To be absolutely sick of DS non stop allergies

[Purrdy]

They are driving me literally insane.
DS 13 asthmatic spends his whole entire life doing huge shouting type massive gargantuan sneezes, over and over and over again, they are non stop. Imagine a big dog barking and barking non stop - that's what his sneezing is like and they're that loud too. And non stop sniffing up snot sniff sniff sniff sniff, his nose is like a tap of never ending cattarh. Jesus, the arguments we have about his nose. "Freddy blow your nose!!!!" "No" "BLOW YOUR NOSE!!!" "No" "Freddy your constant sniffing and snorting is driving everyone in the house mad - BLOW YOUR NOSE". "Nooooo!" "Freddy BLOW YOUR NOSE!". He finally blows his nose, blows and blows and blows, as much as he blows it out the snot instantaneously refills, he blows, snot refills, he blows, snot refills. Immediately goes back to sneezing and sniffing and snorting and says "See, this is why I don't blow my nose, there's no point whatsoever, it's pouring out of my nose straight after no matter how much I blow it". This goes on all day, all night. Kids at school turn round at their desks or nudge him and say "Mate, blow your nose". Sitting round the table for dinner is appalling, my other DC shout "Ughh, it's putting us off our food! He's sneezing over our food! (Even though he covers his mouth and nose as much as he can with his elbow or a hankie) his snot is so loud it's disgusting!" He sits there looking dejected at the table.
I am at my wits end.
It goes on all summer because of pollen. Now it's October so there's no pollen but it's still the same level of relentless 100 decibel repetitive sneezing and gallons of catarrh pouring in to his nose. It will go on all winter too, just like it has the past 2 winters. Then all spring. It is year round every year.
We're dusting everywhere, cleaning the floors non stop, pulling out his bed non stop to clean under it, I've removed curtains, got rid of carpet and rugs, bought hypoallergenic mattress covers/pillow covers/duvet, boil wash at 90 degrees his bedding every few days, OMG the work it's creating is exhausting me on top of everything else I have to do. Mometasone and beconase nasal sprays don't work at all. He takes 180mg Fexofenadine daily which is an adult dose for treating hives - you'd think if it treats hives in an adult then it would sort out a 13 year olds non stop sneezing and running cattarh....but no, it doesn't touch it. GP said he can't have any higher dose than that.
I just don't know what to do.
It's making him really depressed and it's sheer HELL to live with.
It's driving the whole family insane but me especially as I spend most time with him.
Can anyone at all give me any help or experience?!

I would look at food and diet. Food allergies can make you sneeze and get snotty.

I get why milk can make some people produce cattarh. But the sneezing? Surely lactose doesn't cause repetitive sneezing?

Have you never noticed that people generally need to blow their nose within minutes of sneezing? Sneezing is caused by irritated nasal passages. Nasal secretions can cause and be caused by irritated nasal passages.

My dd had permanent catarrh and frequent, fortunately quiet, sneezes until she cut out dairy. The catarrh was one of the last symptoms to go, took a few months IIRC, but she had other health issues that cleared up much faster, so we knew that it was worth continuing with dairy-free.

And it's not necessarily lactose. Lactose intolerance is more likely to show up in digestive problems first. Milk protein intolerance tends to cause more diverse problems, often apparently unrelated to digestion.

Push for a referral to your nhs allergy clinic. Knowing what he’s allergic to is the starting point. I was very much the same, finally sent to allergy clinic,
multiple allergies and started autoimmune therpy which is life changing. Think of your DC during exams, i really struggled and wished I could have done if sooner.

i was on 180mg fexo and my consultant cleared me to take 2-3 a day when it was bad (only do this under doctors instructions) and I have a daily nasal spray which helps too.

My son has the same problem. His eczema is a lot worse, though, and hasn't responded to dietary change. so we're now on a pathway towards methotrexate to calm the immune system, which may have some effect on the sneezing too. He had mild eczema as a child - the serious eczema and sneezing came on at around puberty.

My other son has a much more serious autoimmune condition, which was diagnosed this year. The specialist seeing him has told me that since Covid, there's been a marked increase in autoimmune diseases in children.

Take him to a proper allergist

Poor boy. I have hayfever and feel like shit in the summer. His allergies sounds a million times worse and it’s year round and everyone is getting annoyed with him- he must feel so shit.

I agree with the ENT referral and I would also try eliminating dairy

He needs a referral unless you can work out what he's allergic to. Ds was like this. We luckily eventually worked out he was allergic to lots of washing powders/liquids, especially (but not only) biological ones. Once we switched to a fragrance-free non-bio one, his sneezing almost entirely stopped.

Ok, I will be a bit kinder.

DD went through spells of nonstop coughing fits. It did drive me crazy. I felt awful for her and I was constantly on edge because I couldn’t do anything to stop it.

you have to be more proactive about fixing the problem. It isn’t his fault. He has a medical problem. One randomly prescribed high dose antihistamine isn’t necessarily going to do anything.

DH was like this from early childhood. Basically his asthma was caused by his severe allergies (all pollen / dust / mould related) not being treated early enough.

Poor kid. I am like this now (not every week but it might be one or two days every week) - I swear I need nose tampons. When I get like this, life feels like it's barely worth living (not exaggerating).

I know I'm allergic to dust/animals/hayfever, but currently I'm trying to see what triggers the worst days and I think it might be food. On my anniversary I was totally fine until I ate a chinese meal - as soon as I stopped eating, snot was running - I had to go to bed. But then at teh weekend, it began when I got dressed for bed (so maybe dust?). Looking back, I remember eating a cake with silver sprinkles on it and instantly getting that itchy roof of mouth feeling, along with the sniffles.

I'm about to start talking to my GP about it because in 44 years of life no one has ever spoken to me seriously about my allergies.

You've still got time to do this for your boy, who by the sounds of it is doing much worse. It may not be lactose (lactose affects me too, sigh, but mostly in IBS symptoms) but it could be something else.

Poor kid. I have debilitating allergies and my life is just the same. Its irritating and inescapable and depressing. Grew up being told to blow my nose constantly but all it did was make my ears pop and headache from the sinus pressure, has never made a difference to the constant nasal drip. Fexofenadine 180mg does nothing for me either and I live like this still in my mid twenties so no advice for you other than this is far harder for him than it is you.

Poor boy, having to be the one physically dealing with that and everyone constantly having a go at you at home and school for something he has no control over and making him feel disgusting at the dinner table is really quite sad. I actually feel so sorry for him.

I came here to say he must be exhausted as well. I had terrible allergies as a child, although they improved after moving to a different part of the country in adulthood - must have been the pollen of some local plant. But the sneezing and constantly struggling to breathe was so, so exhausting. I was constantly tired. Never got a good night of sleep. I didn't even realise, because it was just my 'normal', but everything was so much harder because of being so tired all the time. Plus the inescapable sensory overstimulating of a constantly runny nose.
I can imagine it's really frustrating for you, OP, but please try to imagine what it's like for him - I assure you it's a miserable way to live.

To add my bet it would be dust mites mixed with grass / tree pollen. Both can be treated with desensitisation.

Oh god this was me as a teen - horrendous allergies! I was on pretty much the same as your son plus inhalers and still really struggled. My exam periods were a nightmare as they fell during my absolute peak allergy months and it was unbearable. I did eventually grow out of it by about 19 and touch wood it’s never returned. I wish my parents had pushed for medical referrals though as I’ve been left with very scarred tonsils from repeated infections and had to have braces due to overcrowding caused by permanent mouth breathing. I still have very baggy eyes now as mouth breathing changes the shape of your face - now my allergies have improved I can breathe through my nose but sadly damage is done to my face shape.

Check for nasal polyps, but also insist on an ENT referral and/or a referral to a allery specialist nurse. He needs to be tested for his specific allergies so you can identify exactly what is causing the reaction. I feel your pain as my big 2 have awful allergies and it's tough going.

Ask ENT consultant if he has AERD (aka Samter's Triad) or chronic rhino sinusitis with polyps and asthma. It's not often known about by non ENT specialists but is a real thing and sufferers have a poor quality of life as a result. Your poor son.

To be clear, what I mentioned isn't an allergy but an immune system malfunction.

He needs a referral to ENT not an allergy clinic as rhinitis is often non-allergic and ENT can carry out allergy tests anyway. It's not unreasonable to ask GP to prescribe a nasal spray in the interim, fluticasone is in short supply at the moment it seems but mometasone would be analterative - ENT would prescribe these anyway and if they're not going to work then it's one step taken before you get to them. As previous people gave suggested, a sinus rinse before the spray is preferential.

I’ve had allergies since early teen years. You can’t just stay on the same antihistamine. Every so often you need to switch it up. I don’t live in the UK so I can’t help with brand names, sorry.

And please get a referral for a ENT. The poor boy can’t go on like this with everyone treating him so badly.

1. Nasal washouts with neil med or similar at least twice a day
2. Steroid nasal spray taken immediately after 1 so they are acting on clean nasal passages. If mometasone and beconase have been ineffective, consider avamys, flixonase or dymista
3. continue antihistamine, make sure he takes his asthma inhalers religiously
4. cromoglycate eye drops can also sometimes help with allergic nasal symptoms
5. Ask your GP for montelukast
6. ENT referral - consider private if you can afford it for speed

I hope you can get him sorted because it sounds miserable

I know sniffing is annoying but I feel soooo sorry for him. I have some days of bad hay-fever and also take 180 fexodenadine and on those days it does not touch the sides so no wonder it's not helping.

I do use vicks sinus soother and that does unblock my nose even on the worse days.

I agree he needs more specialist help. Can he have the hayfever injection?

Poor kid.
He needs a referral.
This is beyond the scope of a gp visit.

Ds had something similar. The consultant put him on a very long course of antibiotics for what turned out to be a chronic sinus infection. He has allergies too but the allergy treatments only made a difference after the sinus infection (which wasn't obvious at all) cleared up.

Perfume or washing detergent would be my next elimination. Even spray deodorant makes me poorly.