I am allergic to NOTHING! The 50 pricks I got for the skin test came back negative. My doctor is completely baffled by my problem. He says in all his years of being an allergist, he has only seen a handful of cases like mine. Way to make me feel better :P He says it seems as though I just have prolonged hives- but normally hives only last tops 6 weeks. Mine have been going on for a year and less than 1% of people, according to my doctor, have constant symptoms that long. Also, my skin test for dairy was negative even though I have a blood test saying otherwise, which he said he didn't know why that was the case.
Also, he suspects something is wrong with my thyroid primarily because of weight (they didn't even weigh me or ask about my diet/exercise history) but also that some thyroid problems can cause hives. So I had to have 9(!!!) vials of blood drawn. I didn't understand a lot of the blood work sheet, but I at least was getting a thyroid panel, complete metabolic panel (in contrast to basic), glucose panel, blood test for allergies, and one more thing that I didn't understand. I'm kind of nervous though because I am looking for what might link thyroid problems with rashes and it is a LOT of scary sounding autoimmune diseases...
Do your hives look like really bad rashes? I had that from age 8 to about 16 where I have rash all over my body. I used ointments, saw dermatologists, doctors, allergist...nothing really helped until all of a sudden, one year it all went away and never came back! The allergist took my blood sample and told me that my allergy level was so high it was WAY off the chart, BUT they cannot figure out what I'm allergic to. I went and have allergy shots for a few months. I don't think it's an autoimmune disease.
Allie, skin tests are not as accurate as blood tests, especially for allergies that manifest through skin reactions (I know, weird). My son struggled with food allergies when he was younger and I learned more about them than I ever thought possible! Here's hoping the bloodwork shows something good for you!
Kara- Allergies are seriously the most ridiculous thing ever. Because for every one explanation of why an allergy occurs, there are 5 different ones that disagree. I feel so bad for your son, and even worse for you! He was probably too young to realize really what was going on besides he was itchy, right? My poor mom is FREAKING out- which isn't helping my nerves either :P
Dreamy- That stinks! I hope I don't have this for years without anyone understanding! I'm hoping the blood tests explain. I normally don't get so hypochondriac-ish, but when doctors are so vague in explaining exactly why something is getting done, it makes me ridiculously nervous and makes me jump to conclusions! Plus, my thyroid levels have always only been borderline of normal, but never considered bad enough to treat. I guess I'm lucky that it's at one of the best hospitals in the country, so if there's anywhere that can figure out what's wrong if it's not allergies, then it's there.
My husband had developed an allergy to Gain detergent last year. Just out of the blue. I have been using Gain and Tide depending what's on sale and everything was fine. Then, all of a sudden, one day he broke out in hives. And they were bad, all over his body. He went to the emergency room. The doctors gave him shots and it would get better, but then it would come back a day or two later. They tried to figure out what caused it, but couldn't deternime for sure. So I just started observing him and saw that he gets a reaction every time he wears something freshly washed, usually after the effect of shots wears out. I switched back to Tide (permanently) and it never happened again.
I hope this gives you some ideas about what could be causing your hives. Good luck
It's not environmental for me because I've lived in 3 places plus several hotels, used several different detergents (now using white wine vinegar or Dr. Bronner's if something is really stained), and different soaps/shampoos/conditioners with no change. My first assumption was that it was laundry detergent but changing and eventually stopping using it has caused no change. :\
That's so scary about your H though! I can't imagine just one day suddenly getting horrible hives. With me, it was awhile before I realized what it was... I just thought it was heat rash.
The scary thing about allergies is that you can develop them out of nowhere, just like Nina's DH did. One day you're fine, the next day, you're violently ill. I also have a developed allergy that's a bit more life-altering: at the age of 15, my body decided to reject the anti-biotics and steroids that animals are fed, thus why I'm now a vegetarian. I can't even eat real eggs unless they're from my friend Mindy's mom's chickens because they don't feed them anything but regular ol' chicken feed.
Charolastra, I'm sorry that the allergist didn't have any answers for you today. That must have been a big disappointment. Let's hope that blood work will turn up something so you can start getting some relief, it must be driving you nuts.
It's not environmental for me because I've lived in 3 places plus several hotels, used several different detergents (now using white wine vinegar or Dr. Bronner's if something is really stained), and different soaps/shampoos/conditioners with no change. My first assumption was that it was laundry detergent but changing and eventually stopping using it has caused no change. :\
But for me I think it was environmental somehow, even though we never figured out the reason. I lived in Taiwan (tropical humid weather) from birth to age 3, move to California (dry) until age 5, moved back to Taiwan until age 8, then back to US at age 8, and that's when the rashes started. The doctors say that it usually goes away after a while but it was a long while. We never figured out what cured it because when it started to go away, I was being given allergy shots, taking Chinese herbs, and putting on prescribed ointment. Don't know what changed but glad it went away. I wish you the best!
When I was first diagnosed with having a hyper thyroid I was getting hives and had no reason why. I remember it being fall sometime and I would feel goosebumps coming on , like a chill, then all of a sudden I would get itchy hives all over. Mostly my arms and legs but I would get them other places as well. They have recently changed the guidelines as to what is "normal" as far as TSH levels go as well. I had to beg my doctor to do a thyroid test on me because she didn't believe I had a problem. She did the test and when it came back immediately referred me to an endocrinologist. I must add that I do have allergies as well mostly dust, pollen and a few food. But I've never experienced hives with any of those allergies. I've been on my meds for close to 11 years now and haven't had a problem since. Good luck and I sure hope these tests give you some kind of answer.
Lara
I am so sorry Charlostra! My husband suffers from a condition called chronic idiopathic urticaria which he has had his entire life. His body produces something he is allergic to, but they can't find out. He mostly has the hives both internal and external on his torso, but occasionally on this limbs and face. He has a very high toleration for these, so when he complains, you know they are bad. He has to take heavy duty steroids, zyterc, and get tested for cataracs, liver function, bone density and something else because of the steroids.
I am so sorry you are suffering and do understand what you are going through. I hope you are able to get back on your Zyrtec and feeling some peace soon. Please keep us updated.
Allie, he was seven months when he had his first reaction and ten months before his pediatrician would even refer us to an allergist. I've found GPs have little to no knowledge about allergies. Once we had isolated what was causing the problem and eliminated those things from his diet (and mine since he was still breastfeeding) it cleared up for him, unless he accidentally got hold of something. Since his big triggers were wheat, rice, and soy, I did a LOT of baking trying different combinations of flours that were safe for him and never left the house without an arsenal of snacks for him because we never knew where we'd be able to find something safe for him. I was quite an interesting few years. The crazy kid ended up being allergic to turnips, vinegar, grapefruit, green beans, cinnamon, really random things! I lost ten pounds in about a month just from cutting all of those things out! Talk about eating lots of veggies...that's pretty much all I ate for the next year! Then, we moved to Texas, got a new allergist, who did a full blood panel just to have a baseline, and sometime between when we had moved from Maryland (he had *just* had a reaction right before we left) and got the test results back in Texas, he had outgrown EVERYTHING. It was unbelievable! He was just shy of three years old. Now he has no issues at all, aside from environmental things, and mold, which has landed him in the hospital with asthma issues.
So, there is hope. Not that you want to live with a rash for three years, but since your immune system changes throughout your life, you might just grow out of it. Hopefully it's nothing more serious!
What Tomandcara is talking about has it's roots in a scientific allergy-treating technique. It's basically an elimination method. You can try eliminating certain food groups out of your diet completely for a perion of time to see if there are changes.
Some of the most common allergies after all are things like eggs, milk and peanut butter. But those tend to be pretty obvious (even though it took me months of getting sick all the time just to figure out I have become lactose intolerant). The sneaky one's are things like gluten allergy (wheat and everything wheat-related). You'd be surprised at how many things contain gluten protein. And you can't determine than by your regular skin pricking test. There is a special test (Google it), but even that is not 100% guaranteed to be accurate.
My heart goes out to all of you out there with these sort of issues. They can be very painful and frustrating. Just keep searching for answer and it will come to you one day.
P.S. Allie, it really was terrifying when my DH ended up in the ER, you can't imagine the "worst-case-scenarios" going through my head. I am truly greatful it didn't turn out to be any of the things I imagined.
I spook myself really easily so every time I got a little twinge on my skin, I would eliminate a food! It's good to know with some reasonable security that I'm not allergic to sesame, peanuts, almonds, soy, wheat, and eggs! I'm still going to keep dairy out of my diet just in case (as I'm almost 100% sure the skin test wasn't accurate) and I think wheat as well, just to be on the safe side.
Next time I go, I'm bringing a clove of garlic with me because a lot of my symptoms match a garlic allergy, but they don't regularly test for it. For food allergies they don't regularly test, they ask that you bring it in. The panel they had kind of shocked me because I would never have thought some of those things would be such common allergies- like lettuce!
I felt like such a hypochondriac asking my doctor about all of the possible allergy issues- but I suppose you HAVE to be like that, especially with allergies? I'm always annoying at the doctors- my GP once asked if I had trust issues because I would not stop asking questions :P I know that they know what they're doing, but they need to explain everything to me at every step of the way for me to feel comfortable. The allergist let me listen to his dictation (I think that's what it's called?) so I would know exactly how he was approaching everything, which made me happy.
Kara- poor Connor! I'm so glad he grew out of it, for both of your sakes!
Brendansmum- I think that's what my doctor might suspect- hyperthyroidism. However I've always displayed more symptoms of hypothyroid issues. I'm pretty anxious about the results, especially if the standards have changed recently. My last test was probably 10 years ago.
Shequila- Oh your poor H! I'm glad they have him on a regimen of medication that works for him. I have a friend with a similar problem (though I'm not sure if it's the exact issue that you're H has) and they've been working on figuring out medication for her for the past 5 years.
I have such a renewed respect for people who deal with allergies and multiple allergies. I always knew it was serious but never realized what a challenge it could be. And heck... I'm only allergic to one thing and that's really difficult, so many people have multiple allergies! From doing a lot of google research on it, it seems like so little is known about allergies in comparison to a lot of other fields because just by their nature, they're totally illusive.
On the flip side, if I stay allergic to dogs I have the perfect excuse to get a xolo!
What's a xoxo, Allie? And don't feel badly asking your doctor questions. The more you understand, the better you'll be able to effectively deal with the problem!
and the results are in! (Allergy Test)
