Sinus Infection - Now Rash

I had a very serious cold and sinus headache in Feb of this year.  after going to the doc, he diagnosed me with a sinus infection.  and put me on a 10day cycle of amoxiciilion.  on the 7 th day of the cycle the headache and other flu symptoms were gone but i start to develop a rash.  I immediately stopped taking the antibiotic.  the rash was not very intense but the itching was uncontrollable.  I was told to try an allergy med like benadryl or zyrtec and that worked.. but its now been 6 months and i still have the itchiness.  if i don't take a pill in the morning it becomes unbearable.  Also i have noticed that i seem to be more gases than i have ever been in the past.  Does anyone have any idea what is causing this? and what might make it better?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
I see that you are having the problem of chronic urticaria. It is defined as urticaria that persists for longer than 6 weeks. In most of the cases of chronic urticaria, the underlying pathology is idiopathic i.e it is not linked to any cause.
Many cases of hives are "idiopathic," meaning no cause is known. Others may be triggered by viral infections or medications. In your case sinus infections could have been the trigger. Sometimes the treatment for hives i.e antihistaminics and steroids may have to be taken for 6 weeks. If after 6 weeks of treatment also the symptoms are present then it can be due to auto antibodies. An immunologist will be the best person to evaluate that.
I hope it helps. Take care and please do keep me posted in case you have any additional doubts. Kind regards.