Urticaria/Hives

Hi I was recently told by a dermatologist that I have urtcaria. My skin wheal s alot and it itches as well I am presently doing some blood tests recommended by the dermotologist. What cause urticicaria it has been four months now since this has been happening and the only thing im using now is a lotion called prurix. Can this be treated? Im very concerned cause its getting a bit annoying to see my skin like that

Thanks for your response

[jagesh50]

chronic urticarias respond to antihistaminics but then it may be quite some time that the problem is solved for good.If external causes are found the solution is at hand.

[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. The cause of chronic urticaria is often more difficult to identify. Most cases are called chronic idiopathic urticaria, which means they're caused by the body's unexplainable development of antibodies to itself (auto-antibodies).
Chronic urticaria is often accompanied by coexistent physical urticaria, triggered by environmental exposure to heat, cold, sunlight, vibration, pressure on the skin or even exercise.
It is essential to rule out the presence of serious illnesses of which recurring hives can be a symptom. Examples are hepatitis, hyperthyroidism, lymphomas, collagen vascular diseases, and cancers of the rectum, kidneys and gastrointestinal tract.

I feel that you should find out the cause of your chronic urticaria by ruling out the various conditions causing it.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing or if you have any additional queries.Warm regards.

[KTB4u]

Thank you

[KTB4u]

Thank you for that information and I will keep you posted about my situation. Im scheduled to do another blood test to find out the cause of it. In addition to that I realize that that the wheals come all over my body and each time I take a shower my skin gets completely red in my back, my chest and around the arm pit.

The dermatologist tick the following on the blood test sheet-Electrolytes, NA, K, CL,CO2 what does these mean. In addition he wants me to do an ANti Ro, LA, RNP, SM, RA, CRP plus a urine analysis. CAn you explain what these mean

Thanks in advance

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Through these investigations,your doctor simply wants to rule out all the systemic conditions esp autoimmune diseases in which chronic urticaria can be present.

Hope it helps. Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing or in case you have additional queries. Kind regards.

[Histrumpetsounds]

I have been diagnosed with autoimmune urticaria dermographia. While it only happened during the night and the itching was bad, I had to say that my scalp was the worse; sheer torture.

I happed to meet someone at a picnic a week ago who told me about two things that were helpful for her because they thought she had dermographism, but as it turned out she was allergic to all foods. She takes antihistamines and will have to the rest of her life. She is a more mature lady and has lived with this a long time along with a bunch of other ailments, God bless her.  First, she said what I had suspected that using organic shampoos were far less offensive to her scalp. I suspected this and she confirmed it. I found that the more organic shampoo caused me far less problem than regular shampoos. I stayed away from parabens and sodium laurlel sulfates or sodium laureth sulfates. Avalon, Kiss My Face, and ******* brand shampoos are the best if you are looking for pure shampoos; just because it says it's organic does not mean that they do not have these ingredients. I use the same brand conditioner.   Then she told me about Scalpacin - OMGoodness, what a life saver!!! That ended all the itching and burning because what I was experiencing was plain torture and misery!  One night at 3am, I seriously contemplated taking my husbands hair razor and giving myself a #2 hair cut. I swore up and down that I had some sort of critters in my hair, but no, it was the hives.

I now just put a couple of drops behind each ear and the nape of my neck and I am good to go. I found it at Walgreens with the dandruff shampoos, it may also be kept with the cortisones in other stores.

I was put on allegra and that helped tremendously. Yesterday, for the first time, I moved to AllerTec (Costco Brand) and I woke up fine. I am so grateful for small steps. I am going to have to have my thyroid tested every six months as my TPO results were
extremely high, but my thyroid came back normal. Hypothyroidism is a huge possibility for me.

I have also put myself on a detox diet (cleansing my body) just for the sake of doing
so - I like to do this every once in a while, but this time, I am going to do this for a number of months after which, I will be doing everything possible to maintain a healthy
thyroid with diet and exercise.

thanks,
Monica