Dyspraxic Child - managing hay fever

[fuchsia0703]

My daughter is suffering badly with her hayfever this year. She is taking cetirizine liquid but this is really not enough. I think she needs a nose spray but feel she could not manage the issues of sniffing in at the same time as pulling the thing to squirt the stuff on the nose spray (iyswim). Have any of you come across this sort of problem. Are there any alternatives which are more user friendly than your average Beconase type nose spray. We are going to the GP tomorrow and I would like to be prepared! Many thanks.

J (age 8, with AS) has rotten hayfever most years. We're the only family in Britain who are glad it's rained constantly this summer, because it means his allergies have been kept at bay.

I've never found a single treatment that works for J so I use a combination. He has Piriton (cetirizine) liquid 2-3 times a day, also eye drops morning and night. These can be hard to administer because of the sensation but bribery has helped in the past - I give a Top Trumps card or some Green and Black's chocolate for each application. He also has Nasalese spray, which is in powder form so you don't actualy have to coordinate breathing in at the same time. The little bottle puffs it up the nostrils. You can use it as and when, not limited to a certain number of doses a day.

You could also try some more traditional methods. J's been helped by Vaseline smeared lightly around his eyes and nostrils - it creates a natural barrier which traps the pollen before it can get into the nasal passages and cause irritation. Local honey is supposed to build up a natural resistance to the pollens - don't know if it works but it's nice on your cereal in the morning!

Also make sure she wears a hat and sunglasses for physical protection from pollen.

Good luck with the GP tomorrow. I'd ask about eye drops because they've made the biggest difference to J.

Nasalese looks very interesting Karen because you don't have to co-ordinate everything. I shall ask about it tomorrow - it's good to have a name to quote I think! I'm fairly certain DD actually has rhinitis because she still reacts in winter but it is considerably worse at the moment for some reason. I have tried eye drops on several occasions and even with 2 of us (and DH used to have to insert eyedrops in people as part of his job so he is very efficient), it was hopeless ..kicking, screaming etc - you would have thought we were trying to murder her!

You can just buy Nasalese over the counter, it's not a prescription product.

Hi I know I probrably sound thick but what is Dyspraxia?

I know this is much too late to help with this year now but I have been using a Lloyds Allergy reliever machine for my hayfever this year. Basically it is a little machine with two prongs that go up your nose, you turn it on and it glows red for about 3 minutes. Sounds very unlikely I know, but using it several times a day meant that I didn't take any anti-histamines this year.

DD has dyspraxia and hayfever. She wasn't too bad this year but I think I am going to get one of the machines for her as well next year.

Jods, I've seen you ask on a couple of threads what dyspraxia is so hopefully you will come back to this one. Dyspraxia is a condition which affects gross and fine motor skills and sometimes speech. For example my DD really struggled to learn to jump, pedal a trike, finds it hard to hold a pen, use cutlery.

If you have a look on google, there is something called the Dyspraxia foundation which explains it all in more detail.

Hi chocolateteapot!
Thanx I had a look at the Dyspraxia foundation site it was very useful. I have also found a special needs playgroup in my area. So things look abit brighter.