Kiss Me My Lungs are on Fire (Hayfever in general)

Member Name: yhwman

Product:	Hayfever in general
Date:	02/08/01 (170 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: hah, hahah, ahahah

Disadvantages: Everything

Ah what a nice summer day beams my dad/friend/random passer by/****wit on MSN. Well maybe to you lot but for me it means taking a tablet (pet hate of mine) and shoving steroids up my nose several times in the day. Fun fun fun. You see, I suffer from seasonal rhinitis, or hay fever if you like the ‘cute’ way of saying it.


¤ You Just sneeze a bit

Your mothers arse is that all that happens. Symptoms can include sore, swollen eyes (I once managed to get so swollen I couldn’t see), a pneumatic nose, hives (Red irritated areas on the skin) as well as all the knock on effects of an increased mucus production (Sore throat, nausea, headaches and aggravation of any sinus problems you may have). It’s not uncommon, despite having shoved various interesting forms of medication into my body, to end up with something approximating summer flu. So no, you don’t just sneeze a bit – often I don’t feel safe driving if my hay fevers bad, think of all the things you can hit in a 60mph sneeze…


¤ A Brief Moment of White Coats

Hay fever, along with most other allergic reactions, is caused by the body getting all worked up over benign materials. The main part of this reaction is chucking out lots of histamines, which run around your body, um, swelling basically. It’s common, but not ‘required’ that asthma and hay fever go together but the two are quiet similar, after all they are both allergies. Indeed, it is possible to have a unique kind of asthma attack called allergenic asthma. Now, in all my years of hay fever (I’m almost 21) I’ve only ever had one but it was a pretty unsettling experience. It was during the hated games lessons at school (They let me play racquet sports for the last couple of months which I enjoyed and even beat a few teachers at, but apart from racquet stuff and swimming I’m useless at sport) when for no particularly good reason we were run
ning up and down a field doing forward rolls. The grass had just been cut and it didn’t take long for me to collapse and start drowning on dry land.


¤ Be Aggressive

If you have bad hay fever you need medicine for it. If you can cope without the medicine, you don’t have bad hay fever. There are two main forms of medication.

1) Anti-histamines: Prevention rather than cure. These are generally in tablet form and inhibit the bodies production of histamines. Strong histamines can amplify the effects of alcohol so you may want to be careful.

2) Steroids: Cure rather than prevention. Steroids reduce the swelling caused by the histamines. Serious sufferers can take one of each form of medicine, although it would be worth checking with a pharmacist before you start.

More extreme/rare forms of treatment can include homeopathic hay fever treatments (Useless if you suffer badly), tolerance building exposure to pollen (Hello… I live by a forest, I get enough pollen thank you) and finally there is the injection in the arse method (Which I’ve been refused having, so can’t comment on). I also take a decongestant from time to time all year round, including hay fever season which is a great help.


¤ Peace Keeping

Pollen counts are pretty useless I’ve found, maybe it’s because of the area I live in (farms, fields and a forest mainly) but how bad I am doesn’t seem to match the pollen count.

Try and figure out what types of pollen get you going the most, my top three are Oil Seed Rape, Pine (Yes it is mainly a pine forest :( ) and grass. Once you know what sets you off you can do your best to avoid it.

Also remember that it’s an allergy, not an illness – remove the allergen and you should recover quite fast. Take regular showers and particularly wash your face. Pollen can easily stick to you, especially if you’ve been getting swe
aty.

Avoid exercising during bad hay fever periods, exercising means you’ll take in more pollen as well as get sweaty so more sticks to you.

Avoid secondary allergies, most people have a slight intolerance of peanuts for example, so avoid those during bad periods.

Don’t go outside if it’s really bad!

Try different medication – it took me years to find a combination that was very effective for me.

Avoid stress where possible, as that doesn’t help – although bad hay fever and maths A Levels seemed to match up for me at the end of college.


¤ Positive Aspects

Don’t let it rule your life, there are things you can do other than moping around inside.

 Learn stuff: I know my way around a computer, piano and guitar pretty well as a result of being stuck inside. All three of which I enjoy doing.
 Enjoy stuff: Do things you like, if I get it bad on a Sunday I tend to cook up a curry, pour a beer and watch some motorsport to take my mind off it – it does help!
 Write stuff: Write lots of opinions, make your hay fever pay it’s keep (Guilty!)


Well I think that’s about it, if you still have any questions do leave a comment – I’ve experienced pretty much everything hay fever has to throw at me so I should hopefully be able to answer you.

More detailed reviews of specific medicine coming later if I can get them added.

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