Can't figure out if I have hives or not...

Recently I had been bitten on my back 8 or 9 times and I was so nervous being convinced they were bed bug bites, as this is my worst fear. This was over a month ago, and it was causing sever anxiety and worry constantly. I haven't been bitten since, so I'm kind of ashamed that I overreacted as I was working in a swamp area during a hurricane when it happened. Unfortunately, I feel as if i'm still mildly anxious deep down and anxiety has a tendency to cause something very obnoxious on my face and usually my neck, hives. For years I have gotten hives on my face and neck due to stress, one right behind my ear that appears in the exact same spot every single time. But sometimes a bunch of white bumps will pop up out of nowhere!? Then they itch, expand, turn red, decrease and then disappear like it was never there between 1-8 hours depending on how much I've irritated it. Whenever I'm bitten by a bug it has a tendency to swell and be really irritated and stays for minimum a week. With these "hives" I've been waking up with they're not nearly as bad they're just white bumps. My question though, are these possibly hives or something else? My allergies seem to be returning in September/October in the past few years. Has anyone ever heard of something like this? I'm desperate for help.

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

The typical hives lesions are usually red raised areas with a pale center. They are intensely itchy and they come and go. So, the rash is not typical of hives, although it is itchy and shows variation in occurrence. It could also be the bed bugs which have caused these lesions. Another possibility is an infection caused by a mite Sarcoptesscabiei, it burrows in the skin folds of hands and feet and causes intense itching mostly at night. This is also contagious. You may need to discuss this with your doctor who will examine you and may ask for blood tests and if needed may examine the scrapings from the skin to arrive at a diagnosis for appropriate therapy.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.