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Dermatology (Expert Forum)
Are these hives and what can I do?
Answered by
Alan Rockoff, MD - dermatology, Child Skin Problems
The Rockoff Dermatology Center
Brookline - MA
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Are these hives and what can I do?
by spark658, Mar 31, 2007 12:00AM
I have already seen a dermatologist about this problem but he has really been unable to help me. I get these bumps on my face practically every day and it is really getting old. Please take a look at these pictures so you can see what I mean -
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/640/picture001hy4.jpg (this one was not pink like most of them are for some reason, notice how the pores are stretched out)
http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/8141/picture003qc7.jpg
http://img470.imageshack.us/img470/3571/picture005wx6.jpg
My doctor first said they are hives and put me on 180mg of Allegra daily. I thought it was helping at first but I am still getting at least one or two new bumps every day, mostly around my eyes but they have appeared on the rest of my face and neck from time to time, and now I am also on 20mg of doxepin at night which has done nothing. I am not sure if these are hives because they only itch a little bit when they first appear, and I've heard that hives itch like crazy. They also do not go away as quickly as hives are supposed to, it usually takes 2-3 days for them to completely go away. Typically they are huge at first and then gradually get smaller, sometimes they look similar to closed comedones the second day but they are gone by the third, sometimes they just look like red blotches the second and third days. Last time I saw my derm he tried to say they were pimples but they definitely are not as they go away so quickly and leave no trace (if only acne sufferers were so lucky, myself included). I thought it might be another medication I am on, spironolactone, but I stopped taking it for 2 days and still got bumps both days and I take it around the same time every day but the bumps appear randomly. I am sick of taking all kinds of medication and not seeing any results, could it be something other than hives and what can I do about it?
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/640/picture001hy4.jpg (this one was not pink like most of them are for some reason, notice how the pores are stretched out)
http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/8141/picture003qc7.jpg
http://img470.imageshack.us/img470/3571/picture005wx6.jpg
My doctor first said they are hives and put me on 180mg of Allegra daily. I thought it was helping at first but I am still getting at least one or two new bumps every day, mostly around my eyes but they have appeared on the rest of my face and neck from time to time, and now I am also on 20mg of doxepin at night which has done nothing. I am not sure if these are hives because they only itch a little bit when they first appear, and I've heard that hives itch like crazy. They also do not go away as quickly as hives are supposed to, it usually takes 2-3 days for them to completely go away. Typically they are huge at first and then gradually get smaller, sometimes they look similar to closed comedones the second day but they are gone by the third, sometimes they just look like red blotches the second and third days. Last time I saw my derm he tried to say they were pimples but they definitely are not as they go away so quickly and leave no trace (if only acne sufferers were so lucky, myself included). I thought it might be another medication I am on, spironolactone, but I stopped taking it for 2 days and still got bumps both days and I take it around the same time every day but the bumps appear randomly. I am sick of taking all kinds of medication and not seeing any results, could it be something other than hives and what can I do about it?
Doctor's Answer
by Alan Rockoff, MD, Mar 31, 2007 12:00AM
, Mar 31, 2007 12:00AM
Don't know. The pictures look like pimples, but the resolution is too fuzzy for me to say more than that. I agree that hives are typically itchy, and that acne spots don't come and go that fast, but some form of acne still seems most likely, which is, I'm afraid, all I can say from this distance. Perhaps you should get another opinion. We don't like to do skin biopsies on the face, but that might be a consideration if the condition persists and continues to trouble you.
Sorry I can't add more.
Dr. Rockoff
Sorry I can't add more.
Dr. Rockoff
Member Comments (2)
by spark658, Apr 01, 2007 12:00AM
I realize the second picture is fuzzy but that's a pretty good idea of what they looked like, those in particular were COMPLETELY gone the next day so I KNOW THAT IT IS NOT ACNE. I am going to have to get a second opinion, and I'm pretty peeved that I just wasted $19 here.
