Pollenna. That was my solution last year. And this year? It doesn’t seem to be working quite as well. I’ve been taking them as needed, not more than 2 / hour. The pollen seems to attack early morning and late evening mostly, with strong whacks if I’m outside just a bit too long doing silly things like pulling up weeds.
My other coping mechanisms have been to treat myself as though I have a cold. Vicks under the nose, Otrivine nose drops if I’m desperate for a night’s sleep and feel stuffy. That Otrivine stuff is dangerous – I can feel it burn through the blockage in my sinuses. However, I do sleep soundly until the next morning, when I’m awoken by the early pollen attack. And usually don’t need it two nights in a row, somehow.
Practical and dietary solutions include
- dressing cozily (it’s been rather chilly around here in Carlow anyhow),
- avoiding alcohol (not entirely, but it does make me feel stuffy),
- drinking lots of herbal and detox teas (I’m a coffee person but my desire for coffee vanishes completely during hay fever season),
- adding honey to my tea (not local enough, though – local honey is supposed to be the trick for getting your body used to the local pollen – but at least it soothes my throat),
- replaceing milk with soya milk,
- going to bed early (that is, around 10 pm instead of my usual 11:30)
- and keeping tissues at hand!
When a pollen attack happens, I drink lots of water – 500 ml or more washes down effortlessly; and, after wahsing my hands with soap to eliminate any lingering pollen, rinse my face to ease the eye itch.
Here’s my most unusual trick yet: I bought some vit E + coQ-10 tablets, as it said on the packet that the tablets would use more energy from the food I eat. I need all the energy I can muster, since another symptom of hay fever is total exhaustion; and it seems to be working a bit. At least I dont’ feel like crashing in a sleepy heap every mid-morning and mid-afternoon.
