hives 2 weeks after RAI treatment

[semisweet]

I broke out in hives 2 weeks after RAI treatment. mainly on my neck . I have also  noticed that my taste buds are "off". Anyone else have these side effects? how long did it last? did you use any meds?

[charley1986]

Hey,
It is normal for your taste buds to be off.  It took mine about 4 months or so to return to normal along with my saliva glands - still having some issues with that, but better than it was.  I'm not sure what to tell you about the hives - could something else be causing that?  I think if you were going to have a reaction from RAI, you would've had it before now.  What was your dose, do you know?
Good Luck,
Charley

[EmpatheticJenny]

I have had those symptoms, but the cause has been a straightforward case of hypothyroidism. In my reading about thyroid problems, I read a physician's comment that when he sees a patient who complains of fatigue and other symptoms that might or might not be thyroid-related, and when the patient then reports having had an episode of hives, it is a red flag that the patient's thyroid gland may not be working adequately.

In other words, I wonder if your hives are related to your thyroid problem rather than the treatment. As for your taste buds, Charley's comment indicates that your recent treatment could be the culprit. An aggravating symptom can have more than one cause, however, so I wanted to tell you--for whatever it's worth--that having "off" taste buds has been an annoying problem for me, too, and it seems pretty clearly to be due to my thyroid gland's not keeping up with its workload.

[GravesLady]

Are you referring to hives or a rash?  If it is localized and does not spread by scratching, I would assume it is a rash rather than hives.
Hives are autoimmune and seen in thyroid autoimmune conditions (Hashi and GD), because they are both auto/immune. Once we have one autoimmune will makes us more proneor susceptable to another.  Rash could be from anything that you might be having a reaction to.  However, I  personally feel rashes/allergies are  immune factors anyway. I broke out on my neck just below the chin area due to being allergic to brown dye in  medication I took and it only took the first pill.  I have read where Graves' are more susceptible to brown dyes. Actually I have problems with othr colors as well, external and internal, but don't consider it hives and haven't had them in years, thank God!

My taste buds have been off, but I never related it to RAI (10 years ago). Thought it might be age or related to stop smoking, where smoking coated the tongue and now doesn't, so I taste the bad in things (?)  But  RAI is a good thought!  I get bad after taste as well.

Hope you have better luck with the taste and hope you are healing fast from the rash.

[EmpatheticJenny]

I seem to be the Dare to Be Different gal, because I have had hives that clearly seemed to be related to my thyroid gland's struggles, but I do not have Hashimoto's. The possible causes of my hypothyroidism are radiation treatments for acne in the late 1960s or just plain age (I am 56).

This discussion is making me wish I had paid more attention to the comments made by the physician who said that he tends to think "thyroid" when someone has a history of hives along with other symptoms suggesting a thyroid problem. I cannot remember whether he speculated about the underlying mechanism. There does seem to be one, for me, at least, and it is not auto-immune in my case.

[GravesLady]

Maybe the doctor didn't distinguish enough  between the difference of Hashi and Hypo.  That is,  you can be Hypo without being Hashi, but you can't be Hashi without being Hypo.  So when doctor stated Hypo he possibly meant Hypo/Hashi. Could be that there is a difference between hives.  Perhaps some hives are autoimmune and the others are not(?) I don't want to debate the issue but rather clarify with a little background info. below.

Hives fall into two categories: ordinary urticaria (ordinary hives) and physical urticaria (physical hives).
Many cases of ordinary hives are “idiopathic,” meaning no cause is known. Chronic or acute hives.  Physical urticaria (physical hives)
most common form is “dermographia .  Another type is cholinergic urticaria
http://www.medicinenet.com/hives/page2.htm


Here is what the doctor on the other thyroid forum  had to say:
Hives and thyroid -- check thyroid antibodies -- if positive there may be a connection --
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Thyroid/messages/1047.html

There is growing evidence that some cases of CIU are associated with thyroid autoimmunity. Patients with CIU have an increased frequency of Hashimoto thyroiditis with the presence of antibodies to thyroglobulin or a microsomal-derived antigen (peroxidase),
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12848961&dopt=Abstract

Hives and urticaria are common disorders of the skin frequently seen in patients with autoimmune thyroid disease.
http://www.mythyroid.com/diseaseassociations.html

The relationship between chronic urticaria and autoimmune thyroid disease was evaluated in this study
http://www.thyroid.org/patients/notes/july04/04_07_36.html

CIU - Chronic urticaria is not idiopathic but is an autoimmune disease.
Autoimmune disease: Urticaria has been associated with a number of autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus, cryoglobulinemia, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, and autoimmune thyroid disease (patients may be euthyroid but respond to replacement therapy).
http://www.emedicine.com/derm/topic443.htm

Association with autoimmune thyroid disease. Patients with chronic hives have an increased frequency of Hashimoto’s Disease (thyroiditis), ...
http://www.worldallergy.org/public/allergic_diseases_center/urticaria/urticaria.shtml

Have to join to read:
Some forms of chronic hives have an autoimmune origin which means, in about 30% of patients, that the immune system is producing antibodies against normal ...
http://www.diagnose-me.com/passwd.html
www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C219472.html

Regardless, when getting them, they are no fun! ;)

[utahmomma]

It's been about 2 1/2 months since my RAI and my taste buds are still off and I've had a rash (non itchy, flat, bumps - like mild acne or ingrown hairs) on my neck, chest, and upper back since the RAI.  I just associated it with stress and the *COLD* temperatures.  Put on 10 lbs while being very hyper too.  I just figured I was falling apart.  :-)

[EmpatheticJenny]

You raised a good question when you said, "Perhaps some hives are autoimmune and the others are not(?)" I am in the first category you described, however: Hypo without being Hashi. The first bout of hives (which was my first-ever experience with hives) was an outrageous attack just as a minor upper respiratory infection was at its end. My physician explained why the two would be connected, and it all made sense, BUT, it also was one of several odd out-of-nowhere symptoms that seem to both of us (my physician and me), as we look in hindsight (especially as we look at my pattern of TSH levels over time) to be the first signs that my thyroid gland's maybe-long-time struggle was worsening.

Since the outrageous attack, which was almost exactly four years ago, I have had a single hive (sometimes a pair of them) pop up on my neck or along my jaw-line in response to certain circumstances (too boring to be worth describing). As soon as I began taking levothyroxine this past September: end of hives, and yet my endocrinologist had done a thorough job of ruling out Hashimoto's or any other auto-immune disease.

I probably am an illustration of something wise that I am sure I have seen you say in at least one posting: that thyroid problems are complex, and often, a person and his or her symptoms just cannot be fitted into one of the standard boxes. I definitely was an illustration of your very wise comment that hives are no fun!  At the worst of my one acute attack, I had an area approximately 12 inches by 18 inches in the middle of my back that was one continuous, intensely itchy, hive. Until then, I had not realized that there could be a category such as "dermatological emergency." It is rather nice to remember that episode, actually; it makes the aggravating thyroid symptoms that I am not yet rid of seem pretty easy in comparison. :o)