chronic hives

[Doug]

Dear Dr,

Two months ago I was having coffee in the morning and suddenly broke out  with hives all over my body.  I never had this happen before.  I was being treated for a sinus infection and had taken Biaxin for Two weeks.  I was given a shot of cortisone in case it was a reaction to the biaxin.  A week after the shot wore off it was back.  I am now seeing an allergist who took blood and did skin test.  Nothing was found on the blood work, and a medium sensitivity was found on the skin test to dust mites and wheat, eggs.  He had a CT done of my sinuses and found the sinus infection is still there.  He put me on Augmitin One week ago and said we will try this for 3-4 weeks.  I also recieve alergy (allergy) shots now on a weekly basis for the dust and molds he found.  It,s been two months now since this came on.
Is it possibly due to the Biaxin, Or could this be from still having the sinus infection, or from the dust mite allergy.
If I don't take anthistimines day and night it's unbearable.  

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Doug,

What you desribe is typical hive behavior:they come out of nowehere. itch and burn, respond partially to antihistamines, and go away in a few weeks or months.  Tests are run, bacteria and chemicals are blamed, and the whole thing blows over whether you try to eliminate these things or not.

You are not allergic to Biaxin; if you were, the hives would have gone away 5-7 days after you stopped.

I doubt that the "positive" allergy tests are relevant to your clinical situation.

My advice: keep taking the antihistamines as long as you need them.  The hives will disappear one fine day as mysteriously as they came.

If you're not better in 1 month, let me know.

best.

Dr. R

[Pam]

my mother has been dealing with hives for the last six months.  It seems nothing she tries works.  She is on a antihistimine medication and it does keep them somewhat under control.  She has even gone as far a to talk to her chiroprator.  He suggested that she may have a vitamin defiency, and told her to add Bcomplex and vitamin E in addition to her regular vitamins.  She also had surgery 3 days ago for a femoral hernia.  She tells me that since she had the surgery she has not had any hives.  I hope that maybe this was all connected because she getting frustrated.  Allergist can't see her untill March.  Any sugestions I would greatly appreciate them.

[Bonita]

For about 1 year I have been suffering with chronic hives. They usually start around my neck and nape of my neck,they feel almost like pimples, this occurs every evening. I will also waken to severe itching with varing sizes and shapes of typical hives, mostly to my upper body, not every night. I have noticed that I break out in areas where I sweat, Could I be allergic to my own sweat?

[Sandy Atchison]

Do any of you sweeten your coffee or food with Equal? If so, try giving that up. I too had chronic hives for a year, but they went away after I quit sweetening my espresso with Equal.

[Cheryl]

Why do hives appear? Is there any way to predict when they will show up? How do you know if it is something that you ate or whether they are caused by something that you touched?

[Rebecca Anna]

I have had hives for the last 3 or so months..  I have gone to an allergist to have tests done.. nothing came up. I have been on everything includeing steroids (for almost a month) and as soon as I go down to 30 mil. (from 40 mil.) I brke out in hives again.. these aren't just little hives mind you.. they are on my face.. my eyes and all over my back and my stomach.. I am at the end of my rope.. Please help!!!
      ***@****

[su]

after reading the material so far, I think I have chronic hives for almost three years.(it started when I had for second child during pregnancy in 1997) I also had sinus problem however, to combat the nose allergy I was prescribed with clarithy(a loradine I guess). The use of this medicine also helped to surpress hives I  believe.  I begin to wonder now , should I continue to use this drug?Bear in mind that this loradine is used to combat my sinus problem. Now that this sinus problem is getting better I think I should stop using it. But what will happen to the hives that I have? Please advise

[stephanie]

6 days ago I woke up with hives/rash covering my face and neck. Every day the rash spreads to where now I am 70% covered in it. My face is swollen to almost twice it's size and I am very itchy and uncomfortable.
I have not been exposed to new soaps, food or common allergens. I am now taking prednisone and reactine for the hives but they are only getting worse. My eyes are beginning to swell shut and I am missing work due to my appearance and discomfort.
Any suggestions?

[sarah]

Dear Doctor,
    
        I m 20 years old and I have been getting hives for as long as I can recall.  I get them when I get nurvous, stressed, or mad.  I get them on my chest and face, it really makes me feel stupid.  Lately I havent gotten them alot but that's because I avoid those uncomfortable situations.  I can't rembember the last time I was at a party and didn't have to leave because of these dam things.  My big problem is that I m getting married next year and I don't want to stress about getting hives the day is going to be stressfull enough.  Please help me if you can!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks,

[perry]

Dear Dr.
I have had chronic hives for 9 months. I am on 5 different meds.  for the hives- Claritin, Zyrtec, Prednizone, Ranitidine, & Volmax, plus I take Lipitor for high cholesterol and receive allergy injections. I still have the hives, but they're not quite as bad as before I started the meds.
The allergist said to just stay on the meds and the hives will go away eventually. I'm tired of waiting. Is there any other specialist that I should see, or something else that I should be doing?
Please help.
Perry

[jeannie]

I have been bothered with hives since April.  They got as large as a dinner plate.  I cannot describe how intense the itching became.  I tried benydryl, zantac, zrytec, otc antihistamines to try and relieve the intense itching.  Nothing worked...Finally I went to an emergency room covered from head to toe.  The on duty doctor prescribed a steriod for 10 days.  It worked for the 10 days and 2 weeks thereafter.  Now they are back again...So, I am back on steriods.  I have chronic gall bladder disease which I am having removed within the next month.  I have a suspicion that this is contributing to the episode of hives.  Does anyone else out there have a similar experience with hives and bad gall bladder?  Thanks for listening.  J

[hkoch2bellsouth.net]

Hey my name is Cindy about 4 years ago i got stung by a yellow jacket after bertha the next day i had blisters in my mouth by the end of the day i was swelled up and welts all over me i even had to have my wedding rings cut off my hives get worst when it rains the dr say the bee has nothing to do with me getting the hives im taking claritin allegra singulair prednisone i think my body is use to all the medince iask the dr for something stronger and he wont so i even gave up going to the drs p.s. im aiso taking zyrtex thanks cindy

[hkoch2bellsouth.net]

Hey my name is Cindy about 4 years ago i got stung by a yellow jacket after bertha the next day at work i had blisters in my mouth by the end of the day i had welses all over me i swelled up i had to have my weddings rings cut off the dr says the bee stug has nothing to do with my hives wen it rains they get worst im taking zyrtex allegra claritin prednisone singulair i had all kinds of test and blood work done the medine im on i think my body is use to it i ask the dr for something stronger he said no i think all the dr wants is money i even gave up going to the drs i have seen 4-5 drs sents i had the hives thanks cindy

[hkoch2bellsouth.net]

Hey my name is Cindy about 4 years ago i got stung by a yellow jacket after bertha the next day at work i had blisters in my mouth by the end of the day i had welses all over me i swelled up i had to have my weddings rings cut off the dr says the bee stug has nothing to do with my hives wen it rains they get worst im taking zyrtex allegra claritin prednisone singulair i had all kinds of test and blood work done the medine im on i think my body is use to it i ask the dr for something stronger he said no i think all the dr wants is money i even gave up going to the drs i have seen 4-5 drs sents i had the hives thanks cindy

[[e-mail]]

hey there my name is cindy i broke at with the hives about 5 years ago i got stung by a yellow jacket the day after bertha hit the next day i had blisters in my mouth by the end of the day i was broke out from head to toe i had welts also i swelled up so bad i had to have my wedding rings cut off the dr. says the bee has nothing to do with my hives i get worse when it rain or get up-set i have had a loy of test and blood work done im on zyrtec allegra claritin prednisone singular i think my body is use to all the medince it doesnt help anymore i ask if i could have something stronger he said no i have seen about 5 drs. sents i had the hives. cindy.

[Carol Z.]

I have recently been breaking out in hives on my hands and arms when I do certain tings like mow the lawn and touch any kind of cardboard products or a combination of plastics and metals I even wear gloves and it does not seem to help. they swell and itch for about an hour or two depending on the exposure time, what could this be.

[Carol Z.]

I have recently been breaking out in hives on my hands and arms when I do certain tings like mow the lawn and touch any kind of cardboard products or a combination of plastics and metals I even wear gloves and it does not seem to help. they swell and itch for about an hour or two depending on the exposure time, what could this be.

[Eric Su]

Hives is body's reaction to enviroment such as food and temperature. I had my first hives two years ago. It happened only hours after a bottle of beer in the resturant. I went to see the doctor and Atarax took care of hives in two days. A few months later, I got into bad habit of nightly drinking. Hives showed up after one month of drinking. It was all over my face and trunk. Again, Atarax took care of it. A year later, I kept getting very minor hives that required weekly dose of atarax for months.

Two weeks ago, I got severe hives again. It was after I drank two beers and a lot of coke, some coffee and tea. Once again, the amazing atarax calmed the hives down but could not get rid of hives this time. The eruptions stay on my trunk and arms. Small eruptions keep poping up on wherever the clothes is in contact with the skin.

My body seems to be sensitive to caffeine and cold weather. And I almost think these are the reasons for my hives. Everybody should try to find out the reasons for their own hives and try the best for prevention.

Please feel free to e-mail me at ***@**** if you have any question or comment.

[j962]

A related discussion, Hives All Over my Body! was started.

[karolena]

A related discussion, Chronic Hives was started.