Hayfever

[ambuletz]

past few days have been ok for me. used the weaker loraltadine, not been drowsy at all and had next to no symptoms. probabbly just weather related.

[Halb]

maxdb said:

I find air conditioning helps along with washing your face/hands frequently...

Reading that, I just had one of those moments, when one remembers something from long ago, and things make sense.
I remember I had a mania for washing my hands. As an older person I looked back on it as perhaps some sort of OCD mania, but now putting things together, I think it was me enjoying best method for limiting hayfever outbursts as I live in the grasslands and I suffered mightily as a child, mightily

[Escapegoat]

It's definitely the airborne pollen that does me in.

I was in a clinic at Addenbrooke's Hospital today, and it has AC with what must be exceptional filtering: within 5 minutes of arriving, nose has dried up, eyes are fine and that dull headache that makes me constantly grouchy are all gone. (This was just as well, because I didn't want a 10-sneeze attack happening at the wrong moment.)

[Nickbrapp]

I’ve suffered since I was a child at even the slightest hint of pollen.

Cracked it now, 1 certizine, 1 spray in each nostril of beconaize, then put a thin film of Vaseline around the inside of each nostril.

I work outside all day and always taken certrizine but since using the vasaline I haven’t sneezed once!

The only thing it doesn’t help is the itchy tear ducts

[anxious_ant]

I've always seem to manage fine with the grass pollen but this year it's relentless.
I did think about taking antihistamine but as I commute 3 hours a day I don't think that's a good idea.

[The Ferret]

ambuletz said:

past few days have been ok for me. used the weaker loraltadine, not been drowsy at all and had next to no symptoms. probabbly just weather related.

Strangely enough, mine has been fine since Sunday as well. Pollen count is said to be at record levels yet barely a sneeze yesterday.

Either the combo of tablets I'm taking is finally doing the trick, or something in the weather is suppressing it temporarily. It's always better during the week as I'm inside the office as opposed to out with the family, but it's never normally this calm.

[jimPH]

So the oil seed rape should be past the flowing stage now and everyone is feeling better. No coincidence.

[mangos]

I’ve never suffered before. It hit me with full force early June and this last few days are horrendous.

Im taking antihistamines which seem to kick in a little while after I take them but wear off by around 7pm and then i can’t get to sleep because of the sneezing and sore itchy eyes and throat.

I’ve started looking into other remedies like local raw honey but apparently you need to be taking it way before pollen season to have any chance of it working.

[Halb]

yes, you need to build an immunity.

[tr7v8]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

A few of us recommended & use them. Worth shopping around sometime Wilkinsons is cheapest other times they have no stock. Supadrug & Boots worth doing a comparison on. One had them on buy one get one half price the other week. I normally grab quite a few boxes as me & the missus are on it at the mo!

[toastybase]

Being a farmer, hayfever has been a big problem since a child.

I use loratadine everyday, door shut on the tractor, bandana over the mouth and Radio 4 on full blast for 18hrs a day.

[wjwren]

^ Do modern tractors have AC?

[feef]

I've been through all the tablets and had settled on using Beconase or an equivalent generic as the only effective solution.

I developed hay-fever in my 20's and was asthmatic as a child. As my asthma improved, my hay-fever got worse. I'm not completely asthma free now, at 44, but it's far better than when I was a kid.

However, one interesting thing I've noticed this year is that while everyone else's hay-fever symptoms have been markedly worse, mine have been slightly better than I expected, as has my asthma.

The only notable change in my own circumstances is a change in diet as I've been attempting to follow a low-carb, high-fat diet. One of the things that a low-carb diet helps with is the reduction of inflammation related ailments, and I've found some evidence to support the notion that LCHF may have some beneficial effects for others with respiratory problems.

[The_Doc]

wjwren said:

^ Do modern tractors have AC?

yup

https://farm.autotrader.co.uk/search/advert/new-ho...

and

https://farm.autotrader.co.uk/search/advert/john-d...

Sat nav and very complicated harvesting computers, Loads of audio equipment, shotgun mounting holster etc etc

At £300k, many farmers rent them in for harvest

[Derek Smith]

ch108 said:

Escapegoat said:

ch108 said:

Grass pollen is my main enemy I can't go near freshly cut grass, or grass being mowed, I have to get my dad to do mine, whilst I hide inside, or sometimes he does it when I'm at work.

This bit I just don't understand - there's no pollen in your garden's grass unless the grass you are cutting is flowering = too long to mow. Surely? The grass smell (which I presume is sap/oils released into the air by the cutting of the grass stems is not pollen).

I mowed the lawn today with no increase in symptoms. (But being out in the garden to cut the lawn obviously puts you out in the pollen fog from elsewhere.)

Meanwhile, the OH delights in the fact that it's just plant bukkake! :-/

Well whatever it is, it doesn't like me! All I can tell you from my own experience since I was a kid, being near grass being cut has always brought out the worst of my symptoms.

Out of curiousity I've looked up the internet on the subject of whether it is wise for hayfever sufferers to mow the lawn. This was on the avogel website. https://www.avogel.co.uk/health/hayfever/grass-pol... relevant paragraph below.

"Get someone else to mow the lawn: If you’re allergic to grass pollen, then the last thing you should be doing is cutting the grass, spreading pollen here, there and everywhere. If lawn really must be mown, then find a willing victim to do it for you or consider wearing a protective mask to keep pollen away from your eyes, mouth and nose".

I suppose hayfever can affect people in very different ways, with different sensitivity levels.

Cutting grass, being near cut grass, being near someone who has just cut grass, gets to me. My neck glands swell, my nose blocks and I experience breathing problems. At one time it got so bad that I had to sit down, but things have improved a bit over recent years. I still get the neck/nose/breathing problems. My doctor was up to the challenge. Told to to avoid . . . you've guessed it.

I was told it could be the chemicals cut/damaged grass gives off or the dust, which includes pollen, that is thrown up during the process that gets to me. Or, wait for it, a bit of both.

I've paved my back garden, and the front come to that. However, there's a wide verge outside my house which the council attack with a vengeance every now and again. By the time I walk in from the car, parked on my front drive, I'm sneezing.

[Jonnny]

My hayfever seems the worst its been in years, think it's maybe because it's been so dry.. I can't remember when it last properly rained here in Surrey, the grass is yellow, the plants need pretty much daily watering, and the air seems quite dusty.

[toastybase]

wjwren said:

^ Do modern tractors have AC?

They do, not mine until I upgrade in the new year unfortunately

[JohnStitch]

I’ve had bad hay fever for as long as I can remember and have tried pretty much everything over the years - Recently my missus found out she was allergic to our dog and was prescribed AVAMYS nasal spray, so on Friday having run out of tablets I thought I’d give it a go and I’ve not had any symptoms since! Got myself a prescription for it today so fingers crossed my summers are gonna be better from now on! Haven’t felt so clear in ages

[carinatauk]

Used to suffer really bad in my teens, then early twenties only on the odd occasion. This year it has come back with a vengeance!! Sitting here trying to type through streaming eyes, but after walking the dogs.

Tablets and Beconase have been taken but are little effect this week

It is a hard year for sufferers, that's for sure

[Slushbox]

I got one of these for free, so thought 'what the hell.' It knocks the symptoms dead in minutes. A bit like getting into the car with the A/C , though it doesn't blow cold air..

Mine has a carbon filter which this newer model doesn't, but you can add a cut down carbon filter to it. Hugely effective (for me). I live in a rural area so summers are pretty horrible. I run it on fast for a couple of hours and then leave it on tick-over.

Local hospital has them in the asthma ward. There's also a couple of larger Homedics models for bigger rooms.

https://www.homedics.co.uk/home-wellness.html

I also have a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter.

Carbon filter roll:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conditioner-Activated-Pur...

Air cleaner:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006ZKXIXK/ref=psdc_31...

Edited by Slushbox on Thursday 12th July 10:52