Cheapest Hayfever Remedies discussion

Emmia

pennyforthem said:

Oh no I feel really bad now :0(

If you have a teaspoon of local honey every day you will not get any hayfever symptoms at all! If you do this for I think it is 3 years (obviously you can miss odd days) then you will have cured your hayfever like me!!!!!

It might cost more to purchase local honey but a jar of this "medicine" can last you a whole year and if you have honey dishes anyway like toast, Weetabix, or honey, and lemon drink then it will work out even cheaper for you not only that but you will not have any residual hayfever symptoms as I used to on drugs, you can miss odd days here and there and not notice, no more pumping your body with drugs and you will make yourself immune and not require any medication including local honey at all! FREEDOM

I'm pleased it works for you, but I've never found it effective personally.

karen2205

Can you update this guide to include fexofenadine hydrochloride which is no longer a prescription only medicine?

DrJDK

pennyforthem said:

Oh no I feel really bad now :0(

If you have a teaspoon of local honey every day you will not get any hayfever symptoms at all! If you do this for I think it is 3 years (obviously you can miss odd days) then you will have cured your hayfever like me!!!!!

It might cost more to purchase local honey but a jar of this "medicine" can last you a whole year and if you have honey dishes anyway like toast, Weetabix, or honey, and lemon drink then it will work out even cheaper for you not only that but you will not have any residual hayfever symptoms as I used to on drugs, you can miss odd days here and there and not notice, no more pumping your body with drugs and you will make yourself immune and not require any medication including local honey at all! FREEDOM

It’s great that your hay fever has resolved, however, eating honey will not be responsible. 

The pollen which causes allergic rhinitis is wind borne. It’s released by trees such as hazel, and the really nasty one is birch, responsible for many allergies. Later in the year grasses, including cereals, also wind distributed, are responsible. Some people are mainly allergic to tree pollen, others to grass, while some poor souls are allergic to everything.

Any pollen in honey is from insect pollinated plants and as this requires insects for distribution, it is not in the air and not involved in hay fever. Hence, eating honey will not desensitise you to wind borne pollen. It’s a myth which sounds attractive at first, but logically going through the mechanism of allergy demonstrates that it is not going to help. Honey does have mild antiseptic properties and of course tastes great, but as a treatment for allergic rhinitis, no sorry.

I’m a retired research scientist having spent my 35 year career in the areas of autoimmunity, inflammation and allergy research. The placebo effect can be powerful, but for a useful pharmacological effect, antihistamines, anti-inflammatory nasal sprays and eye drops, as well as physical removal of pollen and desensitisation immunotherapy have been demonstrated to be useful.

For those who are interested in the mechanism. The type of cells which are responsible are called mast cells. They have a receptor on their surface called Fc epsilon. The immunoglobulin protein which recognises pollen as a “threat” is called IgE and can bind to these receptors. When 2 receptors with bound IgE’s are crosslinked by the pollen antigen it causes the cell to release histamine, which itself binds to histamine receptors to cause the hay fever symptoms. Mast cells are present in large numbers in the nose, and eyes.
Anti-histamines work by preventing the binding to the histamine receptors, while sodium cromoglicate works to prevent histamine release from the cells.

silvercar

Boots online have better prices for buying a few packets of antihistamines than buying in store. Order online and collect in store, usually next day. Combining this with boots points deals can work out a good offer. Plus Boots is a partner of the app Airtime Rewards, so you can get discounts for your phone bill if you collect this way.

MrsStepford

My husband had mild hayfever until this year. He was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis in March. He had a four hour drive to a course last week and I was worried about him sneezing on motorways. I suggested that he take a hayfever tablet for both journeys in the hope they would help.

Blimey, Allevia is good. No sneezing, no blocked or runny nose, no sore funny eyes, no sore throat. Reduced wheezing and better air flow meant that he didn't need to use his inhaler as much. We had no idea that so many of his problems were due to the hayfever, not COPD. Having checked that it's okay to use with his inhaler medication, he is taking one 120mg tablet per day. It has improved his quality of life a lot.

The cheapest prices are at Savers, ASDA and Amazon. 

OhDannyBoy74

Savers shops have packs of 30 Cetrizine dihydrochloride (10mg - 1 a day) for 69p (Crescent brand).