hayfever help please

caris

Hi

I suffer with hayfever and take loratadin, however this year I am suffering really badly. I have been getting occassional scratchy and watery eyes so got some eye drops aswell, however, I am realy really struggling with pollen collecting in my throat, I can taste it, and its feels like I have swollowed a hard piece of chewing gum, I cannot get rid off it, I cannot cough it up and I cannot get it to go down either (sorry to be so gross), and it keeps making me nearly sick all the time.

Does anyone know how I can get rid of this or at least get some relief?, its affecting me all through the day and night, I am keeping the windows closed.

Thank you
caris

Nile

Hello caris

As a fellow hayfever sufferer, I do empathise. We are not supposed to ask for or give medical advice on this board. Are you a mouth breather? If yes, try to breathe through your nose and it should stop your throat being affected as much.

It's possible that you have bought the hayfever medicines over the counter at a pharmacy...............so you should see your GP for advice. Your GP can prescribe better eye drops, capsules/tablets and nose spray that may be far more effective for you.

Some non medical things you can do to help your symptoms are wearing sunglasses outside (to help prevent pollen in your eyes) and a smear of vaseline inside your nostrils to trap the pollen and wash your hair before you go to bed...........to rinse the pollen from your hair.

See your GP and I hope you're feeling better soon.

Regards

Nile

pavlovs_dog

pharmacists can also give good advice to tide you over until you get to see the doctor. There are many different hayfever drugs available over the counter. I've found cetirizine hydrochloride is the only over the counter antihistamine that does anything for me. It is the drug in Zirtek's antihistamines, but my local asda do their own version for 79p for a box of seven tablets. Home bargain also sell their own version, but not quite as cheaply as asda.

If it's any consolation, the pollen count has been very, very high the past few days. it's cant stay like that forever. hopefully we'll get a little rain soon to dampen things down and bring some relief

GlasweJen

pavlovs dog, if your asda has a pharmacy then you can get a 30 pack of asdas own cetirizine for £2

craftdaft

DH has horrendous hayfever. Antihistamines don't work for him. The best thing is an electronic gadget from Lloyds he got last year. It's got two prongs that you stick up your nose then you then turn it on for a couple of minutes. It sounds awful and looks bad (prongs emit a red light so you look like ruldolph:rotfl:). He was very sceptical but it's the only thing that helps him (unfortunately it doesn't stop his suffering completely). I'm not sure if Lloyds still sell them - last year they were advertised on TV.

He finds a cooling eye-mask helps relieve itchy eyes. However, he tends not to share this fact with others - can't think why!

I've got very, very mild hayfever. Smearing vaseline inside my nostrils stops my symptoms.

Hope you manage to get some relief....

caris

Thank you for all your replies and comments.

My Loratadine is supplied via the GP, as I am on alot of other medication anyway, so I always go to the doc or chemist for info prior to buying anything else.

I did see the pharmasist in Morrisons yesterday and he wasnt really helpful to be honest.

He said that if the Loratadine wasnt working there was no point trying anything else.

I will make enquires about the thing that goes up your noise and see if I can use that.

I appreciate that this is not the place for aking for medication however, it is nice to know what is about so I can ask my GP if its appropriate for me, if you dont know about other things, you cant ask, and our GPs are not good at offering alternatives.

Caris

chez22

caris wrote: »

Thank you for all your replies and comments.

My Loratadine is supplied via the GP, as I am on alot of other medication anyway, so I always go to the doc or chemist for info prior to buying anything else.

I did see the pharmasist in Morrisons yesterday and he wasnt really helpful to be honest.

He said that if the Loratadine wasnt working there was no point trying anything else.

I will make enquires about the thing that goes up your noise and see if I can use that.

I appreciate that this is not the place for aking for medication however, it is nice to know what is about so I can ask my GP if its appropriate for me, if you dont know about other things, you cant ask, and our GPs are not good at offering alternatives.

Caris

I don't think the info the pharmacist has given you is entirely accurate, just because loratadine doesn't work it doesn't mean other medication won't. I have suffered badly with hay fever for years and tried every remedy going, including loratadine and the nose thing, even the steroid injection and nothing worked.

I saw my GP 3 years ago and he put me on prescription only tablets, these coupled with an over the counter nasal spray on high pollen count days have finally given me some relief, I still get some symptoms but they are greatly reduced. I can't tell you what a difference it has made to my life. You really need to see your GP and be forthright about what you want, people who don't get hay fever are often very unsympathetic and don't understand the misery it causes.

Mayflower10cat

I've had hayfever for about 25 years - I tend to get it very early in the season so for me it's probably tree pollen. I used to take OTC cetirizine on Drs advice then after about 10 summers, it seemed to lose it's effect. I switched to loratadine and hey presto, relief! Now, I'm thinking of swapping back to cetirizine as this year, my symptoms didn't seem to respond to the loratadine. I've also used eyedrops called Opticrom which were great on days when my eyes were especially sore. I also have a reaction (well, it's mild now!!) to dust mites and back when it was really bad, Beconase nasal spray worked wonderfully; however it is a steroid based drug and I didn't want to continue using it if I could alleviate my symptoms by antihistamines/damp dusting & lots of vacuuming. I've recently seen a video on Youtube (there are lots) of how to irrigate your nasal passages using something called a Neti Pot, which you fill with saline solution. Although it looks very bizarre indeed, I might just try this as it's a drug free treatment.
Not offering medical advice - only my opinion that changing your antihistamine might provide relief as it did for me.

Serena51

If you can get hold of any locally produced honey, it has to be within 3 miles, then try taking a teaspoon of that a day. It is said to help because the bees are using the plants whose pollen is affecting you

tbourner

pavlovs_dog wrote: »

my local asda do their own version for 79p for a box of seven tablets. Home bargain also sell their own version, but not quite as cheaply as asda.

GlasweJen wrote: »

pavlovs dog, if your asda has a pharmacy then you can get a 30 pack of asdas own cetirizine for £2

I get mine in bulk from:
http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/

I got these ones:
Zirtec and Benadryl alternative (Cetirizine Hydrochloride):
http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/30-days-allergy--and-and%3B-hayfever-relief-cetirizine-tablets_1_10167.html
30 for 30p

Claritin alternative (Loratadine):
http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/allergy--and-and%3B-hayfever-relief-loratadine-30-days_1_1818.html
30 for 59p

Piriton alternative (Chlorphenamine maleate):
http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/hayfever-tablets---piriton-alternative_1_10256.html
30 for £1.49
These are 1 every 3-4 hours not one a day.


If you can order enough to make the £2.95 delivery worth it, could buy sun creams and stuff as well but I haven’t looked at any other prices. Delivery is quick but is recorded so you need to sign.

Tinkabell25

Hi, I get horrific hayfever and i was on Loratadine and the other one cetrazne i think- and they weren't working so i went to my doc and begged for help and they prescribed another one - telfast - that you only get from docs. My symptonms are much more bearable but i would also recommend breathe easy nose strips, beconase type nose sprays and allergy eyes by optrex as it has a particular ingredient which soothes allergic reactions in the eye. I also recommend daily hoovering and showering before bed so pollen is washed away. Sounds a pain to do all of the above but i do it daily and it really does help my symptoms!
Hope this is of some use.
Tink x