Hives and Severe Joint Pain

[jbenton]

My son 15, had hives last week.  Severe hives moving from one part of his body to another.  He was on a medication just prior to this called Solodyn (for acne).  (We stopped the Solodyn about a week ago when the rash first appeared.)  The doctors aren't sure if that is what triggered this.  The hives a week later have slowed up but we are now having severe joint pain.  The joint pain also moves daily from one area of his body to the other.  One day it is on the right side affecting his hands and feet mostly, then the next day it is on the other side.  Sparadically it become so severe he can't walk on that foot or write with that hand.  He is on Clarinex and Allegra now due to the rash. It does help but occassionally that rash will reappear for a few hours then gone again.  I am truly concerned about the joint pain, because it isn't minor, it is debilitating for him.  Please let me know if there is something that we are overlooking.  I have found individuals on the internet that have these same problems but no way to ask them what the cure was.  Please help.  
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[emtt]

I have had this as well for about 3 weeks now. All of a sudden, i had hives and everyday i would take benedryl to supress the histamines. The third day, i got angioedema from advil (NSAID). When the histamines are active in your body, NSAIDs can cause angiedema. Anyways, my tongue began to swell and i went to the ER where i got a prednisone drip. Doc gave me an Px for epi-pen and10 day supply of prednisone, which was tapered. Anyways, went to my primary physician that day and had blood drawn. 2 days later, doc said i was not allergic to anything. Went to an allergist about 2 weeks later, all the while ive been getting hives when the benedryl ran low in my system. Allergist/immunologist immediately diagnosed me with dermographism after hearing my story and seeing pictures of my hives. He said that it can last up to a year and that most cases he's seen only last for 6 months- 1 year, while 1 or two last forever. He said as long as i take 1-2 zyrtec daily, it will control the hives. So its been 3 weeks as of now since the hives started and im not currently taking prednisone anymore (hated it!), my right knee joint began to hurt with sharp pain, but then went away. Not sure if Doc diagnosed it properly, or its something more severe? The zyrtec is controlling the hives well, but if i wait too long in between doses, the hives return all over(only at night time). I have always been healtyh and considered myself to have a strong immune system. Not sure why this onset was so sudden. My blood work came back that i was VIT D deficient and B12 was in low range of 300 (normal is 200-1000). Doc also gave me VIT D Px so we will see what happens. Did your doc get back to you?

[kamran70]

Please tell us what was the cause ? my 13 year old daughter has the same problems. Please send to ***@****

[jessmarr30]

i have had chronic hives covering my entire body.. and also swelling of legs hands and face and even my lips.. i have lost my voice a few times.. they have had me on vistril, benydryl,zyrtec and ellegra. ellegra is the only thing that keeps it at bay for a few hours. i am going to see a demratoligist tomorrow.. i was very interested in your post because arthritis also runs in my family.. if you have any ideas please help please feel free to contact me at my email address at ***@****

[llanodaddio]

Our 14 year old son took amoxicillin for 4 days for a sinus infection, then broke out in hives.  Doctor gave him a steroid shot for the hives.  Hives have begun slowly disappearing over the last 48 hours, though not completely gone yet.  Now his joints are stiffening up and have a purplish shade to them.

[crunchyinmilk]

I've had the hives, knots, and stiffness for the past week and have come to the conclusion that it is a Sulfa allergy. I got mine from giving my horse Trimethoprim/sulfa and might not have figured it out if my husband didn't know about his sulfa allergy already. It started with hives and puffy eyelids (presumebly from hives), and pain in my elbow I thought was from having it in the same position at work all day. I also had a half dozen huge bug bites with 1/8 pus filled tops. I then started getting knots (which I thought were also bug bites at first). My other joints seized up and I got more knots. I finally figured out that it was either flys eating my horses medication in her food and biting me or mosquitos biting her and then me that probably caused the nasty bug bites, and may or may not have been all of it. I might have breathed or ingested some of her medication while I was giving it to her for a week.  Apparently sulfa is also in some generic prescriptions so let pharmacy as well as the doctor know this might be the issue.

This is a list of stuff that will set off sulfa allergies.

Sulfonamide Antibiotics:
sulfadiazine
sulfamethoxazole
sulfasalazine
sulfisoxazole
sulfacetamide
sulfanilamide
sulfathiazole
sulfabenzamide

Thiazide Diuretics:
hydrochlorothiazide
chlorthiazide
metolazone
chlorthalidone
indapamide
methyclothiazide

Loop Diuretics:
furosemide

Sulfonylureas:
chlorpropamide
tolbutamide
tolazamide
glipizide
glyburide

Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors:
acetazolamide

[missyg2012]

Over the last two months I have experienced extreme joint pain. I was one Solodyn for a year and a half and a couple months ago, I started feeling a dull pain in my shoulders, then it trickled into my wrists and fingers, then eventually into my knees and my ankles are tight. I've had just about every kind of blood test and everything has come back negative, even arthritis.

How is your son? Did things clear up? Is there any kind of advice that you can give me? Or anything that I should expect?