It's that time of year... Grazax
Discussion
Oh yes, it's that time of year and once again my hayfever is making my life hell.
My well-proven cocktail of eye drops, Telfast (Fexofenadine Hydrochloride) 180mg and optional inhaler is struggling to beat off the congested nose and shortness of breath that make this disease such a pain.
So, out of interest I looked into more permanent solutions. Not liking the idea of steroid injections, I have come across Grazax - an immunotherapy for grass induced hayfever.
So, does anyone know if this stuff works? Have you used it? Have you prescribed it?
Any input is welcome.
I know i ought to ask my GP, but frankly i'd rather not waste their time yet without some idea of whether it's worth asking.
Cheers,
Simon
My well-proven cocktail of eye drops, Telfast (Fexofenadine Hydrochloride) 180mg and optional inhaler is struggling to beat off the congested nose and shortness of breath that make this disease such a pain.
So, out of interest I looked into more permanent solutions. Not liking the idea of steroid injections, I have come across Grazax - an immunotherapy for grass induced hayfever.
So, does anyone know if this stuff works? Have you used it? Have you prescribed it?
Any input is welcome.
I know i ought to ask my GP, but frankly i'd rather not waste their time yet without some idea of whether it's worth asking.
Cheers,
Simon
My hayfever sort of disappeared years ago. I do get sneezy if I do push ups on the grass, and I had a mad fit once when I went to a friends wedding in the South (the oak pollen was virulent or something).
Have you not tried eating a spoonful of local honey every day through the Winter?
Have you not tried eating a spoonful of local honey every day through the Winter?
Simon,
Ive gone through the desensitisation process for Hay Fever using Grazax fairly recently.
I went to my Drs and asked them to refer me to the immunology clinic at Preston hospital. I was fed up with the fact that my usual cocktail of drugs had stopped working since moving up North from London some years ago.
After being referred I initially went to see the Immunology nurse who performed a Heaf test on my skin to see exactly what I was allergic to. This was followed by an appt to discuss the results and offer me the treatment. For me it consisted of one injection per week for 7 weeks, out of season (November for me).
The first injection is the lowest dose and each subsequent injection is double the previous dose. This is until the 5th week in which they switch to a different drug and the dose goes down to the minimum again.
Before each injection I had to take a hay fever tablet so that I didnt have too strong a reation to the drug. Also they took a peak flow reading before and after.
Once given the injection I had to wait in the waiting room for an hour to make sure I didnt go in to anaphylactic shock!!
This whole procedure is repeated each year until you've done 3 years. Has it helped me? Well I still get very itchy eyes when the pollen count is high but my symptoms have been reduced. You have to understand that this is not a cure but something to help alleviate the symptons. In fact I was quoted a figure of only a 30% reduction in the symptoms.
Sorry if Ive rambled on but hopefully it will give you an idea of whats involved and what to expect. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have.
Ive gone through the desensitisation process for Hay Fever using Grazax fairly recently.
I went to my Drs and asked them to refer me to the immunology clinic at Preston hospital. I was fed up with the fact that my usual cocktail of drugs had stopped working since moving up North from London some years ago.
After being referred I initially went to see the Immunology nurse who performed a Heaf test on my skin to see exactly what I was allergic to. This was followed by an appt to discuss the results and offer me the treatment. For me it consisted of one injection per week for 7 weeks, out of season (November for me).
The first injection is the lowest dose and each subsequent injection is double the previous dose. This is until the 5th week in which they switch to a different drug and the dose goes down to the minimum again.
Before each injection I had to take a hay fever tablet so that I didnt have too strong a reation to the drug. Also they took a peak flow reading before and after.
Once given the injection I had to wait in the waiting room for an hour to make sure I didnt go in to anaphylactic shock!!
This whole procedure is repeated each year until you've done 3 years. Has it helped me? Well I still get very itchy eyes when the pollen count is high but my symptoms have been reduced. You have to understand that this is not a cure but something to help alleviate the symptons. In fact I was quoted a figure of only a 30% reduction in the symptoms.
Sorry if Ive rambled on but hopefully it will give you an idea of whats involved and what to expect. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have.
Edited by Anthony Micallef on Thursday 9th June 13:42
Hi Anthony,
Thanks very much for your reply - very informative. Interesting that you were given injections, I've only seen Grazax in tablet form, which is dissolved under the tongue ( NHS linky). As with your treatment, an unpleasant reaction is partially expected. A few questions i do have:
- Did you have the choice of a tablet or injection?
- Was your Dr reluctant to refer you?
- What costs were incurred by you? (prescription costs for jabs?)
- What sort of age were you, and did this have any bearing on your Dr's agreement to refer you? (don't feel obliged to answer this!
)
- Do you think it was worth it?
Thanks again
Thanks very much for your reply - very informative. Interesting that you were given injections, I've only seen Grazax in tablet form, which is dissolved under the tongue ( NHS linky). As with your treatment, an unpleasant reaction is partially expected. A few questions i do have:
- Did you have the choice of a tablet or injection?
- Was your Dr reluctant to refer you?
- What costs were incurred by you? (prescription costs for jabs?)
- What sort of age were you, and did this have any bearing on your Dr's agreement to refer you? (don't feel obliged to answer this!
)- Do you think it was worth it?
Thanks again
Apologies Halb, should have replied to you too!
I've never really made a conscious effort to try the local honey thing; it's one of those things that after a particularly bad summer i think "I ought to give it a go".
Then by the time i get to the part time of year to be trying it... I've forgotten completely!
Thanks for the article link, it's an interesting read. I suppose given how severe my hayfever can be i was looking for something that would be reliably effective.
It's odd how when i'm suffering i put alot of effort into finding out how to nail it on its head... then once the season for it has passed i become completely apathetic!
Cheers,
Simon
I've never really made a conscious effort to try the local honey thing; it's one of those things that after a particularly bad summer i think "I ought to give it a go".
Then by the time i get to the part time of year to be trying it... I've forgotten completely!
Thanks for the article link, it's an interesting read. I suppose given how severe my hayfever can be i was looking for something that would be reliably effective.
It's odd how when i'm suffering i put alot of effort into finding out how to nail it on its head... then once the season for it has passed i become completely apathetic!
Cheers,
Simon
Simbu said:
Hi Anthony,
Thanks very much for your reply - very informative. Interesting that you were given injections, I've only seen Grazax in tablet form, which is dissolved under the tongue ( NHS linky). As with your treatment, an unpleasant reaction is partially expected. A few questions i do have:
- Did you have the choice of a tablet or injection?
- Was your Dr reluctant to refer you?
- What costs were incurred by you? (prescription costs for jabs?)
- What sort of age were you, and did this have any bearing on your Dr's agreement to refer you? (don't feel obliged to answer this!)
- Do you think it was worth it?
Thanks again
Simon,Thanks very much for your reply - very informative. Interesting that you were given injections, I've only seen Grazax in tablet form, which is dissolved under the tongue ( NHS linky). As with your treatment, an unpleasant reaction is partially expected. A few questions i do have:
- Did you have the choice of a tablet or injection?
- Was your Dr reluctant to refer you?
- What costs were incurred by you? (prescription costs for jabs?)
- What sort of age were you, and did this have any bearing on your Dr's agreement to refer you? (don't feel obliged to answer this!
)- Do you think it was worth it?
Thanks again
- I wasnt given a choice of the tablet, I seem to remember the nurse saying something about but cant quite remember what, sorry. I think it was a long the lines of them not offering that treatment anymore.
- My Dr didnt know anything about the treatment and I basically told him I wanted referring and who I wanted referring to!
- No costs were incurred at all by me.
- I was 35 when I started the course and that didnt have any bearing on the Dr reffering me.
- The first summer afer my last course it didnt seem to have that much of an affect but this year Ive hardly had any symptoms (except for itchy eyes). That may be due to the fact though that the pollen count hasnt been too bad so far.
Halb said:
Tried using local honey and it had no affect on me whatsoever.
Anthony Micallef said:
Halb said:
Tried using local honey and it had no affect on me whatsoever.Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff