Shelley thought she had hay fever. In fact CHEESE was causing her sneezing fits 

  • Shelley Coleman, 47, from Plymouth, had severe hay fever symptoms
  • Her eyes would stream, nose would run and she'd get a tight throat
  • Six months ago she had a mildly irritable bowel so went to an allergy clinic
  • Practitioner suggested that she may be intolerant to dairy
  • She cut cheese, milk and butter from her diet - and results were immediate

With her eyes streaming, nose running and throat tight, Shelley Coleman reached for her usual antihistamine remedy.

'I'd had severe hay fever symptoms since my teens,' says Shelley, 47, who lives with her husband Martin, 57, a retired banker, in Plymouth. 'It was something I just accepted as a burden I could do nothing about.

'In my 20s, I would take as many as three or four tablets a day to try to keep the symptoms at bay. Back then, the pills made you really drowsy, so I would often walk around like a zombie.

Shelley Coleman had suffered from severe hay fever symptoms from 30 years

Shelley Coleman had suffered from severe hay fever symptoms from 30 years

'But without them, my eyes would water, I couldn't stop my nose running and I'd get a dreadful itch at the back of my throat, which I'd try to scratch with my tongue - which in turn made me sneeze. It was unbearable.'

Hay fever, an allergic reaction to pollen, tends to worsen in the summer, but Shelley, who runs a curtain and blind-making business, suffered all year round.

'I assumed I was allergic to pollen from a range of plants and grasses,' she says. 'The fact that the sunshine tended to make it worse only confirmed that in my mind.'

After visiting a GP, who diagnosed hay fever (or allergic rhinitis, to give it its medical name) Shelley simply carried on taking her hay fever pills. 'The GP didn't run any tests, but just listened to a description of my symptoms and diagnosed hay fever. I didn't think to question it.'

In fact, Shelley's symptoms had nothing to do with pollen. And, what's more, she now believes her reactions were caused by a dairy intolerance.

Hay fever affects an estimated 15 million people in the UK every year - expected to rise to a staggering 20 million this year.

She had a test to find she had a dairy allergy

She had a test to find she had a dairy allergy

Experts warn there could be more sufferers this spring because of high pollen counts - due to cooler conditions in March - mingling with heavy pollution and dust from the Sahara Desert. However, it's thought a significant number of people who believe they have hay fever in fact have non-allergic rhinitis - a condition that has nothing to do with pollen.

Yet as a result of their misdiagnosis, they're taking hay fever remedies such as antihistamines - which won't help at all.

'The term 'rhinitis' simply refers to the inflammation of the nose,' says Shahzada Ahmed, an ear, nose and throat consultant at BMI The Edgbaston Hospital and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust and one of the UK's leading rhinologists.

'Allergic rhinitis (commonly known as hay fever) is an inflammation of the nose caused by an allergy. Non-allergic rhinitis refers to inflammation that isn't caused by an allergy - or, rather, which may be caused by an allergy, but one we can't identify.

'This can be caused by a viral infection, such as a cold, or environmental triggers, such as smoke, perfume or changes in weather.'

Non-allergic rhinitis can also occur as a result of hormone changes in pregnancy or from taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

'The problem is there is no simple test for non-allergic rhinitis and no single symptom can tell it apart from hay fever,' adds Mr Ahmed.

Non-allergic rhinitis differs from hay fever in that it can occur all year round, rather than just in summer. It is surprisingly common - a 2007 Danish study in the journal Allergy found one in four people with rhinitis had the non-allergic type.

'It is extremely difficult, even for a rhinologist like myself, to diagnose - so it's no surprise that GPs without such specific knowledge can misdiagnose,' says Mr Ahmed.

'The fact that people often self-diagnose, assuming that symptoms are a result of hay fever, and buy over-the-counter medication only adds to the problem, especially as overuse of nasal congestants can make the rhinitis worse.' Allergies to mould, dust mites and pets can be mistaken for hay fever, too.

Shelley discovered the true cause of her symptoms entirely by chance. 'Six months ago, after some mild irritable bowel-like symptoms, I decided to visit a private allergy clinic,' she says.

 I was stunned. I'd suffered for more than 30 years, then, in a matter of days, it all just stopped

'They asked me what medication I was taking and I told them Piriton for my dreadful hay fever.'

The practitioner suggested that Shelley may be intolerant to dairy. So she cut cheese, milk and butter from her diet - she says the results were immediate.

'It was a real hardship because I love cheese and butter and ate at least one, if not both, on a daily basis - but my symptoms disappeared overnight. I was stunned. I'd suffered for more than 30 years, then, in a matter of days, it all just stopped.

'I gradually reduced the Piriton I was taking but, within weeks, I discovered I didn't need it at all.

'I do still get watery eyes if it's particularly bright and sunny, but my symptoms are nothing like as debilitating as they were before.'

Food intolerances are relatively rare and while they typically cause gut-related issues, they can lead to a wide range of other symptoms, including headaches, wheezing - and, occasionally, rhinitis.

It's not clear why Shelley's symptoms seem to get worse in summer. It may be that she has another unidentified allergy that is triggered by weather changes. But even if an allergy can't be identified, it's still important to distinguish between hay fever and non-allergic rhinitis to make sure you take the right treatment, says Dr Ahmed.

Since cutting out all cheese and diary products, her symptoms have gone

Since cutting out all cheese and diary products, her symptoms have gone

'Histamine is a chemical the body produces during an allergic reaction: it's what causes the sneezing, watery eyes and swollen nasal tissues associated with hay fever.

'As non-allergic rhinitis doesn't involve histamine, an antihistamine is ineffective in most cases. A low dose of a topical nasal steroid spray is generally more effective, as it reduces inflammation of the nose.

'This helps hay fever sufferers, too, though they generally benefit more from an antihistamine to combat the increased level of histamine that's produced to combat the allergen.' Janyn Tan, 52, a healthcare firm manager from Ayrshire, suffered from hay fever-like symptoms for years before discovering she was a sufferer of non-allergic rhinitis.

'I'm an outdoorsy person and am always around horses, so I'm exposed to all kinds of pollen and other potential allergens,' says Janyn.

'I'd assumed that my blocked nose was a result of that. I'd suffered since childhood and there never seemed to be any rhyme or reason as to when I'd get it.

'Over the years, when I realised it wasn't seasonal, I put my flare-ups down to a cold that wouldn't go.

'But one day, my husband, a former hospital doctor, pointed out that it might be non-allergic rhinitis instead. I'd never heard of it.

99

In miles per hour, the average speed at which a sneeze travels

'I didn't take it any further (there's no test to determine non-allergic rhinitis anyway), but it seemed to make perfect sense to me.

'Now, instead of reaching for the antihistamines, I use a nasal spray as soon as I feel my nose blocking, and I can manage it quite easily.'

Mr Ahmed says that patients who are in doubt over their hay fever - a clue might be that antihistamines don't work - should ask their GP for a referral to an allergy specialist.

'Getting a good clinical history should be enough to determine whether the rhinitis is allergic or non-allergic, for example, by ascertaining whether symptoms occur just in the summer - likely to be hay fever - or all year round.

'The key is in finding out what, if anything, you are allergic to.'

There are two allergy tests available on the NHS - the skin prick test, where skin is injected with tiny amounts of the suspected allergen to see if there is a reaction, and a blood test known as a specific IgE test, or RAST test, which checks for antibodies produced by the immune system in response to an allergen.

Allergy clinics can help pinpoint the allergen, but these are few and far between and NHS waiting lists are long.

Allergy UK says there are only 30 allergy specialists in the UK - one for every 700,000 people thought to have an allergy.

For Shelley, discovering the real cause of her severe symptoms has dramatically improved her quality of life. 'When I think back to all the years I suffered, the change is unbelievable,' she says.

'If only I had questioned it before, it would have saved a lot of misery.'

Additional reporting: Matt Atherton 

So what's making your nose itch? 

As well as non-allergic rhinitis, other conditions are often mistaken for hay fever

As well as non-allergic rhinitis, other conditions are often mistaken for hay fever

As well as non-allergic rhinitis, other conditions are often mistaken for hay fever...

Sinusitis: When you're battling a cold, sometimes the virus spreads from the upper airways to the sinuses, a system of air-filled cavities in the skull that are lined with a thin mucus film.

A bacterial infection can then develop in the lining, making it inflamed.

Symptoms include a runny nose, facial pain, congestion and even a high fever, and usually last slightly longer than a cold, but no longer than three weeks.

Sinusitis can be treated with paracetamol or, in chronic cases, antibiotics or even surgery.

A summer cold: Despite the name you can, of course, catch a cold in the warmer months. However, they are more common when it's cold, as viruses are more easily spread in winter (because we spend more time indoors, with less circulating air). The symptoms occur as your body fights off the virus, and are similar to hay fever - a runny nose, sneezing and congestion. The main difference is that a cold doesn't usually last longer than two weeks, while allergies can last for months.

Dust mite allergy: More than 12 million people are thought to suffer an allergy to dust mites - microscopic organisms that live in our homes and feed off the skin cells we shed.

Dust mites are around all year long, so can trigger the same symptoms as hay fever even in the winter - which is what can help to distinguish between the two conditions.

While antihistamines will help, the key is to avoid the trigger in the first place.

So, if you have been trying to avoid pollen by staying indoors, what you really need to do is reduce the dust mites in your environment - by vacuuming frequently and using a damp cloth on dusty surfaces.

Pet allergy: Around one in 30 of us suffers from pet allergies, caused by a reaction to proteins in animals' skin cells, saliva or urine. If symptoms are worse when you're with animals or in a pet owner's home, this may be the problem. Any animal with fur can be a source of allergies.

Mould allergy: Mould is made up of microscopic forms of fungi, and tends to be found in kitchens or bathrooms because it likes damp environments. The black spots of mould produce spores, which float invisibly in the air - and some people are allergic to these.

A mould allergy also triggers hay fever-like symptoms. However, unlike pollen, mould is airborne all year round. Preventative steps include using mild detergent to clean it off - and avoiding compost heaps.

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