hay fever....

[grahoom]

this year i seem to be suffering from hay fever. - i've never had it before (or not as i recall)

some people are telling me that a lot of it is due to oil seed rape. - whats peoples views on it?

i grew up in the countryside, and never suffered from it - i think maybe city life is taking its toll...

 

[leon-1]

I don't suffer (thankfully and sorry to those who do), but I know a lot of people who do and they are saying that it is really bad this year.

 

[grahoom]

i havn't got it bad, not like some people i know. - just got the stuffy bloked up feeling. - no watery eyes, or feeling tired. - maybe its just that its ultra bad this year that i have come down with it. glad i dont get it as bad as some people. (touch wood)

 

[shinobi]

Like you, I never suffered hayfever in my childhood in London. then i moved down to the southcoast and WALLOP - hayfever.
If you are suffering right now, then you are probably allergic to grass pollen. As am I. this year is quite bad so far.

It's funny, my hayfever kicked off a couple of weeks ago. Then I went to Sweden where everything was fine. I came home at the weekend and it's kicked off again

There was also an article on the local news yesterday stating that Brighton has the highest level of pollutants in the country. especially car pollutants. I'll try to dig out the article for you.

Cheers,

Martin

Edit - here's an article from the argus about the city pollution - Argus
Here's the BBC article - BBC

 

[grahoom]

There was also an article on the local news yesterday stating that Brighton has the highest level of pollutants in the country. especially car pollutants. I'll try to dig out the article for you.

yeah - the worst place in brighton is at preston circus. - and the amount of traffic in brighton is crazy - a lot of it standing traffic pumping out nasty pullution.

they need to seriously sort out the problem - more cycle routes would be a help, or at least make the network of cycle paths in brighton actually join together - there are some classic bits where a cycle path is only the length of a bike - whats that all about?

 

[Ogri the trog]

Those of you who don't suffer know nothing of the misery of the British summer.
I've had it since a kid and used to snivel and sneeze my way through summer from Easter to september.
It's eased off now ( I'm in my forties) I still suffer but not as bad but I've developed and allergy to cow's milk and any variant thereof - ice cream, chocolate, many flavourings - its a nightmare.

Ogri the trog

 

[outdoorgirl]

I was with a group of freinds at the weekend, all commenting on how bad teh hayfever was this year (I don't suffer, luckily). One comment was that, although it didn't help our group that weekend, if you can get hold of some local honey about a week before your trip, eating this will help your immune system to build up some anti-bodies, being made from the local pollens...

Worth a try, anyway...

(This also suggests that the poster who has hayfever at home but not in Sweden is only allergic to his local pollens! Eat more local honey...)

 

[shinobi]

(This also suggests that the poster who has hayfever at home but not in Sweden is only allergic to his local pollens! Eat more local honey...)

Yeah, I thought the same at first. But then I noticed that i was in a grass free area. Going from a grassy area with associated haymaking in progress to a heavily wooded coniferous area with very little grass may be the main reason.

Also, Im not sure if the honey trick works if you're allergic to grass. (Do bees make honey from grass?)
Still I'll give anything a go if it means that I can eat more honey.

Martin

 

[FeralSheryl]

Those of you who don't suffer know nothing of the misery of the British summer.
I've had it since a kid and used to snivel and sneeze my way through summer from Easter to september.
It's eased off now ( I'm in my forties) I still suffer but not as bad but I've developed and allergy to cow's milk and any variant thereof - ice cream, chocolate, many flavourings - its a nightmare.

Ogri the trog

I had asthma badly as a child. That eased off when I reached my teens but then in my early 20's I got hayfever for the first time.

Like you Ogri, now that I'm in my early 40's it's eased off a bit, but now I have an alergy to Cows Milk too. I do so miss a propper cuppa
What a crock eh

Grahoom, if yours starts in early June and subsides by the end of the month it's probably grass pollen, perhaps coupled with other irritants too. Tree pollen alergies usually start earlier in May or there abouts.

Oil seed rape brought on one of the worst asthma attacks I've had as an adult but hayfever, not so much.

Honey? Bleugh, horrible stuff . Couldn't eat it! Excellent used topically on wounds I understand.

 

[MartiniDave]

I grew up in the east anglian fens, never troubled by hayfever until my early 20's. Thinking back it seemed to start immediately after I foolishly spent some time sweeping spilt grain in a shed as it was being loaded onto trailers, for an afternoon with no mask or other protection - stupid me!
Now in my early 40's I find it is easing off. This year I've had almost no trouble at all, despite deliberately putting myself in harms way.
In recent years I have deliberately tried to spend as much time out and about, getting exposure to pollen, dust etc, in the desperate hope that I will build up an immunity - maybe its working.
I do consume local honey, in fact I love bee's spit

I always carry antihystamine just in case, but really try not to use it.

Good luck with finding your own remedies.

Dave

P.S. - I'll probably have a massive attack after being brazen enough to say its not been too bad!!

 

[Lurch]

I thought I was suffering from hay fever this weekend, for the first time in over 20 years.
Turns out I had a cold.....

 

[FruitBatInShades]

A couple of my friends stop eating dairy when they get hayfever and it clears up. Personally I couldn't do without milk and cheese but it seems to work for them.

 

[FeralSheryl]

I'm ok with cheese or cream (yummy). Thank heavens.
Apparantly the lactose content is pretty much distroyed in the proccessing thereof, or summat.

Interesting connection with heyfever there though. I didn't know that.

 

[grahoom]

Grahoom, if yours starts in early June and subsides by the end of the month it's probably grass pollen, perhaps coupled with other irritants too. Tree pollen alergies usually start earlier in May or there abouts.

yeah i got it bad at the start of the month, full on runny nose etc, but it seems to be calming down now - so hopefully its just grass pollen.

 

[FeralSheryl]

yeah i got it bad at the start of the month, full on runny nose etc, but it seems to be calming down now - so hopefully its just grass pollen.

Ah that's hopeful then. A good tip is to make sure you wash your face before you go to bed. It gets rid of any pollen grains that might be on your skin or eyelashes that you could easily rub into your eyes in the night. Also try not to put your clothes and sheets outside to dry (I know, it seems like such a waste of natural drying... thing), they can collect tons of pollen on the fibers.

With a bit of luck it will clear in a week or two.

My poor cousin manages to get it in the winter???

 

[Povarian]

some people are telling me that a lot of it is due to oil seed rape. - whats peoples views on it?

I first developed hay fever about five or six years ago (now in my mid 40s), and sometimes take drugs for it. I used to blame rape too - most obvious change in farming practice that seemed to correlate. This year, my lunch-time walk takes me through a rape field and I had no symptoms when it was in full flower, so I'm now discounting that one.

[excuse to post a photo for illustration ]

It's probably a particular grass pollen, or my other prime candidate is stinging nettles. I need to experiment a bit more, but I do seem worse after being around nettles. Sniff.

 

[stotRE]

I use to suffer until i stopped eating fruit from the supermarket and started buying the organic stuff.
A friend of mine told me that people become sensitised to the chemicals that they squirt onto the fruit.

 

[Lithril]

My other half has been cursing Oz ever since we went last year, she walked past some wattles and started suffering then for the first time in her life, came back here and started suffering again this year...

 

[Justin Time]

not been such a bad year for me... we've had a pretty damp/cold start to the month.. although hot and sunny this week so pollen count is up. What really seemed to start mine of this year though was picking elderflowers and then preparing them for cordial.. picked a carrier bag full... boy was I stuffy with all that pollen... nice cordial though

 

[grahoom]

What really seemed to start mine of this year though was picking elderflowers and then preparing them for cordial.. picked a carrier bag full... boy was I stuffy with all that pollen... nice cordial though

how did you prepare the cordial - wouldn't mind trying that myself.