Hay Fever

West Ender · 09-06-2008, 20:47

.....or, to be more precise, pollen allergy.

I'm not a sufferer, myself, but my daughter has been since the age of 10 (she's now 32). She has tried everything, she had injections a few years ago (didn't do much) but they are no longer available, she has had local honey, nasal sprays, lozenges, antihystemine tablets, she now has a little machine that works by electricity (you stick the little prongs up your nose and switch on - it alleviates the symptoms - a little). Nothing really helps.

Every year it starts about the beginning of April and it gradually gets worse until now - June - when she is horrendously affected. Her eyes are itchy and sore, her throat is raw and she sneezes constantly. On top of all that she feels quite poorly.

Come the middle of July she will start to improve and by the end of that month she'll be fine, it's been the same pattern for 22 years. She was also unaffected in Malta, in May 3 years ago, but was dreadful in Zakynthos a few years before that. We haven't worked out what plants/grass are absent in Malta. I think you've got to either suffer from it, or live with someone who does, to appreciate how debilitating this allergy is.

Anyone got any cures or remedies to recommend? Has anything worked for you?

mez · 09-06-2008, 21:26

ive had the allergy reliever for 2 weeks now & its helped me a lot ...not taking the puffers that im supposed to do but still taking my clarityn at night, i am using it every 6hrs & i managed a hill yesterday without stopping for a rest on the way up & found i was ok at the last meet with all the perfumes & stuff in the air, i suffer from allergic rhinitis & have alsorts of allergies & up to now i recommend the reliever ... i do hope she can find something cos it is the most dibilitating thing of all a damm pain to have .

keetah992000 · 09-06-2008, 23:09

if you can get hold of some locally produced honey - that is supposed to be great - something to do with eating produce of the pollen you are allergic to kind of like having a vaccine i suppose - never tried it myself but i know someone who swears by it ( but she does live in devon!!
i suppose honey produce in a similar environment would be useful if you cant get local

jaysay · 10-06-2008, 04:33

My other have has just started with it this year and she's in her sixties, I have never suffered from it even though I'm asthmatic, even then I am not alergic to flower or grass pollen, just tree pollen, and other things

WillowTheWhisp · 10-06-2008, 07:12

I used to suffer from it really badly when I was younger, the full works, streaming eyes, raw itchy nose/throat/roof of mouth, sneezing. I have no idea how I managed to get through my exams at school and I'm convinced that I'd have got better marks if I'd taken them in the winter.

I also have all sorts of other allergies like Mez but after I got pregnant with Mimi I never really suffered as badly with hay fever in the summer. I still do get more wheezy and breathless at this time of year but nothing like it used to be. Mind you, there's a plant in an overgrown garden up Willows Lane that really gets me huffing and puffing.

I too tried all kinds of remedies, the one which worked best for me though was a homeopathic thing called "combination H" (not to be confused with "Preparation H"). I got them from the stall inside the market but I don't know if they still do them. They were little white things that just dissolved on your tongue.

Other than that all I can recommend is pregnancy.

Neil · 10-06-2008, 07:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

Mind you, there's a plant in an overgrown garden up Willows Lane that really gets me huffing and puffing.

This should sort out your allergy to that plant willow. Just give it a little spray as you walk past.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

I too tried all kinds of remedies, the one which worked best for me though was a homeopathic thing called "combination H" (not to be confused with "Preparation H"). I got them from the stall inside the market but I don't know if they still do them. They were little white things that just dissolved on your tongue.

I used to use those. I think you took 4 at once. They appeared to work for me at the time.

Mick · 10-06-2008, 07:29

You could always move to Malta she will be fine then

I used to have an allergy to Strawberries i only need to eat one or two and i would get a itchy rash thank goodness i grew out of it.
even strawberry flavored lollies would bring me out in a lumps that where very itchy and would last a few days.

andrewb · 10-06-2008, 12:31

I can't work out if I'm allergic to my cat or pollen. Either way I have bouts where I can't stop sneezing and eyes itching. That is as far as it goes for me though, I guess I'm lucky, even if I never used to be affected at all when I was a bit younger.

West Ender · 10-06-2008, 16:57

She tried the local honey last year, Keetah. It didn't make much difference but maybe she didn't have enough of it, she doesn't like honey (strange girl!).

Mick, I would move to Malta tomorrow but she doesn't want to .

And, Willow, you're right about pregnancy. She wasn't half as bad when she was having Laura but it just came back again after Laura was born.

WillowTheWhisp · 10-06-2008, 17:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by mick

I used to have an allergy to Strawberries i only need to eat one or two and i would get a itchy rash thank goodness i grew out of it.

Richard III had that same allergy.

lindsay ormerod · 10-06-2008, 17:17

My hay fever only started after my pregnancy; it's kept under control with loratadine, a smear of Vaseline just under your nose will help trap some of the pollen, don't hang your washing out to dry and don't have hairy pets that bring the pesky pollen in ( says she with vast hairy Persian Eric !).
Some pills work better than others, maybe worth swapping around, ie Clarityn works for me but Zirtek doesn't.
I have heard good things about the honey remedy too.
The little white pills are called New Era; think we have them in at Boots too, they are homeopathic, based on salts.

Pendle Red · 10-06-2008, 17:17

Never suffered from it till I got Shingles about ten years ago got rid of that and have suffered with Hayfever ever since

shillelagh · 10-06-2008, 17:42

Sometimes i get it other times i dont. If i cut the grass ... i dont get it but yet if someone else does ie next doors gardener ... i start sneezing... though this year hes cut the grass twice and i havent sneezed. What is worse though when the council come and cut the grass down at work ... i always hope and pray that im not working when they come to do the 5 football pitches ....

forceten · 10-06-2008, 21:43

Can I ask a question about Hay Fever please? Does it cause you to constantly sniff up?

The reason I ask is that a work colleague constantly sniffs up all day long, and it is quite honestly disgusting. I won't go into detail but you can imagine. I've tried giving them tissues, and even told them, but they say that they have hay fever.

So does hayfever cause you to sniff up all the time.......they don't sneeze.

ANNE · 10-06-2008, 22:02

I have a nasal spray and the telfast. Summer is a nightmare and what can affect me one day might not the next.
Things are at there worse when the weather's so hot that I have an Urticaria out break. I wouldn't wish that on my worse enemy. The blisters are so hot I can defrost a pk of frozen peas quicker than the microwave.