http://www.bulletin.ch/dt/info/index.html


You can subscribe and receive a warning on your mobile or via email, then if you suffer from it as bad as some of us do, you can shut the windows, lock the doors and sit next to an air purifier all day long.

or get treated.... wouldn't miss the good weather out there because of em...

Easier said than done

????? is there a cure?

I know what is hay fever or seasonal rhinitis and every single symptoms that can comes with it...suffer from it myself but with my meds I go out and have fun...doesn't mean i'm symptom-free but a whole lot better

cure? hmmm, if its so bad, one can go for a sensitizing-cure...it means the allergologist would inject subcutaneously the provoking antigen and that should with time of course attenuate the symptoms. of course the first few shots should be closely monitored.

there are treatments.

TELL US! TELL US! what are the names of these drugs? I use Zyrtec, but that lasts only a few hours now... Reactine was the best, but can't buy it here.

hey i might start charging for consultations....LOL
The worst part of hay-fever is the upper respiratory tract symptoms which means stuffy nose, runny nose, sneezing. For that 1. nasal toilette is important, wash nostrils with saline solution to get rid of trapped pollen. 2 Topical steroids, they work wonders...and of course anti-histamines can work....
a lot of people get scared when they hear steroids...the side effects are minimal if you use it for limited time periods.

I obviously need a prescription from a Dr. for this right??

I'm taking Claritine at the moment but it's not very strong, so only mild relief...

yep you would need a prescription for topical steroids....your gp can do that. I use claritine too but it doesn't seem to help much...my allergy was so bad I've been coughing like mad....but now I'm breathing easy and my nose has stopped running and i've also stopped coughing.
I've been on topical steroids for 4 years now...not the entire 4 years but only during my allergy season and then I stop....no problems so far...

I'm allergic mostly to birches and this spring it was terrible. I went to a doctor and am not sorry for this decision. I now have a prescription for a weak cortico-steroid, beta blockers and an anti-histamine med.

I plan on making a desensibilisation therapy in autumn because the doctor said the allergy tests are made best out of the pollen season.

I wonder if any of these molecules were produced or discovered in Basel.

the desensbilisation therapy should also be done when you have stopped your corticosteroid therapy for at least 3 months.

I know this is an old thread but I thought I might as well drop a note here rather than start a new one!

I have allergic asthma, and had slight problems in England during spring, and in Malaysia (shih tzu at home) - but nothing could compare with the asthma and blocked nose i suffered in Zurich! It was so bad that my inhaler no longer worked, I needed to take anti-histamines instead. I was even on corticosteroids (Pulmicort), and since that didn't work great, I was "upgraded" to Symbicort - a combo corticosteroid and bronchodilator - which actually made things worse!

I finally tried acupuncture+acupressure last February (2009) and went for treatment every week during the pollen season and every 2 weeks for the months after that. I stopped taking my corticosteroids because I ran out and was too lazy to get a doctors appointment i can definitely say it was a success. while i still get slight allergy attacks, instead of full-blown chesty asthma, i only have a swelling in my throat/trachea which is more an irritation rather than a breathing problem. my acupuncturist also taught me some points that i can press to alleviate my symptoms. I've reduced inhaler use to about once a month (compared to 3x a day in my first Zurich spring).

I would highly recommend giving acupuncture a shot! It's covered by insurance if you get the alternative therapy option. It's more expensive than taking anti-histamines, but at least there are no side effects (and it's not a very painful procedure at all).

I'm also going to try taking local honey to see if I can reduce my allergies further... (anyone know more about this?) I've found honey from imkerin.ch but don't know if they heat-treat their honey (and whether heat-treated honey would work as well for allergies since the antigens would then be destroyed)...