I saw some comments recently about hay fever and the medication some of you use but I can't find them now.


I have been putting my streaming eyes and runny nose from the last few months down to allergy to face-cream or make-up or something like that. I've never had hay fever before although I suspect I'm slightly allergic to dogs (I have four).

But it's been getting so bad that I asked the chemist for a hay fever treatment and she gave me a one-a-day thing. I do think I feel better and my eyes are not watering so much but yesterday I felt like I had been hit by a bus: headachy, wobbly knees etc.

Is this normal with antihistamines? Do any of you have side-effects from them? Do the side-effects go away?

How could I possibly have hay-fever when it's been raining for the last 28 days out of 30 !!!!

Commiserations, I have it every year...

The newfangled second-generation antihistamines simply don't work for me. I have to stick with the old-fashioned first-generation ones for which drowsiness is a side effect. I have learnt to just deal with it during the day and take antihistamines only at night if I need them (if the itching is so bad I can't sleep).

Allergies do seem to come and go; last year, I was very allergic to cherries (but I love cherries so I used to take an antihistamine if I wanted to eat loads). This year, barely so. My mum woke up one day allergic to eggs - badly enough that it gave her eczema - and then ten years later it went, just like that.

I get allergy symptoms all year round (dry blocked nose) and it's horrible! No one has ever been able to give me anything to offer any relief at all. Usually, it gets worse in the hayfever season (sneezing, itchy eyes etc.) but, touch wood, this year hasn't been too bad. All I've got at the moment is Beconase nasal spray, which I use when I remember. No idea if it does any good really!

I have had antihistamines in the past, but have never found them to be particularly effective.

There are several different types of antihistamines so if the one you tried made you feel yuck go back to the chemist and ask what else they could suggest, some may not work as well as others or at all for you. A lot of side-effects of any medication will go away or at least get a bit better after a while (I know that's vague but it's too variable between drugs and people to put a figure on) as it takes your body a bit of time to get used to the drug. If you're taking any other medication it may interact with that so check that with your doctor or the pharmacist too, it says on the bit of paper in the box if there are any conditions or medications which mean you shouldn't take it.

I'm only allergic to grass pollen : and tend to have a four-five week hayfever season around about now.

This year hasn't been too bad (though yesterday was dreadful and I suspect today will be too). I find nasal sprays help a little, but have yet to find anything totally effective, and am loath to use cures that will make me drowsy...

I use Clarityn every day in the summer which does seem to work for me, for low to moderate pollen days. High pollen days do still make me sneezy and make my eyes itch so I supplement with becanase nasal spray and opticrom eyedrops (or the own brand equivalent from Boots). They definitely work for me. I used to have all three prescribed by my GP but it generally works out cheaper now to buy them over the counter - especially if you take advantage of the summer offers.

I don't usually get any side effects from them.

Hope you manage to find something that works for you. Maybe worth a trip to your GP?

I am not a medic, but from what I understand, antihistamines and other allergy suppressants (such as steroidal nasal sprays) are usually best taken before exposure to allergens. So if you suffer from hay fever very year it is best to start the treatment at the start of the Hay Fever season, and not when you are already suffering.

I didn't suffer with Hay Fever until I was in my teens, and then suffered very badly until I was about 33 when it seemed to go away. I think a move 300 miles north around that time also helped as many of the local allergens will be different.

However, other family members suffer. Our son was given Claritin free of charge by the Chemist under the Care at the Chemist scheme, but these knocked him out. Piriton did he same so he tried Loratadine which seems to do the job without excessive drowsiness, (if you don't count the challenge of getting a teenager out of bed before 10.00 am).

So, I think the answer is that there are several classes of antihistamine, and whilst Claritin may be the current default choice of the NHS, it doesn't suit everybody, and others may well do the job with fewer side effects.

SB

Speak to a pharmacist for advice. There are different types of antihistamine. You will feel a bit odd for a day or two as they 'dry you up'. Modern ones are much better than the old-fashioned ones which used to knock me for six (benadryl????)

I go for the generic ones from the local pharmacist - much cheaper - 1.99 for a pack of 30 (citirizine hyrochloride). I use a Beconase nasal spray about 5.00 - the generic is no cheaper, and generic eyedrops for 1.99 (Opticrom is the branded one and they're about 5.00).

Because of the cool weather in May, the pollen of some trees and grass has exploded in the last couple of weeks all at once.

Last time I looked, loratadine and Clarityn were one and the same stuff. Annoyingly drug companies give their preparations special names which are not the same as the recognised names of the active ingredients - which means that the likes of myself ends up having to learn two lots of names - the generics and the proprietary, the latter being the one that everyone notices on the boxes.

There are two basic subsets, the earlier, which tend to make people drowsy - indeed some are used as premeds for operations - and the more modern, which are said to have less of an effect this way, but some folk still do get sleepy on them. All of them potentiate alcohol, but it does make me giggle when the advice on the paediatric preparations is not to drink alcohol or operate dangerous machinery whilst on them....

End of the bed observations from one physician's practice: loratadine/Clarityn seems to have longer action but take longer to build up in the bloodstream, cetirizine/Zirtek appears to give quicker relief but not hang around as well....but because we're all different, it's worth trying one if the other hasn't been effective. The newer Neo-clarityn (I've forgotten the generic name) and levo-cetirizine (I've forgotten the proprietary name ) are no more effective according to our local formulary police, and we're told very firmly not to prescribe them. There is one less sedating antihistamine which I use in exceptional circumstances, as it seems to be fairly powerful but needs three times daily dosing. The sedative ones are best for eczema associated with night time itch, but chlorphenamine/Piriton also seems to be the gold standard for allergy management generally, and is the one we tend to turn to when all else is not working - just a pity that it really does make people so drowsy.

I've been prescribed most of the Hay Fever treatments and never suffered any side effects. However, they don't seem to do a lot for the Hay Fever either. Same thing seems to happen whenever I am prescribed anything from doctors - injured my neck badly and was prescribed Codine which had alsorts of nasty side effects documented - suffered none (luckily) but it also didn't seem to do much for my neck either.

Do worry if I ever get properly ill as nothing really seems to work on me. Haven't a clue why - it's extremely rare I even so much as take a paracetamol so it certainly isn't some kind of over-exposure.

Home Bargains sell both loratadine and cetirizine (both non-sedative) for 79p for 14, that's the cheapest I've been able to find. How the Boots store across the road from it sells any of their own brand which are 4.49 for 14 I have no idea. They're manufactured by Galpharm who also make a decongestant nasal spray (oxymetazoline) which is cheaper than Beconase and also is the same active ingredient as in Vicks Sinex nasal spray. Wilkos often have good offers on these products, the easiest way to save money is to never buy any from Boots!

Thanks for all your replies It's really helpful.

I forgot to take the tablet this morning and I have been fine all day although it has been raining again so perhaps the pollen count is down.

I think I'll have a word with my GP. The tablet the chemist gave me (cetirizine) was only a few pounds but here in Scotland our prescriptions are free so to try something else I will take his advice.

I'm going to ask the GP for an allergy test - it's far worse when I'm at home all day (with the dogs) but when I go out for a few hours like I did this morning I fairly quickly start to feel better.

I don't care what the results are - I'm NEVER going to live without dogs!!!

I used to be very allergic to cats and I am not any more. Can't imagine life without mine now!

Anyone with hayfever has my sympathy - I suffer from March to September! At the moment in the morning and in the evening I look as if I'm crying, with tears rolling down my face non-stop. I've never suffered quite as badly with my eyes as I am this year.

I think this year has been particularly bad - certainly, quite a few people who haven't experience hayfever before have begun to have symptoms this year, and at work (a pharmacy) a lot of patients are saying they are finding it harder to deal with this year.

Definitely ask your GP if there are any alternatives, although I think anacrusis has it covered. I don't really find that any of them help that much, I would say the nasal spray I use has probably been the most effective for me but everyone is different.

I've noticed a gradual increase in the severity of hayfever symptoms presented to me in the surgery over the last three or four summers - though in part am wondering if that might be because the setup which allows pharmacists to prescribe remedies which are in any case available over the counter - and issue them for the same charge as a prescription (ie, in Scotland - no charge at all ) might have something to do with this - those who do try to self treat before coming to the GP will have been filtered out if their treatment has worked, leaving those whose symptoms don't get better to attend.

Don't use nasal decongestants - meaning the short acting ones containing the likes of xylometazoline - for too long, folks: they feel great to use because their effects are quick in onset, but longer term use tends to cause rebound congestion. Steroidy ones like beclomethasone, fluticasone and mometasone (generic names) or sodium cromoglycate which isn't a steroid but acts to dampen down jittery allergy-reacting cells in your airways, are both better bets. They don't work straight away, but used regularly will be more usefully effective.