ANYBODY HAVE THE CURE TO HAYFEVER YET?!

[ShellaB]

I literally cannot deal with this allergy to pollen anymore. Every flipping year I think "nope not gonna get it this year".

I have my two children to take care of (the eldest being two) and it's been a lot more difficult to do so with this hayfever.

I just want to rip my whole head off omgggggg. This should be classed as an illness. I know all these pharmaceutical companies are making a gold mine from these allergy medicines, and if there was a cure then blah blah blahhh, but I'm yet to find one that is actually effective.

They can find a way to get to space, but can't find a cure for hayfever. They can create AI and all these stuff.... Even fake meat!! But cannot have a cure for hayfever.

Seriously man I'm suffering so bad here.. anyway I've had my little rant. Does anyone know of anything that really helps hayfever so that I can function normally throughout the day!!! I've heard of the one where they give you doses of pollen, but isn't that like £3000? Please I'm desperate 😭.

It IS an illness. Have you not been to see a GP about it?

Ah nettle tea, that makes a lot of sense

Yea, since primary school but just always told to take antihistamines, nasal spray, eye drops etc....

Heh hey!! Trial number one!

My asthma nurse said to change the type of antihistamine every year so your body doesn’t get used to them and they are more effective so say take cetirizine one year take lotaridine the next. They will have different brand names so check it’s not the same basic drug.

Treathay which is fexofenadine. Take as soon as I wake. And tried a new spray called Benacort. First year I've not suffered. Am in shock. Started the season badly but then the Benacort seems to have stopped it. Still get itchy eyes but compared to how I was I can cope with that with eye drops. Hay fever truly sucks.

DD gets awful hayfever, you have my sympathies. She finds fexofenadine much better than anything else.
Last year she had it really badly, and had exams, went to GP who said she could double up and take the Fexofenadine in the morning and Loratidine in the evening.

Plus of course eye drops / steroid inhaler.
She actually found going into the exams not too bad because the room was air conditioned!

Also:
air purifier in her room
changed her pillow case every day
never dried her clothes or bedding outside
washed her hair every day

However, this year she started on the fexofenadine straight away as soon as her symptoms started, and has been much better.

I used to get hayfever too but have found as I have got older it’s been much milder. One advantage of being menopausal!

My mum got the doses of pollen via injection over 3 years on the nhs .

Make sure you wash the pollen out of your hair every single day.

I have an air purifier next to me and a portable one I can run off a power bank if I'm going camping. I don't get any symptoms at all in my house with the air purifier on.

I also take a double dose of fexofenadine every day.

If you're really not managing, a face mask and some vaseline under your eyes makes a huge difference.

I use a special nasal spray that is combined steroid and antihistamine, along with a daily antihistamine tablet (fexofenadine this year, last year I used loratadine but this year was worse earlier on so switched). I have zero symptoms when I take these once its built up in my system (so first week was pretty bad, second week much better, third week onwards no symptoms)

Its prescription only in the UK (OTC in my country, thankfully) so you'll need to ask your GP but its recommended for more severe hayfevers
https://www.theindependentpharmacy.co.uk/hay-fever/dymista-nasal-spray

Thank you everyone the tablets seem to be working already! Feeling much better than this morning

Flonase (Fluticasone) spray has been a life changer. It's not an antihistamine, it's a mast cell blocker. This means the allergen doesn't even get to the cells that cause the symptoms in the first place. It does take up to two weeks to reach max effectiveness. I start using it around Easter and continue it until around mid-October. I'm in the US so your allergy season may be different than mine, so start around 2 weeks before your allergy season and stop about 2 weeks after it ends.

My symptoms are absolutely zero with no side effects or drowsiness. And I very rarely need to use my rescue inhaler.

I also got the injection this year first time

first year I feel fine and can enjoy summer. It is life changing.

Hay fever runs in my family with rage. My sisters and mum used to spend part of the year looking as if they had been crying for hours or they had been punched until my mother added locally produced (meaning from local flowers) bee’s pollen. Having those little granules for a few weeks sorted high fever for them forever.

I was advised to start taking tablets as soon as pollen level starts getting up, ideally a week before symptoms start and continue consistently. I used to take them only when I’ve got symptoms and it was awful. Im taking Allevia every morning since April plus occasionally spray and eye drops. Today it’s very high, I’m not without symptoms completely but it’s manageable.

Avoid going out at peak pollen times - dawn and dusk.
Wash hair frequently, change into clean clothes when you come home.
Wear sunglasses if you have to be outside.

medication -
Antihistamine - Fexofenadine on prescription has worked best for me
Nasal Spray - one containing antihistamine, Dymista is great
Eye drops are needed too.

if really bad asked to be referred to an allergy clinic. I had skin prick and blood tests which confirmed a severe allergy and then I had desensitisation via under the tongue pollen pills, 3 courses of 6 months. It worked and my hayfever is usually controlled well by meds these days, sadly not today though!!

Good podcast here investigating the different hayfever treatments. The injections are not recommended…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001m4vq

I found that my hay fever was dramatically improved when we all had to wear masks due to Covid. I take fexofenadine. I can’t use beconase because I get dreadful nosebleeds. Fortunately, I am only allergic to tree pollen so I just wore a mask mornings and evenings from February to the end of May. It did make a noticeable difference.

Having a bad attack after cutting grass this morning, but every day since beginning of May I have been taking fexofenadine on prescription by GP, and Dymista nasal spray (also sinusitis sufferer).

I hate this time of the year. PPs may be on to something in that it might be less effective using the same antihistamine year after year. Perhaps mixing it up helps. Although I have tried Piriton and others similar, which did nothing to help. Been hayfever sufferer since age of 10/11, so it has plagued me for 30 years now.

OP head along to see your GP and talk through your options, of pharmacist may be able to help.

This works for me.

First of all, the non drowsy tablets knock me out. I have had a GP say that's impossible but it's fact. One tablet of Cetirizine, or Loratidine or Piriton is like taking a sleeping tablet.

So I take half a Cetirizine as soon as I wake. If need be I take the other half late afternoon, in the evening or at bedtime, depending on how I feel with hay fever.

Only taking half has stopped the 'I want to fall asleep' feeling but works just as well as taking one whole tablet.

I use Optimcrom eye drops.

I also use Beconase nasal spray.

I find sucking a sugar free sweet stops the throat itching.

I wipe over all pets with a damp flannel before they come into the house.

I have air purifiers downstairs and upstairs.

Despite all of these measures I would still find myself feeling bunged up and no amount of trying to blow my nose would shift it.

Then I hit on the idea of using a nasal inhaler stick, the type used when people have a cold.

Vicks is the widely used brand but I prefer the smell of Olbas oil and during hay fever season I carry one around and sniff it discreetly as and when during the day!

It's been a game changer for me and made me feel normal. It has stopped the red sore nose I used to get from blowing my nose and I no longer have to put Vaseline up my nose to stop the inevitable cracks caused by soreness.

It's called Olbas oil inhaler stick and they are inexpensive.

This is useful info
twitter.com/londonallergy/status/1667620179981877248?s=42&t=_0rZuzKfB16MS9vunu9Ybg

Not sure if you're aware of the hey fever injection?

Sorry I see you are! Must read whole thread

Piriton is chlorphenamine, a 1st generation antihistamine and causes drowsiness; cetirizine, loratadine and fexofenadine are 2nd gen and don't cross blood brain barrier so much less likely to cause drowsiness

You need sudafed!