How do I know if I have hives?

[Cornholio]

Not HIV. HivES.

I have all these small (say, 1mm diameter?) red bumps on my arm. What the hell are they? Where did they come from? And, crucially, how the HELL do I get them to stop ITCHING?

(It's not poison ivy. I know all about that and this ain't.)

Any experience? When does one go see a doc about something like this?

[skibuminwyo]

when your throat swells up and you stop breathing....calamine lotion and benadryl....you my friend have some sort of an allergic reaction. calamine will stop the itch, benadryl will get rid of the bumps...if you have ANY diff. breathing, run, don't walk to the ER

[Vinman]

hives are usually an allergic reaction and tend to swollen, red and raised and itchy. Sometimes taking benadryl can help or some other type of anti-histamine.

[LAN]

Pic? (seriously)

[aspenskibum]

spiders are laying eggs in your face. that is all

[Sublime]

Your lucky I am the leading expert in hives.

Make sure you don't scratch no matter what don't scratch. It spreads the hives and makes it hell. Cool showers help but when your breaking out just take a cool shower. Avoid any products that you are 100% sure that isn't causing your hives. Be extra careful that products you have been buying aren't new or improved because that could be the cause.

Have you been using ANY new products? How long have you been breaking out? If it's within a couple weeks it can be fairly easy to isolate. I just had another little battle with hives just to find it was my Green tea shampoo that was getting me. I would wash then sooner or later I would break out. Watch out for laundry degretent and fabric softeners.

Doctors are useless. If you have insurance it can be worth it to go since most OTC drugs like Claritin and Allegra are expensive and can be way cheaper when you get a presciption. As for drugs I found Allegra to work the best for me Claritin was second best but I was taking way more then I should of. Benadryl works just as good but it makes you drowsy as a motherfucker.

Mine would look more like this and be over my entire body.



but they can look more like the ones you have

[img]photo.bees.net/.../ photos/sting/hives.sized.jpg[/img]

[backpack]

I used to get them all the time (I was allergic to Yellow#5, which is in EVERY PROCESSED FOOD KNOWN TO MAN, and Tomatoes)... not fun, but whatever. I had perscription crap and steroids and what-not that worked OK.

Now, thanks to the unavoidability of Y5 and Tomatoes, I can consume both with no ill effects. Or at least I haven't had a break out in 7 or 8 years or something like that.

So yea, probably a fun allergic reaction.

[Cornholio]

More like this. Never any symptoms of anaphlaxia.

Still no idea what caused it, but a week of some generic 24h antihistamine seems to have reduced symptoms.

Can something I've been using regularly for a long time cause hives suddenly? How strange.

[Vinman]

is that your skin? if so that doesn't look like hives to me. looks more of like some type of dermatitis. If so it is likely caused by something you are in contact with daily.

Anything change recently? soap, detergent, laundry softener, medications, diet, lotion etc....

[Cornholio]

It's not my skin. Mine looks like that. That came from a hives info website. [edit: mine's not nearly that dense, but equally red and waxy-looking.]

I can't think of anything new, except one thing-- I put the flannel sheets on the bed the other night, and they had been in storage for the summer. Everything else is status quo.

Another option is the soap... I suspected this because I have an aggregation of the miserable little fuckers in my belly button! I thought maybe suds would collect there and not get rinsed as well as I thought. But I've been using this soap for months.

But they do seem to be going away, and I didn't do much different except switch soap. Odd.

[LAN]

is that your skin? if so that doesn't look like hives to me. looks more of like some type of dermatitis. If so it is likely caused by something you are in contact with daily.

Anything change recently? soap, detergent, laundry softener, medications, diet, lotion etc....

That's exactly what I was going to say. Doesn't look like hives at all. I would suggest a couple of things:

-change back to your regular soap and see if that makes a difference
-Launder your sheets in HOT water with the same detergent you always use. Since your sheets were in storage, they might have dust mites on them? While bedbugs would be rare, you didn't notice any brown/red dots on your sheets, did you?

Any chance you could've come into contact with scabies at work? I've got some elimite hanging around that I could send you if they don't start to clear up. Can you go to employee health at the hospital and have them take a peek?

www.weeksandleo.com
This stuff is the best rash/itch/hive lotion ever! I've only been able to find it in 2 places. Lake Geneva, WI and Orcas Island, WA. Growing up as the poster child for hives, I would definitely suggest ordering some!