Hayfever And Midges

[Cookie]

As far as im concerned summer is now over . may hay fever was ok before sniffing a little it would bother me a few times a day at most, now its all day and my eyes are really sore and the hay fever tablets don't work as well anymore!

now the midges have started and its only the start and their getting really annoying all ready. they ruin summer! I don't mind the early weeks off summer. but now I just want winter to roll on!

anyone else in the same boat?

[J07]

Try rubbing vaseline around the edge of your eyes, and smearing it in your nostrils.

[Bottesford]

Nope - insects don't bother me and I don't suffer with hayfever.

Sure I get bitten occasionally but it's a small price to pay for warmth, sunshine & connection with outdoors.

Most certainly I wouldn't dislike summer for the sake of insects but I can understand some people won't like it. Most of the year people are kept clear of nature in their sterile box (house) but in summer you're often (in hotter weather) forced to deal with the outside again by having windows open etc.

Insect repellant, smearing lemon juice on things and various other methods are worth a try if it bothers you that much. Just don't wish away the best time of year!

[Cookie]

Try rubbing vaseline around the edge of your eyes, and smearing it in your nostrils.

might try that

Nope - insects don't bother me and I don't suffer with hayfever.

Sure I get bitten occasionally but it's a small price to pay for warmth, sunshine & connection with outdoors.

Most certainly I wouldn't dislike summer for the sake of insects but I can understand some people won't like it. Most of the year people are kept clear of nature in their sterile box (house) but in summer you're often (in hotter weather) forced to deal with the outside again by having windows open etc.

Insect repellant, smearing lemon juice on things and various other methods are worth a try if it bothers you that much. Just don't wish away the best time of year!

it just becomes contast as the summer goes on and really becomes annoying with the midges I don't mind most other insects but when it comes midges they drive me up the wall I don't think insect repellent would do much use against them to be hones thiers so many.

[Bottesford]

I guess it depends on your insect annoyance vs. warm weather enjoyment ratio I guess.

To me, the joy of warmth, sun, daylight & being outside lots outweighs a few insect bites.

I'm the opposite in winter - my displeasure of being cold, having no daylight and being stuck inside outweighs the lack of insects. I prefer insects & animals around - everything feels more alive instead of dead, cold & forbidding.

[Shadow]

As far as im concerned summer is now over . may hay fever was ok before sniffing a little it would bother me a few times a day at most, now its all day and my eyes are really sore and the hay fever tablets don't work as well anymore!

now the midges have started and its only the start and their getting really annoying all ready. they ruin summer! I don't mind the early weeks off summer. but now I just want winter to roll on!

anyone else in the same boat?

I know exactly how you feel Cookie. Our midges started quite a few weeks ago and have been at nuisance levels for some days. We even have a midge machine in the back garden and have taken out 2 x 200g nescafe jars full of them but they still keep on coming. I agree with you completely about roll on winter. Now looking to the first significant frost to wipe them out. Sorry to hear about you suffering with hayfever. I do as well so started taking Piriteze a few weeks ago and is helping.

[SnOwFeSt]

Hi mate, as a fellow hayfever sufferer I can identify with the horror that is hayfever - blocked noses that stream like water, not being able to sleep and itching eyes that you want to scratch out make this time of year intolerable for many.

After suffering badly for years trying various types of tablets, I have found the best formula is a nasal spray, sprayed twice into each nostril in the morning and evening. I use beconase hayfever relief, and it is a godsend - it prevents nasal swelling at the source and stops it from running constantly. This obviously gives you a better nights sleep!

I also use sodium cromogilate eyedrops twice daily, or as required. This helps reduce the sore, itching eyes and both products get to work in a few minutes.

Ive found these products work so well, I don't need to bother with tablets. Hayfever has gone from something that severly disrupted my live for 2 months every year, to just a minor inconvenience now! I hope these things work for you.

NB: none of the folk remedies have worked for me (vaseline, showering before bed, not opening windows, drying clothes indoors, herbal tablets etc), but good look with trying these should you chose these options.

[sunny scunny]

I used to suffer very badly with hayfever, but in the last few years i haven't got it much

thankfully, but on the odd day i get it it's very bad.

[La Bise]

Much sympathy with the midges sufferers, what horrible creatures...Bottesford, I'm not sure you realise how awful they can be up in Scotland, I'm like you rather indifferent to insects and summer mosquitos on the continent never caused me much harm but when you wake up with 20/25 bites on your face after making the mistake of going out on a warm, still evening, you realise they are something else altogether...

Sadly, you can find them in Wales and in Engand as well, got quite a few bites on friday and saturday when out hiking in the hills...

[Koppite]

As far as im concerned summer is now over . may hay fever was ok before sniffing a little it would bother me a few times a day at most, now its all day and my eyes are really sore and the hay fever tablets don't work as well anymore!

now the midges have started and its only the start and their getting really annoying all ready. they ruin summer! I don't mind the early weeks off summer. but now I just want winter to roll on!

anyone else in the same boat?

Hi cookie, after many different types of pills and potions i now use Loratadine tablets to help with my hayfever, i can now thankfully say i have finally got it under control. Unfortunately it seems to be a trial and error thing until you find something that suits. I also use Singulair tablets and the brown and blue inhalers because my hayfever problem used to bring on asthma. All these things together does the trick.

Edited June 15, 2009 by Koppite

[philglossop]

My hayfever has been worse this year compared to recent ones. This could be due to the fact that I've switched from an office job to a job in the open air.

The downside was that 1 day last week, I was on beat and got attacked by a set of lavender bushes on one street. Not funny when I had to do constant observations for 5 minutes whilst crying and sneezing!

[Cookie]

thanks for the tips and advice guys.

I find the nose spray never worked for me, I use benadryl as well but I have to be careful cause some tablets make me drowsy.

koppite sometimes the hay fever can affect my asthma to

thankfully at the moment with the midges at the moment its a little to breezy for them

[Polar Continental]

Although I don’t suffer my self, I think this season must be bad for suffers, as even the bees around here have got hay fever <_<

On a more sensible note, there seems to be a plague of airborne greenfly this year, have been driven indoors several times this week because of the little blighters, they end up down you’re your ears in your eyes, in your mouth, they are driving everyone around here mad. I am even getting them indoors while I type this, funny enough I haven’t seen 1 ladybird this year, I am wondering if this could be the cause of this population explosion of greenfly?

Paul

[Guest]

My hayfever started a few weeks earlier this year. The Zirtek is supressing the symptoms well currently, although I do get the odd day when it fails to have any effect and I sneeze 100 times an hour. <_<

I admit to not getting it as bad as some others on this thread, for instance the Zirtek tablets always remove the eye symptoms you get with hayfever, thankfully

[Methuselah]

You could try Avon Skin So Soft with the midges. Garlic and onions can be good too - but they repel humans aswell!

[peterf]

My hayfever has been worse this year compared to recent ones. This could be due to the fact that I've switched from an office job to a job in the open air.

The downside was that 1 day last week, I was on beat and got attacked by a set of lavender bushes on one street. Not funny when I had to do constant observations for 5 minutes whilst crying and sneezing!

i take it then,that you are now a pcso.

the constant observations made me laugh

Edited June 16, 2009 by peterf

[Tim B]

The key I find is to take cetirizine based antihistamines every morning all year round as it builds up a steady defense in your system, and not to wait for any symptoms to start showing.

I do this now and it works excellently for me.

[SunnySouthCoast]

I don't suffer from hayfever, thankfully, but seem to attract every biting insect for miles around I have been bitten several times in this last week & have been getting bitten since April, I get a very bad reaction to them too & the area swells up for days (as well as itching like mad!). We get loads of mosquitos round here & they usually don't get killed off due to our mild winters either. I have had to have a door screen fitted to my back door so that I can get air in without the flies etc.. but unfortunately they still make their way through the open windows, I even have one of those UV blue light zapper things to try & keep the numbers down

[PB22]

Hayfever seems to be affecting me more this year than before, with plenty of sore throats and sneezes. Have also been bitten several times, mainly in small outbreaks, i.e. I have been getting 3 or 4 bites at a time rather than just the odd one now and again.

[Shadow]

Hayfever seems to be affecting me more this year than before, with plenty of sore throats and sneezes. Have also been bitten several times, mainly in small outbreaks, i.e. I have been getting 3 or 4 bites at a time rather than just the odd one now and again.

You had better try living up here in the Highlands, the midges are really bad at the moment, not one or two bites at a time try having hundreds of bites at a time, but I suppose that is what we get for living here. Roll on Winter :lol:

[sundog]

I dont suffer from hayfever but i do get bitten sometimes. One day in mid July 05 myself and a group of friends went camping in the wicklow hills and as night began to fall it was like we were attacked by a swarm of midges,it was unbelivable i had never seen so many in my life, for 2 hours or more we were constantly swatting at them ,they were in our hair our clothes........even the smoke from camp fire did not seem to deter them. Our camp trip was pretty much ruined by them. We had made the mistake of camping near to a small river and near fairly swampy type ground so i guess we asked for it for being so stupid :lol:

[Costa Del Fal]

Although I don’t suffer my self, I think this season must be bad for suffers, as even the bees around here have got hay fever :lol:

On a more sensible note, there seems to be a plague of airborne greenfly this year, have been driven indoors several times this week because of the little blighters, they end up down you’re your ears in your eyes, in your mouth, they are driving everyone around here mad. I am even getting them indoors while I type this, funny enough I haven’t seen 1 ladybird this year, I am wondering if this could be the cause of this population explosion of greenfly?

Paul

I have exactly the same problem with the greenfly- they have been landing on my shoulders etc for ages now-very annoying! I havent seen any ladybirds either recently.

I also get hayfever but its not that bad that i want summer to be over- i love the summer season because there is so much chance to do extra stuff!

[philglossop]

i take it then,that you are now a pcso.

the constant observations made me laugh :lol:

No just a Civil Enforcement Officer (parking). Yup an olde fashioned Traffic Warden!.

Funny yesterday whilst on beat around the Hoe in the sun (hard life sometimes), not a problem. Today equally sunny day in Stonehouse/Devonport- sneeze, sneeze runny eyes. Obviously heading for the coast does work. Lavender bushes can't walk there from a residential street... :lol: :lol:

[03jtrickey]

I hadn't used to suffer from hayfever, but last year I was showing symptoms and was prescribed Loratadine tablets. I used these occasionally and they worked.

However last Sunday I found my eyes quite sore and I was continually sneezing, presumably due to hayfever, since I didn't have a cold. Also earlier this year I was cycling through Gloucester - I stopped at some traffic lights my eyes were so sore and watery I could barely see. This has only happened on a few occasions.

I started taking Loratadine again this week and it has definitely helped. I haven't had the soreness or irritation, although I still do sneeze! :lol:

[shuggee]

You could try Avon Skin So Soft with the midges. Garlic and onions can be good too - but they repel humans aswell! :lol:

Scotland's biggest secret weapon against the midges. And it's been kept quiet from me for years! The army use it, the locals use it - and they snigger at us that don't!! :lol: