Please help! I have HIVES!

[jen1221]

I'm going nuts, itching! It started last night at 11 p.m. I was laying in bed reading the EE quick guide. I started to get a itchy spot on my inner thigh. It kept getting worse, demanding my attention. I got undressed and saw lots of small welts on my thigh. Within ten minutes they were all over my body including my eyelid, ears, scalp, the bottoms of my feet and the palms of my hands. I refuse to take benadryl unless it's life or death. I looked up natural remedies and ended up in a baking soda bath. 45 minutes and still no relief. Next, I tried aloe, a cold damp cloth, some supplements I had containing ginger,and some herbal bedtime tea. Finally, I resulted to good ole scratching. Eventually, at 2 a.m., they went away. I did POTS and fell asleep. At 7 a.m this morning I was awoken by intense itching/burning on the bottoms of my feet. I applied more aloe and tried to fall back asleep, but ended up with hives all over again. Not as bad or as long, only one hour. The only thing different that I have been doing is EE. I just started on Thursday and have been doing it everyday. How ironic, I was reading the quick guide when it started. I didn't see anything about hives on there. I did several searches on this forum and the EE forum and got nothing. Could it be my body detoxing from doing EE? Should I just suck it up and not fight it with medication? Has anyone else had this experience?

 

[Cosmos]

how is your diet ?

try to remember what you did before this hives were coming (what did you eat, are you allergic to something...)

 

[jen1221]

I thought about that. I had dinner at 6:00 yesterday..grilled chicken. The only other thing I can think of is I usually take three magnesium tablets before bed and last night I took four.

 

[Aiming]

Have you had those hives before? Has it been diagnosed? Is there anything that you know of that you are allergic to?

 

[jen1221]

I had hives once, four years ago. I was taking alapha lipoic acid at the time. I figured it had something to do with that. Aa far as allergies go, I get hay fever in the fall and I am allergic to cats.

The hives are popping up once again. This is so strange. I don't understand how thay can just come and go like that.

 

[Gimpy]

I'm going nuts, itching! It started last night at 11 p.m. I was laying in bed reading the EE quick guide. I started to get a itchy spot on my inner thigh. It kept getting worse, demanding my attention. I got undressed and saw lots of small welts on my thigh. Within ten minutes they were all over my body including my eyelid, ears, scalp, the bottoms of my feet and the palms of my hands. I refuse to take benadryl unless it's life or death. I looked up natural remedies and ended up in a baking soda bath. 45 minutes and still no relief. Next, I tried aloe, a cold damp cloth, some supplements I had containing ginger,and some herbal bedtime tea. Finally, I resulted to good ole scratching. Eventually, at 2 a.m., they went away. I did POTS and fell asleep. At 7 a.m this morning I was awoken by intense itching/burning on the bottoms of my feet. I applied more aloe and tried to fall back asleep, but ended up with hives all over again. Not as bad or as long, only one hour. The only thing different that I have been doing is EE. I just started on Thursday and have been doing it everyday. How ironic, I was reading the quick guide when it started. I didn't see anything about hives on there. I did several searches on this forum and the EE forum and got nothing. Could it be my body detoxing from doing EE? Should I just suck it up and not fight it with medication? Has anyone else had this experience?

There is no reason to suffer intense itching, if you need to take an antihistamine to get some sleep, please do. Do you have any pets that go outside? I get hives like this whenever Dex (our dog) runs through weed pollen.

If this happens more than once there is a serious allergic response going on, and you should by no means 'suck it up.' If it is accompanied with shortness of breath, you need immediate medical attention.

My mother developed a severe allergy to latex quite suddenly....could this be a possibility? She would have sudden hives just like this, and has been to the ER with them twice.

Please see a doctor or other health practitioner you trust if this continues, if its an allergy you need to find out what it is as soon as possible. (And no, I have never heard of EE causing this kind of severe allergic reaction.)

 

[Lilou]

Personally, if I was covered in hives, I would go to a doctor and get an injection of anti-histamine. When the hives are covering most of the body, even oral bendryl is not going to work too quickly, or too well. Although, a doctor would likely recommend oral benedryl for several days following the injection. Once you get the allergic reaction under control, you can then start looking for the cause. Which you may or may not ever figure out.

Take care jen1221, wishing you the best! And like Gimpy pointed out, there is no need to suffer needlessly, when there is medicine to counteract this.

 

[jen1221]

I have no pets and have not been in contact with latex. I have racked my brain for any other possible causes. I'm out of ideas. My breathing seems fine. I am super sensitive to benadryl... I have hallunications. I will try some Zyrtec and see if that works.

Thanks to everyone for all of your help. It's really scary when something out of the ordinary happens with your body! Hopefully I will find relief soon.

 

[Laura]

I would take benadryl right away. I know it's not optimal, but sometimes you have to break a cycle. Just make sure you take it after eating.

 

[mcb]

I would take benadryl right away. I know it's not optimal, but sometimes you have to break a cycle. Just make sure you take it after eating.

I very much agree. I occasionally (rarely now) develop hives some time after being exposed to what I think are certain kinds of weed pollen, usually in April or May. It started happening, quite unexpectedly, in my early 40's. I usually keep Benadryl on hand for such occasions, and I do my best to avoid being near open fields full of grass and weeds that look ready to pollenate.

 

[Renaissance]

so sorry to hear this, jen.

I react pretty badly to benadril as well. last summer I have a severe case of poison ivy - my hands looked like lizard skin. I tried a number of remedies inluding benedryl and it didn't work. the next option I have was going to get a shot at the hospital but I tried some megadoses of vitimen c instead and it worked! vitimen c is a natural anti-histamine and it does some amazing things in high does. the powder is ideal when doing the megadoses and it's better to do it on a full stomach. I did three or four 5-gram does throughout the day for several days. however, you may need to experiment with the dose to see what works for you. too much will give you stomach cramps and send you to the bathroom.

if there was nothing that has recently changed in your diet, have you been in any new environments or used any new product (shampoo, soap, household chemicals, ect)?

 

[mcb]

...I am super sensitive to benadryl...

These products have a "recommended dose" on the label. That doesn't mean that you should take that much. For some people, this amount is way too high. I avoid antihistamines as much as possible, and I am able to get through most years without any at all, but when I do take them, I halve the recommended dose as a starting point.

 

[mcb]

...The only thing different that I have been doing is EE. I just started on Thursday and have been doing it everyday. How ironic, I was reading the quick guide when it started. I didn't see anything about hives on there. I did several searches on this forum and the EE forum and got nothing. Could it be my body detoxing from doing EE?...

I have had similar problems with hives on and off for 20 years, since a little after I turned 40. As far as I can tell, my problems with it come from pollen, especially after being near open fields in mid-April to mid-May. There seem to be particularly "bad periods" at times spanning several days while particular species are pollenating. And then there are good years when I have no problems with hives at all. I would be surprised if EE had anything directly to do with it, although "every body is different."

Your profile shows your location as Ohio, and a quick check at pollen.com turned up high levels of tree pollen in several regions of the state that I picked at random. You might try going to that website, entering your ZIP code, and clicking the "30-day history" link. Look for a correlation between pollen levels and your symptoms. I don't know that this is what is causing your symptoms but it is certainly worth checking.

I have several electrostatic air cleaners in the house that seem to help. Something with HEPA filters might do a better job, but these cleaners are good enough and I don't have to keep buying filters for them.

 

[jen1221]

I ended up taking Zyrtec. So far so good!

I have read about vitamin c being a natural antihistamine. I'm already taking 2,500 mg 3x a day. I'll try experimenting with the dosage and see if that might help.

No new lotions, or detergents.

So true about the weather in Ohio. Freshly mowed grass, flowers in bloom everywhere. It's a beautiful sight! That could very well be the culprit.

I'm going to take a nap and try to get caught back up on sleep lost from last night before I go back on "Mommy duty". I'll be keeping the Benadryl handy just in case.

Thanks again to everyone for all of your suggestions. This forum is such a blessing.