Atishoo (Hayfever)

Member Name: katyboo123

Product:	Hayfever
Date:	02/11/09 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Everything!

Atishoo, my favourite word of half of spring, all of summer, the beginning of Autumn. Generally from March to October I suffer terrible hayfever. I am one of them unfortunate people, who not only have hayfever, but I have eczema and asthma too. All three tend to worsen each other, so when my hayfever is bad, I'm a wheezing walking rash. Its not pleasant. This is how I attempt to cope:

To tackle my hayfever, I use a nasal spray called Flixonase which is the brand name for the drug, Fluticasone. This is a Corticosteroid, and is used widely in the prevention and relief of allergic rhinitis, allergies inside the nose, inflammation of the inside of the nose all commonly caused by hayfever.

The spray does help greatly, according to my doctor (so don't quote me on this) pollen, pet fur, etc can cause the body to product histamine, the release of histamine causes the lining of the nose to become swollen and itchy, which leads to sneezing, as well as a sore and runny nose! Hence Antihistamines being named as such! So I use my nasal spray, coupled with Citirizine Antihistamines, I must say, despite using this concoction, I sometimes don't get enough relief and I often use alternative and complementary medicines too such as Haymax balms and Opticrom Eye Drops.

Haymax balms cost £6.80 each from places like Boots and they are effectively a barrier cream, you apply it under your nostrils and it is meant to stop the pollen getting up there. I wont say they are a miracle cure, but they certainly do help. And they last forever too, so it is a relatively cheap investment if it lasts you a full 8 month hayfever period! You can also use them as a more natural way to treat yourself against pet allergies in the winter months. So a year round balm costing about 50p a month. Fab! The Opticrom Eye Drops help when you have red itchy dry or runny eyes, mine do tend to go dry and red raw. So these drops are great for that. But, they cannot be used with contact lenses.

As I said initially, Hayfever worsens my Asthma, so I must keep both my Preventer and my Reliever with me at all times (currently Seratide and Ventolin). I also try to use a Spacer device when taking them, because inhaling deeply isnt great when there are allergens floating all around you. Plus, a spacer makes sure you get the full dose and none escapes out of the top of the inhaler or through your nose! Sometimes my Reliever use can double (or even triple at night) when my hayfever is at it's girzzly height, if this is the case for you, my top tip is to make sure you keep on top of your supply, putting in your repeat prescriptions in plenty of time to collect them before you run out. I quite often end up in hospital with my Asthma over summer - so you should also familiarise yourself, your friends and family, even your work colleagues, with what to do and how to cope during an attack.

Hayfever can just develop as you get older as can Asthma. As a long term sufferer like me, people might be reading this thinking, well that's obvious, I already do that, etc. However, I know a lot of people who have no idea what to do if they have an Asthma attack, and it can KILL you. So it's an important point to make, that you should get clued up on it. Can you imagine being out at a picnic in the park with your new partner, you start having an attack and they have no idea what to do. Your miles away from anywhere and you have no mobiles with you (highly unlikely I know these days). Anyway, you get my point, it is imperative!

To help me sleep I have a Radox Menthol and Eucalyptus bath, to clear my airways and then I place menthol crystals in the bedroom. I make sure I hoover my mattress once a week and turn it too, I also use anti-allergy bedding. I need to sleep with my window open for my asthma, which doesn't help my hayfever, so I make sure I position my bed away from the window, and sleep with Haymax balm under my nose when it gets unbearable. Citirizine are a drowsy antihistamine, so taking one a day normally knocks me out!

Finally my eczema, this worsens with my hayfever too and sometimes it does subside with the use of Antihistamines. However, sometimes I get a heat rash associated with my allergies, along with scabby red welts on my skin, it is incredibly itchy so I scratch, sometimes until I bleed, I have some quite bad scars from riving at my eczema when I was younger. In the first instance to cool the itching and burning I apply calamine lotion. And no I don't run around naked like we all did when we were children caked in the pink goo! I have a nice bath, apply calamine lotion to soothe me, and then I put on a pair of moisture gloves. Honestly these things work as Adult scratch mits, they are great! Then when I relax, my antihistamines kick in, the burning subsides, I assess what I think looks to be eczema (particular areas affected will be backs of my knees and insides of my elbows) then I apply a very thin layer of my steroid cream. Laying in a cold bath also helps me when I have very bad heat rash and eczema outbreaks.

I now have one of those Air Purifiers which is great, the lights are also quite soothing on nights when my whole body is itching, I'm sneezing, my eyes are burning and my chest is wheezing. As a child we used to have an Ebac Dehumidifyer, which used to really help me too.

These are just my tips on coping with all things hayfever, obviously you should ensure you seek a doctors advice if necessary.

Summary: Manageable? yeah with a little perserverance and a big medicine bag to carry around with you!