Crazy Hives!

[tctrek]

I am sitting at my desk in the office today and my arms and legs started feeling hot and itchy. I take a look and I have broken out in hives. Only on my calves, the back of my upper arms and my behind!!

I am such a creature of habit that I eat the same thing almost every day and am positive I haven't eaten anything new. No new soap, lotion, laundry soap either... yes, I'm a boring old fart who uses the same products for years and years.

I've never had hives in my life and I've been alive a really long time. Any ideas? I googled hives and it said you hardly ever know what causes them. Driving me nuts

[Zen]

I had a reaction to penicillin that resulted in hives. I could hardly open my eyes and was fortunate to be able to breathe.

You might should see a doctor. You can develop allergies to things that didn't used to bother you.

[tctrek]

For sure I will tomorrow if they are still there. I have never been allergic to anything. I remember as a kid with my 6 brothers and sisters playing in a field. That night they would all have poison ivy and I had... nuthin'! This is freaking me out a little. Very hot and swollen. Not too itchy, though.

[tulip]

new carpet or cleaning products in the office?

[tctrek]

I wish. My company is cutting back to survive in the economy. They vacuum and empty trash cans once a week. And never, ever shampoo the carpet.

[ny biker]

I had a case of mystery hives a couple of years ago. Mostly on my hips and then on my butt, but also on my elbows, knees and the tops of my feet. And my knuckles - that really itched. The doctor had no idea what caused them, and for the life of me I couldn't think of any new food, cosmetics, detergent, etc. that might be the cause. But the doctor did give me a prescription for corticosteriods that cleared them up.

In the meantime, an antihistamine (benadryl) should help, if you can handle the drowsiness.

[Eden]

I got hives (and a freakishly swollen face) from using a sauna once... itchy hives on the tops of my feet, behind my knees and in the creases of my elbows - the swollen face made its appearance the next morning.

[tctrek]

I just remembered I did try a new food yesterday and today... trying to go more organic on my snacks and ate these Flax Krisps. Gluten free, etc. What a kick in the pants if I'm allergic to this healthy food! I'll skip them tomorrow and see what happens.

[Grog]

Do you have red cheeks like you were just slapped in the face?

[Kano]

It's been a while, but here's something I found helped with hives during one mystery-induced episode. It was really helpful that it was a nice, cold winter in Minnesota at the time:

COLD

It seems that for me at least, the darned things have to come out on every bit of me, and on their own, it seemed to take days. But, if I got nice and warm, a bunch would come out. I'd go out in the cold and get one heck of a chill, and those would go away. Repeat....

(not that you can do this in like an hour or two, but it did speed things up considerably...)

And LOTS of water, to rinse out your system!

Everything else, as bland as possible, to not aggravate anything.

Karen in Boise

[kelownagirl]

I am sitting at my desk in the office today and my arms and legs started feeling hot and itchy. I take a look and I have broken out in hives. Only on my calves, the back of my upper arms and my behind!!

I am such a creature of habit that I eat the same thing almost every day and am positive I haven't eaten anything new. No new soap, lotion, laundry soap either... yes, I'm a boring old fart who uses the same products for years and years.

I've never had hives in my life and I've been alive a really long time. Any ideas? I googled hives and it said you hardly ever know what causes them. Driving me nuts

Severe hives can also be a sign of an anaphylactic allergy to something. Might wanna get it checked out further.

[cylegoddess]

I get them from hay.
A pharmacist should have some stuff for that.( well mine did)
I hate them!
Baking soda baths can help.

[missjulied]

"I am such a creature of habit that I eat the same thing almost every day and am positive I haven't eaten anything new."

Perhaps you've developed an intolerance to some food you're eating a lot of. That happened to me with soy - I also was eating pretty much the same stuff every day, and it included a fair amount of soy. After about 10 years of this my body started freaking out (itchy, painful rashes) and it took a long time to figure out what was causing it. (It took an elimination diet for me to finally get to the bottom of it.)

Something for you to consider, anyway.

Good luck!

[ttaylor508]

I had a nasty case of hives that lasted a week about 10 years ago. Doc thinks it was stress induced. I was under a great deal of stress having to deal with the builder building our new house who was very difficult to deal with, not to mention having two small children at home and a deadline to get out of our current house knowing the new one wouldn't be done in time. They were so bad they would wake me up at night and only relief was to go stand in a cold shower. I've never had them since.

Here is a site with some other possible causes http://www.quickcare.org/skin/causes-of-hives.html

[Cataboo]

My brother had a bad case of hives for a couple months one summer... My Mom had just bought an antique wool oriental carpet... The house was full of wool carpets, so we didn't think it was the carpet...

It turned out later that while the lady that my Mom bought it from didn't have a cat, she would let her neighbor's cat come in and visit her, and I think everytime my Mom vacuumed she'd stir up allergens...

We took him to an allergist, got him allegra (it was prescription back then) and after 2 months, I insisted the allergist give him some steroids, and then we went to europe for 3 weeks on a trip... The steroids calmed the hives down, and just being out of the country helped, I think...

the hives never came back and he still lives with that carpet.