (one been house mites, the other a specific nut) which now puts in context a lot of what she was going through and why she would have skin flare ups - and one of the allergies was linked to breathing issues.

Thanks all. I was pretty certain I wasn't BU, but good to get some reassurance.

You'd think he'd trust my experience and knowledge when it comes to these type of things since I was a HCP for over 15 years.

He’s welcome to take her surely. Rather than you what to do. If he’s not keen on your choices he has autonomy. Bet he’s suddenly ok with over the counter stuff.

Sorry to hear your dd has been suffering so much.
I'm glad you have answers and therefore appropriate treatment.

If DD was bad with hers and struggling with breathing or swollen eyes or airways etc, I would absolutely take her. She just has the sneezes, sniffles and itchiness. Fortunately. Hopefully hers remains fairly mild.

It sounds like it's being managed just fine.

Of course you can self-diagnose hay fever.

wrt tablets vs liquid.
tablets are usually not specifically given to children because swallowing tablets is not easy for small children. however tablets are (usually) cheaper, keep longer, are easier to keep in your handbag. therefore it's good to practice swallowing of tablets (with small sweets) from an early age.
read up on the dose recommended for age and calculate the right dose per tablet/half tablet.