Not feeling well....

Kidvicious28

*this has nothing to do with diet and weightloss..I just need some advice/ideas/anything*

today didn't start out so great. I woke up in the middle of the night like 5 times feeling like I was going to throw up. I have to say, that's prob one of the worst feelings ever. I never threw up tho, but I still keep getting the urge. I think I may have had a fever too.

I don't know what my deal is.

I had a bad case of hives in march and since then I've had little bits of hives on random spots of my body every morning (mostly on the underneath part of my lower arms, the sides of my hands, the back of my neck, the front part of my upper arms and my ankles). No where else....how strange?
I don't know what it's from. I don't have health insurance at the moment, but I did save money up to go to the hospital in march and all the doctor said was "you're allergic to something"....DUH! I paid all that money just for him to tell me that!?! He also said "just take some antihistamines and rub on some calamine-ish lotion and it should be gone in about 2 weeks....*frustrated* I didn't need to pay that much money when I already knew to do that........it's been 3 months now and I still have them.

I haven' t been eating anything strange. All the same foods as I normally eat. Haven't changed perfumes, soaps, shampoos, conditioners....not even laundry detergents or softeners... I cleaned the heck out of my room/house........It's not from any of that.

Idk if anyone has ever had any problems with hives, but I could seriously use some ideas/advice....

vanessa915

You may not have changed any products, but the company making them may have changed their formulation. I had a friend recently have that happen to her. She'd been using the same hair product for years, then all of a sudden she started getting a rash on her shoulders and upper back. Turns out the company had changed their formula and she was allergic to whatever it was they now put in it.

Just something to consider...

I hope you figure it out soon! I know how frustrating it can be when you have stupid doctors tell you something you already knew and then you have to pay them for it. :mad:

Vanessa

Kidvicious28

I was thinking the same thing just a couple of seconds ago haha I did buy dove soap yesterday just to see if that was the case. So I'm going to start using that and slowly change my other stuff to see if I see a difference.
It's extremely frustrating to wake up and have hives every morning for 3 months. I'm hesitant on going back to the doctors...I don't want to pay a crap ton of money if they end up telling me something I already know. :ohwell:

velvetkist

You can develop an allergy to things that you did not previously have an allergy to before. For example: For years I used a solid deodorant. A few years ago I started having itching under my arms and when I looked closely at it, the skin was broken and it looked liked something was eating away at it. Lo and behold, I developed an allergy. I started using a gel. Problem sovled.

Depending on where it is on your body....the hives could be cause by something as mundane as laundry detergent.

And yes, doctors tick me off, too!


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vanessa915

I noticed on your profile that you're in grad school. Is there any kind of insurance available to you through your university? You should check with your grad school office to see if there are any resources available to you for that, or if they have any kind of student health clinic. There may even be some kind of free phone number you can call that will give you advice from a nurse or something like that. Poke around your school website too, there may be info on there for health resources available to students.

Vanessa

Kidvicious28

I'm taking online courses through Boston U. and I live in PA. So....it's a no go. but i will look around on the website

CALIECAT

Hi Jenna, sorry to hear you had such a ruff nite of it. I never had that problem. I did have shingles a couple years ago and it was really bad. But you are too young for that. Hope you find out what is causing it. Your friend Marie

havingitall

Hives can be brought on by stress too. If you are having some stressful things happening in your life beyond the normal, that could be it. Then the best things to do are either eliminate the stress or treat your body well by eating properly, exercising and get a good night's sleep

Kidvicious28

Thanks Marie I hope I figure it out too.

Kidvicious28

Thanks for your advice. I've been eating extremely healthy and exercising 6 days a week for at least 30 mins...and I've been sleeping great (except for last night). I do have a small amount of stress, but I never thought it could be enough to bring out hives. Hmm... that's something to think about tho. Thanks again!

Kidvicious28

does anyone know of a cheaper but good health insurance???

JoyousMaximus

Thanks for your advice. I've been eating extremely healthy and exercising 6 days a week for at least 30 mins...and I've been sleeping great (except for last night). I do have a small amount of stress, but I never thought it could be enough to bring out hives. Hmm... that's something to think about tho. Thanks again!

I hate to say it but exercise does stress out your body. Have you changed your routine recently?

I hope you figure it out. I have really really sensitive skin and I never know what is going to set it off so I understand what you are going through. :flowerforyou:

ivykivy

Most doctors give a discount for cash. I usually pay anywhere from $30-65 depending on what I have done. Usually this ends up being less than people's copay.

Some foods, like tomatoes & cashews, in large enough quantities can cause an allergic reaction. I found if I eat beans more that twice a week I itch like crazy.

does anyone know of a cheaper but good health insurance???

Kidvicious28

Yea I have changed my routine recently....about 2 weeks ago I would say. It's completely different. I now do interval training a long with circuit training and add in the 30 day shred....but I didn't start exercising until I found MFP,which was May 3 2009....and I've had the hives since march. soooo i dk.

Kidvicious28

yea I'm not sure what is causing it. I can def afford the copay...but if I go in I'm pretty sure they'll refer me to an allergist...and allergy test are pretty darn expensive :ohwell:

havingitall

I must say I am glad I live in Canada where medical care is not the financial concern it is the US. It's worrying enough being ill without the added stress of large bills

Kidvicious28

oh I hear you on that! It truly sucks. Maybe I should move to Canada

twocats

I have suffered from hives in the past. Did a lot of research and read that taking Ibuprofen (Advil) can really aggravate them in SOME (not all) people. I was under a lot of stress at the time as well.

I was achy most days and was taking a lot of advil. I discontinued it completely. And it really helped.

I also began using sulfate-free body washes and shampoos which helped.

Also taking warm, not hot, hot showers and moisturizing afterwards helped.

I still get a bit itchy sometimes and and one 10mg Zyrtec seems to help.

Good luck to you:) Hives are no fun at all:(

Kidvicious28

Thanks for your advice, I really appreciate it.

I've never taken advil (or the like) so I don't think that's the case, but thank you for sharing, now I won't use it if I ever do decide to take it. I'll def look into sulfate-free body washes/shampoos (are there any brands you could recommend?)
I've also been doing research and read that hot showers aren't good for hives, so I've been taking warm-cool showers. I haven't been moisturizing so I'll try that as well! Zyrtec keeps popping up in a lot of articles I read, so I'm going to go buy some and see if it helps.

How long did one of your cases of hives last?

CALIECAT

Hope you ae feeling better by now.
Calie

Kidvicious28

Thanks Marie I am feeling better. I still have hives tho lol but I think I might know why I'm getting them.

I did some research and I think it has to do with "Exercise Induced Hives". It's a condition that causes hives and other allergic symptoms during or after exercise. In some people, if they eat certain foods before they exercise it can cause some type of allergy symptom (like hives). The website said that I should keep track of what I eat before I exercise for a few weeks and if there's a pattern that's related to food I'm def going to stop eating it for awhile just to see if the hives go away. It also says I shouldn't exercise for 4 to 6 hours after I eat.

I was sick yesterday and didn't get in much exercise and the exercise that I DID do wasn't hardcore like normal....and I woke up this morning and didn't have hardly any hives. SOOOO maybe that's what it's from...I'm going to experiment with it and see what happens! I think maybe going easy on the exercise for this week will be a good idea. My normal day of exercise is about 70-80 mins of exercise...like running/jogging and then doing the 30 day shred...so it's always very active....I'm going to try and just walk this week and see what happens....

CALIECAT

I think that is a very good ideal, just walking this week and see how things are.
Calie