posted by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
emperor at 04:03pm on 20/08/2008
emperor at 04:03pm on 20/08/2008I seem to have developed hayfever over the last few years. I first started taking loratadine (a non-sedating antihistamine) in 2003, when living in Girton. This is rather annoying, as typically hayfever declines during ones 20s!
This year seems to be particularly bad. I've been taking the loratadine for what must be pushing a couple of months, and it's working less well (notwithstanding the time I got a cold on top of it, which really wasn't fun). I'm pretty sneezy for the hour or so after getting up, and have a good sneeze when I get home, too, and my nose runs a bit during the day. It seems to be making me wheezy when I exercise, too, which is not good. If I stop taking the loratadine, things are much worse - I have to stop 4 or 5 times on the way to work, for example.
I don't know what I'm allergic too, which doesn't help with management. I can say with some certainty that Nefyn doesn't have any of it (I didn't need the antihistamine at the weekend); I'm not sure if the bad patch I have each morning is just due to phlegm and suchlike building up overnight, or that there's something in or near home that I'm allergic too. It doesn't seem to get better or worse on wet or dry days, either.
AIUI, the NHS won't want to investigate unless it goes on for a year, or causes more serious breathing problems (or if loratadine stops keeping things at least plausibly under control). It's a bit annoying.
This year seems to be particularly bad. I've been taking the loratadine for what must be pushing a couple of months, and it's working less well (notwithstanding the time I got a cold on top of it, which really wasn't fun). I'm pretty sneezy for the hour or so after getting up, and have a good sneeze when I get home, too, and my nose runs a bit during the day. It seems to be making me wheezy when I exercise, too, which is not good. If I stop taking the loratadine, things are much worse - I have to stop 4 or 5 times on the way to work, for example.
I don't know what I'm allergic too, which doesn't help with management. I can say with some certainty that Nefyn doesn't have any of it (I didn't need the antihistamine at the weekend); I'm not sure if the bad patch I have each morning is just due to phlegm and suchlike building up overnight, or that there's something in or near home that I'm allergic too. It doesn't seem to get better or worse on wet or dry days, either.
AIUI, the NHS won't want to investigate unless it goes on for a year, or causes more serious breathing problems (or if loratadine stops keeping things at least plausibly under control). It's a bit annoying.
(no subject)
I've had mild asthma since childhood; however, it declined in my teens and now I very rarely have to take an inhaler (on average, just once a month or so!) I also get a mild spell of hayfever usually throughout June, but it's not normally bad enough to warrant taking antihistamines. (When I do, I take ceterizine hydrowotsit.)
However, the last few weeks, I've been very wheezy, phlegmy and sneezy through the night and - exactly like you - the hour after waking up. (I ended up getting up early just to get out of bed.)
I took antihistamines in the night, which helped a little but didn't abate it, so I assumed it was a cold. (You know the feeling when you try to stop your body from responding to a cold - it's not pleasant at all.) But it didn't really go away. Then I noticed I was better when I stayed away from home, so I stripped the bed, let it all air, gave the bedroom a good dust and hoover. That improved things, but it still wasn't ideal.
Last weekend, we went away to a nice hotel, and I had no problems at all. I've also been OK since I got back. Fingers crossed...
My theory is the warm, damp weather encouraged dust mites or similar to breed. Now it's cooled down a bit, and the house was empty for a while, I think they've died off. You might want to give your bedroom a really good airing and see if you have similar success.
(no subject)
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I never had it as a child, and then got it in my 20s. I have a middle-aged friend who got over it in her 20s and has started getting it again recently.
My (very speculative) guess is that the prevailing type of pollen changes in roughly 20-year cycles, and people are allergic to one kind but not another, so they see changes in their hayfever-sufferer status in roughly 20-year cycles.
Give it another decade and a half, and you and I will be fine again :/
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Maybe it's more specific than I thought: maybe the pollen got objectively worse in about 2002, and previously got objectively better in about 1980. Maybe the received wisdom that "hay fever declines in your 20s" comes from older people, who were in their 20s in about 1980.
(no subject)
When I find I do need an antihistamine (such as when they are taking in the oil seed rape nearby) for a week or two, I find taking it at bedtime works best.
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If you are getting noticably out of breath when you exercise, then it's time to see the GP anyway.
AIUI, the NHS won't want to investigate unless it goes on for a year, or causes more serious breathing problems
On the plus side, at least they will now investigate it just for hayfever. It's well worth pursuing it, but be prepared to be persistent.
Fexofenadine
Re: Fexofenadine
So go see a nurse then and they'll give you a prescription. I'd say it was pretty sure you won't be able to get it investigated if you won't even go to see someone about it :-).
It seems to be making me wheezy when I exercise, too, which is not good. If I stop taking the loratadine, things are much worse - I have to stop 4 or 5 times on the way to work, for example.
Just tell them that if you're worried about going in saying "Woe is me, for I am sneezing". Untreated lung problems are a very bad idea.
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It's at worst harmless, and at best makes the nasal mucosa less dry, irritated and encrusted. This makes it a useful counter to air-conditioning woes. It won't do anything to counter bronchial/laryngeal (asthma) problems, but may give your system a fighting chance of getting on top of the nasal (hayfever) issues ...
Ignore the borderline homeopathic/anthroposophic baggage it's sometimes lumbered with.
(no subject)
I don't have bad hayfever, but I've noticed that this late summer has been rather bad.
Me, hayfever kicked in big style early 40s, after asthma in late 30s, after massive allergic reaction to an anti-bacterial agent or adhesive. Before that, I had a dribbly nose when in the presence of gorse flowering. So I move to the largest lowland heath in Europe, natch!
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Anyway, since I came to Norway I haven't had anything, except for the very occasional light crisis. But when I visited Portugal and Ireland earlier on, I had it very very badly, so I'd say this is a bad year for that type of thing, as other people I knew also complained about it.
If you think you are allergic to dust-mites, there is a spray to kill them off your mattress (although you get nowhere to sleep for a few nights...) When I was a child, we were told the sun killed them off to, so my mother was to air my mattress every week, making sure I was well away from the house when she did so.
(no subject)
I got hayfever for the first time when I was 33. I've since traced it to (I think) the first major planting of Rapeseed in the vicinity. Since then, I've got used to it, so there is hope! (My family find Beconase spray very good.
(no subject)
Even I've been getting itchy eyes and stuff, and I officially have only had hayfever one year (the summer I took my A levels, so 1996). I think maybe the humidity is making everything worse this summer? Or lack of breeze, generally.
(FWIW, I also developed my kiwi fruit allergy over the last 3-4 years.)
Possibly getting an inhaler would be a good thing for you. I might also suggest it to one or both of my boys, actually...
Also, *hugs*.