Hay fever Help!!

[Pernod]

Well unfortunately my day has day has been ruined by horrendous hay fever which has reared it's ugly head yet again.
Whole family and friends have been chilling in garden all day while I've been sniffing and sneezing and now have hoorid red nose.
I'm using Beconase nasal spray but it's not much good, am also bf! Help - what can I do to make summer more bearable? It's the same every year.

Hi Pernod

Completely sympathise. We (me, my mum, brother and sister) get hayfever every year, and I know it can be debilitating. The itchy nose, itchy eyes, incessant sneezing and nose running, and that tickly throat/face/ear business - horrible.

This year is supposed to be a particularly bad one for hayfever, and it's recommended by "experts" that sufferers begin taking medication two weeks before symptoms appear (usually late May/early June). This helps build up a bit of resistance before hayfever kicks in at its worst. For most people with hayfever, the whole of June and the second week of July are the worst - to do with grass pollens, I think, and definitely the case for me.

I'm surprised you're on Beconase if you're breastfeeding. I think it's steroid based. Might be worth checking with a pharamcist if it's OK to be taking it.

I can tell you what I'm taking this season, all of which are helping to keep the hayfever under control (though not completely gone): Clarityn (over-the-counter; 1 tablet a day); Opticrom Aqueous Eye Drops (prescribed; non-steroid); Butterbur (herbal remedy; 2 tablets a day - can't remember strength); Luffa (herbal tincture; 20 drops in water as needed). It might be worth checking with a pharmacist to see if any of these are OK to take while breastfeeding. I remember that, while I was pregnant, my doctor did prescribe me a nasal spray and eye drops that were safe to take. Might be worth a trip to your GP?

The other main bit of advice is to stay indoors as far as possible when it's windy, in the morning (pollen rising) and in the evening (pollen settling). Wear shades when you're out and about. And the most effective thing I tried when I used to cycle to work past fields was wear swimming goggles ( daft, I know!) throughout June. I once read somewhere that pollen mainly enters the body through the eyes. If I'm at home, and can feel hayfever symptoms coming on, I have been known to put on the goggles and a swimming peg on my nose for a bit, and it's all calmed down fairly quickly! :)

Sorry for lengthy post, but hope some of this is helpful.

EBAB

I checked with GP when ttc (year before the year before last), pg (year before last) and bf (last year and this year) [ye gods, has it actually been four years since I've been allowed to take an antihistamine?] and she looked it up in the Big Book Of What's Safe To Take and said Beconase was OK -- it's a very low dose and because it's licensed for treating asthma (asthmatics having to take their medication because it's a life-threatening condition) it had actually been followed up to make sure no harmful effects were reported. TBH though sneezing isn't my main issue (it's the streaming eyes that get me) so I generally haven't actually bothered with the Beconase.

I use Opticrom eyedrops and stay inside a lot. Also I try to eat a lot of English (as local to me as I can get) honey all year round -- a friend recommended that and although it's not cured the hayfever it has been a lot less severe the seasons since I started (might just be coincidence, of course). I think once the season's underway it's too late to make much difference, though.

I've seen Quercetin recommended but I know it was down as something not to take when pg when I looked into it when ttc and pg -- I'm not sure if it's OK when bf or not as by that point the honey had helped to the extent that I was managing on Opticrom alone as medication.

Dh has been taking Pycnogenal for the last 2 years now. He began taking it when all the usual antihistamines stopped working for him. He didn't want to go down the steroid route as people we have known seem to get worse and need more and more. Someone mentioned about Pycnogenal and as a desperate measure he took it to try, not really thinking it would work but it did.:)

Thanks for all your replies, EBAB can't believe this year is meant to be a bad one for us poor sufferers! I was that desperate yesterday I think I'd have even put a clothes peg on my nose !!
Think I'll also give opticrom a go & some honey.