Has moving made my hives go away?

Hi,
I grew up in Raleigh, NC.  During my freshman year of high school i began getting terrible hives.  None of my allergists (I tried a few) could figure it out or find a drug that made them go away.  I had hives more days than not for the next four years.  I moved to the mountains of North Carolina for college (Appalachian State) and the hives pretty much went away.  I had two mild outbreaks during my freshman year of college, but this time the same medicines actually made the hives go away.  I had no hives the final three years of college.  Next I spent one year at the beach (Charleston, SC) and had no hives there.  I moved back to Raleigh for 6 months and had hives the whole time.  I left Raleigh and moved to Montana, and the hives immediately went away.  So my question is-- do you think something or some combination of thinks in Raleigh (plants, elevation, foods, climate, etc) are causing the hives?  If so, how might I guess what places might share a lot of characteristics with Raleigh in the future-- to avoid further hives?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Urticaria, or hives, is truly not one disease, but a reaction pattern of the skin.

In most of the cases of chronic urticaria, the underlying pathology is idiopathic i.e it is not linked to any cause. Then it can be caused by medicines, diseases like hepatitis, hyperthyroidism, lymphomas, collagen vascular diseases, and cancers of the rectum, kidneys and gastrointestinal tract. Chronic infections such as chronic sinusitis can be associated with urticaria and sinusitis is related to air borne allergens and inhaled infections.So this may be the reason in your case.

I hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted.