Anyone on any magical prescription hay fever drugs?

I’m at the time of year where I’m pulling what can only be described as yellow silly string out of my eyes every ten mins. My right eyeball is that swollen that it’s gone all soft and if I touch it you can see it crease. Tired of the Drs prescribing me stuff I can get over the counter for £3 so I’d like to go in with an idea of what I should ask for.

Currently on tabs, drops and nasal but it doesn’t touch it. On a 1-10 I’m a 12

Try Nytol

It’s just a super strong anti histamine albeit one that makes you drowsy

Friend of mine swears by double espressos- as many as you can drink

Get your doctor to refer you to the allergy clinic, I did. It was a bit of a fight but after a year I was prescribed Staloral, a liquid desensitising drug that I started in Feb and took until September that course lasted 3 years. It was brilliant while I was on it but the first year off it was horrendous. They then put me onto Grazax which you take every day for 3 years. Again brilliant whilst on it. This is the first year off it and although I’m not cured so far I’ve been pretty good. Both drugs cleared all the symptoms while I took them but I still had to and still use eyedrops.
Honestly if you’re that bad get referred you don’t have to suffer like that. Good luck.

Beer 😀

I found that cold drinks work very well at reducing the immediate symptoms, probably to do with cooling the sinuses from the inside and reducing inflammation. Experimentation also leads me to conclude that carbonated drinks seem to have a slightly better effect than still drinks.

The obvious problem is that it’s hard to drink any sort of quantity of cold drinks, over a long time period, with the exception of one particular kind…

May not sit well with employers and family though 😐

You may also struggle to get it on prescription.

I have the same thing…been like this for a few years now (about this time of year) and I don’t have anything atall that goes near it. People here seem to have never heard of anything like it either which doesn’t help..

Watching with interest…

find out what you are allergic to and then move to somewhere it isn’t

^^ great post, really helpful.

Try honey from a local beekeeper not tescos but a local guy it can work for some

I’ve had serious issued with hayfever for as long as i can remember. Even included being in steroids for a large part of my ‘teens’.

However, I now take a version of Telfast 120, which contains the drug Fexofenadine, 120mg per tablet – And I would absolutely swear by it.
It is prescription only, but if you travel abroad (EU) its not prescription. I currently pay around £1.20 for 20 tablets, and take them from February ish on wards to build up some form of defense.

Not a snotty nose, or itchy eye in sight!

Cheers

Have you tried saying to the doctor “none of the over the counter equivalents work.What do you suggest based on the symptoms I tell you..?”

I’m sure they can discuss options including nasal sprays, meds, or referral if needed (depending on local policies)…

DrP

Red light therapy? My mrs tried it with some success. I can’t find much scientific back up, but there’s anecdotal evidence to suggest it can help, it may just be a placebo. The Lloyd’s pharmacy box is pretty cheap so could be with a try.

I’ll second Fexofenadine – nothing else even touches my hayfever – officially they can only prescribe 120mg for allergies but I’ve had to up it to 180mg this year it’s that bad. I’m also on the steroid nasal spray as well and still have a few symptoms but it’s holding it at bay (just). Doctors can prescribe a couple of months’ supply in one hit which makes it cheaper than OTC stuff.

I’ve found that cetirizine (sp?) has no effect for me, but Loratadine really helps.
As above I’m on Loratadine and nasal spray (Beclometasone) from the start of March to build up a resistance for pollen high season.
I still get blisters on my skin after mowing the lawn (from contact, not from airborn), but all told my symptoms are held in check.
Also helps to wash your face regularly, and you may need to dry bed linen and clothes inside where they are less likely to trap pollen.
Local honey can’t hurt, but bee pollen tablets are supposed to work.
There was an african tree bark remedy that is supposed to help a great many people, but you can’t get it in the UK (May be a hoax!! 😛 )

Good luck.

Lots of good advice ^^^

You already have a nasal spray (Flixonase?) but probably aren’t using it correctly (because the doc didn’t tell you). It needs to be used for a couple of months BEFORE the hayfever season, to reduce your sensitivity to pollen.

A low dose of steroid (prednisolone) might help right now.

For next year, get yourself some single-use contact lenses to protect your eyes. It’s like wrapping your eyeballs in clingfilm – absolute bliss!

Honestly mate, I’ve tried the lot, more desperate attempts included homeopathy which obviously didn’t work. Be careful even with over the counter drugs, I took Loratadine for 5 days which resulted in me taking a ride in an ambulance and a 3 day stay in hospital while they tried to get my heartbeat down from 200bpm! Cardioversion.
If you’re symptoms are that bad, no amount of honey or over the counter drugs are going to shift it. Do as DrP suggests and I did get to the docs and get referred. The sooner you start the process the better.
Good luck.

Honey.
This year I finally got my arse into gear and started taking local honey (from every hive I could find within a 15m ish radius). Started in February, 2xtsp per day, every day. My hayfever this year has been less than the past ten years. Though this could just all be coincidence, I’m stock piling honey from this year, and going to be doing it again next year for sure.

Exercise.
One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that exercise seems to help, at least in the short term. My theory is that the exercise induced adrenalin in some way counter acts the symptoms. I find about 30 mins exercise has an effect for about 3 hours, so find morning, lunch and early eve bout gives good all day effect. Sometimes it’s only just noticeable, other times it completely clears the symptoms.

Just my observations.

Thanks all. For the past 3 years all they’ve prescribed is cetirizine, sodium cromoglicate and whatever was in the nasal spray. And predisnolone for when it gets on my chest. All of which are non prescription. So I’ll try asking about the fexofenadine and other suggestions. 20 mins late for work today as woke up with eyes glued shut and the right ones basically swollen shut. Always the right. Kids at work think I’ve been in a fight

Brain cell reduction is all one will ultimately achieve via antihistamine consumption – I’ve suffered with really bad hayfever since a child – the best defense is nutritional awareness and boosting one’s general immune system and taking practical steps to avoid outdoors when pollen count is high – although that’s not something I bother with – I just take it on the chin – it’s only a personal theory of mine – but I feel after years of really bad hayfever attacks my body has built up some resistance – incrementally – summer by summer the symptoms are diminishing .. I also believe in homeopathic remedies as part of a holistic approach ..

I live in Sherwood Forest, avoidance is futile

the best defense is nutritional awareness and boosting one’s general immune system

Given that an allergic reaction is a hypersensitivity of one’s immune system I’m not sure that “boosting” it is a particularly good way of combating hayfever.

I use Loratadine and on really bad days top it up with a raw white onion (extra dose of another antihistamine).

Gonefishin – they also mentioned “I also believe in homeopathic remedies as part of a holistic approach ..” too. Don’t forget that… 😉

DrP

(caveat, of course I would always encourage a healthy lifestyle with avoidance of certain factors (high pollen days, pet dander, homeopathy..) and triggers to reduce allergy, and there i likely some dietary links too…)

Is your hayfever worse in wet weather? People expect it to reduce, with the rain washing the pollen out of the air, and lowering the pollen count.

However, the pollen grains absorb water and burst, releasing the offending molecule, so your symptoms may get worse in the rain.
(As explained by my consultant immunologist)

Gonefishin – they also mentioned “I also believe in homeopathic remedies as part of a holistic approach ..” too. Don’t forget that…

Yeah I did notice that but sometimes you just think “life’s too short”. See also the honey recommendation; it’s made from nectar not pollen and has only trace amounts of pollen from flowers. Probably not much cop if you are allergic to say tree of grass pollen!

I use 180mg Fexofenadine tablets. The over the counter medicines don’t alleviate my symptoms any more, but Fexofenadine works brilliantly.

Until you get the meds sorted close fitting sunglasses to keep it out of your eyes and then two big blobs of vaseline, one in each nostril. It wont look pretty but then i guess you might be past caring if its as bad as you say.

Dont forget to wash your hair regularly too as after being outside it will be full of pollen.

this is all new to me as i have only been a hay fever suffer for 2 years (since i moved to a flat surrounded by trees) currently on some borrowed citirazine that my mum has for the oilseed rape that often surrounds home.
what i dont like is the woozy slightly drunk feeling* but it sounds like I get off lightly compared to some of the symptoms posted above.

*no it’s not the meds as i get it when not taking them.

Mizolastine tablets here…..seemingly not too common. My doctor prescribed them several years ago, and coupled with a nasal spray, really help me keep on top of things. Different things work for different people I guess…..I was on the 180 gram Telfast tablets and they did absolutely nothing!

GoneFishin, I’m not promising local honey would work. Just giving my experience. I’m not even saying it works for me, as I say could all be coincidence.

But local honey should be included in the homeopathic group. Like you say there are trace amounts of flower pollen. There is also good evidence that honey contains traces of all pollens local to the hive. The bees may not routinely visit particular plants, ie grasses, but the pollen is in the air, gets stuck to the bees/nectar, and arrives in the hive. Again in trace but measurable quantities.

Its relatively cheap, few side effects and tastes nice. Could be worth a try.

I had Mizollen (Mizolastin), apparently it’s a last resort kind of med. The hay fever was about permanent: it had been getting worse for about 50 years. It was no longer just about pollen, skin contact with planty things also set off a reaction.

But then I found I was also allergic to something in my diet, which was a near-constant trigger. Eliminating this turned the HF back to being seasonal, weather-related, and controllable by Beconase and Cetirizine.

Acrivastine (benadryl relief) really works for me, whilst all the other OTC drugs made bugger all difference. No generic available so it’s a bit pricey, but not absurd.

180mg fexofenadine hydrochloride and nasonex nasal spray daily, then if it’s really bad I take sinutab or sudafed, for the eyes it’s opticrom eye drops

OP needs to go to the Dr but as someone who suffers a little bit I find sunglasses help.

Also for a bit of light at the end of the tunnel, I don’t suffer as much as I used to. (touch wood!)

When I was serving in the RAF I used to get a Kenalog injection once a year and never suffered problems with my hayfever. It’s an’off-label’ use which means NHS doctors are unlikely to prescribe it (I had to go through all manner of hoops to get the RAF doctors to) so you may have to look around at private options.

There are reported side-effects but I never experienced any that I know of.

^^ me too (not the RAF, I hasten to add, I am far too common for that bunch). Gave me the injection every year. It was a big needle in the arse. Mind you these were RN commando doctors, so it’s probably possible to administer it in the arm!

Royal Navy Doctors? You’re lucky it was only a needle you got in the arse!

😉

Probably not much cop if you are allergic to say tree of grass pollen!

You see that’s why you should go to the docs and get referred, they do a patch test at the hospital, turns out I’m allergic to grass pollen, fungus spores and cats!

Op – I could have written your post word for word… in fact historically I probably have written a couple of hayfever threads on hear over the years…

Got it really bad when I was 16 and 29 now… the eye junk.. yep! that gets old quick doesn’t it! I made the mistake of driving home on a bad hayfever day and touched my eye and it shut up in minutes… then stupidly in the hell hole of frustration I somehow knocked my other eye and had to drive forcing 1 eye open for about 5 miles to my destination… urgh

Mine comes with super blocked sinuses, the top layer of my eyes feels like it separates.. almost a chlorine like feeling and you can push it so it ripples on top of your eye… then like you say you get the junk that feels like it pulls from behind your eye balls in big strings! woop.

All of it is so user specific but to echo some of the things..

Go to the GP get started on some more serious action! Once you’ve eliminated all other options I’m sure you’ll get the referrals ect.. if it’s effecting work / living ect which I know it will be then you need to get something sorted quick sharp!

Have a face cloth by the sink and every time you use the bathroom wipe your face and head… (very gently around the eyes..)

If its a terrible day… sunglasses on inside and vasaline around the eyes and eyebrows and up the nose.

Get that wet cloth on your neck too to calm you down a little.

If its nasal I find doing some exercise does help it go so if you can go for a run or give your road bike / mtb hell for 30 minutes do that and you may find your sinuses open up.

I use eye drops religiously and store them in the fridge.. same with nasal spray

Shut all your windows in the home… get the bedroom door shut – get changed outside the bedroom.. try to keep it as tidy as possible… ideally buy a portable aircon machine and filter

Even with all those steps you wont treat the route cause so you’re best keeping a diary of everything.. what you ate… what the weather was doing.. how hellish it was ect…

I weirdly moved to france 5 years ago and didn’t get hayfever in the mountains… on my last year there I just started getting it so I’m not sure if it was my immunity getting caught up too with pollen from another country?

Back in the same place now and it started a couple of weeks ago for me.. it’s been bad but on the scale you’re talking it’s only got to a 5/6.. no idea why… but things that I have changed are:

vit d spray 1x a day (you can get a vit d blood test in the post.. it’s cheap.. mine was very low and its thought to have other health benefits and strengthens bones so I’m giving it a go..)

lower amount of milk than I used to
lower amount of carbs than I used to
a little fitter than I probably was 5 years ago

I’m not sure if any of those ring true with you to make conclusions but I’d give any of them a shot knowing how hellish it is!

I’ll be straight to the GP if mine comes back like it was prior

Apparently you can go in waves of sensitivity too.. so I may just be in one of those? or maybe the pollen isn’t flying the same this year in my area? who knows…

Good luck with it!

Oh and those eye ice pack goggle things help a little at night and you can get a gel pack for under your pillow to cool you down… I found being cooler normally relaxed me more if it didn’t help the symptoms.