New Chronic Hive Pattern

Like so many useful and informative posts here on this mesage baord (and thank-you for that), I have all of a sudden been  experiencing hives out of the blue  for the last 6 months: Note: I am otherwise an extraordinarily above average healthy happy active  person.

The pattern has been this:

I get hives mostly in the evenings (after 9:00 PM) They last about 2 hours.
Mostly on my forearms but also  on my legs and back.
Scratching seems to make them come up and come up more.
They have been getting more severe.
And they also disappear for a week or so.  
Taking an anti-histamine seems to make them worse and then my lips swell up and I get hives on my mouth area as well.
I have gone to the hospital twice thinking it was going to get worse and it passed  both times.


I have wondered if they were brought on by:

(a) sweating (after using the elliptical machine for 30 minutes each night)
(I started showering  immediately after and this seemed to help)

(b)  diet: peanuts? cranberries?  asparagus? Yogurt?  foods I all suspected of eating before a few  severe attacks.

(c)  eating at night (around  8 PM)

(d)  dust mites in the couch I sit in where I watch TV around that 9 PM time.

(e) Re: Hormones,  being depleted after ejaculation. If that caused a hormone change in the body?

(f) extreme stress and anxiety related to concerns and fears about money and surviving in this economy
( I am not aware of  being stressed).    

Last Night:
Last night I felt like I was going to scratch myself to death.And I vomited BIGTIME after  drinking a can of carbonated Cranberry Spritzer - I checked the ingredianets and it had no "splenda" in it.

Based on the posts I read here - getting an allergy test seems useless.

Experiment:
I am going to try for the next two months not eating any solid food and drink only water after 6 PM and see what that does or does not do for this hives situation. I will repost in  60 days and report back on what happened or didn't happen from this.

Thanks for all these useful detailed posts about hives!

[nogossipzone]

Another common factor I am considering is

I started using puffers  for "athma" around the time that the hives started.

Last night I ate no food after 5pm that I could react to  and around 9 pm I used the blue puffer (Ventolin Salbutamol Sulpate Inhalation Aerosol) and   and what was left of my red puffer (Fovent flutisacone propionate - corticosteroid)  - AND I immediately broke out in hives and itching everywhere  including on my tongue and I had trouble swollowing. I took an anti-histamine and the hives  lasted about 90 minutes.  

[nogossipzone]

Since I stopped using the blue puffer (Ventolin) red puffer (Fovent)  the hives have not returned!

I will see a Dr. soon about getting alternative puffers/treatments, for intermittant asthma concern,  if possible

[nogossipzone]

I am now (almost) certain the puffers I was using were causing the hives - I am not sure it is was the blue or the red one

[nogossipzone]

hives have not returned

BIG MYSTERY SOLVED!
I think!

[nogossipzone]

Had minor hives last night. I am not sure if the meds in the puffer are not still in my bood stream. The hives came up on my wrist when scratching. I am still blaming the puffers at this point.