I Believe I Have Hives

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I started breaking out with these nasty things late yesterday evening. I have no idea why. The only things I am allergic to are pineapple and the antibiotic Augmentin.
I did not come into contact with pineapple (I refuse to keep it, or any product containing it, in the house), and I don’t take Augmentin. The only thing I had to eat yesterday, between noon and 8pm, was half a stalk of celery.
I did have about a tablespoon of Campbell’s Clam Chowder, too. I’ve never been allergic to celery or clams, so I really doubt that is the trigger. I just started a new insulin about two weeks ago, which is NovoLog, and I’m really hoping that isn’t the cause. I just got the dosage figured out, and I’d hate to have to switch to something else and start over.

My body is about 70% covered in these things at the moment. My face looks especially interesting. I have hives in places that my doctor doesn’t even see.

I ended up taking two Benadryl last night around midnight, which gave me sweet, sweet relief…Enough relief for a few hours sleep. But, I woke up swollen, incredibly itchy, incredibly sore, and really, REALLY bumpy. I even have them on the palms of my hands, and the bottom of my feet.
I believe my eyes are currently trying to swell shut.

I’ll be calling my doctor as soon as the office opens this morning.

This happening now really sucks, because my husband is home after nearly a month OTR (He’s a truck driver…One of the good ones, I might add!), and he’ll be heading out again on Sunday. So, my two days with him won’t be all too exciting!
I imagine that kissing/touching me would be akin to kissing/touching bubble wrap.

Hives suck.

2

Oh dear, {{{nonacetone}}}. You’re right. Hives do suck. Definitely call your doctor asap if the benadryl didn’t make them go away.

Good luck!

3

As a life long member of the Hives Suck club, I totally agree. I get them for absolutely no reason. Too hot? BAM! Hives!! Stressed?? BAM BAM!! They’re usually on my face, so my doctor thought they were a food allergy. Nope, they just happen for reasons unknown.

And, FYI, you can develop allergies at any time, so even if you’ve never been allergic to something, you could be now.

Did you change shampoo, laundry or body soap? Even if you didn’t, they could have changed something in their process, added or removed something, causing allergies with you.

Hopefully you can pinpoint your trigger and I really hope you feel better!!

4

Do they look like little welts? That’s what mine look like. And Lady Vemon is right, you can develop allergies at any time. The food I’m nw so allergic to that I get hives after coming into contact with trace amounts of it used to be something I could eat without any ill effect. Then I worked in my university’s dining hall doing dishes, came into contact with massive amounts of it for a few months, and the rest is itchy history.

5

Ugh, I feel your pain. At 22 I discovered my allergy to penicillin. I had a horrid sinus infection and welts all over my body. I went back and the nurse practitioner took me off the antibiotics and gave me Zyrtec. It still took a few days for the hives to go down. I sat around with cold cloths on my arms and legs and chest and tried not to itch.

Hives suck!

6

I’ve only had them once but that was enough to convince me that I don’t ever want them again! I tried on clothes at the mall the night before and my best guess is that someone tried them on before me wearing a perfume that I am allergic to or something because my whole body broke out. I literally stood naked in front of the mirror watching my body break out in hives. Then I got dressed and went to work, which turned out to be a mistake.

I was so itchy that I spent the whole day dreaming about taking off all of my clothes and rubbing my naked body against the carpet. I then had to go to a huge meeting where Harry Belafonte was our guest speaker and the whole time I was just wishing he would shut the hell up and let me go back to my naked-carpet dream until I could go home and take an antihistamine.

7

Oof, I feel your pain. (or itchiness) I last had full body hives when I tried Avon’s Skin So Soft bath oil. I looked like a lumpy mutant.
I learned somewhat recently that drug reaction hives can take a while to develop. My boss’s husband broke out in hives after being on an antibiotic for two weeks. He didn’t have any symptoms prior to the hives, and they took their time showing up. As soon as the meds were discontinued the hives went away.
Good luck!

8

Hives do indeed suck.

The worst part is when they finally burst and all the bees crawl out.

brrrr…

9

Thank you for the kind words, and sharing your experiences.

I saw my doctor yesterday morning, and ended up with a cortisone injection, an Rx for oral cortisone meds, and pain meds.
My doctor told me that she’s never seen a case of hives as acute as mine. She said that she’s never seen anyone with hives on their nipples, in/on their vulva, and the arse region, all at the same time.
She asked my permission to let the nurses come in and look at me, and the other Dr. that shares the office with her. They were flabbergasted, and the nurses kept saying, “Oh my God! Oh my God, look at that!”
That made me feel real special. I was pretty much a learning tool for the nurses, I guess.

I haven’t been taking my insulin injections, because all of the available injection sites are covered in hives. That makes it particularly bad, because the cortisone makes the BG level go up. By the time I got home, my BG levels were in the 400’s. But, I’m not going to stick a needle, no matter how small, into a damned hive. My fingers are a light purple color, and they’re very swollen. This makes the usual painless finger stick intensely painful, not to mention having to squeeze out the tiny drop of blood that it takes for a BG reading.
My ears are also an interesting purple color, along with being swollen and misshapen.

It took the nurse and my doctor to find a suitable area on my upper arse region, to give me the cortisone injection. I’m absolutely covered with the things. They were kind enough to not stick the needle into a hive, as they saw how much I was hurting, I guess.

As of last night, it seems that every joint in my body hurts. I don’t know why that is, though. All I know is that I"m very uncomfortable due to the pain, itching, and swelling. I have hives the size of a dinner plate on my torso, back and legs. My boobs are swollen and very sore, because they’re covered with the damn things, too. Sleeping is almost out of the question. I’m taking two Benadryl and two Tramadol every 4 hours, without fail, just to stay reasonably sane.

Hopefully the oral meds will work, and make these itchy and painful symptoms go away.
The sooner, the better.

10

Non-touching {{{}}} for you.

11

I’m so sorry that you’re going through this! Good news is most cases of idiopathic hives like this go away within 6 weeks, and most much much sooner than that. Just be very careful if your lips and tongue swell up. That’s emergency room time!

(Bad news - sometimes the hives don’t go away. I’ve had uncontrolled idiopathic hives for nearly 9 years now.)

Good luck! I hope you return to your original skin color very very soon.