Allergies ruining my life

[Robinredface]

I'm hoping by posting here I might get some tips that I haven't tried before because my life is being made miserable by allergies. It sounds melodramatic but they're ruining my
Life.

I've had all the skin tests that pretty much showed an allergy to everything (dust, pollen, pets, mound etc...)

The worst is dust and at the moment seems particularly bad. I'm not sure if it's because I'm pregnant. I have wool bedding and wash regularly at 60deg, as well as dusting the bedroom and hoovering a lot too. Every morning I wake with a stuffy nose which lasts all day, red gungey eyes, and eczema patches around my eyes and mouth as well as the constant sneezing. There never seems to be any relief from it apart from perhaps being in the bath. Strangely my symptoms always seem better in hotels, although staying at other people's houses is a total no go for me as I really flare up.

I take cetirizine and beconase nasal spray and have elocon cream for when the eczema is awful, I'm trying to limit these as I'm pregnant but without them I'm a mess.

It's getting me down a lot and feel like there's nothing else I can do. Please help!

I should add that it's not something GPs take seriously, and they've been no help, but it's the kind of constant low level illness that really takes its toll and makes life miserable.

I've had awful rhinitis all my life mainly due to dust mites. I didn't see an immunologist until early 40s.
I take between 3- 4 certirizine a day and it makes life bearable. When it's bad it's awful.
I have no idea about pregnancy though.

I find taking a tablet before bed then about 1am helps.

Hercules was the cetirizine the only thing the immunologist suggested? I've tried to get referred by the gp before but feel like it's not taken seriously.

For the last ten years I've taken a fexofenadine 180mg antihistamine every day from April to October - even when I was pregnant. It's helped massively to keep symptoms at bay but if something gets me quite badly i can take two. You could ask your GP to give them a go?

Yes, it was. I was first referred by gp to ears and throat specialist who said they were the wrong person and wrote to my gp to say I needed immunologist referall. I told them it was making my life miserable and I'd lived with it for 40 years. Previously gp just prescribed zirtek but I buy certirizine from amazon as it's a fraction of the cost.
Immunologist said can take more than one certirizine per 24 hours- it only lasts a handful of hours but not licensed for more.
To go on a course for desensitization which is unlikely to be successful I would need to do further lifestyle changes ie get rid of upstairs carpets, get rid of dog, not be the person to dust or vacuum.
Otherwise just tablets.

I take something like portion at night. It really stops the horrible waking up and sneezing for half an hour

Could you get cotton bedding instead of wool? Wool sounds like it would be more dusty to me.
Have you tried changing washing powder?

Widwife suggested rubbing a small amount of vaseline at base of nostrels as the allergens will stick to it. Not tried it myself though.
Do you have a steam cleaner that you could go over your bed with?

Piriton I mean

The trouble with vacuuming etc is you might decrease numbers by a few million say but you're still left with millions more.
I buy new bedding fairly frequently and have a cheap mattress now. Immunologist said more important to replace mattress every few years than have expensive one.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to mention fexofenadine to the gp and see if she'll agree to let me try it. I don't even mind if she makes me wait until after baby is here, I just can't face the rest of my days living with this level of allergies.

ijustwannadance the covers are all cotton but wool is hypoallergenic as the dust mites don't live in it. I did a load of research before buying as bed is so important to me and having allergies every night was awful.

Hercules12 I know what you mean, there's only so much you can do, and it's not guaranteed to make you allergy free anyway. It's such a frustrating thing to live with, I wish there was a simple cure!

I know what you mean, op. I worry about being like this when I'm eldest. Hospital said that actually it usually lessens as you are so should be ok.
I don't like taking so many tablets but can't manage without them.

op i have same allergies ..wake up at night with itchy ears nose and eyes . My friend who is ENT nurse suggested Dymista nasal spray which i asked and got from GP ..it was great ..didnt wake up and my eyes were clear ..am going to ask for repeat script

Not sure if it's allowed in pregnancy though as mild steroid

cetirizine makes me a zombie now..used to be able to take it no problem
loratadine is ok but doesn't work brilliantly for me tho

Thanks ggirl it's great to have suggestions of other things to try. I'll be going to my GP with a list! Hopefully something will help.

Hercules12 I really hope that's the case for me and you. It's miserable isn't it!

My daughter has very similar allergies to you OP on top of various food allergies. Ran out of options until a family member suggested an airfree air purifier. It incinerates all of the dust mites/pollen particles etc. Not cheap but with one in her bedroom and one in the front room the improvement has been huge. Might be worth looking at?

Hi. Ds is very allergic to dust mites, as well as many foods. If you haven't already, buy a dust mite cover that encloses your entire mattress and place dust mite covers on your pillows. We also have hard flooring in the bedroom and a mattress on a slatted base, no divan underneath, for easy cleaning. The complete covers for mattress and pillows make a huge difference.

Get a hypoallegenic duvet and pillows. Switch to cotton bedding. Duvet eg www.marksandspencer.com/anti-allergy-10-5-tog-duvet/p/p22476439?prevPage=plp
Pillows www.marksandspencer.com/anti-allergy-firm-pillow/p/p22476499?prevPage=plp
You can get mattress protectors and pillow protectors with the anti allergy protection too.

To explain further The specialist darcon® allerban® filling is anti-dust mite, anti mould and antimicrobial
I have a wool mattress and then the m&s bedding with cotton sheets. Before that I often had the same issues, now no problems. Worth a try.

Wool bedding?

I have all the allergies and can't even be in the same room as wool, or feathers. Cotton bedding only with foam pillows. I even take pillows on holiday.

What emollient do you use? Steroids should treat an outbreak but unless you use an emollient several times a day you will keep needing the steroids. Wash in aqueous cream? (It's a soap substitute.)

Thanks puffpaw that's interesting.

Alternativetentacle Wool is supposedly hypoallergenic, this is what sold me on it. www.thewoolroom.com/blog/5-reasons-to-buy-wool-bedding/

It's been great so far, I'm not sure why my allergies are so bad at the moment.

I have one of those STARE2016 maybe I need to have it on in the bedroom more often, thanks for replying

frreshsatsumaforDd I stupidly had new carpet put down in the bedroom last year, maybe we need to think about hard flooring....

Just the thought of wool makes me itch. Its what ever works for you though. All our allergies will manifest in different ways.

We have a dyson matress vacuum, its truely disgusting but helps.

I'm currently experimenting with changing the pillowcase every other day. I have lots of pillowcases and long hair that i don't wash daily. I read, possibly from a link on here, about build up of pollens and allergens in hair that then transfer to pillow when we toss and turn at night. As I cant wash my hair too often (results in bleeding scabby scalp) this seams like a really sensible idea. It doesn't actually add much to the wash load (house of 5) and we have plenty anyway. I hot wash and use not too much detergent (one tablet/ cap of fluid) rather than bunging loads in. Washing stuffs can again be agitants for me.

My allergies and reactions include excema, asthma and psoriasis on my scalp. I have what i think is called perenial rhinitus I sneeze and wheeze year round. Its managed and generally mild because of this. Much worse in pregnancy had a major asthma attack when about 25 weeks I only knew it was really bad whenI popped into the GP to ask for advice (very rural over an hour from hospital) and the doctor came rapidly out from their consultation and got me on the nebulizer thing. Breathing is an amazing thing I've discovered!

I buy cheap packs of lidl/ aldi/ homebargains hayfever meds and use for three or four days when bad. If i use for longer i find I end up wheezy. It breaks the allergy cycle though.

I use optrex eye spray the one you spray over your eyelid - most revolutionary product for me. It helps relieve the itch which leads to the scratch which leads to the tears which lead to dry itchy skin etc etc.

Another thing that I limit is dairy. A bit is okay but if I have say a cheese jacket potato followed by a cream dessert and the an icecream in the afternoon - not only does it add to my waistline, i appear to be more vulnerable to allergens. If I have just one generous portion I seam fine.