Hives and flu shot

[Craig901]

I was recently diognosed with hives. I had symtoms the following day after recieving a flu shot. Do you think the flu shot caused the hives?

[Maltadiva]

Around 4 years ago I too took the flu jab. and a couple of days later - hives which progressed rapidly till i went into anaphylactic shock. nice! a year of consultations, tests, medication and DESPAIR followed. for 7 months i was on 40 - 50 mg of ultralan DAILY (it seemed to work better than Prednisone), 2 atarax tablets, 3-4 Xyzal (or zyrtec) daily. if i even tried to lessen the dose then my lips, tongue, eyes and throat would swell. the hives lessened but never fully went away. my weight ballooned and i was in a constant stupor and NOT HAPPY. oh noooo. eventually i started bi-weekly sessions of acupuncture which really really helped and finally i was off the medication. i still take a daily xyzal otherwise the hives come back not the anaphylaxis though.
the steroids muck up your system totally. i would rather have 30 swine flus then ever take them again.
like a poster said above - if the jab can cause autoimmune problems like Guillain Barre Syndrome - then what are Chronic Idiopathic Hives but an autoimmune problem?
my advice - STAY AWAY FROM FLU JABS. the alternative is worse!

[erica_s]

Late last fall (2008) and through winter I had unexplained hives for 4-5 months.  I had no idea what it was from.  I got them about 10 days after my flu shot, but I had gotten flu shots for at least the past five years (with no issues)...so I didn't think it was from that.  Benadryl would suppress the hives, although it made me so tired. Toward the end, I decided to go to the Dr., even though I didn't think they would be able to figure out what it was from either.  I had several pictures of my horrible hives if I would let the Benadryl lapse. My throat and face would swell, my eyelids would swell closed, I could have the whole back side of my body covered with hives and red blotches. It was horrible. The dr. never did figure out what my problem was...but within a couple weeks of that they went away.
Then, in October 2009, I decided to get another flu shot...I immediately had pain in my arm, and later that evening I felt woozy and shaky. Guess what I woke up with? Hives!! The Dr. prescribed Prednisone...and while I was on that I didn't have hives.  A few days after that prescription wore off though, I had them back again.  A smart nurse told me that Zyrtec might work without the drowsiness.  It did - but not as well.  I take a few 24 hour Zyrtec pills every day so I'm not so tired, and then at night I need to take 3-4 Benadryl pills to keep the hives suppressed.  I heard that the flu shot is designed to stay in our system longer this year...perhaps 6 months! Yikes!  p.s. I am not allergic to latex or eggs.  I'm not sure what exactly I'm allergic to in the flu shot. :(  I hope if anyone is having similar problems they realize it may be from the flu shot. I was surprised by this - especially since I didn't have problems with the flu shot the first 5 years I had them.  

[ohno812]

I was always hestitant to get the flu shot. This year I decided to get it due to the fact the my hospital employer were really preesing for everyone to get it and due to moving to the east coast in the middel of winter this year. I have hives!!! It has been 4 weeks that I received the injection.I've been breaking out 1-2 times a week with some scalp itching behind the base of my skull. Then last week I would wake up everyday with hives on the back of my thighs and they would go away by mid day. Today, It got really bad where I got a large lump/mass on my thighs and really itchy neck and scalp. I took 3 benadryls to control it. Good thing since last week I have already made a doctors appoitment for tomorrow. So what I am reading from the posting, it looks like I'm in for a cocktail of medications for months. I am not allergic to eggs. But I am allergic to chicken meat. But my reaction has never been hives but nausea & severe fatigue when I eat chicken meat. I read up on allergic reaction to flu shots. Some said to avoid the flu shot if you're allergic to eggs, chicken or chicken feathers. I've known about reaction if allergic to eggs (which I'm not), but chicken??? Gee thanks! a liitle late there. And I work in a hospital, and the consent form does not mention chicken, only egg allergies. I need to have them add this disclosure before more people get the shot.

[Lee1306]

I know this is almost a year since your post here but I began having chronic uticaria, hives that
come and go every six months and last for weeks.  I went to different doctors and no one can say
what causes them.  Prednisone does take them away for a short while but in about 2 months
they come back worse then ever.  This has been going on for about 8 years and that's about as
long as I've been getting flu shots.  I'm not going to get a flu shot this year and see what happens.  I did find out that cider vinegar taken internally by pill or liquid vinegar helps to control them along with a cream
called Clotrimazole & Behamethasone Dipropionate.  I put the cream on at night and cover the
spots with saran wrap and they usually go away in a couple of days.  If I don't do that they grow
larger and don't fade for a couple of weeks.  The flu shot is the only thing I can think of that could
be causing the hives.

[hylagirl]

Craig, I ended up with hives after my flu shot first week of October. The problem is regardless of what causes the hives, it is exteremely difficult to get rid of them. I joined a hive selfhelp group and it is pretty scary to see the number of people who has had to "live" with hives for years. UGH! Mine is calm right now, but it will break out again out of the blue. Nothing doctors or allergist can do for you except pump you up with drugs.
I am currently using Clobex ($300 for 2oz) and Nistarix solution ($75. ) it heals the skin from the harsh Clobex. Histarix ts suppose to eleviate the hives but it doesn't, but it is soothing. Unfortunately I don't have good news for you.

[km1731]

I am a man in my late 30's and got a flu shot 3 weeks ago because my wife is pregnant.  I have had all of the same symptoms as you.

I developed itchy palms the day after a flu shot. They progressed to hives from head to abdomen.  My original doc thought it was herpes.  Nice.  Got all of the pertinent tests and everything came back normal.   Since, I've been to my a dermitologist and she's related it directly to the shot. I have been on 40mg predisone, a prednisone shot along with zertec, zyzal and trimcinolone creme.  They come back in full force every two days or so in the middle of the night.  I was about to go to an autoimmune doctor and allergist.  Now seeing this, I know I'm not crazy.  But...the other possible complications do worry me.   Thanks for posting.