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| Helen says her condition has affected her work and it's not a joke |
HELEN Lederer has joked about most of the problems in her life, often using them as self-deprecating material for her stand-up gigs or fodder for her novel writing.
Yet there's one issue that has been no laughing matter for the Ab Fab actress.
From an early age Helen has been plagued by hay fever throughout the summer and early autumn, especially if the pollen count is high.
Helen, now 60, whose face was a familiar one on our TV screens throughout the Eighties and Nineties as she enjoyed roles in Bottom, French And Saunders and most notably as Joanna Lumley's ditzy journalist chum Catriona in Absolutely Fabulous, believes she may have inherited the condition from her father, Peter, who died at the age of 52 of a heart attack.
"I have memories of my father sneezing a lot," says Helen. "It was quite relentless. He also had itchy eyes and had to stay indoors away from the pollen."
More than 10 million Britons suffer from hay fever, a common allergic reaction to pollen which causes symptoms such as sneezing, itchy eyes and a runny nose.
Yet while we think of hay fever as being an early summer problem, experts say it can last well into October.
Lindsey McManus of Allergy UK, a charity which supports the estimated 21 million allergy sufferers in the UK, says: "Hay fever, also known as seasonal allergic rhinitis, can affect people from March through to October. It really depends on what you are allergic to."
The hay fever season begins with the release of pollen by trees, particularly birch and oak, as early as February and continues to late May. Grass pollens, which an estimated 90 per cent of sufferers are allergic to, appear between May and September and peak in June and July. From summer into autumn, levels of weed pollen and fungal spores rise.
Treatment for the condition includes corticosteroid nasal drops, sprays and tablets or nasal decongestants.
"I'm a city girl at heart but just being outside in the park would be enough to set off my hay fever," says Helen, who lives in London with her second husband Chris Browne, who is a GP.
"I spend a lot of time in London and I was up and down to Liverpool when I was in Hollyoaks but now, thanks to my allergies being under control, I can go anywhere
"I'd get a runny nose and my eyes would itch so much I'd end up looking like a pig. I was often inside and it felt so dull when I thought others were out doing interesting things. I used to dread hay fever season and it got worse when I hit my teens. If I was near a field of newly-mown grass, that was it, I was finished for the day. My eyes would go red and they'd run continually but you can't just cover your eyes up. You need them."
As her career progressed, Helen, who most recently appeared on our screens as alcoholic midwife Mariam in Channel 4's Hollyoaks, says: "As a comedienne, when you're performing, hay fever really starts to affect you even inside a theatre. It's amazing how pollen is just about everywhere you go. I could always tell when it's going to be bad when I could see the pollen grains flying about."
Helen's plight was made worse when she began to get similar symptoms if she had been in contact with a cat or dog.
"My daughter Hannah had a lovely cat when she was growing up but I was always slightly sniffly around it," she reveals. "When it passed away I found my breathing got better. Whenever I visited friends I wanted to feel I could be friendly and stroke their pets but if I did my nose started running and my eyes would itch."
Although she was never prescribed anything for her hay fever as a child, over the years Helen has tried most over-the-counter remedies including antihistamines such as Piriton, which work by preventing histamine from binding to receptors.
However with the side-effect of drowsiness she has been reluctant to use them when she has been working.
"Having hay fever and a pet allergy was often doubly bad for me and I would try to brave it out which meant I looked or felt dreadful or I'd take antihistamines, which made me quite sleepy," she says. "I'd try to plan ahead and if I was visiting a house with a pet or the pollen count was forecast to be high I'd take medicines beforehand.
"However when you're on stage, you need to be on the ball and remember your lines or the other actors will be furious. You have to be able to focus, which can be difficult if your medication makes you sleepy.
"After work I'd fall asleep at dinner and I couldn't have a drink when I was taking medication.
"Every actor fears losing their voice and they use voice pastilles but with hay fever you know it's going to happen. When you're on stage you want to be yourself and to sound as clear as possible. I also had to make sure I didn't come into contact with flowers as they would trigger a full-blown attack."
Recently Helen began using a drug-free pollen barrier balm called Hay Max, which can be rubbed around the nostrils to trap allergens before they get into the body. A study conducted last year by the charity Allergy UK revealed the balm helps eight out of 10 sufferers who try it.
Because of her hectic schedule promoting her debut novel, Losing It, which was shortlisted for the PG Woodhouse Comedy Literary Prize, as well as The Edinburgh First Book Award 2015, Helen was keen that the condition wouldn't prevent her from working.
"I've been all over on my book tour," she laughs. "It's lovely to travel around and meet people who find my book funny. Yet I didn't want to do literary talks and appear at festivals with a snotty nose.
"I was recently at Worthing, East Sussex doing a gig and then I went on the next day to do a recording about comedy fiction so I needed to sound clear. On the way there my eyes started itching, even in the car. I had a little pot of Hay Max in my bag so I used quite a lot as the pollen count was really high and it worked wonderfully."
"I go where the work is," explains Helen, who starts on the Absolutely Fabulous film next month. "I spend a lot of time in London and I was up and down to Liverpool when I was in Hollyoaks but now, thanks to my allergies being under control, I can go anywhere. A lot of the literary talks are in smaller towns but now I don't hesitate to accept them, whatever time of year it is. It's an extra weapon in my armoury."
l Hay Max drug-free pollen barrier balms are £6.99 per pot and are available from Holland & Barrett, selected Morrisons, Waitrose and Boots, independent pharmacies and health stores. Visit haymax.biz
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