Nasal sprays/antihistamines all year?

[elmothebrave]

Hi all,

Just a question about nasal sprays etc. I take dymista now and am wondering how other people take their nasal sprays and antihistamines. Do you take it all year round, or just pollen season? If you stop, how do you know when to stop?

[twinkly29]

I think it depends on what they're taken for. Of it's a particular thing like tree and/or grass pollen then they might be taken from say March to August, or whenever a person's issues are. But if they're prescribed for say dust mites as well (or other non-seasonal allergies) then they'll be taken all year round.

Maybe contact your GP and ask if you're not sure for your situation?

[andy121]

Hi, I take my steroid nasal spray all year round. Im still taking antihistamines because of mould spores that come about in autumn I tend to have a break January and February then start again in March just before spring starts.

[Mariachristina76]

I take mine all year around

[lakelover]

I take antihistamines all year but nasal sprays on an as needed basis.

[risabel59]

I take Anti Histamines and Nasal sprays all year round, although I use Dymista nasal spray from April to October and Avamys/Flonase Nov - to March. But I think everyone is different, I guess it depends on your allergies. I sometimes get symptoms (itchy eyes, nose, throat, etc out of the blue).

[Hidden]

On an “as and when needed basis”. When to start is easy - when symptoms commence. When to stop is “as soon as possible” and is often dictated by the fact that every single nasal spray I have been put on has given me nose bleeds and/or sinusitis type headaches if I use them on a daily basis for too long. I’m currently on Dymista (since early June this year) and have just stopped taking that due to nose bleeds and headaches. I admit I would be interested to hear from anyone else who has experienced problems such as these, particularly if they found a solution.

I also find that using antihistamine eye drops actually causes irritation if I use them for too long (some will actually cause my eyes to swell up within three days of starting them). So being told by doctors “you need to take them regularly for a period to help build up the effect of the medication” really does not work for me. Does anyone else suffer from this?

[elmothebrave in reply to Hidden]

Yes that sounds so similar to me I get so many nose bleeds with the sprays! Drives me mad so trying to reduce but then symptoms it's a circle of annoyance. My doc just said I'll have to work out which is worse and live with it!

[Hidden in reply to elmothebrave]

Have you managed to identify what your main triggers are?

[elmothebrave in reply to Hidden]

Everything! 🤣I don't know really, they are doing an allergy blood test in the hospital so I'm hoping to find out soon. This year hay fever seemed horrendous way worse than usual. But I seem to react to all kinds of pollen. I don't think they've ever done a thorough enough investigation to find out.

How about you?

[Hidden in reply to elmothebrave]

They’ve been changing. Some things that didn’t used to affect me now do. I never used to have a problem with tree or grass pollen - now it seems I do (which is really, really annoying!). Cow parsley used to be a big trigger, now it doesn’t seem to be so bad (fingers firmly crossed on that one); lavender likewise. Cats have been an issue for decades, likewise dust (the latter is also likely to trigger an asthma response).

I’ve never seemed to get on with antihistamine tablets (with one exception - DimotappLA - which was discontinued in the late 1980s). They do seem to make me sleepy; that was also true of a “non sedative” antihistamine I was tried on - Zyrtac (aka cetirizine). So I switched to nasal sprays. They do the job, but I learned quite quickly that taking them on an “as and when needed” basis was the best solution to avoid sinus issues or nosebleeds. An asthma Cons I saw recently wanted me to try Montelukast but I’m really not keen because of the possible side effects. I have GI issues anyway - I don’t want to risk the possibility of more; it’s also took me years to get the gastro cons to acknowledge that anxiety/stress is not the primary cause of reflux I get. I have no desire to risk giving them any reason to go down that path again. So the asthma cons has requested that my GP try a different antihistamine. I’m about to try Clarityn (loratadine). Fingers crossed things might work out better.