Why has nobody invented a cure for hayfever yet?!

[Chubbymummyof2]

Long term hayfever sufferer; prescription medication (tablets, nose spray, eye drops), also tried local honey, breaze stuff (basically Vaseline around nostrils), the wipes…nothing works!
How has no one found a cure for this seasonal misery yet? My husband reckons its the pharmaceutical companies stopping it from happening because hayfever is big business, everyone buys tablets, but surely someone could’ve come up with a cure for it by now?

Anyone got any tips that I might not have tried yet? Pleeeeeeease!?!

I have suffered year long allergies with awful spring/summer hay-fever for about 40 years and this year discovered a cure by mistake! I started taking a natural supplement called pycnogenol for rosacea, then noticed my hayfever symptoms hadn't worsened as spring got underway. I stopped taking antihistamines and..nothing. No hay-fever. Just gone, like some kind of miracle. I think you have to take it for a few weeks to get it going, but it's been incredible for me. I have had to take the occasional antihistamine, for example if I'm sitting outside all evening, but nothing else. Summer usually means steroid nasal spray on top of antihistamines and avoiding being outside too much. Please, all of you, look into pycnogenol!

My son has had and my daughter is currently on an immunotherapy regime to make her immune to her grass pollen allergy.
My son is cured and my daughter will take the drug, Grazax, for another 2 years and she will no longer suffer with hay-fever, like.her brother.

Cause it would put companies out of business.

Dh swears by dymistra. I use certrezine and becnaise (sp?) and also a nasal saline wash that helps

I am an acupuncturist and I have successfully treated patients for hey fever and they are not suffering

Absolutely not true at all. Fexofenadine works within 20 mins to an hour, peaking at 2 hours and lasting up to 24 hours.

You have a point there, some freinds moved to Brighton due to the husband's dreadful hayfever. It virtually cleared up!

I lived at two addresses in West Yorkshire and never got HF, even with a farm half a mile away at the 2nd address.

Leicestershire - bad.

Never get HF abroad either

I often think because then the big pharma wouldn't have a large revenue from the meds, same with colds etc, but it most be more complicated than that!

I've had hayfever since a young child. I remember before cetirizine and loratadine etc were out, being on Triludan and meds that made you drowsy! Exams were hell.

Then the newer tablets came out and you could only get them on prescription! Thank heavens they're out of patent now and you can buy generic ones so cheaply.

i have had severe hayfever for about 45 years. Luckily I’m only allergic to Timothy Grass (the main grass in the UK). after immunotherapy injections had wonderful respite for about 10 years then it failed so I had a second course but had to stop it as was getting the beginnings of an anaphylactic response to the jabs.
Nowadays I cope reasonably well by starting Fexofenadine in March and ramping up the dose in the grass pollen season. If I have an attack due to accidental exposure I add in extra, different anti histamines. Not recommended long term but ok in an emergency to help breathing and calm the reaction. I avoid grassy areas and stay indoors with the windows closed morning and evening (when pollen drops and rises). Sometimes will open back door for fresh air at midday if not windy etc. Never open windows in bedroom and have air filter in there. That’s my safe haven. I can’t lie, it does get me down but it is what it is and it could be far worse. At least I’m not allergic to dust mites!
oh and the other thing I have started in the last few years is wearing a mask if I have to go out near grass morning or evening.

its a case of working out what the worst triggers are. EG: I know it’s far worse if there is sunshine after rain as the heat raises the pollen like a toxic fog.
Face mask, wraparound sunglasses and baseball hat if I really have to go out.

the main thing to remember with hayfever (and I think all allergies) is that it’s cumulative, as is the remedy, hence starting meds early and giving you immune system daily respite by having a safe haven of some sort.

hope this helps.

Fexofenidine.
But montelukast was the real game changer for me when I was prescibe by consultant.
Dymista nasal spray is fab too

I joined the trials for this but they switched me to injections as they didn’t have the data at that point for how effective it was. If I hadn’t tried to join the trials I don’t think I’d have learnt so much useful information. I’m glad to hear it has worked. I’m going to find out if it’s something I can try.

I'm only a few miles from Brighton, and was there on Friday. I didn't notice any difference!

Best of luck with it. The allergist did mention that kids respond particularly well to it (mine both started it at 6 and 7) but that they don't generally prescribe it after 45yo and if they do, it's a much slower regime, like half a dose building up.

This is my daughter's first summer on it and while she still has occasional reactions, her symptoms have reduced by at least 50%. My son did amazingly on it, the first summer he was 80% better and has had no symptoms since. They both suffered since they were toddlers and I'm so delighted that there is something to treat it.

In desperation I tried acupuncture once. Unfortunately I think you have to believe in it for it to "work".

I don’t think that’s strictly true. The NHS offers acupuncture for tennis elbow as it’s proven to work effectively the majority of the time. I’d link to a study but I’m a shaky WiFi area but you can look it up on their website. Like any treatment it will be more effective for some things than others and varying results on varying bodies. I havnt tried acupuncture myself. I suspect it wouldn’t have much effect as my immune response is very high.

This is good to know. They may not give it to me due to risk factors but no harm in asking.

I think it would depend where you are, how long you are there and the time of day. By the sea it takes a few days for my system to adjust. Still on same medication but the key think is I can go for long walks in the fresh air along the shore line. On very high pollen days I still get symptoms when pollen rises and drops but it’s just a runny nose which is nothing if I have soft tissues. When I’m in the city I am basically indoors or wearing a mask outside between May and July. But of course everyone is different. I know I’d move to the coast in a heartbeat if I could.

I’ve only skim-read the thread but my nasal spray hasn’t been mentioned I think- fluticasone propionate. Been on it 20+ years I think, honestly life changing. I don’t bother with tablets now unless I get bites.