Anyone else suffering from the tree pollen?

You might have a virus. Thats how this winters flu starts ......

I got fed up recently with a continually runny nose.
And the amount of tissues I have been getting through is ridiculous.
Not sure what I’m allergic to.

However, I started taking some cheap over the counter antihistamines.
They seem to have helped and hardly blew my nose today at all.
But a side effect is they make my mouth quite dry.

What a relief though to stop blowing my nose.

I have COPD and the effects of tree pollen this year have been bad. I take 180mg Fexafenadine twice a day ( Allevia) the specialist said I can take 4 a day if needs be but it makes me unsafe to drive and they also make my mouth very dry. I also use Hycosan eye drops which also help.

It’s weird some years I am affected by tree pollen but thankfully not this year. We have all the major offenders close by. Oak, ash, sycamore, lime, plum and other fruit trees It’s been windy too with the cars being covered. Same when it grass pollen season some years yes other years clear. 🤞it continues

I went to Reading yesterday and I couldn't believe the amount of seeds and fluff on the ground from the many London Plane trees. It was unbelievable! The entrance to John Lewis had masses in there. I do often get very sneezy and my nose runs and my eyes feel like they've got grit in them, but I don't think I was allergic to what I saw yesterday. I think I've got perennial rhinitis and a bit of hay fever. I was telling my daughter about it and she said it's a good job she wasn't there or it would've killed her! She suffers badly and her face and eyes swell up. She also has asthma. She's the only one in the family that has asthma.

Went to see the nurse practitioner today- I wrote a list of all my symptoms and just read it out slowly as speaking makes me cough.
She said it sounded like sinusitis. I said not, because I also suffer with sinus problems and these symptoms are very different.
I said I thought it was the constant post-nasal drip making me swallow and cough all the time.
She listened to my chest, which was clear. I said yes, my chest is clear because it is all in my upper airway due to the high pollen and my allergies.
We both agreed an anti-histamine was what was needed so she prescribed Fexofenidine 180 mgs once a day. I said I would take it at night in case it made me drowsy- although I am constantly drowsy!
She asked if I wanted some Beconase and I said not, because I shouldn't have used it in the first place, as when I stopped using it my symptoms got worse.
She said yes it can have a 'rebound' effect when you stop.
I thought, so what's the point?

She said to 'pop' back if the Fexofenidine didn't work- I said do you know how difficult it was for me to get this appointment?
That was it, no advice no discussion of symptoms or managing of my allergies that you would get with a doctor, just a slight patronising puppy-dog look as I left.
I really hope that I feel some relief soon, but the pollen count will eventually go down anyway.
The good thing is she has put it on repeat- so I can continue taking it depending on the changes in the pollen. I suppose it will be trial and error.
Thanks for the comments fellow sufferers! I guess we'll have to see...

Many years ago used to get some really strong meds for hay fever season from the GP but now the surgery say they don't prescribe for hay fever just buy something over the counter.

You would be very lucky to get a GP appt in this area. We now have to fill in a form on line for an urgent appt but no info re non urgent appts. I needed to see GP so rang surgery and was told to use urgent form otherwise the first appt available would be beginning of June. This is at a surgery which has just been rated as outstanding!

Wow! It is amazing how services vary across regions.
I don't know how they can stop prescribing meds?
It seems NPs are always writing out scripts at the drop of a hat because that is what there training has prepared them to do, and there isn't much else to their job as far as my experience goes.
At my surgery you can usually get a NP appt if you hang on the phone long enough, or are prepared to wait more than a week.
Compared to some my GP doesn't seem so bad- but getting a Doctor is like getting an audience with the Pope these days.

I'm in the U.S. and was miserable this year. I got prescription eye drops from my doctor. My eyes burned and would get sealed shut during the night.