Tips for the Hayfever Sufferers

Pippy1976

Oh Mother of God, hayfever is driving me demented this year.

I started getting the symptoms in my mid-20's when I was in Australia. I've tried everything from Clarityn, Piriton, Clareze, Zirtek, Prevalin, Beconase, Cetrizine Hydrochloride, Steroid injection, Telfast and numerous eye drops... NOTHING WORKS!

I'm using the will to live, guys. Honestly. It's really affecting me - I'm out of work at the moment & thank God, because some days I have to take to the bed to just be rid of it (at least when I'm asleep I can't notice it!). A shower helps but is there anything else? Please?

I'm so miserable with it this year, I really am. I look a right ol' mess!

dastardly00

Pippy1976 wrote: »

Oh Mother of God, hayfever is driving me demented this year.

I started getting the symptoms in my mid-20's when I was in Australia. I've tried everything from Clarityn, Piriton, Clareze, Zirtek, Prevalin, Beconase, Cetrizine Hydrochloride, Steroid injection, Telfast and numerous eye drops... NOTHING WORKS!

I'm using the will to live, guys. Honestly. It's really affecting me - I'm out of work at the moment & thank God, because some days I have to take to the bed to just be rid of it (at least when I'm asleep I can't notice it!). A shower helps but is there anything else? Please?

I'm so miserable with it this year, I really am. I look a right ol' mess!

The steroid injection didn't make a difference??? Jaysus.
Have you been to your GP recently? It might be worth going for a visit since none of the above medicines work.
What are your worst symptoms?

Pippy1976

I didn't like the idea of the steroid injection anyway... my muscles around the entry area of the injection wasted away & I was left with a hole for about a year after! Weird!

Anyway, worst symptoms this year is the frikkin' itchy nose. The tablets only stop one hayfever symptom - like today it stopped the sneezing, tomorrow it could stop the itching and the next it'll stop the eyes. But none all at the same time. I'm 24/7 stuffed up and sinus is always a problem (left nostril constantly blocked).

The itchy eyes have been an issue the last few days for whatever reason. It really is driving me nuts. I don't think people really understand how you feel when you tell them you're a hayfever sufferer.

dastardly00

Pippy1976 wrote: »

I didn't like the idea of the steroid injection anyway... my muscles around the entry area of the injection wasted away & I was left with a hole for about a year after! Weird!

Anyway, worst symptoms this year is the frikkin' itchy nose. The tablets only stop one hayfever symptom - like today it stopped the sneezing, tomorrow it could stop the itching and the next it'll stop the eyes. But none all at the same time. I'm 24/7 stuffed up and sinus is always a problem (left nostril constantly blocked).

The itchy eyes have been an issue the last few days for whatever reason. It really is driving me nuts. I don't think people really understand how you feel when you tell them
you're a hayfever sufferer.

A completely blocked nose is my worst symptom. I find Vick's Sinex nasal spray works very well for me. The active ingredient is Oxymetazoline. Almost instant relief. You can only use it for a few days though. I think you should visit your GP.

paddylonglegs

Pippy1976 wrote: »

Oh Mother of God, hayfever is driving me demented this year.

I started getting the symptoms in my mid-20's when I was in Australia. I've tried everything from Clarityn, Piriton, Clareze, Zirtek, Prevalin, Beconase, Cetrizine Hydrochloride, Steroid injection, Telfast and numerous eye drops... NOTHING WORKS!

I'm using the will to live, guys. Honestly. It's really affecting me - I'm out of work at the moment & thank God, because some days I have to take to the bed to just be rid of it (at least when I'm asleep I can't notice it!). A shower helps but is there anything else? Please?

I'm so miserable with it this year, I really am. I look a right ol' mess!

you mentioned you were spending time in bed. feather duvets and pillows can make symptoms worse so try and avoid. I'm looking into getting a room purifier that is meant to clear particles that can aggravate hayfever

abouttobebanned

http://www.newscientist.com/mobile/article/dn16872-masturbation-could-bring-hay-fever-relief-for-men.html

beachbabe

Any help for the pregnant sufferer? Cant take my usual antihistamine/ steroid nasal spray. Am using sterimar nasal spray to rinse out pollen and some Vaseline in nostrils to trap the pollen but any other tips would be welcome. Achoo.

Pippy1976

@Paddylonglegs All duvets and pillows are allergy friendly - changed all that years ago. I've gotten some relief over the last few days with a nasal spray but the nose is still blocked.

@Dastardly00 I've tried the nasal spray you mentioned but I get very reliant on it and I've read up about it being harmful long term - damaging the filter in the nose, so I don't use it anymore. I've also visited the GP about this quite a few times over the years to no advantage. I just try to self-medicate and I know what helps / eases symptoms - a shower to remove pollen from hair & skin, cups of tea seem to ease the itchy throat and sneezing!!

It's a b***h of a thing though.

paddylonglegs wrote: »

you mentioned you were spending time in bed. feather duvets and pillows can make symptoms worse so try and avoid. I'm looking into getting a room purifier that is meant to clear particles that can aggravate hayfever

Graces7

Nasal sprays are dangerous.

Ill with the hay fever and asthma also. Easier as long as nose is running; piriton dries it up and causes blockage and sinus pain.

Vick's helps first thing in the morning.

Worse because of the M.E and I avoid drs and as many meds as possible now.

Just letting it run with painkillers now. So many are bad this year with the weather.

Walking round with an old towel on my shoulder...

tbh

Graces7 wrote: »

Nasal sprays are dangerous.

Ill with the hay fever and asthma also. Easier as long as nose is running; piriton dries it up and causes blockage and sinus pain.

Vick's helps first thing in the morning.

Worse because of the M.E and I avoid drs and as many meds as possible now.

Just letting it run with painkillers now. So many are bad this year with the weather.

Walking round with an old towel on my shoulder...

graces - any experience you have with folk remedy, feel free to relate and others can place their own value on them. this is a science based forum and we dont allow statements like "nasal sprays are dangerous". please dont post statements like that again. this is not up for discussion.

Truley

It seems like I'm not the only person having a tough summer with hayfever. Must be a bad year for it. I find Beconaze (not Flixonaze) spray absolutely brilliant. The only real trick I find helps is to nip it in the bud before it triggers. For example take nasal spray or tablets etc at home before exposing yourself to pollen. Once you start getting symptoms I find you're screwed for the day. It's difficult for me because I have to sleep with the window open so I wake up and start my day with the works, blocked nose, sneezing, itchy eyes/pallette

ChewChew

Truley wrote: »

It's difficult for me because I have to sleep with the window open so I wake up and start my day with the works, blocked nose, sneezing, itchy eyes/pallette

This!!

I woke up at 6am this morning absolutely tormented with itchiness, blocked nose you name it!

I was in with my pharmacist yesterday and he said to take cetrine or clareeze in the morning, another in the afternoon and then piriton in the evening. Apart from my little episode at 6am, I'm doing ok today

ZENER

Long time sufferer of Allergic Rhinitis. The Kortozone and Kenilog injections stopped working for me. For about 3 years I wasn't affected at all but for the past 2 years it's back with a vengeance !! My problem is that I can get severe symptoms at any time of year. It could be snowing, raining or sun splitting the stones and I'll get it. I have tried in vain to keep track of things I eat and drink in an attempt to find a cause for it but failed.

My symptoms get so bad I cannot concentrate on the most menial of tasks, nose runs like a tap to the point I have to lie down with tissues stuffed in it to get some relief. Severe sneezing - and I mean severe !! A fit of it could last several minutes non stop ! This can continue on through the night making sleep difficult. I could have the symptoms for 2 to 4 days non stop regardless of weather conditions. It makes for a very poor quality of life. I have tried Piriton (makes me very drowsy) , Zyrtek (slight relief) , Clarytin (no effect) along with Boots own brands (some relief but hit and miss at best) with none to only slight relief.

After some reading I've found that prolonged use - more that three successive days - of antihistamines can have the opposite effect causing the sinuses to become irritated making the symptoms worse.

Someone recently suggested a Neti Pot. The science makes sense but has anyone here tried it with any success ? Have there been any side effects - Nose Bleeds etc. ?

Someone else suggested it might be nasal polyps. I do seem to have some of the symptoms. Snoring, sleep apnea, nasal tone in my voice and poor sense of smell. Any reason to think I'm on the wrong trail here ?

Sorry for the long post but I really am at the end of my tether with this Any help appreciated. Thanks

Ken

Al Capwned

Ring your doc and ask for anti-histamine injection. There used to be a product called kenalog (sp?), but that was withdrawn a few years ago.

I suffer extremely badly with hayever, and I cannot sing the praises of these injections highly enough...

I got it this year, but for the life of me, cannot remember the name of it, but as soon as I explained what was wrong to the receptionist, she knew exactly what I was looking for.

ZENER

Thanks but as I said the steroid injections stopped working for me a few years back. The doctor also said it was not good to get it too often as it had severe side effects ?!

Ken

Al Capwned

Open to correction but I do believe that is why Kenalog was withdrawn.

This new one is the business - I never had any side effects at all.

jArgHA

ZENER wrote: »

Long time sufferer of Allergic Rhinitis. The Kortozone and Kenilog injections stopped working for me. For about 3 years I wasn't affected at all but for the past 2 years it's back with a vengeance !! My problem is that I can get severe symptoms at any time of year. It could be snowing, raining or sun splitting the stones and I'll get it. I have tried in vain to keep track of things I eat and drink in an attempt to find a cause for it but failed.

My symptoms get so bad I cannot concentrate on the most menial of tasks, nose runs like a tap to the point I have to lie down with tissues stuffed in it to get some relief. Severe sneezing - and I mean severe !! A fit of it could last several minutes non stop ! This can continue on through the night making sleep difficult. I could have the symptoms for 2 to 4 days non stop regardless of weather conditions. It makes for a very poor quality of life. I have tried Piriton (makes me very drowsy) , Zyrtek (slight relief) , Clarytin (no effect) along with Boots own brands (some relief but hit and miss at best) with none to only slight relief.

After some reading I've found that prolonged use - more that three successive days - of antihistamines can have the opposite effect causing the sinuses to become irritated making the symptoms worse.

Someone recently suggested a Neti Pot. The science makes sense but has anyone here tried it with any success ? Have there been any side effects - Nose Bleeds etc. ?

Someone else suggested it might be nasal polyps. I do seem to have some of the symptoms. Snoring, sleep apnea, nasal tone in my voice and poor sense of smell. Any reason to think I'm on the wrong trail here ?

Sorry for the long post but I really am at the end of my tether with this Any help appreciated. Thanks

Ken

@Ken
I also suffer from bad allergic rhinitis, along with pretty bad hayfever (for some reason this 'summer' seems to be the worst ever for me in terms of pollen allergies).

I was prescribed 'Avamys' for my allergic rhinitis, which I took for a few months and found very good - but then I started getting worried about the long term use of steroid based nasal sprays so I went off it again. The weird thing is - when I decided to start using the Avamys again to help counteract the hayfever hell, I started reacting to the spray by breaking out in itchy hives on my arms, chest & legs, so needless to say I stopped using it again..

Regards the Neti Pot, I have been in the practice of using a neti pot now on and off for a couple of years. Overall I find it does help a bit, but it doesn't resolve everything of course. I think it would be best to use it at least once per day, but I usually only manage every few days. I find it gives me some relief immediately whilst using, and for some time after, but it feels as though when the nasal passage is cleaned out, it can in fact become more sensitive - so sometimes I get into a big bout of sneezing shortly after using the neti pot.

What I find the neti pot best for is for clearing a sinus infection (which I also get a lot). It does take time and persistence but it usually sorts out a sinus infection for me within 7-10 days of twice daily use (I have taken anti-biotics for sinus infections a good bit also, but the last couple of times I wanted to try to kick it purely through use of neti pot, drinking plenty of water and garlic capsules).

In any case, I would recommend at least giving the neti pot a try, it takes a while to get used to it, and when your passages are totally blocked it can sometimes feel like a waste of time while you are doing it, but can still give some relief. When using it now I also 'inhale' the salty water whilst pouring it through (and then you spit it back out through your mouth) - this really does help clear out a good bit of catarrh...

Roger Sterling

I've on occasion used a saline flsch and find it quite decent at flushing out a lot of the gunk that gathers up there. Would be prone to pretty severe bouts of hayfever at times, has been bad enough the last few weeks as well. They recommend the saline flush every day but I think thats excessive and just use it when required. They also try to say you need to but their sachets of solute to use, but I just use a little salt/sodium bocarbonate and it works fine with boiled water.

ladysadie

Anyone find telecast hard on your stomach? I started ur a week ago.
Feel sick everyday

Morgase

Just a headsup for anyone who travels to the UK and uses a hayfever relief containing the antihistamine Cetirizine Hydrochloride - you can get the one-a-day tablets very cheaply over there.

I'm just back from a long weekend and bought a number of boxes of the Boots Value brand (7 tablets, 99p) and Sainsburys own brand (14 tablets, £1).

kraggy

Not sure if it's been mentioned but Opticrom eye drops work wonders for me and my problem is bad.

I combine it with neoclarityn and Flixonase up the nose. That combo has been the best on recent times but it's changed in the past so twi probably do so again.

Even that hardcore depomedrone injection stopped working for me.

Whatever else, if you're like me and hate the itchy eyes the most, try Opticrom. It's OTC.

BetterCallSaul

ZENER wrote: »

Long time sufferer of Allergic Rhinitis. The Kortozone and Kenilog injections stopped working for me. For about 3 years I wasn't affected at all but for the past 2 years it's back with a vengeance !! My problem is that I can get severe symptoms at any time of year. It could be snowing, raining or sun splitting the stones and I'll get it. I have tried in vain to keep track of things I eat and drink in an attempt to find a cause for it but failed.

My symptoms get so bad I cannot concentrate on the most menial of tasks, nose runs like a tap to the point I have to lie down with tissues stuffed in it to get some relief. Severe sneezing - and I mean severe !! A fit of it could last several minutes non stop ! This can continue on through the night making sleep difficult. I could have the symptoms for 2 to 4 days non stop regardless of weather conditions. It makes for a very poor quality of life. I have tried Piriton (makes me very drowsy) , Zyrtek (slight relief) , Clarytin (no effect) along with Boots own brands (some relief but hit and miss at best) with none to only slight relief.

After some reading I've found that prolonged use - more that three successive days - of antihistamines can have the opposite effect causing the sinuses to become irritated making the symptoms worse.

Someone recently suggested a Neti Pot. The science makes sense but has anyone here tried it with any success ? Have there been any side effects - Nose Bleeds etc. ?

Someone else suggested it might be nasal polyps. I do seem to have some of the symptoms. Snoring, sleep apnea, nasal tone in my voice and poor sense of smell. Any reason to think I'm on the wrong trail here ?

Sorry for the long post but I really am at the end of my tether with this Any help appreciated. Thanks

Ken

This could be my life. I thought I must be allergic to something else when I was getting symptoms all year around but I've been to a number of allergists who say it's just bad grass pollen allergy. I use Telfast antihistamines and Nasonex nose spray during the summer when it's at its worst and it keeps it under control for the most part. I'm actually 1.5 years into this Grazax treatment in a last ditch attempt to sort this out, sceptical about the use of it though. Having said that, I've probably had the least number of really bad Hayfever days this summer.

SillyMangoX

I couldnt have survived this summer without telfast and sudafed, was working on farms outdoors so the telfast got rid of all itches, sneezes and pain while sudafed kept me decongested so I could breathe while working. Im now off the telfast and it appears to be gone thank god, now just have to wean myself off sudafed, I took it for waaaay longer than recommended and now have rebound congestion!

Miss Lockhart

Not really sure where to post this - but has anyone any idea why Piriton appears to be unavailable (in the Dublin area anyway) at the moment?

I have tried around 30 pharmacies (independent, chain, boots etc) and it is out of stock everywhere. When I enquire as to the reason, the pharmacists don't say they don't know why - but they have said it has not been withdrawn as far as they know. They have also been unable to provide an alternative containing the same active ingredient.

The_Conductor

Piriton is not withdrawn from the market- though availability is being restricted by the manufacturer and downstream, by distributors, in favour of more modern hayfever remedies.

Piriton is one of the few hayfever tablets that causes drowsiness, it can interact significantly with other medications and in general takes a lot longer to work than other hayfever medications.

If you really want to continue using Piriton, and can't find it in your local pharmacy- there are generics out there, with identical active ingredients (Chlorphenamine)- that may be more readily available. Boots have a generic- a box of 60, that they sometimes have in stock @ Euro12 (or if you know someone going North- its sterling £4.50 for the same box). If you're getting them online- from an accredited pharmacy (aka one registered with the Irish Pharmaceutical Union, or in the UK with the General Pharmaceutical Council)- they are a lot cheaper- for example- a box of 30 is 69p/ 99c from Chemist-4-U (one of the more reputable online stores, who are registered here and in the UK- their delivery charges are a bit excessive- but for otc stuff thats hard to find, they're great).

Personally- I find a trip up the M1 every so often, very worthwhile- and its simple to register with a GP in Lisburn or Belfast (unless your Irish GP also has UK registration- which many of them have).

Hope this helps,

Shane

Miss Lockhart

Thanks for your reply.

Only yesterday Boots said they couldn't provide an alternative with Chlorphenamine - have had the same answer from 5 other pharmacies.

My cardiologist wants me to stick with Piriton. Also, not as important, but it is also the one antihistamine recommended for veterinary use.

I also have Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder so a little drowsiness doesn't go astray.

The_Conductor

They have their own brand 'aka Boots' brand, in all their stores up North- and they sometimes had it here too. Ask. I have no idea about veterinary hayfever (or any other) medications- though often they may have the same distributors here- it may be worthwhile asking your pharmacist to chase it with the distributor and see what they come up with.

Stinicker

2 days of nice sunny weather and this misery reared it's head again, I feel like scratching my eyes out and my nose is literally on fire. It started Wednesday evening when I got attacked by Midges which forced me to retreat indoors and I have been effected since. Horrible Horrible dose. Luckily I am off to Asia next week to avoid both the horrible rainy summer which will no doubt come but I will also avoid allergy season also by spending time abroad.

rubadub

Argos have the LED things now. €27.49
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9049488/Trail/searchtext%3EALLERGY.htm

I got that same model online last week and it seems to be working for me pretty well so far.

dastardly00

rubadub wrote: »

Argos have the LED things now. €27.49
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9049488/Trail/searchtext%3EALLERGY.htm

I got that same model online last week and it seems to be working for me pretty well so far.

I've never heard of the Kinetik Allergy Reliever before.... seems pretty cool....

I've been taking my usual dose of Beconase nasal spray (Beclomethasone Diproprionate) and Cetirizine tablets (cetirizine hydrochloride, Zirtek equivalent) for the last month. They work pretty well, but I still get some symptoms.