hayfever or allergy - is it the same

[mistressmiggins]

my DS (6) has puffy red eyes.
thankfully school are sensible & have kept him inside so the swelling has gone down a little...he is happy in himself & Im at work so he's still there.

DS went in the padding pool yesterday after school and had done the last time this happened.

Im wondering if it's an allergy to grass rather than hayfever or is this the same?

am off to the drs later with him...however last time we went, the dr said it was not hayfever as only in one eye and wouldnt give me anything for it.

hayfever is an allergy to grass/tree/plant pollen. Its causes itchy eyes/nose, sneezing and can sometimes cause wheezing. They are all the same. I have an allergy to dogs and cats aswell and I get exactly the same symptoms.

yes, the reaction you would get to being allergic to anything which makes you develop histamine is the same. itchy eyes, throat, runny nose, sneezing........nightmare.

i am allergic to cats and have hayfever and the reaction is the same. that's why antihistamines are given in all of the circumstances as it prevents you developing histamine. if you're lucky!

They are the same. Hayfever is an allergic reaction to pollen - and grass pollen can be part of that.

Hope he feels better soon.

You can have an allergy to pollen that is different from hayfever though - I recently found out I've got a pollen allergy that makes me incredibly tired and gives me blocked sinuses, triggering off sinusitus for two years running now but it's not hayfever - don't get any runny/itchy eyes, runny nose, sneezing etc. It's all allergies but hayfever is just a way of describing the one where you have streaming eyes etc. Maybe ds still has an allergy, in which case some hayfever tablets do still help. I take cetirizine hydrochloride - I don't know what the OTC name is but they definitely help, and also a nasal spray but that's prescribed, not OTC stuff.

In the last week or so I'm starting to suspect I might be getting hayfever too but crossing fingers!

btw, your doctor is an arse. of course only one eye can be affected. it depends which one he has rubbed to inflame. both may feel a little itchy but as soon as you touch one it gets worse, then you rub that one over and over and it puffs up. tell him he needs some antihistamine.

the symptoms described sound just like my DS. He complains his eyes are itchy & rubs them. I knew when the phone rang it would be school but fortunately they have kept him so I didnt have to leave work (would have been day's holiday)

if the dr dismisses me again, I will just go to the pharmacy instead.

like egypt said about the doctor. The things is docs can't d anything for it that you can't buy iover the counter, other than in severe case to give a steroid injection which is obviously not reciommneded for children. last year when I saw the doc with DS, she brought out a sheet of pamplets that were published in 2000, and started reading through them . yesterday a different doc admitted that hrere wans't anythng he could do. The doese od anti histamine don't work for DS, so I have been double dosing him. Doc said he couldn't endorse that, but could give no otehr advice. The pharmacy are better informed. we have found the cetirizine and piriton are the only ones that have had any effect, but everyone reacts differently, so it appears to be just trial and error to find the most effective.

do you think its pointless going to dr then?
I just thought it better to be diagnosed as hayfever incase it was conjunctivitus....dont really want to go to drs as will have to take DD(4) too

Actaully the doc also told me that the recommended treatment for conjunctivitis( which is waht propelled us thereyesterday!)is...do nothing. Very odd, becuase when the kids were at nursery and had it regularly we we prescribed chlora...???? antibiotic, but he sadu conh=jct is usually viral and therefore should not be treated . Anyway, in the pharmacy thay have a wonderful chart with all sorts of eye infections picured - do talk to the pharmacist and seewhat s/he recommends - s/he may say, see the doc, but will probably have soemthign to alleviate the itching which is really all that can be done

went to dr
by time got there, the puffiness had gone but his eye was still red

"I'm only interested in treating the eye infection" said the dr.
I asked if he thought it was hayfever - "cannot tell - I doubt it as the eye became swollen very quickly and then went down...take lots of photos so we can try to determine the cause"

so now have cream for his eye infection but dr STILL doesnt think it was hayfever.

Of course its infected - he's been rubbing it all day while playing in the soil & stones at school.

"he's a boy" was all the dr would say