Quote Originally Posted by CA_in_NC View Post
According to my doc, Zantac is an antihistimine. So, it works as an antacid (on label) and for hives/bee stings/etc. off label. Of course, I'm not a doc, so check with yours...
I went to college with a guy whose father ran the company that sells it, back when it first came out. It treats ulcers by shutting down the acid production in your stomach. (We took it once before we went out drinking so we wouldn't get sick from too much alcohol -- which I do NOT recommend because it just makes the hangover worse. Anyway.) But if it also works for allergies, more power to them. They also found that their anti-depressant had the side effect of making cigarette smokers not want to smoke anymore, so they reintroced it under a different name for that purpose.

When I had mystery hives the urgent care doctor prescribed cortisone for me, which worked great. I wasn't able to convince the allergist I later went to that I actually had any allergies that were worth her time, since she couldn't be bothered with symptoms involving my skin and told me to see a dermatologist instead. Unfortunately it takes more than 3 months to get an appointment with a dermatologist around here. So I'm left to treat all my skin allergies and other various itches on my own.