flipping hayfever!!!

Rockiemalt

Anybody have anything they've found that works for hayfever...it seems to be horrible this summer. I'm going away to live in a field next week (glastonbury) and was wondering have ppl any suuggestions?

Gordon

Anti-hystimines?

Rockiemalt

make me sleepy tried claityn and zirtek

cuckoo

Flixonaise nasal spray. No drowsiness at all. Over the counter in all chemists.

Alana

try rubbing the inside of your nose with vaseline so as the pollen doesnt irrate your nose hair thingys..

The Sweeper

Try and get a prescription anti histamine from your doctor. And you may find it's the hayfever that's making you sleepy - it wears me out. There are a lot of different remedies on the market - check out the active ingredients in each one to see which one works best for you.

Elessar

Beconase hayfever nasal spray has worked wonders for me for the past 3 years. It takes about a week to build up to its full effect, but it does the job well.

Rockiemalt

got flixonase today bur has had no effect yet.. i sneezed as much as i had been before.. maybe it takes a few days to work...
anyone tried nasaleze?

cuckoo

Rockiemalt wrote:

got flixonase today bur has had no effect yet.. i sneezed as much as i had been before.. maybe it takes a few days to work...
anyone tried nasaleze?

Flixonaise (like beconaise) takes a few days to build up. Persist with it, i was a bit sceptical at first, but now i'm an enthusiastic convert. I take it first thing every morning. (no, i'm not paid by the manufacturers to preach it's wonders)

I've also found it's helpful to have a shower at night, it sort of washes any lingering pollen off of me so i'm not affected much during the night.

BizzyC

I find beconaise to be the best.

englander

I use Beconase and Zirtek together as the GP recommneded.

I understood Beconase to have anti-inflammatory results on inside of nose - my nose tends to bung up (caused by internal nasal swelling) and then runny nose as well.

And I understood Zirtek will supress the histamine that is being produced by your body to reduce other symtoms (such as itchy eyes and sneezing).

Its interesting that people use Beconase alone and it prevents symptoms.

Even using both I still get mild symptoms ! Which is quite annoying.

Perhaps my GP is working for these companies ?!

spanner_head

BizzyC wrote:

I find beconaise to be the best.

I use this every Summer and it works like a dream.
On top of that, I get the hay fever injection from the doc.

newstalk

im using zirtek, but ive never had hayfever before.. all came on this week.. can you just develop it?

Talliesin

newstalk wrote:

im using zirtek, but ive never had hayfever before.. all came on this week.. can you just develop it?

Yes, especially if you are exposed to air pollution (which is why city folk tend to get it worse than country folk), the air pollution wrecks your membranes and then the pollen puts your immune system into paranoia mode.

Pollena (homoeopathic pollen) gets great reports from some, and does nothing for others. Flixonase is good too. Anti-histamins are the best but can make you drousy as hell, and aren't the best thing to take longterm.

Catch_22

only got hayfever when i was 21 for the first time,
has got persistantly worse each year, however last year the doc
gave me some tablets called xyzal, got them again this year and have to
say havent felt a thing since

englander

I practically grew up in fields and farmland with not a sniff(!) of hayfever up until about 18 years old when I moved to a city and has been with me ever since.

Blummin weird.

Pet

And you may find it's the hayfever that's making you sleepy - it wears me out.

Yeah. The fact that your immune system has gone into overdrive is what makes you feel ****, not the medication. I could hardly get out of bed today..

I practically grew up in fields and farmland with not a sniff(!) of hayfever up until about 18 years old when I moved to a city and has been with me ever since.

I only got it for the first time when I was 16; apparently it only comes on when you're a teenager, and usually fades away once you're into your twenties (or at least it used to). Like all other allergies, it's on the rise in the general population due to excessive cleanliness. Btw, interesting fact - those from a country/farming background have drastically lower levels of allergies than those from cities. So move back, and you should be good within a few weeks.

shoegirl

I've been tormented with ever-worsening hay fever for years. I think I've been on every medication that has ever come out on the market but usually within one year of starting to take it the effects start to wear off.

I've tried zirtec, clarytin, beconase and flixonase. Flixonase was fine for the last year but now I am starting to find the effect is wearing off. Its a real problem as I am also asthmatic and unless my hay fever is under control the asthma starts to flare up again.

Has anybody managed to find something which worked for them in the long term? I've been suffering from hay fever for about 10 years now and its been consistently worsening over the years.

Zaph

I'm like you Shoegirl, I suffer from both hayfever and asthma. I switched to Symbicort inhaler for the asthma a couple of years ago, and since then not even the worst hayfever attack has made much difference to my asthma symptoms. If you're not using that it might be worth asking your GP about it. As for the hayfever, there was one brilliant tablet that came out a few years back, but was withdrawn after a couple of years because of some side effect. Can't remember the name of it, but it was the only thing I've ever used in nearly 30 years that completely cleared up my hayfever. Was really pissed off when they withdrew it. Now I usually just use Zirtek and rinse my eyes regularly with Optrex to both sooth them and sluice out any pollen that may be there (I've a bigger problem with sore eyes than sneezing). Between them they make things bearable, but no more than that.

athena 2000

I've had to get a prescription for "allegra" , a formulation of fexofenadine HCL, from time to time and it works well for me. It doesn't make me drowsy or completely dry up the sinsuses to the point of nosebleeds. I don't like to take drugs for allergies in general, but this does the trick in my case.

Grimlock

Kenalog, it's a steroid based injection I get it every summer and it works brilliantly! Just ask your doc for it.

*MmmPie*

I take Nasacort spray, NeoClarityn tablets and Opticrom eyedrops. When my eyes get all red/puffy/itchy/sore, i put a frozen (put it in the freezer, then when you take it out put a pice of cloth/sock over it so it doesnt feel too cold on your eyes) facecloth folded up on my eye for 15 mins, its reduces the redness

Pet

The tablet that was out a few years ago but withdrawn..afaik, it was withdrawn because if you ate grapefruit after taking it it made you seriously ill.

Tazzle

If you get the corticosteroid injection from your doctor the worst symptoms will be gone in a day, even for the worst sufferer, and it will last 6 weeks minimum. Usually doctors prescribe Kenalog, I'm on depromedrol, difference is Kenalog gives me some kind of unpleasant reaction. Anyway, other side effects of the drug are hyperness, and other conditions such as dry skin, eczema, will usually disappear.

Anyway, it may be an expensive way to treat hayfever, but it is a total and prompt cure.

shoegirl

zaph wrote:

I'm like you Shoegirl, I suffer from both hayfever and asthma. I switched to Symbicort inhaler for the asthma a couple of years ago, and since then not even the worst hayfever attack has made much difference to my asthma symptoms. If you're not using that it might be worth asking your GP about it.

I actually am on the symbicort for the last 18 months, but I don't find it does anything for the hayfever. Previously I was on pulmicort, which did. (Bizarre seeing as the main consistuent in pulmicort is also in symbicort - perhaps something else in the symbicort is offsetting it for me).

Having said that - wouldn't consider coming right off the symbicort (though now on less than half my original dose) - its the only thing I've even taken that has led to increasingly fewer symptoms over time. Everything else I've been on for asthma seems to have just switched off any last vestiges of whatever last bit of immune system I happened to have left. (By which I mean most other medication seems to only treat the symptoms, but they are much worse wen you do come off the stuff- which I know you shouldn't, but unless you have a medical card or an income of 40k per annum, its hard not to).

elephamt king

i used to use zirtek worked perfect for about 2 - 3 summers and then it had no effect, apparently i built up a resistance to it,
am now using flixonase and xyxal when it gets bad but other than that aa herbal remedie ,sinu hay, works really well for me

its available from most health shops but you have to start taking it about a month before your hayfever starts, i find it excellent and it has no side-effects,i.e drowsiness etc.

p.s to the original poster, i know hayfever is hell, but im not exactly empathising with you considering your off to glastonbury.

Kintarō Hattori

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Piriton in the thread, I've been using that for years and find it absolutely fantastic. One small tablet and I'm sorted for most of the day and it's cheap as chips too.
It does make some folk a tad drowsy, but fortunately I haven't experianced that yet. I have tried other tablets in the past but always found they weren't as good.

Executive Steve

have a shower when you get home and change your clothes, gets the pollen out of your hair etc.... sounds obvious but it can be the difference between lying on your couch wishing you were dead and not minding too much...

Supercell

My doc prescribed Xyzal last summer for the first time and transformed my summertime completely. Hayfever is much more than a runny nose..its crankyness, itchy weeping eyes etc ..which causes lack of sleep enhancing the cycle.
Xyzal almost totally gets rid of all symptoms with little to no drousyness other anti histamines give..also good for my exzema too..seems to calm overall system down a bit.
I used beconase and nose sprays for years but problem with them is it takes days to build up instead of hours with the tablet, and leaves me prone to nosebleeds which is a bit annoying. That said when the pollen is really high (like in the last few days in the hot weather) still need to use otravine or rynacrom nasel sprays for the nose, but thats usually only one or twice a month ,,which is infinitely better than every day

Zaph

eo980 wrote:

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Piriton in the thread, I've been using that for years and find it absolutely fantastic.

Never found it much use myself, for some reason.

Went to the chemist this morning to get a pack of Zirtek and see if there's anything else that I could use as I'm suffering badly this year. The chemist gave me Flixonase and said that the combination of the two should sort me out. We'll see. He also told me that in the two hours they'd been open at that time, almost every customer they'd had was in for something for hayfever. He said he's never seen so many people suffering as there are this year.

Supercell

I'm not suprised at all, its been hot and sunny for over a week now at the longest daylight time of year..the plants are probably going bonkers!!..hopefully some rain tonight and some respite.

LegacyUser

Just my 2 penneth

I use the Zertek equivalent.. Zertek is based upon Cetirizine Dihydrochloride, which they had sole use of for a while, then by law, it then has to be opened up to others. Piriteze is the same, and you will find that people like boots do a cheap alternative too.. so instead of buying 7 at extortionate prices, you can by packs of 30 which work out much more cost effective.

I also use beconaise, but I am going to use Flixonaise. Flixonaise and beconaise are very similar, and both steroidal, hence why they take a while to build up. Flixonaise is supposed to be the stronger version of beconaise, so this should be a good step up if beconaise is not quite hitting the mark. I guess if beconaise is doing the job, then I would stick with it, rather than taking a stronger steroidal medicine.

I also use opticrom for the eyes.. i wish i had a portable fridge so that i can keep it cooler than it does in my pocket... Opticrom is my best friend ;-)

Unregistered BOB

Rockiemalt

just a thank you to you all for the advice...not a sneeze in the entire week via beconase