Women 200lb+, Let's Astonish Ourselves This April!!!

Got up early today to make bread and run laundry so we start the first week of Boyfriend's new job with everything clean and in order. Bread is on its second rise, and I've already folded two loads. I am having a very productive day, and that is very nice.

jazzadesigns wrote: »

Hi I’m 53 and 5’6”. I can’t wear eye makeup now and have to cover my hives with foundation to go to work. I am going to be having a big interview in the next couple of weeks so I’m really not happy about it. Has anyone here ever had anything like this? Any help would be appreciated!

((super I feel your pain sweetie hugs))) As a long term sufferer of hives (2003-2021), and so does my mother-in-law and on my hubby's side great niece suffers with hives. I have some hints and tricks! Sometimes it just clears up, and you are fine - I hope that for you! But if you do make it to the allergy Dr because you still have hives, there are some things you can do.

Benadryl, or as I call it "bena-drool". I am currently immune to it, but at first it was every four hours especially at the beginning years. Now I take ginger root, which acts the same as benadryl, without any of the sleepies or whatever benadryl causes. Licorice root is "like" prednisone, I kept it for when I was out of prednisone, as a backup. It is not recommended for long term (of course neither is prednisone aka the devils tic tacs), but this stuff is for until you get under a Dr.'s care. If you are still breaking out, you will do a "safe food" test. You will take everything out of your diet, except for one thing (rice first three days if I recall). Then over three days, add one more food, etc. to see if you have a reaction to some kind of food. I recommend prayer here, because this caused me a hearty suspicion that "all food is poison and is trying to kill me because, hives". So I did a constant, panicked IF, and often was afraid to eat food - because I would not want to eat and get worse hives. For me it only seemed to be hives, or worse hives and we never seemed to figure out the trigger.

Be calm, be patient, I could only do it with prayer. As a side note, peri-menopause and menopause - there is an element of allergy changing that happens. I honestly think that is what affected my hives long enough to get off the prednisone in 2021 (possibly, I still don't know). Your immune system goes into some sort of overhaul and your allergies change. I am saying this because: if you have never been allergic to a thing, or always been allergic to a thing - that can mean literally nothing when you hit peri-meno or menopause.

For when it is tough and you are at home, oatmeal baths. Put oatmeal in a sock and put it on your face and in the tub. Just FYI, for me when the bath is too hot, this is bad for my hives. I have to take tepid baths/showers. Try to figure out if your skin reacts to too hot or too cold (at first the allergy Dr. recommended only lukewarm showers/baths). I only use Dr. Bronner's soap for everything, and jojoba oil for the face or if monster face oatmeal aveeno. When my hives are really really bad, I will use a no color laundry detergent like babies use. Make-up I was so hit and miss on, I usually just couldn't wear it - sometimes it would cause monster face, but it would definitely make my face itchy and I would try to buy other make-up etc nonstop. There are some lotions with oatmeal for the body, but again, I couldn't make them last long enough for my needs. I found it difficult to stay lathered, but they helped a bit until I could do something. For me, it was a game of limiting. I was never able to cure the hives, or figure out why they were there - but, I could make them a little less sometimes.

I also picked up a pretty constant routine of washing my hands. I can't remember if this happened during the prednisone (there were years that EVERY single time I left the house I got sick) or if my hands would get itchy, and I would touch my face? Not sure, but it is a good thing to do. Prednisone and licorice root impede your immune system, that is what makes them work. But, you might want to be more careful with your immune system. Because, for me when I would get sick then, overdrive hives with the illness. It was tough.

If you are overwhelmed with emotional stress - sometimes doing a physical relieve helps immensely. I listen to classical music, and have lots of silence in my life. I mean, lots of silence. I got to the point, where ANY emotion - even a good one, would overwhelm me. That is why I would read books, go for way less stimulation. I was absolutely desperate though, because sleep was severely impacted by hives. I would feel like I had burning thorns pressed into my flesh all night, and they were itchy. Mostly, I couldn't sleep. Again, I recommend prayer. At first, I got so angry that I couldn't sleep!! Ohh, girl I was angry!! That was a vicious cycle there. I also, began to fear sleep like food, because I knew I couldn't and it was "I am not ready for a whole night of torture again!".

I used to have pretty severe monster face. Even the pic I posted, my hubby was like, "I think your face might have been swelling" I would have my eyes, lips swell etc etc, but if your tongue starts tingling call 911 NOW! Also, if your throat starts tingling, do not pass go call 911. I had it for so long, and yet it only happened once and I had to get an adrenaline shot in the ER.

Also, only allergy Dr.'s seem to "get" the pain of hives, my regular Dr. would be "oh, you are probably stressing"... yeah, and then when they finally cleared up, "Oh, you must not be stressing". If you asked my hubby, he and I would both say "the hives ARE the stress". Allergy Dr's get the constant stress of it, GP's don't. I guess because they usually treat acute cases. Like, less than a week. Allergy Dr.'s are long term.

While I was a nightmare case, my great niece who I was sore distressed to see had severe hives as a toddler (poor baby - she is my hero! She stayed sweet, upbeat, and optimistic!) It has been 3 years since she has seen a hive. Praise be to God! My mother in law, who had them as a child into her adulthood - and her case was not as severe as mine - has not have hives in 15 years! So, I think I was unusual in the constancy of the hives, usually it is a come and go sort of thing. With some nice long breaks. (((super hugs))) I hope something in here will help you until you get to the allergy Dr! I also, hope it isn't very severe or you figure out if you have a trigger.