My extreme hay fever leaves me hospitalised

With hay fever season coming up, you’re going to hear a lot more sneezing. 

But it can get a lot worse than something easily treated with some antihistamines and a tissue. Aberystwyth International Politics third year Chris Dennett suffers from an extreme version of the seasonal condition, which changes his life.

The 21-year-old from the Lake District struggles to sleep at night, takes regular trips to hospital and needs to keep his bedroom sterile for two whole months of the year.

“Like most people, mine starts getting bad around May – but that’s where the similarities with garden hay fever end,” Chris explained.

He added: “Mine got worst as I got older, and at its worst I was only getting two to four hours sleep a night, and would wake up my parents on the other end of the house with it. I even have to have immunotherapy – normal antihistamines just don’t cut it.”

Immunotherapy is more commonly used to treat cancer.

Unfortunately his hay fever starts to flair up in May, when we’re supposed to be revising for exams. Chris said: “Revision is nearly impossible due to the fatigue, the coughing and the pain. It’s been better since I got to university, as I’m by the coast rather than in the middle of the countryside, and the treatment really does help. It’s worse when I go back home after uni though.”

It gets so bad that he has to sterilise his bedroom to keep out anything which is infected. “Anything I’ve worn outside can’t come into my room,” he explained. “The doors have to be shut at all times, the dogs have to be washed if they come back in after going outside at all, and I have to use an expensive air purifier.”

He added: “It’s tough on the family, as they can’t do things like go for walks or going out during the day without decontaminating themselves.”

Chris has to go to hospital once a year for blood tests and immunotherapy, and has been doing this since 2014. Understandably it can be annoying when people complain about having mild hay fever.

“I feel a lot of people exaggerate the symptoms, he said. “Hay fever sucks full stop, but there’s just no comparison between what some people have to handle and what I have to handle.

“Compared to other chronic illnesses though, my hay fever isn’t that big a deal. It’s manageable, and only a problem for two months of the year rather than every day of my life.”

Despite all the suffering Chris goes through, exam boards still don’t take him seriously. “I just wish people would be a bit more aware about how bad hay fever can get,” he said. “For me it’s a lot more than just having a cold.”