Chronic Hives

[Ness8004]

About six months ago since I moved across country and suddenly started to experience hives. I have never experienced this ever in my life, the only allergy I have had was to Shellfish and I stayed away from that. The hives seem to be very prominent in the morning and evening. They just don't seem to be going away. I am drinkning hot lemon water to cleanse my system and I was taking reacton but i really don't want to continully take pills like that. Is stress a big factor for these hives? Is six months a long time for them to last? I have seen an allergist but I was allergic to dust mites and still shellfish so should I go back to them and get tested again? What else can I do to get rid of these annoying hives? It's driving me crazy!

Thanks

[summerluvr]

i have been given the Rosacea diagnosis as well (but i clearly get red scaly areas on my cheeks and jaw and it itches) and use metrolotion (rx) daily.  When i get hives now i get the acne like reaction you get as well, and find my rosacea flares up too... so i would think that somehow the allergy triggers mutiliple skin reactions.  

[suchan]

Hey everybody,  more often than not I believe that hives are anxiety related....and it doesn't even have to be the "surface anxiety", the kind that's obvious...I've had hives for three weeks now and the only thing I can come up with is that I'm struggling with some hidden anxieties.  a big change in schedule and life style can definately trigger hives....even if you don't even feel particularly bothered by anything....deep down you might be.   I did some research....if you combine about 20 to 40 mg of Pepcid AC with some descent allergy medecine like benedryl this seems to stop the hives....though they will come  back within half a day or so.   My sister told me that a doctor actually suggested this to her...it worked for her and it worked for me.  If you're worried about the drug combination, do the research.  there doesn't seem to be an interaction.  Now , after five days of doing the pepcid and benedryl....the effects have tapered off.   I've decided to try to combat the anxiety instead which is what i believe is the source of my hives.  I'm taking 15 mg of atarax and two benedryl....although with atarax I might not even need the benedryl.  atarax treats anxiety, nausea and hives.  You can't just treat the symptoms ....with hives you really need to try to get to the root of it.  Also, almost forgot to mention this...atarax is still a commonly perscribed drug and very reliable but it's also very very strong....so it's not a bad idea to cut the higher dose in half....for some reason I think it only comes in 25mg tabs...so get a pill cutter and take half.   Believe me it will still work.

[jojo1267]

A couple years ago I noticed while jogging, my skin on my chest and face would become itchy.  After jogging and showering I noticed I was very red and blotchy and then I'd breakout with what I originally thought was acne, but I would shower after so it was weird.  Then i thought it was my detergent, but I didn't change anything, but even so it was only on those specific areas of my body so that didn't add up.  Read my previous post, see if that helps.

I do breakout in prickly heat when I'm working in the yard all day and sweating.  This is totally different from the hives.

[jojo1267]

I can't remember when my hives started.  It seems like forever.  Really a couple years, but I think I have the triggers narrowed down to chocolate, red wine, chinese food made with soy sauce, raisins, grape jelly, jogging and I believe stress makes it linger longer.  
Now my dermatologist automatically said it was Rosacea, which if you read about Rosacea these are listed as triggers to it, but my hives occur mostly on my neck closest to my jaw line but spread to my chin and lower cheeks and to my chest.  It can take several weeks to go away as long as I avoid my trigger foods.  Unhappy with my diagnosis because where the hives were occuring weren't what the Rosacea web sites described, I went back to my dermatologist office and saw a different Doctor when I was in the middle of a breakout.  He suggested that I just have chronic acne and wanted to put me on Accutane and birth control pills.  I'm almost 40 and I have had acne throughout my life, but the way the breakouts were happening suggested hives to me.  So I asked before going that route, which I really don't want to do, can we rule out an allergic reaction.  He took a biopsy from my collarbone area and it came back as showing hive activity.  He put me on Zyrtec and I haven't seen him since.  Avoiding the trigger foods does wonders, but I slipped a few weeks ago and ate yogurt covered raisins and grape jelly.  Not at the same time of course..  I still have it on my neck.  It goes away very slowly on me.  The Zyrtec seemed to help at first, but now I'm not so sure.  I do take Xanax for stress when needed, but have not been prescribed it for hives.  I used to use Splenda, but stopped last year or so because I didn't know if that was doing something to my skin.  Who knows if the Splenda triggered all this in the first place, because this came out of nowhere one day, but now I just want it to go away.  I was thinking of seeing an allergist, but it sounds like they really don't have any answers either.  
I wish I could find a doctor that would not just take a glance at me and rush to a diagnosis.

Sorry you're all going through this, but I'm glad to see I'm not alone.

[summerluvr]

i had (have) chronic hives for 5 years.  i got allergy testing and blood testing and nothing came back as the cause.  I started an food elimination diet and low and behold eggs and anything with egg or mayonaise is my trigger. As well as pork and most fruits.  So if i avoid these i don't have hives.  I was taking claritan and reactine everyday at doulbe dose.  Now i just take the meds if i know i ate something i react to.  Fruit i miss, but i don't miss being itchy, or my lips swelling up.  

[slp1998]

I've been experiencing swelling and hives around my eyes which is driving me crazy! I have a lot of contact allergies and have stopped using products etc. in an attempt to get rid of my "hound dog" look! Some of my other triggers include hot/cold temperature changes, mold and other typical allergens (dust, house mites, grass) but I can't figure out why I'm breaking out around my eyes. Has anyone ever had problems with sweat causing hives? Twice now, I've woken up with swollen eyelids and hives the day after running so I'm wondering if sweat is triggering this reaction or if it is a result of fall allergens like mold and the temperature change (WI). I would love to hear if anyone has experienced anything like this. Thank you!