iheartcats Posted September 4, 2009 Report Share Posted September 4, 2009 I had a very bad episode of hives and flushing while cooking/eating tonight. It was a meal I have once or twice a week, no changes to anything so likely not the food (and I've had food allergy skin tests come back negative).The hives were on my chest/torso/neck and were itchier/redder than a usual-for-me flare-up. This was making me upset because why are they doing this? I began to worry, the hives were hot, red and uncomfortable and this was making me more upset. I was so worried about how bad this was going I couldn't get a deep breath/swallow a few times.I went and made myself take a Benadryl, sit and calm down, and the hives started to go away and I could breath and swallow OK (minus the dry mouth from Benadryl!). At what point do you tell your going into a panic attack? Obviously if you can't breath with hives, that's bad. But I looked and I wasn't swelling up or anything and once I had to talk myself into calming down. I know the Benadryl helped, but I have a feeling these episodes are so upsetting to me I start to panic which just makes things worse.Sigh. I just don't know what to do but I have to quit going into panic-mode when I'm not directly allergic to anything supposedly 'dangerous' (nuts/shellfish/etc)...my old allergist tried to reaffirm he thinks these are more to do with autoimmune than anything but to take a Benadryl as the hives are obviously uncomfortable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iheartcats Posted September 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2009 On a side note, I'm still wonderin about this. But since my Thyroid came back 'OK' the doctor didn't test further. Should I ask the new allergist I'm seeing soon about the Thyroid Antibody Test? My old allergist was going through possibilities with me, then I moved. We left it at a 'possible autoimmune cause' but I don't know how much a new allergist wants to jump in the middle. I do NOT want to start over from scratch...I went through too many appointments for that.Hives Linked to Autoimmune Thyroid DiseaseResearch reported on in the journal Dermatology found that the frequency of thyroid autoantibodies is significantly higher in patients with chronic urticaria (hives) than in healthy controls. In the study, all the patients with thyroid autoantibodies had so-called "normal" test results. Researchers concluded that there is a significant association between chronic urticaria and thyroid autoimmunity, but only the thyroid antibody tests are relevant in patients with chronic urticaria, versus thyroid function tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajw4790 Posted September 4, 2009 Report Share Posted September 4, 2009 Hi,I wonder if it was the steam/heat of the meal that caused the hives. Much like the heat of the shower can cause itchy hives?It doesn't sound like anything to worry about, just very uncomfortable. I guess just try to stay away from direct exposure to the steamy heat as much as possible. Use a vent fan, ceiling fan if you have it, and possibly even crank the AC. I get itchy hives frequently and don't let it bother me or less it feels like my throat is swollen etc. It is something to be vigilant about, but to try to not let it overwhelm you.Hope its all doing better now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EarthMother Posted September 4, 2009 Report Share Posted September 4, 2009 Interesting thought about Hashi and hives ... I go through episodic waves when I get more hives, could be I suppose when my Hashi is active. i'll have to make a note to watch for that. Problem is with hashimoto ... even if you HAVE the antibodies ... no one will treat for it UNTIL your TSH goes out of bounds. So you might as well wait before getting more thyroid tests. What was your TSH, did they say?I can get hives/flushing from a variety of things other than food ... bug bite, bump or bang into an object, or steam like was mentioned. I should think that with the hyperadrenergic component ... that my body is also hypervigilant about other bio-chemical changes. I.e. it tends to over-react to small variations in 'normal' hormone activity.Panic or not ... doing something to actively SLOW down what's going on is a plus. Whatever that may be. Ice-packs. Deep slow breathing with expanded belly breaths that massage the vagus nerve with your diaphram, can help rebalance a slew of body systems.Good luck finding some answers that make sense for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iheartcats Posted September 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2009 Thank you for all of your advice. I do wonder if it was partly the steam!And I'm having my period for the first time in 3 months (Mirena) - and it started yesterday. For the last two days, my allergies have been worse and I can feel my POTS being more annoying (dizzier than usual!).I refuse to let this ruin my family's long weekend so...I am trying to take the deep breaths, calm down, remind myself it's going to be OK. My TSH was in normal range...I'll try to get them to check it every 6 months if I can. My doctor didn't seem concerned since I was in normal range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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