Hay fever - Bane of my life...

dulpit

Hey not 100% sure if this is right forum (if not sorry, feel free to move)

Anyways, I suffer from hay fever every summer... It sucks balls tbh. Yesterday got first bad case all year... Anyway, I take a nasal spray & anti-histamines and these do work to stop the symptoms from actually starting in the first place... However if i ever do start going all streaming eyed and nosed nothing will stop it bar retreating to bed... (not very practical while at work)

I noticed a small article in a local paper yesterday about something called "Vogel's Luffa Complex" (linkage) has anybody ever used it? Or could somebody reccomend me something hat would be good at stopping the symptoms after they start.. I'm not looking for a big prescription type thing, more something like a drink or these tincture things...

Or am i better off just suffering on? Any help would be seriously appreciated...

2Scoops

Looks like phony baloney to me, tbh. I mean look at who's selling it - do you think if it really worked it would only be found in some 2-bit 'alternative health' website? Although it does have extracts from some fairly impressive sounding plants.:rolleyes:

Aralia racemosa
Cardiospermum
Galphimia
Luffa
Ammi visnaga
Larrea mexicana
Okoubaka

heh - cardiospermum

nesf

Go to a GP and ask for better anti-histamines.

DonalN

Go to your GP and get a Kenalog (sp?) injection - it will sort you out for the rest of the summer. I got it last year, and no hay fever symptoms at all.

Most people that get it, usually get it early May. I got it in June and after about a week, I was grand.

Pet

Kenalog is a steroid though, and I'd be a bit wary about taking it just for hayfever tbh.

OP, I use Luffa complex, and unlike many herbal remedies touted for hayfever, it actually works really well. It works fast too - within about half an hour of taking it, you can feel the effects, especially on itchy eyes (the worst part for me). Get the Bioforce stuff though, I found it works better.

Here's a link to a pubmed abstract..a few points to note:

-This paper refers to it as "homeopathic". It's not homeopathy by any means.
-This paper refers to the nasal spray, which did nothing for me.

eth0_

OP - just make sure you take your anti histamine as soon as you wake up. I take mine at 7am and when I leave the house at 7.30am i'm fine.
I also wear sunglasses as often as I can, and have found that (if you're a girl!) wearing mascara seems to make things worse - I guess the pollen gets trapped there.

I wish there was an alternative to Kenalog. I wouldn't be comfortable taking a steroid unless the hayfever was not responding to anti histamine treatments.

fade2black

It's also probably too late to take kenalog.

Mr. Presentable

Pet, where do you get the Luffa. My 7 year old gets hay fever something savage and I want to avoid chemical remedies if possible

dulpit

see the thing is i don't regularly suffer from the hayfever anymore (well not every day anyways) but its just that when it gets me, it gets me bad... I'd be dying for the day...

I think i might try it out if i see it (and its cheap, obviously)

I don't want any injections or stronger anti-histamines or anything...

Pet

nipplenuts wrote:

Pet, where do you get the Luffa. My 7 year old gets hay fever something savage and I want to avoid chemical remedies if possible

I've seen it in loads of pharmacies, not to mention health food shops. You add whatever amount to a glass of water, and you take sips and hold them in your mouth for about 30 seconds each.

faceman

Pet wrote:

Kenalog is a steroid though, and I'd be a bit wary about taking it just for hayfever tbh..

i took it for 8 years in a row not knowing the implications until a me mate said WTF are you doin! those things should come with bigger warnings.

i cant remember the name of it now, but there was a spray advertised last year and people raved about it. it did something to the back of your nose naturally. (As far as i remember it was being advertised as a natural product)

i take zirtek daily and use beconase spray. i used to also get eye drops but i wear contacts so dont do it anymore

mike65

When I was prone to hay-fever symptoms in my late teens/early 20s (every May-June) I swore by Benadryl Worked well without any droswy side effects.

Mike.

Pet

i cant remember the name of it now, but there was a spray advertised last year and people raved about it. it did something to the back of your nose naturally. (As far as i remember it was being advertised as a natural product)

Ah yes, there's this white powder you can get in a spray/snuff bottle thing that coats the inside of your nose and prevents the pollen from irritating it too much. It's not earth-shattering, but it's cheap and works to an extent.

Paulj

Sometimes i get hay-fever and a glass of warm milk heated in the microwave will almost immediatly help reduce the symtoms. Not sure if that'll work with everyone but it works for me.

faceman

Pet wrote:

Ah yes, there's this white powder you can get in a spray/snuff bottle thing that coats the inside of your nose and prevents the pollen from irritating it too much. It's not earth-shattering, but it's cheap and works to an extent.

just remembered this morning, think its called nasalese

Mr. Presentable

mike65 wrote:

When I was prone to hay-fever symptoms in my late teens/early 20s (every May-June) I swore by Benadryl Worked well without any droswy side effects.

Mike.

And did you grow out of it, Mike?

Do people actually grow out of hay fever?

faceman

^ mine used to be worse was i was a teen too.

nesf

faceman wrote:

^ mine used to be worse was i was a teen too.

Ditto, but when I was a teen I lived in a rural area versus now when I live in Cork city centre...

faceman

^ i'll be in cork on friday night actually with a gang of bikers!

yeah i think tho aswell when you're young your more likely to be out in fields playing or whatever hence more exposed?

mike65

nipplenuts wrote:

And did you grow out of it, Mike?

Don't ask me how or why but yep it lessened and then one year (or one May) I realised I was'nt struck down with bad eyes and streaming nose while gasping for air. A happy moment.

Mike.

nesf

faceman wrote:

^ i'll be in cork on friday night actually with a gang of bikers!

Drinking in Fred's?

faceman

nesf wrote:

Drinking in Fred's?

not sure, im doing a charity motorcycle run and we're stayin in the quality hotel. is freds the place to go? where is it?

nesf

faceman wrote:

not sure, im doing a charity motorcycle run and we're stayin in the quality hotel. is freds the place to go? where is it?

It's a metal bar on Parliment Street off of the South Mall. I know some of the Vikings drink there at least. It's a good spot if you're into heavy rock/metal.

faceman

nesf wrote:

It's a metal bar on Parliment Street off of the South Mall. I know some of the Vikings drink there at least. It's a good spot if you're into heavy rock/metal.

nice one nesf!

nesf

faceman wrote:

nice one nesf!

I probably should tell you that the name of the bar is Fred Zepplins too. Fred's is just what it's normally known as.

Kur4mA

Yes Nasaleze is the natural solution and it looks like a powder that you squirt up your nose in a snuff-like little bottle and the powder then turns into a gel that essentially "catches" the pollen before it gets into your body. This saved me big time last year as I always suffer quite badly with hayfever and have had it for so many years now that I'm immune to pretty much every anti-histamine on the market.

The Zirtek anti-histamine was the only one that still worked on me and this Nasaleze spray also helped in stopping the symptoms completely. This Summer I'm getting it worse than ever though and nothing seems to be helping. I have also started getting asthmatic symptoms so I'll be back to the doctor on Friday to try figure out what else I can try.

Yorky

Pet wrote:

Kenalog is a steroid though, and I'd be a bit wary about taking it just for hayfever tbh.

OP, I use Luffa complex, and unlike many herbal remedies touted for hayfever, it actually works really well. It works fast too - within about half an hour of taking it, you can feel the effects, especially on itchy eyes (the worst part for me). Get the Bioforce stuff though, I found it works better.

Here's a link to a pubmed abstract..a few points to note:

-This paper refers to it as "homeopathic". It's not homeopathy by any means.
-This paper refers to the nasal spray, which did nothing for me.

Is the tablet or tincture form of Luffa Complex more effective?