hives

[samurisam]

I have recently been getting an outbreak of hives almost nightly for two months now. They occur almost always at night and are typically on my inner thighs, feet, stomach and hands. I have tried several different allergy medications, but they only relieve the itchiness, but do not prevent future breakouts. I find it odd that they are only occurring at night, and are typically gone by morning. Sometimes they are still visible in the mornings but don't itch. Any ideas as to what this could be

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Hives result from dilation of capillaries allowing fluid to leak out into the surrounding tissue, the epidermis.They are of two types:acute and chronic(when hives persist for more than 6 weeks). The most likely triggers for acute urticaria are allergies to pets, horses, latex and foods, such as shellfish and nuts,bee or wasp stings,allergies to medicines,Viral infections, such as glandular fever and herpes, dental and sinus infections, fungal infections, blood transfusions and vaccines.

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).
It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your dermatologist. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[mooksmom]

By chance are you under a LOT of stress in your daily life? Hives are sometime the body's way dealing with stress. They often DO happen at night and are sometimes on the warmer areas of the body, like inner thighs, waist, under arms or under breasts in women. You can treat them, but IF the cause is the stess, getting rid of it will stop the hives.