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BLESS YOU: The hay fever season is just around the corner and many sufferers are dreading it

It may only be April, but some supermarkets have already run out of own-brand antihistamines and it probably won't be the last time this year they need a major re-stock.

An estimated 12 million people across Britain suffer from hay fever, and many of those will already be gearing up for another bout of seasonal sneezing.

The hay fever season - unlike the British summer - never seems to fail to live up to expectations; and according to John Collard, clinical director at Allergy UK, who has spent years working with sufferers, now is the time to start taking the tablets.

"If you wait until the runny nose and sneezing have started then it's going to be much more difficult to control," he explains. "You should be taking the medication two to three weeks before you normally get the symptoms."

If you are allergic to pollen then you'll know what he's talking about. But that doesn't mean his advice will be easy to follow.

With a bewildering array of hay fever remedies on the market, it's hardly surprising that somewhere between squirting nasal spray and swallowing antihistamines - not to mention paying for them - many sufferers feel it could be easier to have done with it and sneeze their way through summer.

For those who are struggling, you might be surprised how far a diary, the facts and some patience, will go towards solving the problem.

John says: "Everyone tends to link hay fever with grass pollen which is around from mid-May to the early September. But while it's fair to say that more people are allergic to grass pollen than anything else, quite a lot are also allergic to tree pollen.

"The earlier trees start to pollinate in February/March, and certainly by April you're going to be affected.

"Then after the grass pollen starts to die down, you have weed and shrub pollen. You can be affected from now, right through until the end of autumn."

John adds: "It's a long slog for the afflicted, who might be tempted to ask, why me? You have your family to blame..

"Hay fever is an inherited condition. Most people will be okay for the first few years of their life, then they'll get triggered and develop the allergy. Any sort of stress on the system - like an infection, mental stress or exposure to a lot of grass pollen - can trigger this inherited tendency.

"Then your body starts making antibodies that react when they come into contact with pollen, and make chemicals like histamine, from which you get hay fever symptoms. The chance of an allergy appearing diminishes as you get older. By the time you get to 50, it's pretty unlikely."

Drugs for combating allergic reactions, like antihistamines, are now commonplace in most medicine cabinets. But sadly, taking one every day will not guarantee you can breathe more easily.

"Hay fever has a two-stage reaction," says John. "The histamine produces the immediate symptoms that you associate with hay fever; sneezing, itchy nose and red, itchy, watery eyes. They come on quickly, last a few hours and then settle down again. But there are also chemicals from our immune system which cause more delayed symptoms, such as the blocked-up nose, headaches, stuffiness and puffy eyes. While anti-histamines will counteract the effect of histamine, they won't do much to deal with the inflammatory symptoms.

"Steroids work much better," he adds. "Most people with hay fever will need antihistamines, a steroid nasal spray and often eye drops too."

But according to John, this message doesn't always get passed on. And, in addition, people don't understand how the drugs work.

"The GP will sometimes just give someone an antihistamine, rather than all three together. And different antihistamines work differently on different people. So if you try one and it doesn't control your symptoms - don't give up, try another. It's worth trying a few to find one that suits you. People often give up on the treatment too quickly."

11:49am Tuesday 29th April 2008

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