Help! not ff

I am sorry that I have to bring this up, but can anyone out there give me some advice on treating hives?
Doug

depends on cause

empty a box of baking soda into the bathtub and fill with tepid --NOT HOT–water and sit in it. it can’t hurt and might help.

I have not determined the cause. I have a Doctor’s appt. scheduled, but that isn’t happening until the 16th. I read online that Aspirin could cause hives, but I take only Tylenol. I am in the process of elimination of suspected causes.
Doug

are you on new meds?

In the short term “calamine lotion,” I hope it is the same name there.

I won’t make any jokes about bees Doug.

have you bought any new soaps or shampoos?

Has your environment at work been changed lately?
New cleaning products? New line of merchandise?

I found out that I was allergic to Wheat Gluten, so I have eliminated that from my diet :frowning:
I am not taking any meds, besides Tylenol. I am going to quit taking that. I bought some liquid Benadryl and I’m taking one teaspoon every six hours. I am using Calamine Lotion, but I’m concerned that it is drying out my skin. It does help reduce the itching. A week ago, I changed shower soap. I am drinking plenty of water. I started drinking a glass of Cranberry juice every day. I also tried Baby Oil Gel, which cured my scalp problem, but it isn’t working on the rest of me.
Doug

Doug, try an antihistamine.

oh, I see you are taking one Benadryl. Are you allergic to dairy?

I am not allergic to Dairy products. The top of my feet have big red splotches on them and they don’t like having shoes and socks covering them!
Doug

Don’t know if this will help, but, try putting oatmeal in the tub water and soaking in it. Oatmeal in water soothes most anything. You stated you changed shower soap and that may be the cause since you are standing in your rinse water when you shower. I know that the wife has changed laundry soap at times and it will cause a rash on me and she has had to go back to what she was using and everything cleared up quickly.

Please keep us posted and take care.

Warren,
I have tried Oatmeal Baths and they didn’t help. I have some Baking Soda, so I will try using that in my bath. I think this skin problem is internal, instead of external. I have never had this problem before and it is upsetting! I am not very confident that I will find the answer, from my Doctor or even a Skin Specialist. Everyone has their own unique set of problems. I bought some Arm & Hammer detergent for my clothes, but I have never had a bad reaction to any soap or detergent in the past.
Doug

Doug, if it were me and if the symptoms persist/have persisted for more than several
days, I wouldn’t wait till the 16th, I’d go to
emergency or at least find a clinic.

MontanaMoose

George,
The problem that I have had with the ER, is that the person on call is not my Doc, might not even be a Doc. The last trip there, the Doc instantly diagnosed my problem and it turned out he was incorrect. I sometimes wish that I didn’t have 37 years of experience of knowing how the Medical Profession operates. I’m still not going to quit on going to the Doc, because I want to take care of myself. One thing that I have learned is to get a second, third or fourth opinion, and thank you for your opinion. I will see if my Doc has any cancellations, so maybe I can see him sooner.
Doug

Surely if you are in discomfort the doc will try to see you - or especially if you say you may be having an allergic reaction to something?

You could well be in need of a stronger antihistamine Doug to enable you to get on top of this.

Doug,

I agree with Gringo. Up the dosage of your benadryl for now. Also, an allergic reaction to something can occur at anytime even if you never had the problem before. Hope you get over this quickly.

Be persistent. Call early and late every day asking if a cancellation has called in for that day or the next day. They will get the message that you are serious and they may even make room for you because of your persistence.

Hope you get an answer to this real soon. Waiting stinks.

Joe

I am going to keep taking Benadryl until the bottle is empty, if that’s what it takes. I was taking a Ginseng supplement, and that could be the problem, because I looked at the ingredients and there is a lot more than Ginseng in the caps. Since I stopped taking prescription meds, I have concentrated on using herbal or dietary ways of staying healthy, but I have to be more selective and educated about what I take. I am now only taking a Multivitamin, for my age group and Omega 3 caps.
Thanks to all of you for your replies!
Doug

Doug,

Not sure this will help but here goes. Several months ago something very similar happened to my wife. One day she was fine the next she is covered in hives and nothing worked. Benadryl didn’t solve it, oatmeal baths didn’t solve it, nothing. This lasted for several days with the hives increasing in intensity until one day they started to go away. It took a few days but then they were just gone as mysteriously as they had come. We went through the same questions you have already asked, what changed, what did I eat that shouldn’t have, etc. She went to an alergist who gave her a good workup and came to the conclusion that her hives were not an allergic reaction. Apparently in adults some common kid viruses (hand, foot and mouth and “slapped cheek” (for the life of me I can’t remember the actual name)) both cause hives in adults rather than the more common kid reaction. His conclusion was that because my wife is a teacher (pre-school) and we have two small children she had caught one of these viruses from a kid and in her the virus caused hives. Flash forward to three weeks ago and my oldest breaks out in hives. In her case Benadryl was able to make them go away but they would come back every evening and morning. This went on for several days until one day they were just gone. Our assumption is she had caught a similar virus and had the same reaction as my wife.

So, it may well be that nothing will work for you, if rather than being an allergic reaction this is a reaction to a virus. You may see if your doctor can prescribe Hydroxazine (sp.) which is a more powerful anti-histamine which did give my wife some relief. Though by the time the 16th rolls around you may not have any symptoms.

Hope this helps.
Brian