I need some advice please..

Ears, nose and throat
1

Hi

So I have allergic rhinitis and I have a nasal spray which I use daily but some days something will just set it off and the nightmare begins. I have school tomorrow but I really don't think I can drag myself in. Do you think it's kinda pathetic of me to keep myself at home because of my allergies. I can barely sleep at night because of my allergies and well I'm sure you all know how rubbish you feel after having no sleep. Does anyone know a way to help me fall asleep because I am so exhausted?

Thank you for reading

2

No, it's not pathetic at all! Allergies can make you very miserable, but some people just don't understand it. 

Could you specify your symptoms? runny nose, blocked nose?

 

3

Hi

I have a blocked nose, sore throat, terrible headache, watering eyes. My nose is also runny

4

It sounds like bad allergy.  How long did you do you suffer from this? 

So what you can start with nasal irrigation, use saline solution. It's easy to get it from any chemist or you can even make your own. It's safe to use, as often as needed. However, do NOT use it if you're nose is fully blocked, the water might get to your ears, can be quite painful. The water needs to come out of the other side of your nostril.

Alternatively you can just use the saline spray.

The next option is to use antihistamine tablets such as clarytine or zyrtex, there are a lot of different ones. There are also antihistamine nasal sprays.

If no help with any of these, you should try costeroid nasal sprays, such as nasonex, rhynocort, there are many different brands. Doctors say it's ok to use it for long term, in my opinion, steroids are ok, for short term, but I wouldn't use it for too long, can cause damage to the lining of the nose. 

For very occasional use, you can try pseudoeffedrine tablets, they decongest your nose, very fast. Not for long term, and not for every day!

If you can't sleep, I'd use 30 mg pseudoeffedrine. (not more, it will keep you awake)

You mentioned your eyes, therer are very good antihistamine eye drops, they might also work for your sinuses. 

An other thing you might want to do make sure your house is clean from dust and mould. Wash your linnen in hot water, you can put eucalyptus, it kills dust mites. 

But you should really investigate what's causing your allergy, get a skin prick test done. There are allergen immunotherapies available, it takes a long time to have any effect, (min 3-4 month) and it's not guaranteed. I think it also quite expensive. 

So start with saline solution and antihistamine, and see how you go.

Are you living in a humid costal area by any chance?

 

5

I've suffered this badly with it for 6/7 years because is started when I was very young and I always had bad hay fever and then it kinda escalated from there.

Thank you for your suggestions I hope to try they out and hopefully I can begin sleeping without being disturbed

I also found out today that on top of having this allergy attack, I also got tonsillitis

Yes I do live in a humid costal area.

Thank you for reading and replying

6

I had very similar symptoms as you and I was also living under a very hot humid climate. I tried pretty much everything, I even had a surgery, but didn't help. My ENT told me that dust mites thrive in humid climate, he was partially right, because it's not just the dust mites which causing the allergy, it's more likely airborn fungus, which indeed love the heat and the humidity.

So eventually I moved to a much drier climate. 

Now it's heaps better, though I have still some bad days, and still getting some congestion at night, but at least it's not 24/7.

If you have a chance, get out for a week or so from that area, and see if your symptoms improve at all. Mine did improve pretty much as soon as my flight took off. The longer I was away the better it got.

If you don't have an opportunity to get away, the other thing I can think of, is using the aircon or a dehumidifier. 

There is another thing I forgot to mention, there are nasal filters, you can google it up, something cheap enough to try.

Hope you'll get some relief.

 

7

Hi, I have rhinitis too. I start my day off dragging myself out of bed because I cough half the night. I spent money on a humifier ( which filters through coal). Having a couple of hot showers a day help too. I'm now sleeping 98% of the night. Washes off the stuff we don't see. However if something just sets it off....still no answer.

 

8

I've started cleaning out my sinuses with a salt water solution, it's very uncomfortable but the majority of the time it seems to work. I hate it when it all sets off and I always find that it can be at the most random times. Thank you for reading and replying