Evening Hives, Joint Pain, Swelling Fingers

[Rachillightfoot]

I am a 25 year old female who have been experiencing pain in my wrists/hands and knees for about 2 months. I figured it was because I worked at a desk and walked a lot. Then one night I got a hive-like rash all over my legs, arms, stomach. This was the first time I'd experienced any type of skin problem and I was horrified. I figured it must've been a new lotion or fabric softener I wasn't used to and forgot about it. The rash was gone in the morning.

But that was just the beginning. The hives reappeared each evening, un-provoked and my joints kept aching. I once took a 1-mile walk through the park and came home in so much pain I could not bend or keep my legs straight. Any minor pain stays inordinately long and can be debilitating. Still, the hives come back each night.

My Primary Care Doctor prescribed Prednisone which helped immensely. I took it for one week before I met with a rhemotologist who blew me off and told me the wrist pain was due to using a computer and I just needed to get a wrist guard be be ergonomically evaluated at work. He said the rash was probably a borderline auto-immune disorder that would go away in "30 days."

Twice my thumbs have swollen like balloons.

I have had blood tests, urine test, the works. I have borderline autoimmune "something" with a high inflammatory marker. Whatever that means. Neither doctor offered a solution and I am still suffering weeks later.

Should I get a third opinion? Does this sound like an auto-immune disease or carpal tunnel? What would cause an auto-immune "thing"? I am healthy, active, etc. I live in a ground floor apartment that may have minor water damage. Could mildew be a cause? I need someone to point me in a direction. The hives are embarrassing and uncomfortable. And the pain makes me feel much older than my 25 years.

[loveandwarfare]

I've had the same condition twice now. I had it for 2 months straight mid-December to early January. I had all the same symptoms: fatigue, hives, joint swelling, etc. I was prescribed an EpiPen by my allergenist, but she never did an allergy test!! I've since started again, in July. It's all the same symptoms, but it's worse now. The hives are terrible. I'll end up with 5-9 inches in diameter patches where the hives have all swollen up together. I've been to the hospital 3 times during this flare and I've been given Benadryl, Prednisone, and other stronger steroids, but they only seem to keep the symptoms at bay. Once I run out of medication, they're back again. Another factor that caused me to rule out mold is that when it first happened, I was living with my parents in their house. Since then, I have moved out into a newly renovated apartment home. Differences between our cases is that you work at a desk all day, meanwhile I'm a preschool teacher and a dancer. I'm constantly moving. Since this flare has started, I've been out of work several days here and there, and I've had to put a halt on dancing because the pain is too much to bear. During my first flare up, the hives were more prominent at night; however, now they're prominent whenever they feel like showing up. I don't know if any of this information helps rule out any possible diagnoses, but I hope it's useful. I just want it to go away. One of the times I went to the hospital was because the hives apparently attacked my immune system (according to the doctor), and I had nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea all at the same time. I also started having chest pains. When I went to the hospital they told me I had bronchitis. So please, be careful. I've been researching this since December and the best I can come up with is an auto-immune disorder. I don't necessarily know what the treatment for that is, but if I've learned one thing about the doctors at the ER, it's that they don't really listen to the patients. They heard "hives", slapped an "allergic reaction" label onto it, and called it a day. If anyone has any further information on this, please share.

PS, I can't go to a regular doctor because I currently do not have medical insurance. I've been paying for all my hospital bills either our of pocket or with financial assistance.

[loveandwarfare]

Also, the cold makes the aches MUCH worse. And I have scoliosis, so it seems to want to attack my back pains and make them more unbearable than usual as well.

[LaurenDke]

I was having similar symptoms; hives , swelling, joint pain, aching body, fatigue.  Im 30 but was feeling like 70.  The doctor prescribed steroids which worked perfectly. He ran a bunch of allergy test that revealed nothing.   Test for rheumatoid arthritis came back negative. And eventually I just stopped going to the doctor. I started juicing every morning. I just started throwing leafy green vegetables into the juicer with kiwi, carrots, lemon, ginger and other things.  Every morning.  I also started taking various supplements like Spira Lina, turmeric, multivitamin, fish oil, basically anything I read was an anti oxidant to reduce inflammation.  I started drinking more water.  Its helped a lot. No more hives. A lot less swelling. No trips to the ER. No more carpal tunnel like symptoms.   Although I still feel fatigue and achiness, I have noticed a dramatic change in the physical symptoms. Im going to keep doing this because it seems like its really helping and I feel a lot better. And its been better than taking steroids. At least it feels healthier than taking steroids.   My gut tells me it may be psoriatic arthritis because I keep getting an itchy rash on my ankles. But who knows what it could be just some autoimmune thing

[LiteralGirl]

I am having these symptoms now, and have eliminated pretty much all typical foods as a cause, and I stopped all my vitamins and meds for a week to see if it was that. No luck. I live in the U.S. and although I have insurance to the tune of $1100/month, I can't afford to go to the doctor right now because I can't afford the CO-PAYS. So I have to just suffer.

However, several years ago I had many of the same symptoms and I insisted I be tested for Parvovirus B19, and it was positive! Symptoms can be very similar to Lupus, so if you have not already resolved this, I'd get tested for that.

[cjulie76]

I have exactly the same symptoms. It started off with terrible itching, tiredness then hives came.  At bad times I have had them all day but mostly am clear during the day (when I visit the doctors) then the come again at night time.  The joint pain is terrible and I have random swollen fingers which are useless when swollen.  I am 35 but seem older than my granny just now!  I have had this for 2 months and am a little better now.  Blood tests have confirmed I have a lot of inflamation, the doctor tested for lupus which came back a very weak positive, which itself is apparently not enough to say I have it (thank goodness).  I did also finish a course of antibiotics shortly before I started with this for a sore throat.  The doctor is saying it is viral but its very worrying.  I have 3 children to look after and they are upset seeing me unwell for so long.  My joints are very easily hurt I went over on my ankle yesterday and its been useless since.  My wrists are the same.  My knees and elbows too.

[Tertia92]

I'm experiencing the same thing! The pain in my feet is nearly unbareble, I can hardly walk. My hives have only come up at night too, I don't know why either. Did you find a cure or a reason they are appearing??

[Rachillightfoot]

Thanks for the response! Is there any reason you can think of that the hives would only occur in the evening? I have virtually no signs of rash, hives, welts during the day, but around 8pm, I am a hived, spotted mess. I've tried not drinking alcohol, forgoing dinner, traveling elsewhere... but no matter where I am or what I do I still break out! It's the most bizarre part of the whole thing.

[suzybow]

Allergists will tell you that is very typical.  Most people are much worse as night.   It's just the way our bodies are.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
If you have mold in your house, then the joint pain and allergy could be due to mold. This has to be ruled out by an allergy test. Please consult an allergy specialist. Well, joint pains with rash can also be seen in SLE, psoriatic arthritis, fibromyalgia, polymayalgia rheumatica and chronic fatigue syndrome. Gout, though typically affects the great toe, can cause thumb pain and swelling along with a rash. Hashimotos Thyroiditis is another possibility. Hayfever and rheumatoid arthritis too should also be ruled out.
Another possibility is reactive arthritis, which could have occurred in reaction to something—in this case rash. In this case you need to rule out the cause for the hives or urticaria. Urticaria is usually triggered by allergens, such as drugs, foods, insect bites, inhaled substances, in response to sunlight, cold, heat, stress, exercise, or a viral infection. Other common allergens are pollen, mold, dust, pet dander, or cosmetics. Food allergies like to gluten and alcohol too should be looked into. You may need to consult an allergy specialist. It is difficult to comment beyond this at this stage. Take care!

[suzybow]

Interesting that this same thing is happening to me.   My hives started to appear slowly back in December sometime.   At first I thought it was just dry skin, then it began to get real bad and appear in blister type form (mostly in the evening) on my legs, arms and trunk.   Thankfully not in my face yet!  My PCP referred me to an Allergist.   Prior to this, I've had under active thyroid for years.   This allergist said it is fairly common for people with thyroid issues to develop hives like this.   The blood work revealed that my antithyroid antibodies were through the roof.  A typical lab reading is less than 60, my number was over 5500!!   He said he's not surprised that I'm hiving that badly.   He also stated there is no "fix" for this.   It's my own body producing these anitbodies and fighting my own thyroid.   He is trying to make me comfortable with different variations of meds, but still not quite there.   Steroids help immensely and I only take them when it gets real bad.   The interesting thing is I also get joint pain, feel like I have a fever when I don't, and just general tired/achy on certain days/but mostly evenings when the hives are worse.   He doesn't seem to think this is related, but I believe it is.   Last night, while hiving, my big toe swelled up and I could not move it.   The pain was awful if I tried to walk or move it.   Also had my right middle finger ring cut off due to swelling and pain.   That also reoccurred last night.   I wish I knew what was going on with that!!   There has to be something else going on!!  HELP!!!!