Severe Hayfever?!

[imsoboredwithitall]

Has anyone got experience of severe hayfever in children?

My DS has the worst my GP has seen, I'm on 3 visit to GP on Monday as the flare up just today was frightening. I'll attach photo in next post.

Anyone else experienced this?

Hello Yes my son has had very severe hay fever since the age of 2. It came out of no where on 8th June 2009 in a grassy park! His whole face swelled, he had hives all over him and was very poorly for days even after we had all the house closed up. People thought I was being very over protective but they didn’t realise that it wasn’t just a bit stuffily it was a horrible reaction. Our GP wasn’t very understanding and said give him piriton when you go on picnics. She didn’t understand that a trip from house to car would start a reaction. He was quickly put on cetrizine which lasts longer than piriton but he still suffered terribly. In the end we paid to see a paediatrician privately the following year who was brilliant. She prescribed lots more medication including eye drops, steroid nasal spray and even a short course of oral steroids if he became very poorly. We lived for 2 months with house closed up, as windows open at night would make him very poorly. We had another tough summer so went back to paedtrician (this time on nhs, as paediatrician was horrified we weren’t referred by our dr originally).she referred us to St Thomas’ hospital where it was agreed he would try desensitisation for 3 years. It was tough to start with but so so worth it. Please pm if you need more info. I never thought I would see the day when he would be doing sports day on the school field but he can now!

Sorry to jump on your thread imsoboredwithitall. I can't help much as am just learning myself.

I wanted to ask Generallyok what I should do about my son who has hayfever and in June starts to get difficulty with/laboured breathing, particularly at night.

I thought he might have needed an inhaler to get him through this time of year but the gp gave us cetirizine and piriton, and we have made do with just that. Is this right? Should I go back and push a bit more for somethign to help his breathing?

Does your son have breathing problems, imsobored? What did your gp say?

Hi Latinfor yes he was prescribed ventolin inhaler by paeditrician, and does need a few puffs sometimes at bedtime. Yes you should definitely insist on asking for one. I would ask to be referred too to allegy clinic. If you see a allergy specialist they are usually more helpful and understanding than GP's.

I've had severe Hayfever for 20 years at this point! (But I'm a rare case, as you usually grow out of it!)

The biggest thing my mum discovered in my teen years is don't dry washing outside on the line!!!!! It's a shame but it helps incredibly to not be putting pollen filled washing over your head.

Always wear hat and sunglasses outside, and wipe face and hands as soon as you come in from outside.

Thin layer of Vaseline under eyes and nostrils to try and "catch" the allergens before it gets to you.

I sympathise as it really is horrible, I'm suffering really badly this year and feel like I need an inhaler/have a bit of a chest infection brewing!

Try to change bedding/pillow cases regularly too!

My dc is like this. He takes a daily antihistamine and is also going through desensitisation. It's a good idea to go through full allergy testing.

Things we do/don't do -

Don't open windows
Hang all his washing inside
Use an allergy wash liquid for his clothes and bedding
Hot wash bedding once a week
We use dust mite protective covers on his bedding (have you noticed any dust reactions?)
We have an air purifier in our house
Vacuum regularly with a machine that has a HEPA filter
Get him to shower if his face is flaring up. Standing in water and steam can really help.
If we're out and he gets a flare up in the face we immediately wash his hands and face. Quite often it's something he's touched and then touched his face. We carry one of those spring water can sprays to help cool his face down.
Long pants on grass.

Also look into a good probiotic. Some are made specifically for allergy sufferers.

Thank you. I had no idea hayfever could be so bad. He's been prescribed montelukast as he hasn't responded to 2 of the antihistamines, only piriton works.

We have eye drops, nose spray etc ....

Bloody nightmare!

Poor 8 yr old DS is also in the same boat. It was nowhere near this bad last year.

His eyes are puffy, red and itchy, his nose is constantly dripping, and his face is dry and red despite being prescribed certirizine, eye drops and Epaderm and steroid ointment for the face.

I feel desperate today because he’s so uncomfortable and had to stop his piano lesson half way though today because he just couldn’t concentrate 😩

Do others get red faces with hay fever? When he sweats his face gets horribly itchy too. I am not sure if it’s urticaria because the patches remain for a couple of days once they’ve flared up.

Certirizine is not touching the sides, anyway...

@Eppia have you tried Piriton? I know it makes them drowsy but it's the only one my DS has responded to. It's the only thing that will treat a flare up.

Apparently this year is particularly bad for some reason.

Thanks Generallyok, I will be a bit more insistent! My son does also have some allergies and was supposed to be referred as a toddler, but when it didn't come through, I just left it, stupidly as the allergies are generally quite easy to avoid.

Thanks also imsoboredwithitall for starting the thread and to all the people contributing tips - it's really useful.

I have no idea if this will work for anyone, but we are 3 days into using a 'red light' nasal probe thing which was recommended to me (for my 13 year old son) by someone who found it helped. They're under £20 on amazon, and completely painless and drug free, so suitable to use alongside whatever medications. Reviews are mixed but more say it helps than doesn't. It's a 3 minute programme a few times a day and is battery powered. (It also has the amusing side effect of making your nose glow like Rudolph).

I'm dreading when he's having to take his GCSEs if it stays bad. He takes Fexofenadine in the morning and then piriton as needed, plus some nasal spray from the docs and eyedrops.

@imsoboredwithitall op just be careful with keeping an eye on the side effects of montekulast. It can cause depression, we stopped it for this reason. There are quite a few cases of it, the side effects of this drug are only recently coming to light as it's a fairly new drug.

@michaelscottpapercompany I did read that, it's put me off them to be honest. I haven't had to use them yet. I was a bit confused at what the doctor said also, he only prescribed 14 of them. He said if he doesn't respond to piriton use them.

My DS is only 4