Hayfever help.

[Treed12]

Im curious what meds hayfever sufferers are on, on the more severe side. Im on Fexofenadine 180, Montelukast and avayms. Also spiriva, fostair 200/6, ventolin. My hayfever is awful and a big trigger for my asthma. Ive asked my gp and asthma nurse for help but theyve said im maxed out. Will need to ask my consultant. I called a few weeks ago. After much chasing, got a letter saying i cant have anything else for my hayfever. Also he got my dose of fostair wrong and suggested to increase it to what im already on 🙈. I have called asthma uk, always so helpful! They suggested a nasal rinse. So other than a very clean nose 😂 im no further forward. I might look into getting referred for tertiary care as i feel i get no help. Any suggestions welcome please. Thanks 😊

[CANINE12]

Hi I'm on Fecofenadine 180mg and asthma meds including Montelucast. After getting advice from the Asthma UK helpline nurse I've seen my GP and have been prescribed Dymisa nasal spray which has a steroid in it. Before using it I use a nasal douche. My hayfever symptoms have greatly improved in the couple of weeks since using the nasal spray. I was using Avamys which didn't help much. It might be worth asking your GP about the Dymista spray.

[Treed12 in reply to CANINE12]

Thank you for your reply. I have tried that one, but it gave me awful headaches and didnt help much with hayfever. Glad it works for you though 😊

[MrsCMK]

Hey! Sorry to hear you’re suffering this summer- The VH pollen count is really tough to deal with.

I suffer with really severe allergies, with summer and autumn being killers for my hay fever. I was previously on a whopping 540mg of Fexofenadine a day (this was off-licence dose and really is not the norm) and Montelukast and they worked good for me but during my flare months, I found that after 2 hours, my symptoms would come flooding back and I was always counting down the time for my next dose.

I now take Loratadine tablets 4 times a day instead of Fexofenadine (again, a huge off-licence dose) and they’re amazing! I use Dymista too. For “normal” hay fever symptoms they’re a really good combo for me but I still get tight chested and very breathless during summer months- despite also using Fostair.

Are you under an immunology consultant? I literally couldn’t live without them but I find it frustrating that immunology say they can’t do anymore for me now because the symptoms are that of asthma but my respiratory consultant says that it’s the allergies triggering the asthma and immunology need to do more. I’m currently waiting to see an Asthma Specialist who also specialises in allergies too. When that day comes I’m going to do a happy dance in the hospital!

I hope you find some of this somewhat useful and hope you feel better soon!

[Treed12 in reply to MrsCMK]

Thank you. I feel i need to push for a higher dose. Ive heard others as well who take it off license, which i thought the consultant could do. I lost faith now with him getting my meds dose wrong.

[MrsCMK in reply to Treed12]

Definitely try and push for higher. They don’t always like prescribing off-licence doses which is understandable but if Fexofenadine aren’t doing the job for you, then it needs looking at and it’s your consultant that will need to do it.

What I have found from experience is that sometimes a change of antihistamine after a couple of years calms my symptoms down a lot. I’m unsure at to whether the body can become accustomed to antihistamines but it does the trick for me.

Have you tried nasal sprays? I was always really reluctant to using a nasal spray because my nasal symptoms were fine but I must admit, since using Dymist regularly, it’s made a difference in symptoms in general- less itchy throat and bouts of breathlessness are shorter lived

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador]

Hi

I’ve been advised to ‘play’ with my AHs as required. I’m prescribed fex 180 1x day for asthma, but with hay fever can have 2x day and if I’m getting angiodema/urticaria flare up to 4x a day. But I’ve also been told I can take an OTC AH if I feel like I need more.

I’m also on avamys, use dymista when hayfever is bad, and/or flixonase steroid nasal drops and OTC eye drops (as my hayfever rarely affects eyes tho generally my allergies do...)

Hope you find something that does help, but maybe it’s worth discussing with GP about using OTC AHs as an add on...

[xxggtt]

I'm on 360mg of Fexofenadine (off-label), as per my consultant's instructions. I'm also on Montelukast and Nasonex for allergies, as well as OTC Acrivastine up to 3 per day as needed. Also on 8 puffs Fostair 200/6 and 6 Qvar daily (plus Ventolin PRN, obviously).

It's definitely worth pushing for increases in meds. Consultant's can (and should be!) prescribing above max doses where necessary. My cons says he instructs 2x180mg fex (360mg total daily) as standard for all his patients with comorbid rhinitis/hay fever. Definitely push for more!!

[Cat33]

Well I suffer so badly during the grass pollen time I have had severe asthma attacks and had to be put on steroids and go to the surgery for the nebuliser Get terrible itchy eyes then last year I tried Pironaze nasal spray and I have to say for me it was a miracle cure I have just got through what is normally a miserable month or so without ANY symptoms I even wrote to the company as I was amazed

I really hope it's ok for you to take it and try it and that you have the same results Good luck

[Treed12]

Ive just made a naggy phone call to my consultant. He's on holiday so i will have to wait and see! For those who suggested a nasal spray. I am on one, avyms, tried a few, it seems to work the best, but i guess its all trial and error. I used to love the summer but its rubbish with hayfever and asthma 😞

[Tre]

I’m under two wonderful consultants one at the allergy clinic where I’m on a 3 year course (18 months in now) of Grazax an immunology treatment I take one Grazax daily (sublingual) they tried me on the injections but after the 1st one I had a life threatening reaction so they stopped it abruptly!!! Anyway I’m tolerating the Grazax ok & this year there has been a slight improvement in my symptoms, I’ve not had to resort to oral steroids this year.

That said I’m still on a ridiculous lot of medication - montalukast, Dymista, Fostair 200/6 2 puffs twice daily, Alvesco 160 2 puffs daily, Fexofenadine up to 4 180 mg recommended by the allergy consultant, my severe asthma consultant was prefer only 2 per day but agrees it’s better to take 4 short term than resort to oral steroids!!! Only side effects from the meds are hand & feet cramps but not bad enough for me to alter anything. None of the meds prevent flare ups with the asthma , but I’m finding recovery this year is quicker than in previous years. My normal PF is 500 which apparently it pretty good for a 54 year old female, during the season it can drop very low, to the point I can’t even contemplate doing it. But on the whole I’ve done ok & another week should see the end of the grass season, fingers crossed.

Good luck getting to see a consultant, I’d be in a mess without my two & of course my asthma nurse at the local practice, I’ve not seen the gp for nearly two years now & I know I’m very lucky.

[Treed12 in reply to Tre]

Thanks for the reply. Im going to keep pushing. I feel ive been fobbed off! Ive found fostair gives awful cramp so im on quinine sulphate and it works a treat. If i forget a dose its almost instant cramp again. Might be worth a try.

[Tre in reply to Treed12]

Thanks for that I’ll make a note of it for next year, once I reduce the meds the cramps go away.

[Loonadyar in reply to Treed12]

Treed12, Good Evening, I, too am on Fostair which I find works for me but gives me awful cramps. Like you I'm on Quinine sulphate and it helps.

[Chip_y2kuk in reply to Loonadyar]

Have you tried increasing potassium?.... all beta agonists are known to 'leach'/rapidly deplete potassium a side effect of which is cramps.... commonly in the legs , arms, hands

I eat a banana 5 days a week in my lunch for work and this has all bit reversed the problem of cramps in my legs

[Treed12 in reply to Chip_y2kuk]

I eat bananas too and drink tonic water. Not always with gin 😬. But the only thing i find really helps is the quinine tablets.

[Chip_y2kuk]

How many fexofenadine do you take?... could you not get to go increase that my prescription is for 1-3 a day

Chip

[Treed12 in reply to Chip_y2kuk]

Only 1. Ive seen that many people take more. I was hoping my consultant would allow it. I do have surplus. Im a bit tempted just to try maybe 2 see if that helps. Do you space them out? Thanks

[Chip_y2kuk in reply to Treed12]

Yes if I need more than one

I have 1 of a morning anyway and then sometimes 1 of a night and failing that its 1 morning 1 afternoon and 1 before bed... that normally covers most things