does anyone else suffer from hayfever!!! driving me crazy trying to set up PCRs and i look like im crying. sniffing all the time!! anyone have any useful tips to deal with it? taking antihistamines which make me sleepy. not great combined with a PhD!

I get really bad hayfever too, I was terrible a few weeks ago but it seems to have calmed down a bit now. I don't like antihistamine tablets, like you they make me drowsy which is no good! I tend to use a combination of a nasal spray and eyedrops, depending which bit is affected - although I tend to find that if my nose is bad and my eyes are just a bit itchy that the nasal spray sorts both out.
Hope that helps!
Ju

I found Boots own brand antihistamines didn't make me tired.

With me the sneezing is worst: it's embarrassing to be sneezing every few minutes

it also doesnt help when your trying not to contaminate samples...!!!

i also use nosespray and eyedrops, the latter homeopatic. the nosespray really sorts out the nose, and the eyedrops are just for feeling better - use them as much as you like.
i heard for some people the eyes are better during hayfever times when they wear contact lenses. others say they can't wear contacts when they have hayfever. you might experiment with that.

I get hayfever :o( Some antihistamines do make you drowsy as they affect the histamine receptors in your brain due to them being non-selective. I take loratadine tablets (clarytin but boots do their own brand of these) which don't seem to make me drowsy and they do keep my hayfever at bay.