Hayfever and GCSE stress

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Help. My daughter has GCSEs starting next week and is struggling soooo bad with hayfever. She's feeling absolutely miserable.

We've tried the usual, nasal sprays, fexafenodine 120mg, cetirizine and even tried acupuncture last week. She said she felt relief for a day then it ramped up again. Im trying to book in for another session before exams but the therapist is fully booked for the next week.

We have an air filter running in her room which we add eucalyptus oil to.

Ive Just ordered a neti pot. Is there anything else? She is so stressed about feeling ill for her exams (last year she had days off school as she could not get out of bed)
Also concerned about side effects of stronger medication that will make her drowsy in exams.

Ive been dreading this since she started secondary school.

A GP can prescribe stronger antihistamines so may be worth calling them tomorrow.
Poor thing hope she feels better x

Oh hope she gets better soon , I use neilmed nasel wash recommended by ENT, also prescribed Fluticasone nasel drops as my hay-fever always ends up infecting my sinus.

My twins have the same and ive got stronger nasal spray prescriptions from the GP which work really well. You need to use them for a couple of weeks before they take effect so call your GP asap. We have air purifiers in their rooms too.

I'd also advise contacting your DD's school as if her exam performance is likely to be adversely influenced by either the hayfever or medication side-effects, she could be put in for special considerations in marking.

Hayfever counts for special consideration of 1% in exams. Definitely contact the school to ask how to get this applied.

She needs to be consistent with taking the antihistamines every day not just when she’s suffering, taking them at night before bed works better for me so any drowsiness wears off by morning.
Antihistamine eye drops are good, they work for me when my eyes are irritated

On the medication side if fexofenadine and cetirizine aren't cutting it, it's worth asking your GP specifically about montelukast. It works differently to antihistamines and some people find it much more effective for severe hayfever, and crucially it's non-drowsy. Might be worth an urgent GP call first thing.
A few practical things that helped my family during exam season — vaseline around the nostrils to trap pollen before it gets in, showering and washing hair before bed so she's not sleeping with pollen on her, keeping windows closed during high pollen times (usually morning and early evening), and checking the pollen forecast daily so she knows which days to be extra careful.

For the drowsiness concern the advice above about taking antihistamines at night is spot on. Takes the edge off daytime drowsiness significantly.
Also on the revision side, if she's struggling to focus through the symptoms Kingsbridge Education is really well reviewed for concise focused exam prep which might suit shorter more manageable study sessions when she's not feeling her best. Less overwhelming than trying to get through everything at once.

Hope she gets some relief soon, you're clearly doing everything you can for her

Thank you all for your replies. I had no idea Fexafenadine 180mg was sold over the counter so she's been taking them the last 3 days and so far so good.

I had no idea about this so will definitely speak with the School. Thank you

Make sure you're not drying her clothing, bedlinens, towels, anything really outside.
Use vaseline or similar just inside the nose to help catch pollen at entry. Face mask as much as possible when out and about on exam days?

We have recently found the dymista nasal spray. Works amazingly for my DD who also suffers terribly and is doing GCSEs! Better than oral medicine as it has no side effects such as drowsiness. Expensive though! One lasted her all hayfever season last year.

Off to Google it
Thank you. Ive spent £150 on 2 sessions of acupuncture this past week. Its costing a fortune.

Good luck for GCSEs!

It was initially prescribed by a private gp. But you can buy it over the counter.

Ds was given 1% special consideration for his GCSE exams due to hayfever. No good now but look into Grazax for future years- it changed my son’s life.

You can also take more than one of these at the same time - I have cetirizine, fexofenandine, montelukast, and olopatadine eye drops altogether. I was originally prescribed 4x the dose of cetirizine but couldn't take it long term. Worth a conversation with the GP. I also had dymista spray. Sunglasses that wrap around are good if she is outside, and vaseline around the nostrils as someone else mentioned. It's awful to have to stay indoors when everyone else is outside revising or socialising on the sunny days, but it definitely helps avoid it as much as possible.

I went camping a couple of years ago and had the worst hayfever I've ever had (42 and had it since primary school. Not sure how old, but too little to take tablets because I remember the taste of the medicine ...) I found eye drops and nasal spray made a huge difference. (Alongside medicine)/