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Random Hives


mkoven

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this morning i was sitting at the computer typing, when i noticed my arms felt really hot and stingy. i looked down and i was turning red at the inner crease of my elbow, and it started spreading up my arms to my shoulders--big red, hot, itchy splothes. i could feel my legs start to get the same way--like they were cooking from the inside. then everything started to itch, and i was red, hot and visibly splotchy- and in a lot of different places. i took two benadryl and put some steroid cream on the worst spots on my arms. over the next hour it began to quiet down.

this happened like thisjust about a month ago--i had just been to the gym and gotten out of the shower. almost identical scenario.

it doesn't seem like there was a clear allergen. last time it happened, i figured that the heat from exercise and the shower might have triggered something-- i am an allergic type and do have dermatographism. i'm also on a regular dose of allegra, singulair, and nasonex. but this was completely out of the blue. i suppose it could have been hormonally triggered, though i'm about 10 days into my cycle--if anything, i'm ovulating. mast cell activation? any other thoughts?

i do have an epipen in case anything ever escalated. i hope this is not a regular occurrence. i've had weirdo allergic reactions before. the drugs did calm things down, but now i'm intensely sleepy and still feel like there's an underlying itchiness. i was supposed to have a massage today, but canceled, as i feared it might stir up yet more histamines.

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I just had completely random hives the other night while eating. It's like I react to something one day, don't react for weeks, then it happens again.

I also got a round of these yucky, itchy things from a stressful phone call recently.

I have mild hives after each shower or bath that go away on their own within the hour (not nearly as itchy/bothersome as the other incidents).

My former allergist had a hunch mine had something to do with all the autoimmune stuff, rather than a specific allergen. I have no food allergies per the test, but do have airborne allergies fairly badly. I take Zyrtec and Zantac, and Nasacort during the worst seasons.

When the hives are really bad, I take a Benadryl or two and they usually calm down in an hour or two.

It is very frustrating, but there's no rhyme or reason with them except the stress incidents and shower.

What has helped, I think, is a daily Zantac (150mg) at night. I seem to get them less.

On a side note, my allergist I was seeing before I moved said he's seen these in people before and they can hang around for years, and THEN JUST GO AWAY for good. Odd.

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Hives that are brought on by heat, showers, exercise or stress are called "cholinergic urticaria". It isn't a true allergic reaction but the body releasing histamine in response to the heat / stress. I believe that eating spicy foods can trigger the same reaction. A combination of H1 and H2 antihistamines is usually the best thing to prevent these flares of itchy hives.

Flop

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By red hives from itching do you mean that you get swollen red wheals after scratching your skin? If that is what you mean then, yes I get it too! - it is called dermographism (literally "skin writting") you get blotchy lines if you scratch your skin with your nail or anything firm. Typically I will get tickly area on my leg and automatically scratch without thinking, then I get the red itchy hive that is worse than the original tickle!

Flop

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By red hives from itching do you mean that you get swollen red wheals after scratching your skin? If that is what you mean then, yes I get it too! - it is called dermographism (literally "skin writting") you get blotchy lines if you scratch your skin with your nail or anything firm. Typically I will get tickly area on my leg and automatically scratch without thinking, then I get the red itchy hive that is worse than the original tickle!

Flop

Yes! I can 'scratch' a blank spot and it gets all red and hivey in that area! Exactly! Is this related to POTS or is it just something that happens to some people and they don't know why?

Mkoven - do you get this?

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yup. i think it's not unusual in the general population. i'm otherwise "atopic"--or allergy prone and have been since forever. i do test positive for allergies to the standard environmental stuff-- pollen, mold, dander. i definitely have Ige mediated reactions. i also have oral allergy syndrome where i've become allergic to numerous fruits and veggies as an adult. this is common in people with pollen allergies. and then there are the reactions to drugs-- many allergic some just adverse. some of this may be connected to ans stuff, but so many people in the general population without pots also have allergies. what drives me crazy are the random reactions out of the blue and the tendency to keep developing new allergies. i always walk around with benadryl and an epipen on me just in case-- like an umbrella. never had to use the epipen, but pop a benadryl pretty often. love those little pink pills-- not. today to be on the safe side, i took a dose before exercising. oh well, better benadryl than prednisone!

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I don't think that dermographism is really realated to POTS (unless your POTS is caused by MCAD then you might say there was a link). Basically when you scratch the skin you cause mast cells to break down and release their histamine, it is the histamine that causes the wheal and itching so that is why antihistamines help to prevent and treat this skin issue.

If I am not on antihistamines I can literally write my name on my forearm with my nail or the blunt end of a pen and i will come up with my name written in raised red wheals that last up to an hour. I used to do it as a trick when I was much younger - no idea why as it really itches!

Flop

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