autoimmune disease? something else?

[purplelostmoon]

I have had chronic hives and major swelling of the lips, tounge, fingers, toes, even my skull, since the last week of January.  I was on steroids and antihistimes without any relief.  The allergist did blood tests and found my IgE levels were very high so he gave me a shot of Xolair to combat them to see if they would stop hives.  It did not.  He did more blood work and saw my IgG levels were high, my white blood count was high and I tested positive for ANA.  I was then sent to a dermatologist who did a biopsy and more blood work. The biopsy showed Urticaria Vasculities and blood showed my SPEP levels were off and he suggested a hemotologist...I am at loss for words and at the end of the rope.  I have lots of weird things that have been going on with me besides hives, like loss of hair, major sweating, tingeling in my fingers and arms, thowing up, stomach pains, diarhea, bad memory, headaches, hallucinations, trouble sleeping, extreme fatigue.. please help!

[Red_Star]

"Chronic urticaria may also be associated with a leukocytoclastic (white blood cell-mediated) vasculitis confined to skin or to a wider area of connective tissue. Palpable purpura (small purplish bruises) and urticaria of long duration are typically seen in urticarial vasculitis. Urticarial vasculitis often occurs in systemic lupus, polymyositis, mixed cryoglobulinemia, and Sjogren’s disease and tends to be associated with low levels of C1q." - Rashes and Hives: Causes of Chronic Urticaria and Angioedema in Autoimmune Diseases by Elaine Moore.

[Red_Star]

"In conditions of chronic urticaria, thyroid antibodies are not only indicators of chronic inflammation, but they appear to play a role in the disease process. In most cases, improvement of urticaria with thyroxine replacement hormone suggests that chronic thyroid inflammation may initiate a hypersensitivity reaction and an underlying thyroid hormone deficiency.

However, rarely, patients with chronic urticaria have undiagnosed conditions of Graves' disease. Researchers in the UK have reported two instances in which patients with chronic urticaria and TPO antibodies responded well to the anti-thyroid drug carbimazole." - Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies - TPO Autoantibodies and Their Significance by Elaine Moore.

As your symptoms are seen more with an overactive thyroid gland, Graves' disease is an autoimmune disease to look into. You can also have bouts of hyperthyroidism (hashitoxicosis) with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.  

Thyroid panel tests include: TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), free T3, free T4, thyroid antibodies -  thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb), and thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb).  Thyroid stimulating immunoglobulins (TSI) are very high in Graves' disease.