Antihistamine Allergy

[CharleneR]

I was diagnosed with chronic hives about one year ago.  I was told just take antihistamines because you may never figure out why you are breaking out.  After going to an expert dermatoglist who again stated just take medicine to control the hives - I ended up on Allegra, Claritin and Doxepin.  My hives seemed managable mostly at this point but in October 2009 I stopped all antihistmaines to have a food alllergy test just to see if anything turned up there.  Nothing did but I noticed my hives really improved after stopping all the antihistamines.  Since then I have avoided taking any antihistmaines except for Benadryl.  I did take an occasional Claritin but it seems like every time I did anything I break out more.  My allergist told me to try Claritin tabs instead of gel caps but I took one after having my allergy shot and I broke out in hives again.  Now all the pollen is out and my eyes are really itchy and red and I have a hard time seeing at work.  I tried taking Atarax last night to see if that would help more than Benadryl.  Big mistake since I woke up broke out in bad hives.  I had to wait to get home to take benadryl since I am not 100% certain that Benadryl does not give me hives.  Also, I figured out I cannot even take some pills like Pepcid for heartburn because they cause hives all over me and are very itchy hives.  The hives today were not bad itchy thankfully.  Truthfully, I do not what drugs I can take since I can have either no reaction, hives or swelling.  Has anyone else had a problem like this?  Any suggestions on how to deal with my allergies?  I have many allergies but things have been fairly bearable until pollen season.  Thanks.

[CharleneR]

Thanks for the tip about B vitamin folate.  I do see an allergist but he bascially told me as far as medicines go he has no way to tell me what I may react to.  I am going back to get tested for the meds that the dentist needs to use to numb my mouth for a filling next week.  A pharmacist told me about the dyes in meds and that might be what I am reacting too.  It is funny that no doctors have ever mentioned that to me.  If I stay away from antihistmaines which I have to do these next 7 days so I can have the allergy test then I do pretty go with hives unless I get too hot or stressed.  My hands normally have hives and are itchy most days though. It is interesting that you mentioned the folate because I just googled it to find out what foods I should eat and found one site that mentioned a  genetic quirk (called C677T MTHFR) that  suppresses folate levels in up to 25% of us and I do know for a fact that my mother has that genetic defect and I have a 50% chance of it myself because she had two genetic defects with that gene so I got one of them.  Thanks for the advise I do appreciate it!

[bluebutterfly2222]

Here is an additional thought that might be of help to you, or perhaps to someone else reading this thread, in regard to your pollen-related  allergy symptoms:

A recent study found that people who got the most B vitamin folate  had a 31% lower risk of allergy symptoms like watery eyes, runny nose and eczema, and a 40% lower risk of wheezing. (But it should  come from naturally folate-filled foods, NOT supplements, because too much of it from them is likely to make allergies worse, as well as having other detrimental health effects.)

[bluebutterfly2222]

p.s. I meant that an allergist might be able to help you figure out what allergin might be common to the different medicine formulations, if every version of a particular med. doesn't cause the same reaction.

I'm sorry if it sounded as though I hadn't read your question thoroughly. I assure you, I did, and was referring  just to a possibility in regard to some of the meds.

I do understand that your doctors have told you that in general the cause for hives can't be determined, and to just treat the symptoms...

[bluebutterfly2222]

Since you have reactions to so many medications, it may be that you are allergic to certain food colorings or excipients that are used in formulating the medications. My boss, a doctor, cannot use any products (like  soft drinks, vitamins, prescribed meds) that contain one of the common dyes, or he is at risk for anaphylatic shock.

Keep track of all the medications that seem to  cause the hives, and maybe even experiment with whether different generics of the same medication have the same side effects (for example one generic atarax is green and another white, which might make a difference if you are allergic to that particular coloring agent). You may even have to have an allergist help you figure out what exactly it is that you are allergic to.

Hives that cannot be traced to any particular cause often improve with regular doses of Vit C--just be sure it is a brand that doesn't contain any dyes or other additives that you might be allergic to.

Best wishes...

[Smilerdeb]

I was put on Predisolone (steroids) for 5 days after anaphalactic shock from a bad doe of Hives.
I now carry an Epi-Pen (adrenalin).
The prednisolone got rid of the hives by the 3rd day.