urticaria Rash

[foxydivano1]

I have been told I have had an allergic reaction to 'something' and now have urticaria, which is a rash that looks like a nettlerash or hives. The only problem is, with it being xmas/new year I've eaten/drank differently to how i normally would, but my diet is back to normal now - but the rash still appears. Its really frustrating, unattractive and itchy. I dont know whats caused it, or how to get rid - I'm on antihistamines but they really dont do much good. I cant think of any new products I'm using, so I dont think it could be that.
Any ideas? Has anyone ever experienced this and if so, what did you do?

Thanks to all in advance!

[willa]

Hi, foxy - I've got "cold urticaria" - a skin reaction to moist cold. I developed it 5 years ago - on a hot summer day I was holding an ice cream sandwich when my hand started to itch and swell, and it developed red hives and welts - totally out of the blue! I called my pharmacist, and she advised me that as long as I wasn't having trouble breathing/swallowing, to take fast-acting Benadryl, which did indeed help calm things. A few hours later, the symptoms had disappeared.

When I went to the doctor (I still didn't know what this was), I bought a McDonald's shake and held the cold cup against my forearm in the doctor's waiting room. In 5 minutes, the arm was red, itchy, etc. The doc said this was a crude but effective way of nailing down the allergy. He advised me to steer clear of icy drinks, cold showers, etc. and gave me a script for an epi-pen in case I had a more severe reaction. (But I never did.)

In the weeks that followed, I met a woman who had hot urticaria - she broke out in hives whenever she took a hot shower or washed dishes without wearing gloves.

So it may not be something you've eaten to cause this reaction. Search for urticaria on your favorite med website (I'm in the U.S. and use www.webmd.com) and you'll see that this can come about from exercise, sweating, sun exposure, etc.

Whatever the cause, I'm surprised the antihistamines aren't working for you. Maybe see about getting something stronger, and keeping some kind of log as to when the rash appears/what you were doing before it came.

The bad news is, it may take a while to narrow this down. (Unless you visit an allergist, who could do skin tests.) The good news is, you may grow out of it. Mine developed in 2001 and in the past 2 years the reactions have been getting rarer and less frequent. (Of course, I haven't jumped in any ice ponds, either.)

Good luck!

[LazyGun]

Foxy - Urticaria can be divided into two distinct types.. .Acute (usually in response to an allergic type reaction ) and Chronic (autoimmune response anomaly).

Acute urticaria is the more common presentation.... but that can take up to 6 weeks or more of conventional therapy (typically removal of the allergen if it can be identified together with high dose antihistamine treatment)

I have included a couple of websites that may be of interest;
http://www.allergy-clinic.co.uk/urticaria.htm

or if you are interested in alternative medicines, this site may be of interest;
http://www.home-remedies-for-you.com/remedy/Ur ticaria.html

My advice would be to recognise that it may well be due to something you were exposed to over christmas, and to persist with the conventional antihistamine therapy until at least the end of January, to give the antihistamine time to work.

[lynneylou]

Hi i have suffered with a severe form of urticaria for 5 or 6 years but have never exp a rash of any kind just very bad itching in temperatur changes, I have been on Telfast tablets for a year and a bit now and although the condition is still there, it is very mild now and after showers etc i itch for about 15 minutes instead of an hour.

[foxydivano1]

Thank you to all that have replied, Sorry its taken so long for me to show my appriciation by I've had problems connecting to the net - everytime i've managed to sign on, I get booted off - Arghhh.

Thanks again, i've still got the rash, I'm still taking the antihistamines, but it just keeps flaring up, and i cant put my finger on it - it can happen anytime, at work, at home, in the middle of the night! It is so annoying, but i'm hoping it will go soon! I'm a blotchy mess!

I know i will have to grin and bare it, i just hate having this itchy rash that i just have to scratch :(