h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It's that time of year again, there's been quite a high wind in the NWest UK & my eyes are streaming & I'm sneezing like the baby in Alice in Wonderland. Has any one any pet remedies for the symptoms? Desensitisation has never worked

I wear reflective, dark glasses even if I'm pegging washing out and use a herbal decongestant but still sometimes have to resort to taking medicinal drugs just so I can function. It gets very expensive

I admitted this weekend that the hayfever season was upon us and have started downing anti-histamines. Working for me so far.I don't have so much trouble with my eyes when I'm wearing contact lenses. Other than that I've not found anything herbal or otherwise non-medicinal that does any good at all I'm afraid
(offers hanky for sneezes and cold damp flannel for itchy swollen eyes)

Thanks Metal Chicken . Every year I think 'Surely I've grown out of it by now' but every year it's the same thing. I think I'll buy shares in a paper tissue company along with a drug company

*accepts hanky & flannel gratefully*

Have you ever tried typing with a cold wet flannel on your eyes?

My husband started using Beconase nasal spray last year and found it was the best thing so far. Its available over the counter at Chemists.

It is fantastic stuff. Thing to note is that it does take a few days to start working properly. Boots have an own brand version which is the same stuff and slightly cheaper.

The most effective way to use the spray is to kneel down, put your forhead on the floor and then spray, holding the postion for a minute or so. This is because the membranes that allow most effective absorption of the spray are on the upper surfaces of the nostrils.

However this might not be so easy if you have forgotten to have a 'squirt' until you get on a crowded comuter train!

Might try it if I thought I could breathe well enough while applying the spay. Sometimes it's hard enough with a bunged up nose.

If I tried to do that, I'd suffocate When I've used nasal sprays before, I've usually lay on the bed, on my back, with my head overhanging the side, praying one of the s don't decide to jump .

I'll to the chemist tomorrow & try this one

Oh dear, I fully sympathise with you
I am so glad I seem to have grown out of it!
The best remedy I know is going to the seaside, especially with wind from sea. It keeps the pollen away.

Even one day of sneezing and tears is too much!

The look my husband gave me when I told him the best way to apply the spray, spoke volumes! However, when I was nursing we conducted trials on the spray and it did work sooner administered in this way.

H says he would rather start using the spray sooner than adopt positions. As I'm not a sufferer, I'm not the one to criticise.

His hayfever has only developed in the last few years and is the only one in his family to have it. Oddly enough it was soon after meeting me that he started getting hayfever every summer

It is better at the seaside too, all that ozone clearing your sinuses. Wonderful.

clarytyn sort of works for me, nothing else touches it, and some remidies i find i am allergic too.

MaW has some 'natural' thing that works for him but it made my mouth itch.
FABT

I use both Clarityn and Beconase. They are pretty effective in combination.

I've had pretty much everything going in the past including the steroid jab, a variety of anti-histamines and homeopathic remedies. The most effective was the jab, but the side effects for long term use put me off using it again.

I never believed you could 'grow out' of hayfever, until I did - at about 50! Used to suffer badly from age 9 or thereabouts, now hardly a sneeze

Sir John, there's hope for me yet, I'll let you know in a few years

GW - still sniffing & sneezing & wearing dark glasses, but not quite as bad

I moved from South East England to Southern California and that seemed to do the trick. Never had a even a slight twitch since.

I know it's a bit extreme but I know how desperate some people get

Ste

Bit too far to commute that

Maybe, but you'd get a nice tan along the way...

Another desparate measure is trying a rain-dance.

When I still was troubled with it, I always hoped for rain, most of the summer. Usually I got it, and I still don't know what's really worse: hayfever or a rainy summer

I use Clarityn pills and Rhinocort Aqua nose spray - but I've been told that Clarityn doesn't work for everyone - and some get very tired while taking it...

...it's been extremely dry for the last month - the perfect weather would be like the one I experienced when biking (on bicycle) on Sweden's biggest island Gotland for 2 weeks - it rained every single night except 2 - nice and fresh air every morning...

Try drinking nettle tea.