Here we go again with the sneezing... (Hayfever)

Member Name: mynameisrui

Product:	Hayfever
Date:	21/05/08 (1629 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheap, relieves hayfever symptoms

Disadvantages: None really

The joys of summer; BBQ's, sitting in the park, playing sports, sunbathing and pub gardens! The enjoyment of these is greatly reduced if you have hayfever though. Unfortunately I have been a hayfever sufferer all my life and as the summer approaches I cant help but sigh at the thought of another summer full of runny noses, itchy eyes and enough sneezes to knock you out for a couple of weeks. There is a remedy that helps though (Hurah I hear you say) and I'll come onto that in a minute. Before that, here comes the science bit!

What is Hayfever?

Hayfever is basically just an allergy. The unfortunate thing though is that it is an allergy to pollen. Its actual name is allergic rhinitis but the name hayfever came about as it is worse during the haying season. Personally I find that my hayfever starts to play up in around May and tends to subside in July but I know people who suffer for the whole summer so I count myself as lucky.

Hayfever happens essentially because your body thinks that harmful allergens are entering your body and combats this by producing histamine which is what causes all the symptoms of hayfever.

Not everyone knows but there are different types of hayfever. Boffins reckon that about 90% of hayfever sufferers are allergic to grass but the other 10% of people are allergic to either birch pollen or weeds and other plants. Grass pollen is the only one that runs through the whole summer though whereas the other two are more applicable either before or after the summer.

Symptoms

I'm sure most people already know but the main symptoms of hayfever are as follows:

* sneezing
* a blocked or runny nose
* itchy eyes,
* Sore throat
* headaches
* sleeping badly
* Itchy roof of mouth
The main ones that get me are sneezing / runny nose and the itchy eyes. When I was a bit younger I got hayfever really bad and at one point rubbed my eye so much (I know I shouldn't but sometimes you cant help it!) that I gave myself a black eye. Obviously these go hand in hand with having a bad nights sleep. I normally wake up numerous times during the night and have to blow my nose and even then it doesn't feel like its helping. I also tend to get a large build up of gunk on my eyes at times when my hayfever is worst. His only happens when I wake up in the morning. It gets so bad sometimes that I literally cant open my eyes and have to get up, stumble to the bathroom (hoping not to break my nose on something on the way) and wash my eyes. It is also worth mentioning that, with me, hayfever tends to cause asthma so it's a bit of a double shot in the summer!

What can you do about it?

Anyone who has ever paid any attention to the adverts on TV during the summer will be aware of the excessive amounts of adverts for allergy tablets. These are called antihistamine's. These basically try and stop your body producing histamine which, in turn, would mean that you don't get any of the symptoms. I have tried so many of these different ones (ranging from ones costing about 50p from Boots to prescription ones) and its all a bit hit and miss. It doesn't help that I tend to forget if the pill I took the previous summer was any good or what its even called sometimes.

The second thing is nasal spray. These can be bought over the counter and there are a few different types. You can get steroid ones which are anti inflammatory, decongestants clear your nose or antihistamines which do the same as the pill. I often found that the nasal spray did very little for me.

Another alternative is eye drops. These have only one use; to stop your eyes being itchy. These were a bit hit and miss with me but I found that the best way to avoid itchy eyes was just to wash my eye.

Another remedy I've heard about is to have some local honey on a daily basis. I have no idea how this works but apparently it works in the same way as the jabs you have when you're younger to prevent against serious illness.

The one thing I have found that really helps is a little gadget I bought from Lloyds Pharmacy about a month ago. It is called an "Allergy Reliever" and apparently uses laser therapy to suppress the release of histamine. It is this small electronic device which has a cord attached to it. At the end of the cord is two prongs which you need to put up your nose. These are small and you only need to put them as far as is comfortable for you. You then press a little button and the prongs light up red (thus making you look very stupid and very much like Rudolph!) and have to leave them in for three minutes at which point it turns off automatically. This needs to be repeated three times a day with about a 5 hour gap (I normally do it when I wake up, when I get home from work and before I go to bed). I used this for about a couple of weeks when it was hot weather and it seemed that it was working well. At one point when it was at its warmest I even sat in the garden for about 3 hours and barely felt any of the symptoms. I must admit though, I wasn't sure if it was the gadget or just my body. As the weather got worse and the rain came I thought that I wouldn't need it any more so pretty much stopped using it. Over the last few days the weather has got better (no where near like as hot as it was a couple of weeks ago) and already I'm sitting here with a pile of tissues and a nose that wont stop running. Over the last few nights my nose has been running and this morning I sneezed about 10 times in the space of about a minute! My conclusion is that the reliever did more than I thought!

So there it is, my recommendation as to what you should do for the summer. The allergy reliever cost me about £15 and you can also get an "air purifier" for £5 if bought with the reliever but I have that and I don't think it is worth it to be honest. There is also a more expensive one called Medinose which, apparently, does the same thing as the Lloyds one but cost about £60.

I hope this has helped anyone in the same boat as me and wish you a hayfever free summer!

Summary: Finally I can enjoy the summer