hayfever

[boobesque]

can you suddenly develop hayfever?

i have never had it before, but this year i seem to be suffering terribly and am getting conflicting advice about it!

[nicola_red]

Oh yes.  I never had any trace of it until age 19 when I suddenly started developing not just hayfever but general rhinitis. This has steadily got worse every year and peaked last year (I am 30 now) when I was so ill I had to take time off work with it.  It turns out my mum's followed the exact same pattern and is finally subsiding now she's in her early 50s - so only another 20 years to go! :-)

[barender]

Yes - you can develop an allergy at any stage of life. I suddenly got an allergy to metal at the age of 40! I now can't wear jewellery such as ear rings, neck chains etc, as it brings me out in a rash, which had never happened before (even if it's purist gold).

However, with regard to your hay fever, I've read that eating honey can be beneficial, especially if it's made locally to the area you live in and if your allergy is pollen orientated. Seems logical, as bees make honey from pollen, so it's supposed to assist in giving you some immunity. It won't cost a fortune and certainly won't make you drowsy as most medications do! Good luck!

[jake-the-peg]

I developed hayfever at about 18 too as well as an allegy to cats - sounds like a populra age to get it.

I used to take Triludan until it was taken off the market because you could get an increased risk of heart attacks with it if you drank 2 litres of grapefruit juice a day at the same time ( I ask you! ). I take Claritin now which does the job 

[boobesque]

thanks guys, one problem barender, i hate honey with a passion!!! oh well!

[boobesque]

2 litres of grapefruit juice, lol hmm, these people are crazy, i will try claritin, fingers crossed! thanks

[zipadeedodah]

I suddenly started getting hayfever one spring/summer when I was 15. My sister had always had it, then we just seemed to swap...she stopped, and I started!  It's been fairly bad in the 4 years I've had it, and take tablets, nose spray and eye drops presribed to me.  It's a bimmin pain in the derriere though!!

[Philtaz]

I had no problems as a child or early adulthood yet over the last 3 or 4 years I have developed hayfever, even though I'm 39!

Iused Clarityn which has now been upgraded to Neoclarityn, yet I've noticed no difference and still have itchy eyes, even if the sneezing subsides.

Tips to lessen the effect are to wear sunglasses in the 'wraparound' style(though I've never seen a trendy pair!) and wash your face in cold water regularly during the day to remove pollen from eye lashes etc.

[littleoldme]

There could be a different type of pollen in the air near where you live this year, as not all hayfever sufferers are allergic to the same types of pollen. In days of yore, doctors could do tests to find out exactly what you were allergic to, but I don't know if they still do this.

For example, I can sit among trees or flowers all day and not get so much as a sniffle, yet grass (especially if it's being/just been cut) sets me off a treat, and as for that damned oilseed rape - if I'm driving anywhere and I see a bright yellow field up ahead, I have to wind up all the windows, no matter how hot it is, otherwise I sneeze, my eyes and nose run like waterfalls and my face swells up like a balloon. This also means that people get it at different times of the year - some in April, some in September, for me it's about...AAAA-TCCHHOOO! Oh excuse me...now. *sniff*

For my type of hayfever, I find Benadryl works best, although Aller-eze Plus (it has to be Plus, cos of my sinuses) will do at a pinch.

As for developing hayfever late, I can't really comment - I've had it every year since I was 5 (I'm now 36).

[Solarjunkie]

There was a hay fever expert on the TV just last week whose 2 basic bits of advice were (a) smear a bit of petroleum jelly inside your nostrils to catch the pollen and (b) comb your hair and undress away from your bedroom, so you are not sleeping in an atmosphere contaminated with the pollen you have collected in your hair & clothes during the day.

Go and see a homeopath, all those of you who are suffering - the difference can be magical!

[Englishbird]

I'll get it one year and then not the next!

[FP]

Suffering badly this year for the first time in years.  The pharmacist told me loads of people are getting in this year for the first time.

[honkytonkman]

I started getting hayfever when I was about 12 or so and now I'm 35 it's totally cleared up. Which saves a bit of anti-histamine pills etc... Towards the end I found remedies that contained Cetrizine were excellent, and quite cheap compared to the things I used to take.

[fablilith]

i first had hayfever in 1990, when i was 34. i was on a train from london to eastbourne. we passed by lots of fields, many of which had oilseed rape growing, in full flower.

my eyes started to itch, and i began to sneeze uncotrollably. this was imediately followed by an unstoppable runny nose. it was literally like a tap had been turned on. all i had with me was 2 tissues and a paperback novel...

i went to my g.p., and he diagnosed hayfever. i couldn't believe it - i had never been bothered by any kind of pollen up until that train ride. i am convinced that i have, along with many other new sufferers of hayfever, an allergy to oilseed rape pollen. i can't stand the colour of it, and the smell is just disgusting, to the point of making me feel physically sick. i find beconase nasal spray and opticrom eye drops can help relieve the symptoms, but on a bad day, like today, i pretty much avoid being outdoors.