Please help! Chronic unexplained HUGE hives!

Hi.
I'm brand new to this site, so please excuse me if I seem like I don't know what I'm doing or how exactly this whole thing works in advance...

But, I have had huge hives or welts, since August. I've seen specialists and been in hospitals and have had every test (as far as I know) run on me, with no real etched in stone answers.. Just some "this is what it might be", "this is what might help" and every doctor (even some within the same office but different specialties) disagrees with the other.. Everyone seems to have their own ideas, but no real answers..

I've been told I have everything from mrsa to toxic erythema multiforme to vasculitis to cellulitis to angioedema... But never anything to really back it up, except for the mrsa.. Every test the doctors have done on me comes back normal, with the exception of my Immunglobulin E being high, my triglycerides are high and my ASO count being high (forgive me if I don't have the terminology down yet).

The hives come and go, but mostly they just keep coming.. There is nothing I have done/ ate/ bought that was or is abnormal.. I've been on Prednisone, Solumedrol, Doxepin, Xyzal, Zyrtec, Loratadine, Benadryl, Ranitadine, Aciphex, Nexium, Calcium Tabs, Mag-Ox, Lexapro (for the stress and anxiety of dealing with this illness for the last 5+ months), Xanax (as needed) as well. I think that's all of them. Nothing helps. Nothing keeps them away. The prednisone helped in the start, Doxepin helped for about a month.. Stress seems to make them worse, but doesn't cause them..

The hives start out really small and grow and grow and grow. When one spot gets too big and my skin feels like it's going to burst, it gets white in the middle and seems to just spread then, from the same spot, just like a spider web or something.. They look different depending on where they are on my body.

My symptoms are hard to tell, I have been on so much medication that I don't know what is from what anymore. I gained about 30 pounds at my heaviest and currently am about 20 pounds overweight. I'm always dizzy, tired, foggy headed, nauseous, vomiting, feeling confused (with the simplest of things), headaches, depressed, in general pain and that's all I can think of at the moment.

The hives went away for about 3 weeks in November with the Doxepin and Xyzal combo. The Prednisone only seemed to ruin my life may I add. I had to have my gallbladder removed (surgeon and primary doctor think that the gall stone/bladder attacks were brought on by Prednisone) in December. December is when they came back and have only gotten worse.

I guess what I'm looking for here after my sob story is maybe someone who has or is experiencing the same thing. I am desperate for answers. I can't live like this for much longer. If I had the money or the time off work I would try the Mayo Clinic, but it's not that simple for me. I am miserable and am looking for any kind of insight.

Any info or advise would be greatly greatly appreciated.
Feel free to ask any questions if you feel it will help produce an answer.
And I'm not sure what the protocol is for this site yet, but I will probably post this in a few different forums, so please also excuse the annoyance that may cause.
Thanks in advance for any help at all.

Ps. I also added pictures. I hope it's not too much.
Hopefully someone out there will be reminded of something they know of.














-Krystle

[krystleball]

I tried inserting some clickable thumbnails of pictures, it didn't work.
So i'm trying again.
thanks.
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[LisaSpp]

You might see if the doctors will try you on a thyroid treatment and see how that goes.

[allmymarbles]

One: Stay away from prednisone if they let you. It can cause very serious problems and wrecks your immune system.

Has the question of allergy every come up? I once had something that could not be diagnosed and a very clever diagnostician suggested I look for an allergy. Here is what he proposed (he said it was more effective than elimination diets, but needed will power):  Drink nothing but water for three days. Add one food after three days. Every three days add another food. etc.

On the third food I found my allergy - oranges - and the symptoms that had disappeared came back in full force because I ate lots of oranges, which I loved.  Allergy had not been detected because all the symptoms were internal. I just kept telling doctors that I felt "swollen" and flushed and out of sorts. Allergic reactions can vary widely.