Chronic Hives question
Jennjoywolf
Posts: 30 Member
I was wondering if anyone has had experience with Chronic Hives?
I started with them about 2 months ago. I saw an allergist and he says that its chronic with no explanation. I don't buy that. I believe my body is not happy with something its been exposed to - perhaps my terrible eating or alcohol abuse?
So obviously I'm here to first get healthy, but also I'm curious to see if this situation improves after I've been eating properly for a while.
These hives break out every day for a few minutes at a time unless I scratch and then they last about 20-30 minutes. They'll go away for an hour or two and then come back.
Zyrtec works - one pill every three days stops the breakouts.
If you've dealt with this and have had success stopping them, please let me know. Thanks!
I started with them about 2 months ago. I saw an allergist and he says that its chronic with no explanation. I don't buy that. I believe my body is not happy with something its been exposed to - perhaps my terrible eating or alcohol abuse?
So obviously I'm here to first get healthy, but also I'm curious to see if this situation improves after I've been eating properly for a while.
These hives break out every day for a few minutes at a time unless I scratch and then they last about 20-30 minutes. They'll go away for an hour or two and then come back.
Zyrtec works - one pill every three days stops the breakouts.
If you've dealt with this and have had success stopping them, please let me know. Thanks!
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Replies
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badwolf2015 wrote: »I was wondering if anyone has had experience with Chronic Hives?
I started with them about 2 months ago. I saw an allergist and he says that its chronic with no explanation. I don't buy that. I believe my body is not happy with something its been exposed to - perhaps my terrible eating or alcohol abuse?
So obviously I'm here to first get healthy, but also I'm curious to see if this situation improves after I've been eating properly for a while.
These hives break out every day for a few minutes at a time unless I scratch and then they last about 20-30 minutes. They'll go away for an hour or two and then come back.
Zyrtec works - one pill every three days stops the breakouts.
If you've dealt with this and have had success stopping them, please let me know. Thanks!
my first priorities would be getting a handle on your "alcohol abuse" then your "terrible eating". If after that and if the hives are still an issue, see a new doctor0 -
Alcohol can trigger chronic hives.0
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A lot things can cause hives; medication (even just ibuprofen), food allergies, stress, latex, etc.
I would write down anything you think might possibly be the culprit and visit your doctor and talk to him/her about it. Like if you've had a changing in your eating habits and introduced foods you don't typically eat, if you have had a change in your stress level or increased your physical activity lately, also mention the alcohol.0 -
I've had contact urticaria (hives) as long as I remember but never associated it with food or lifestyle. What makes you doubt your allergy doctor and think it's anything other than unlucky genes? I have allergies such as cats but never thought I could cure that through diet either.0
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You can totally have non allergic urticaria of unknown origin. My poor lil 3yo has had it for a year now and its completely unrelated to any food allergy or common causality we can ascertain. Shes on antihistamines twice a day and we have to try and wean her off every 3m. Shes improved a bit now where we can sometimes omit for a couple of days but eventually they return. Am hoping eventually they will go altogether as they make her 'feel sad' and obviously itch and bother her0
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Chronic hives can be a symptom of anxiety. I wouldn't be surprised if your "terrible eating" and "alcohol abuse" are causing you a great deal of anxiety.0
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That's really bizarre. What did the doctor say, just to live with it?0
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I get them frequently but not chronically and only a couple times had to go to the ER. Zyrtec and off brand Zyrtec pills are the only thing that really work for me. I would second the other folks saying first get the booze issue under control as well as food. If you are leaning towards healthier eating, I'd try cutting way down on processed foods. That and sodium. I hope you see some improvement because hives are so annoying.0
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Something can set them off to begin with, and then they can become chronic, even without being exposed to the allergen again. Mine started with an antibiotic, but they kept coming back, even when I stopped taking that medication. My allergist told me it was like my body and skin "freaking out" and we had to find them a way to calm down. Claritin worked for me. You have to take enough of the antihistamine to make the hives go away, and take it regularly so that they don't come back, and then very gradually wean yourself off. If you have an outbreak, you have to go back to the higher dose until they go away again without an outbreak. It can take a while.0
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I have topical reactions all the time (never internal like breathing issues). I wash off the affected area and if that doesn't work, I apply hydro-cortisone cream, if that doesn't work, I take an antihistamine (benadryl).
My main issues are chemicals in make-up, skin care, hair care and household products. I use biodegradable laundry detergent, natural cleaners, mineral make-up and am very, very careful about hair care products. Most hair sprays pretty much coat me in hives.
Most of the issues I have now occur when I'm outside my home and around other people. 0 -
This is not uncommon. I sometimes have them. It could be caused by dry skin, even if your skin doesn't feel particularly dry. Use a really good lotion and see if that helps. I like Eucerin's skin calming lotion.
Also, it sounds like you should consider addressing your alcohol consumption. Stress can contribute to hives.0 -
badwolf2015 wrote: »I was wondering if anyone has had experience with Chronic Hives?
I started with them about 2 months ago. I saw an allergist and he says that its chronic with no explanation. I don't buy that. I believe my body is not happy with something its been exposed to - perhaps my terrible eating or alcohol abuse?
So obviously I'm here to first get healthy, but also I'm curious to see if this situation improves after I've been eating properly for a while.
These hives break out every day for a few minutes at a time unless I scratch and then they last about 20-30 minutes. They'll go away for an hour or two and then come back.
Zyrtec works - one pill every three days stops the breakouts.
If you've dealt with this and have had success stopping them, please let me know. Thanks!
Look into food allergies. I used to get hives and, lo and behold, I now realize I have not had them since eliminating soy from my diet.0 -
If you're not allergic. Bee pollen is great for allergies etc etc0
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I've been suffering from idiopathic chronic hives for the past 6-8 months. Right now I take 2 zyrtec, 2 xyzal, 2 zantac, and 1 singulair to treat them and they still don't go away completely. I've been on two 10 day courses of steroids and I was prescribed doxepin for a while as well. I continue to break out daily, mostly in the evening. My allergist has done numerous blood tests and has not been able to find anything. I've had allergies all my life, but he does not think that it is anything I'm allergic to. He said in my case it may be an autoimmune disorder. Right now the goal is to get them completely under control and not have any breakouts.0
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That's really bizarre. What did the doctor say, just to live with it?
I haven't had hives but it's fairly common for doctors to tell me symptoms I have are idiopathic (of unknown origin). Most recently it was double vision. Now they're rethinking it in light of some new symptoms but yeah at the time they pretty much said "here's an eye patch so you can drive. Don't worry you'll adjust."0 -
I have started getting hives recently. I had a session of it tonight. Aloe vera gel seems to calm it right down and make it go away quicker.0
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yes the allergists told me the same thing. I had them for a whole year, seen all kinds of allergists, naturopaths, and finally a functional medicine dr- he helped the most, diagnosing me with leaky gut syndrome (which most conventional docs don't 'believe in'., but whatever) It makes complete sense to me. I was able to heal them by going gluten-free (in my case, i am intolerant and it makes my intestinal wall thinner), eating whole foods (I'm a vegan and can't handle the processed crap), and by using neem oil- it's amazing for the itching and it's a blood cleanser! smells funny, but worth it. I also took hcl and glutamine to heal my gut. my hives went away, but then for some dumb reason i started eating gluten again and the hives came back, so now i'm back to square one having to heal myself slowly again. i refuse to take steroids, but i do take a zyrtec if it gets so bad i can't stand it. It also has a lot to do with stress and hormones. Work on reducing stress (meditating, yoga, etc) and balancing hormones (balance your hormones, balance your life by claudia welch is a great resource). Hope that helps!!0
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My daughter gets stress hives when she's anxious. Daily Zyrtec might be reducing the frequency, but she needs a Benadryl on top of the Zyrtec to treat them. If you keep a diary, you may be able to identify triggers.0
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I had hives for ten months. It was awful. I got the same response from my doctor as you did. Finally, I saw an allergist specializing in food allergies. She diagnosed a wheat allergy, and I haven't had a hive in 30 years, except on the rare occasions where I have wheat.0
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PS, The doctor did a blood test (RAST) followed by skin testing.0
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My son suffered from chronic hives for months. We went to an ENT allergist and they allergy tested him for everything (food + environmental). They found he had a moderate allergy to milk that was causing his break outs. Since we cut back on his milk intake by 75% he hasn't had one outbreak (going on 6 months now). He used to get a bad hive break out once a week.
Have a full allergy testing done - blood test as well as the skin testing they do. You shouldn't just have to "live with it". A good doctor can find what the cause is and come up with a treatment/prevention plan. It could be as simple as eliminating one thing, or coming in once or twice a week for a shot, Good luck!0 -
I've gotten hives all of my life. Sometimes it's so bad i will end up with welts that look like someone beat me with a whip. Other times i just get a raised rash, especially anywhere i am tattood. If i leave them alone and don't let fabric rub they can go away pretty quick.
As a kid i got them a LOT! I would often end up in the emergency room with unexplained rashes and difficulty breathing. Then it was hard to determine what the cause was because i went everywhere and did everything.
I get them less as i get older. The hives i get still are usually anxiety related. Sometimes i get them from dust. I don't get them often so i don't always realize right away that the reason my arms are covered in welts is because i moved a dusty box in the basement. Now that it's Christmas time i have to deal with trees. Real trees make me break out all over my arms and i have to be careful not to touch any part of the tree with my arms, hands aren't as sensitive. Walks in the woods require long sleeves. I even have to be careful with a fake tree. It gets a shower in the tub every year to remove all dust because that's almost as bad as a real tree. And then there's dusty mold. If i clean out a basement with mold, i itch for days.
Even though i see these patterns, my Dr still calls them "unexplained" because they are too random. Benadryl is a good friend of mine.0 -
I have topical reactions all the time (never internal like breathing issues). I wash off the affected area and if that doesn't work, I apply hydro-cortisone cream, if that doesn't work, I take an antihistamine (benadryl).
My main issues are chemicals in make-up, skin care, hair care and household products. I use biodegradable laundry detergent, natural cleaners, mineral make-up and am very, very careful about hair care products. Most hair sprays pretty much coat me in hives. Most of the issues I have now occur when I'm outside my home and around other people.
I'm experiencing this now, and I can't figure out what's doing it.
cortisone cream works a little bit but not enough. I'm just about to try benadryl. Good to know I'm thinking along the right lines.
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About 10 years ago I had chronic hives for about an entire year. Got them all the time to the point where they had a pretty major impact on my life, I was in university at the time. It was so strange, I would get pretty bad bouts of them on a daily basis, one minute I would be fine, then the next I'd have hives all over most of my body, sometimes with my lips and eyelids swelling as well, then a few minutes or a half hour later they'd disappear again without a trace. I went to a few doctors including a dermatologist and an allergy specialist, neither of which was particularly helpful. The allergy specialist actually told me that something like 80% of the time they're not able to figure out why someone gets chronic hives, but once it goes away it usually never comes back. After months of maxing out on Benedryl and then eventually taking some type of steroid (I forget what it was called) I did finally stop getting them, and have never had the again. I know that's probably a mixture of reassuring and not so much, but hopefully yours resolve themselves soon, good luck!
I should add that while lots of people here have some good advice for troubleshooting a source, I'm pretty sure that I didn't implement any significant diet or lifestyle changes at the time as nothing was really recommended, so there was no magic bullet solution for me, they just...went away.0 -
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daily doses of reatcine 20mg and zantac 150 mg keep mine under control..miss a day and within 36 hours I am covered head to toe once again. No allergies to be found,showing elevated thyroid antibodies. I am told it's an autoimmune disease without any explanation and more than likely responsible for the increase in weight in the past few months since the hives first appeared. I intend on figuring it out...good luck everyone0
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I'm experiencing this now, and I can't figure out what's doing it.
cortisone cream works a little bit but not enough. I'm just about to try benadryl. Good to know I'm thinking along the right lines.
The one thing about bennadryl is that it is a potent sleep aid. It's the snoozy ingredient in Nyquil. It has little effect on me.
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Chronic hives can be a symptom of thyroid or hormonal issues. My stepdaughter is dealing with chronic hives and they believe it is related to some hormonal issues. See and endocrinologist and have your levels checked.0
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FatFreeFrolicking wrote: »Chronic hives can be a symptom of anxiety. I wouldn't be surprised if your "terrible eating" and "alcohol abuse" are causing you a great deal of anxiety.
All of this. A few years ago, I broke out in head to toe hives for 3 months, so severe that I couldn't wear normal clothes. I couldn't wear anything but cotton. Round after round of antihistamines and prednisone and they kept coming back. \
I ended up seeing an allergist (who is a godsend)... my cortisol levels in my blood were so high they were off the charts. She put me on hydroxysine and lexapro for a few months, and they went away. I quit taking them both and that's when the anxiety/panic attacks started. When I got really stressed, the hives would come back. So, I take lexapro daily to help control the anxiety... but it's the counseling that really helped.
If you're so stressed out that you're eating poorly and drinking a lot - I'd say start there.
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My husband had "chronic hives" for almost 2 years (along with mood swings, fatigue, and some other issues) before his specialist specialist finally ordered a vitamin D test. They hadn't thought of it before because he works outside, but sure enough, extremely low vit D levels. He's on a supplement--no more breakouts.0
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