Question about hives

[starrynight]

I have had hives off and on since Eliza was born. I thought the problem was a new shampoo the first time but I never used it again. Now I don't know, sometimes they just show up when I wake up in the morning. And by the end of the day I am in so much pain from hives under the skin :(. I am going to call my doc and see if I can get some bloodwork or allergy testing to figure out what is up.

On a side note and sorry if this is tmi for some folks but the worst cases of the hives I have had were always a day or two after AF started.I define worst as besides the hives, I get swelling and pain. Did I suddenly become sensative to feminine hygenie stuff?? Or does anyone know anything about hormonal causes?

The rest of the time I get a very mild case and then it will go away, usually from the cold floor when I'm walking around barefoot. Those will go away if I put socks on. The rest of the time they are hugh, streaky and itch like crazy all over my body. Sometimes in clusters on certain areas.

please excuse any typos my left arm hurts so bad and Im typing poorly. Thanks!!

[KMommie]

Oh, you poor thing! I have a lot of allergies, and I hate it when I get hives. I went through a 4 month period where I got hives every Tuesday morning. My allergist never did figure out what was causing it. Looking back, I think it was my foolish attempt at the Atkins diet, and I must have some type of allergy to nuts...or it was just stress. It was the every Tuesday morning that threw me, though...why every TUESDAY? Hmmm, maybe because I had faculty meetings to go to, and my principal stressed me out???! :P

One thing you might want to try, is take an antihistamine the during the days of AF--before you have an outbreak,to try to counteract the worst of the hives. Antihistamines work better if taken before you have an outbreak, at least that's what my allergist told me. If Benadryl makes you sleepy, you could try the over the counter Claritin---and you'd only have to pop one pill a day.

This is totally unscientific, but I know that during AF, my skin is pretty sensitive, and my pain tolerance seems to be lower. Also, I tend to get sick/catch stuff right afterwards, as if my immune system is low.

Anyway, I hope you feel better soon, and find out what's causing those awful buggers!

Jeannie
mommy to Kiki 4/18/03

[barbarhow]

You poor thing. I have had hives like you are describing and it is just awful. I had months of spontaneous hives when I was in college. It was pretty awful. My hands and feet would swell up, I would get hives any where there was pressure on my skin-thus around the waistband of my way too tight jeans, ankles from my socks, wrist from my watch etc. I never went to an allergist-wish I had because I thnk they could have treated them and given me some relief. Benadryl can help but who wants to take it on a regular basis. Many times when people have protracted cases like this they will put you on a taper of prednisione. It is definately worth a try. I would call you r regular MD and if he has no suggestions I would see an allergist. I hope they go away soon.
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03

[starrynight]

Ya know the pressure thing makes sense to me, since some of my clothes are a bit snugger now than after I had Eliza and of course AF makes me bloat ack the joys. So things get a bit more snug so that explains the ones near my lower back/waistband area but not the rest of them... Something else is probably going on too.

What I am afraid of is my thyroid being out of wack, since I did some searches on the interent on hives and although that isn't listed as a cause...if it's out of wack your body can attack itself in the form of hives and pain.

I hate benedryl but I do occasionally take it, I even resorted to a dose of prescription rylatan or something like that. Doc prescribed it for Daria but I didn't want to give it to her because the side effects are blurry vision and dizziness. I didn't want to scare her since she wouldn't be able to tell me she felt that way so I never gave it to her just kept it in the house. I waited until bedtime to take it so I could just go to sleep and I do feel better this morning.

Thank you both for the sympathy! :D

[heva]

More sympathy here...hives are such a drag. Unfortunately, according to my allergist and my own experiences, you probably will never isolate what is causing them. As a physician, I haven't heard of any link between thyroid disease and hives. Just so you know, while rynatan does have an effective antihistamine for hives that is sedating, it also has a decongestant (sudafed) which can dry you out and make you wired. I would definitely go see an allergist, though, as you may be predisposed to other allergies with frequent outbreaks of hives.

Aveeno makes a nice oatmeal bath, if you're miserable and have time for a soak...

[starrynight]

Thanks for the heads up on rynatan. I only took like half a teaspoon since I was afraid of getting totally knocked out. A big reason why I didn't give it to Daria, a PA prescribed it for fluid in her ear. I gave her benedrly and robittussin instead and she was fine.

Anyway thanks for the info on the tyroid link. Sometimes all kinds of wacky stuff comes up in google and I have no clue what is and isn't right :(.