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In our feature on avoiding and treating hayfever, we asked you to share your tips on our forum and what a resourceful bunch you are!
There were thumbs ups for staying indoors between 5 and 7 pm, and smearing the inside of your nose with vaseline - one user even recommended smearing it on eye lashes to help catch the pollen, but then hay fever can drive people to try anything...
Note that we don't endorse any of these methods, and recommend that you contact your doctor or a pharmacist before trying any course of treatment.
Most people find antihistamines helpful, but starting them before hay fever strikes helps according to PIP53: "I start taking Piriton early in May, one in the morning and one at night. I always feel a little drowsy for a couple of days but after that things are just fine. I stop taking around the end of August/Sept."
While Netty78 has a tip for kick-starting your day: "I take my tablets on a nighttime so they are in my system in the morning".
Nasal steroid sprays are available over the counter and should be in your armoury if you suffer from get runny noses. As Carob says: "They are more effective than antihistamine tablets but can be combined during the worst times. They really are on another level of effectiveness."
Exercising outdoors in hay fever season might seem reckless, but Netty78 swears by it: "I know this sounds silly but exercise really works, I go for a country walk near by, lots of pollen about, however exercise releases those endorphins which make you feel happier and boost immune system." One for the brave, we think.
Several of you recommended local honey.
Terryjfitz said "For long term help, buy local honey. It develops resistance to local pollen.", while Davidr45 found it so helpful he took up a new hobby: "I suggest you try [eating] comb honey all year round ... I now keep bees in order to get a local supply."
A user named Solution said: "I heard about the pollen jab from the Doctor and have been having one a year. This really was a miracle for me ... The only problem is the doctors in the Midlands are not giving pollen jabs any more. I don't know why."
Paddy1 had an altogether more hair raising experience: "... you have one injection a week for 15 weeks. They increase the pollen each week to get you to a certain level and then you go on fortnightly, monthly etc. for 3 years... what happened next ... is very rare but on the tenth injection I went into anaphylactic shock... I was brought back to earth via adrenalin injection."
He's since started a treatment plan for people with a specific allergy to grass pollen. "[My doctor] put me on an immunisation programme where I take a tablet called Grazax every day for 3 years (yes, 3 years) and I will become immune to grass pollen. At the moment this is not on the NHS and costs around £3000."
Netty78 recommends avoiding cheese at night if coughing due to excess mucus is a problem as it will make the problem worse.
Mom2ds1 pointed out that you can buy pollen filters for windows, so at least you can get some fresh air even if you are stuck indoors.
If you have it tough at night, Netty78 recommends regular hoovering of your bedroom. It seems mother might have been right after all.
Terencio, whose hayfever was so bad it led to nosebleeds and (look away if you're of a sensitive disposition) sickness and diarrhoea from swallowing mucus, noticed one day that Germaloid pile ointment was "for sore or itchy mucous membranes" and started thinking...
Terencio: "I dried up my nose and applied some cream, more out of desperation than anything else. To my absolute amazement, I felt a warm tingle ... sneezed several times and the soreness eased and the itching stopped. This lasted for about an hour [so] I used a bit more cream [and] eventually it stopped altogether."
"You would be amazed how many people have said it has really worked for them... NOBODY has reported any adverse effects."
Hay fever can be seriously debilitating, so don't be put off from seeing your GP, and don't take no for an answer - many of you had to pester yours before you were taken seriously. If your symptoms are bad, he should refer you to an Ear Nose and Throat specialist.
And if you're still left with a runny nose after all that, Juliej102 says "all I can advise is soft tissues to stop red noses".
Good luck, and let us know how you get on at our hay fever forum
.