Chronic Hives..driving me nuts!!

[woody21]

I'm a 29 y.o female who has had hives 9 months.  When I first saw my doctor he gave me a course of steroids, that didn't help at all.  I have tried all sorts of antihistamines... Zyrtec, Claritin and now i'm trying Chlor-Trimeton. All of them not helping much anymore.  I have read article after article about hives and the more I read the more down I feel about it.. not being able to find a cause.
I have had an allergy test and I have high allergy to dust mites.  How can you totally free your home of dust mites!  I have used Tea Tree oil in my washing machine for my towels, bed sheets and clothes.  I have had a blood test, which was pointless.  I'm not sure what else to do.. you forget what it was like to be itch-free!  My hives started on my back.. extreme fiery red itch.  But recently it hasn't been on my back at all.. its now my arms and my legs, occasionally my chest and tummy.  Extremely itchy, very warm and alot of welts.  Its driving me nuts!! People say "it will take its course", well i can say for myself and i bet alot of others, its not that easy.. it is EXTREMELY uncomfortable.. extremely!
I have read about Quercetin, a natural antihistamine.  Has anyone tried this at all and has helped relieve there hives?  I have also read Mint helps and also Sandalwood oil helps too.  I prefer natural remedies personally but I will do whatever for them to go away for good.  
Has anyone had relief from doing a Total Detoxification program at all? A remember reading a gentleman's log and he had gone to India for AYURVEDA treatment.. i can't seem to find his log anymore though.  He left a website http://www.ayurveda.org/

I would appreciate any help or information that anyone can give me. I know how you all feel out there!  It's not fun. Best of Luck everyone.
Thanks again.

[jabsgal]

Please try an ayurvedic medicine called KYNATOMINE from a company called J&J DeChane from India. It is 100%herbal (ayurvedic) with NO SIDE EFFECTS. Check online for it. Order it on the net. You need to have 2 tablets 3-4 times a day for at least a month. It is actually a medicine for the liver but it CURES hives especially of unknown causes. There is another medicine called HEMOPLEX from the same company which helps in hives. You need to have 2 tablets 3 times a day with hot water and honey. Don't try both simultaneously. Try the Kynatomine first. Believe me, TRY IT!

[hopelesslyitchy]

Hello everyone.

This looks like a great site.

I thought I would share with you the story of our suffering over the last 8 months. My wife has had some intense itchy tiny bumps on her legs and arms and eventually her torso. It seems to have started with some bed bug bites that she picked up in New York city. Initially, the bites were on her legs. She described it as intense itching. She went to her doctor and was recommended the usual OTC topical steroid creams. She tried all of them with little benefit. She found that Sarna helped a bit to "cool" things down.

Eventually, she saw a dermatologist who diagnosed her with idiopathic urticaria. The MD gave her a steriod shot and some doxyclicline antibiotic for 4 weeks. It seemed to help a little, but once the antibiotics was completed, her itch was back in full force.

After a few months of continued suffering, she started to sneeze and have congestion problems adding to her already itchy condition. After suffering for 7 months, trying all of the OTC antihistamines and a few prescription antihistamines, her symptoms continue if not worse.

A few weeks ago she saw an allergist who did a skin allergy test. The test showed her to be allergic to grass and certain trees, so the allergist is recommending allergy shots. Don't know if this will help her.

Just wanted to know if others have had this problem stemming from bed bug-type bites. Anyone?

[Kit12345]

It just occured to me that I have been taking an Acai supplement and maybe I had an allergic reaction to that?

I just found this link to other acai berry sufferers and they are all breaking out in hives!!

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-Social/Allergic-Reaction-to-acai-berry-supplement/show/594244

[Kit12345]

I am so happy to have found this forum I can't believe it goes back 3 years.  I have always had allergies, but 3 weeks ago I had flu like symptoms that I took Coricidin (similar to Nyquil but for people with high blood pressure) for.  I was able to sleep without coughing or sneezing but woke up feeling more fatigued.  The past 3 weeks I have been feeling really weak.  Then, with some co-workers we had lunch at a Swedish restaurant in Greenwich village and I had some raw herring which came plain, with a yogurt looking dressing, and another with pickled dressing.  A few hours after I ate there, I broke out in hives around my arm pits from walking around the city.  The hives started to grow all over my back, buttocks, arms and legs.  By 9pm I was covered in hives.  I got home and took 2 benedryl which helped me sleep and the hives seemed to settle down.  I got up at 5am for work and the hives came back full force.  I took Benedryl 4 times during the workday probably every 2 hours which seemed to be when it would wear out and the hives would start showing up all over my body.  I woke up this morning with chills and I thought fever, went to my Dr. in Elmwood Park NJ, Barry Greenspan.  He said since I didn't have a fever and had no color in my cough, he was not going to prescribe me antibiotics.  He said it sounds like I got a food allergy, but he thinks the Coricidin I was taking for my cold might have been the culprit too.  Then he said there could be other causes and the only way to find out was to take blood tests.  He will be running my blood tests for allergies, food poisoning, lupus, etc.. I will keep you posted.  Dr. Greenspan prescribled Bromfed to me for my cough and hives and it keeps the hives down but it comes back in about 3 hours.  

I am mortified at the idea that this issue could last for months or years as I have read you all talk about.  It is probably one of the most painful illnesses I have ever gotten.  Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and I will keep the blog up to date on my findings to see if I can help out.

[Voymas]

I have had cronic hives for years and all doctors do is prescribe steroids for me, about 8 rounds and 20 pound weight gain later they are gone for maybe a year and then back they would come.  This last time a new doctor told me to also take Benadryl and Zantac 150.  Last week I started to have hives so I decided to go to a natural health store to try natural ways to get rid of the hives. They suggested the Quercetin and Betaine Hydrochloride so I took the Benadryl, Zantac, Quercetin and Betaine Hydrochloride and NO steroids.  Insted of taking months to clear up they cleared up in 10 days and have not spread to another part of my body.

A product I have found that stops the itchy, burning, stinging  is a product from LUSH it is call Fresh Farmacy and is a cleanser bar for sensitive skin it has powdered calamine, cammomile, and tea tree oil.  I wet it and  rub it to a paste over my skin and let it dry.  Stays on for hours and also dries up the hives.  I had hives on my hands, at home I would have the dried pink paste and by morning the welts were down. Washed my hands because I didn't want it on my hands at work.  8 hours later the welt was starting to come back, got home put on a thick layer of Fresh Farmacy and the next morning the welt was down and it never came back. And no steriods.

I do not drink diet pop.  I do drink diet tonic water that has saccarine in it because I am a diabetic and the quinne it keeps me from having leg cramps and helps greatly with my restless leg syndrome.  Arn't nerves a wonderful thing!

[michelle792]

I just read all the above posts from 05/15/2007 until the last one in 2010.  I have been suffering for one year and don't know that I can offer any suggestions, but one treatment was very effective.  When my symptoms began a year ago, they consisted of itchy skin with red skin and/or red bumps  --- large raise areas, not small discreet bumps.  After several months, the intense itching led to a burning sensation -- like an intense sunburn.  By this point, I had visited several dermatologists and tried all the usual suspects of anti-histamines -- Claritin, Zyrtec, Allegra, Doxepin, Hydroxyzine.  Then my symptoms became quite debilitating -- the water from the showerhead HURT, my jeans hurt around my waist, a bra was uncomfortable.  I ended up with a dermatologist at Duke - who prescribed Cyclosporine, an organ, anti-rejection medicaiton.  I took 300 mg daily and it worked.  I was back wearing clothes, exercising, and being a normal person.  My aunt is a pediatric allergist/immunologist at Duke, so she referred me to an adult allergist/immunologist.  Also, back when this started, I saw an allergist  (no allergies) and did blood work and was found to have hypothyroidism and am now on Synthroid.  My doctor is now weaning me off the Cyclosporine, which was serious side effects with prolonged use.  I am suffering miserably now -- it has been two weeks since I started to taper down the dosage and my skin burns, itches, and hurts! So I am very frustrated and disappointed that my symptoms returned with a vengeance when I tried to wean off the meds.  I have e-mailed my doctor with photos this Labor Day weekend to see if she can work me in this week.   Good luck -   I, too, would like to find a definite cause or etiology but am hopeful.  There is a good article on chronic urticaria on American Society of Doctor of osteopaths website -- basically it agrees that rarely a cause is found and you just have to accept this - I'm not ready too yet!