Sudden Bout of Hives, Acid Reflux, Dizziness, etc....

[olgai]

Last Sunday, I woke up with huge bumps on my lower body that were extremely itchy, red, hard, flat, and hot.  Never having experienced or seen anything like this, I panicked.  I also got very dizzy and had trouble breathing for a good three-five minutes.  I have no history of allergy to anything - food, weather, dirt, dust, nothing.  My husband took me to the hospital, I was treated for hives, and was told to take Claritin once per day.  The hives went away for the rest of the day.  The next night I was awakened by terrible upper body muscle aches, and a sharp pain in my chest, behind my chest bone.  The hives bumps also reappeared.  All these symptoms then went away for the remainder of the day.  The same occurred the next day, with the terrible muscle aches and sharp chest pain and bums that then disappeared.  The third day, however, I woke up with the left half of my face completely swollen, and unable to move it.  I went to the hospital again. I was told I had acid reflux and that the hives are causing the muscle pain, but that the swollen face is a mystery and that I should see an allergist.  I was given pepcid for the acid reflux, and a steroid for the hives, and benadryl at night.  Since then I've been getting the hives every morning and then they go away, and the acid reflux is just settling in (now it occurs throughout the day too) while the muscle pains have gone away completely.  What's also weird is that after that first day of itching, these bumps don't itch at all.  They are there, swollen, and red, and ugly, but they don't itch.  My problem is that I have this acid reflux ever since I got this strange bout of hives and have no idea what to do about it and when it'll go away.  Nothing in my diet changed, I'm not allergic to anything that I know, and I literally did not change anything in my lifestyle - it's a complete mystery.  Please help me with some explanation about what happened to me.

[Hugh77]

Thanks for the advice.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, I have already been tested for all of those things... H Pylori, thyroid issues, etc.  All were negative.  Also got tested for a whole host of other things that were also negative.  Not quite sure what to do at this point.

Has diet or weight ever been known to cause hives?  I know food allergies can do it, but I don't have any of those.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Thanks for writing to the forum!
You will be surprised to know the bacteria responsible for GERD, heart burn, acid reflux etc called Helocobacter Pylori or H pylori. Antibiotics given to clear up the bacteria also take care of the hives. I would strongly recommend you to see a gastroenterologist (a specialist who looks after the diseases of our digestive system). A number of times autoimmune components are associated like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Hence you must get your thyroid function too tested along with the thyroid antibody test.
You can read more about this bacteria on this link: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/hpylori/

Hope this helps. It is difficult to comment beyond this at this stage.  Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!

[Hugh77]

I have had chronic hives for the past 7 months.  I am 31 years old.  When the hives first appeared, I had awful heartburn during the middle of the night that kept me up for most of the night.  I had a hard time breathing.  When I woke up, I had hives all of my chest and waste.  I have continued to experience them in regular waves ever since.  I have been to a Dermatologist, Internist and Allergist.  I am now on 180mg of Fexofenadine (Allegra) per day.  This wipes out 95% of the hives.  If I forget the meds for a day, my hives will pop up.  I still get the feeling of heartburn, kind of a "peanut butter in the chest" feeling that often seems to correspond to flares of hives.  The doctors have run a ton of tests and cannot find any cause.  It seems like heartburn and hives are not a rare combination, just which the doctors knew more!

[pameladoe]

I have been reading the line of coments concerning Hives and Chest Pain. I started experiencing the same two weeks ago and had to go to the emergency room regarding the chest pain. EKG and heart issues ruled out - gastro intestinal issues suspected due to either stones in gall bladder or enflamed gall bladder. Been taking Benadryl for hives, chest pain comes and goes, antacids are ineffective, Phazyme over the counter helps somewhat - contains simethicone, seems to tamp down chest pain (gas?). Anyway, am scheduled for an ultrasound next Tuesday of gallbladder, some blood and fecal tests ordered, waiting on those. Decided to take things into my own hands and see a Naturpathic Doctor (ND). Appt is today - they treat illness holistically, mind, body, spirit, etc and seek to treat the CAUSE, not the EFFECT, unlike our current medical system. I suspect Candidiasis, too, good call clair60, but we'll see. I recommend you see a naturpathic doctor in your area, soonest. The candidiasis can manifest itself in a number of ways, all unpleasant, and regaining control of your health should not be put off. And good luck!

[clair60]

Had the same symptoms, hives, reflux, body aches, etc.  Took a while, but Systemic Candidiasis turned out to be the culprit.  It's a slow recovery, but after about six weeks, no more hives or body aches, and reflux/chest pain greatly reduced.  Worth researching.

[jordanC]

Hey guys!  Cheers from Canada!

Just browsing the net for this interesting combination of hives and heartburn.

First off, briefly about myself:  I'm in my early 30's, and have no known allergies.  About four years ago I developed hives just out of the blue.  They came on fairly strong, affecting my face, arms, back, etc...  It was something that I've never experienced before.

So, after a few days of discomfort almost non-stop, both night and day, I went to see a Doctor.  We tried many drugs over time.  Cortico-steriods, anti-histamines like Aerius, even Sinequan at one point.  Nothing really worked all that well.  Hydroxyzine was the one drug that I did find to help a little bit with the itching, and it's fairly cheap also.  (Hydroxyzine here available only by prescription).

I also tried to eliminate everything that may be a possible contributor to my hives.  I tried altering my diet, no coffee, different laundry detergent and dryer sheets, etc...  Nothing made any difference.  I even spent a couple of months out of town on an extended 'holiday,' and the hives did not improve.  So, even a completely different environment did not make any difference in the outbreak.

Then, after about four months or so, they disappeared as quickly as they arrived.  This was about four years ago, and right now my third outbreak is just starting again, after being completely free of hives for many, many months.  The Doctors are stumped, and can offer no solution.  The weather or the time of the year have no bearing whatsoever on when they'll appear or disappear.  On top of the itching, it's also embarrassing to have hives on your face.  I hate it.  Even going to the store with red blotches around my eyes, and even slightly swollen lips at times just isn't cool.

At this point I have realized that there is no solution for the few of us that suffer from this, but I'm glad I'm not the only one.  The only thing I can suggest is, Hydroxyzine for the itch, and maybe some OTC anti-histamines.

So, back to the original topic!  I have never suffered from heartburn in the past, and now only when the hives are active.  I don't really know what the correlation is there.  Also, I find that when the hives hit hard, I'm actually affected 'mentally.'  What's a better way to describe this...  It's an 'uncomfortable' and tired feeling, like the brain isn't firing on all eight cylinders.  Whatever is causing the hives is also causing some sort of chemical reaction to occur in my brain.  I wish I could've described the last part better, but sometimes things aren't so easy to describe!

Anyhow, I wish you all the best of luck, and hopefully one day they'll find a solution to this very irritating problem.