HIVES - help!, I'm losing it Options

[Happy-owl]

Hi ladies, I think this is the worst yet. My latest menopause symptom - at least I understand it can be meno related - HIVES! I've had some "itchy skin" for just over a week but the hives started yesterday. I think they are going to make me insane. Can anyone help, please? I just took a benadryl, hoping to get some sleep tonight. I would love some help with what to do in the short term to treat them & take away the itching. They are right now in all the areas where my bra touches (ick!), under my arms, some on the back of my neck, & I did have one starting on my wrist. My ears itch too, inside. I know I need to see my doctor. My naturopath only works on Tuesdays & my regular doctor is useless, she will probably give me something I can buy OTC anyway. I imagine a referral to a dermatologist or allergist is in the offing but that can take a long time with my health plan, so what can I do to get some relief in the meantime - just continue the benedryl? Help, help!

New things I've been using in the past 3 weeks:
Emerita progesterone cream
Estroven PM
L-theanine supplements
Rainbow Light multi-vitamin for women with minerals (has all kinds of stuff in it)

All the first three I believe were helping me with insomnia & anxiety, so I'm extremely upset at the thought of giving them up, tho I think that's my first route is to eliminate them. Has anyone heard of any of these things causing hives?

This is making me crazy. The insomnia made me crazy - & I thought I had that figured out. Also in the past week or so I had experienced some nausea & diarrhea, but that seemed to be getting better too, I thought it was my body adjusting to some of the supplements above. So I thought things were about to even out & now this. This is the worst because it's again affecting my sleep and also making big red bumps all over my body and making it impossible for me to do anything!

I'm officially low in P and E and all the hormones - result of saliva test. I had no periods between May of this year and yesterday, when I got a period. (My period made me break out in hives?!) In case that info helps.

Thank you!!

Jenny

[FoxyRoxy]

I'm glad someone else made a topic similar to what I was wanting to know about as I have never started a thread myself yet.

Now I don't have hives yet but I have that awful itching everywhere all over at different times in different places randomly at any given moment, what's with that..... At night when I get into bed my feet itch for about 10mins, which is long enough to drive me insane along with teh insomnia. Afttr a shower in tehmorning the tops of my feet itch for a few monutes, when I put on my socks or shoes my feet itch for a few mionutes, at night my legs itch in random l=places for afew minutes then it;'s my back then it's my upper arms. Mornings my wrists itch..... WTF is

[FoxyRoxy]

I'm glad someone else made a topic similar to what I was wanting to know about as I have never started a thread myself yet.

Now I don't have hives yet but I have that awful itching everywhere all over at different times in different places randomly at any given moment, what's with that..... At night when I get into bed my feet itch for about 10mins, which is long enough to drive me insane along with teh insomnia. Afttr a shower in tehmorning the tops of my feet itch for a few monutes, when I put on my socks or shoes my feet itch for a few mionutes, at night my legs itch in random l=places for afew minutes then it;'s my back then it's my upper arms. Mornings my wrists itch..... WTF is all

[FoxyRoxy]

Sheesh what did I do wrong there........ Stupid itching fingers hitting the wrong keys

Now what I want to know has anyone used the bio-flavonoid Quercetin for this kind of random itching with any success?? I had a similar problem but in a much worse degree after having my last child so I'm convinced it's hormonal and many women I know have had the awful itching while pregnant too, gotta be hormonal. I'm always reluctant to take anything new supplement wise and I don't want to take any antihistamines as I'm extremely med sensitive even to OTC meds. It's allergy season here in NZ now and with the strong equinox winds it's sure blowing the pollen around. I have been sneezing a little more and getting occasional itchy eyes and an intense itch right inside my ear that I just can't reach

I did a search on here for Quercetin and one post mentioned that it can do something to Estrogen levels, not sure if it meant increase or decrease them but I don't want to take anything that interfers with hormones anymore. I have increased my Vit C intake slightly of late to help with the withdrawal effects of the AD I have recently come off but I wouldn't imagine the vit C would make me itch as I've been taking it for quite sometime now with no problems.

So if anyone is taking Quercetin and having success with it for whatever reason please post, I gotta get rid of this itch before I wear out my beautiful nails I have just managed to grow LMAO

Rox

[RoundRobin]

Jenny: Hives are hideous to deal with. The first question a dermatologist is going to ask you is, what are you taking that's new? Since you have have started several supplements, it's hard to know which one might be the culprit. You'll have to stop all of them and then reintroduce each one by one to see if the symptoms return.

Keep your skin hydrated; slather it with moisturizer. Avoid super-hot showers or baths. Wear loose fitting, cotton clothing. And don't be afraid to take 50 mgs of Benadryl every six hours....just be careful driving because it can really sedate some people.

Good luck...

[silkakc]

I have that too but I am still menstruating. It happens EVERY single month to me at ovulation time and right before my period starts so mine is caused by very high levels of estrogen. My scalp and ears tingle and itch and I have to be REALLY careful those days not to go out in the sun or take any hot baths because I will draw blood itching! Are your palms of your hands and soles of your feet and your cheeks on your face beet red too? Mine are and my Dr. says it is Estrogen related. High levels of Estrogen is a Histamine antagonist.

Clariton once a day stops it. Within an hour! And the Clariton sold at Aldi's is dirt cheap- $1.49 for 10 pills. Be careful those itchy days taking meds too. My daily vitamin makes it worse. I researched it and Folic acid and Niacin are also Histamine antagonists I found out. As is red wine and spicy food:(

[arla]

Jenny,
Robin gave great advice.
I had a bout of hives and found that I was allergic to aspirin or anything containing acetylsalicylic acid which can include strawberries and raspberries among other fruits.

I did have to go back and use the process of elimination but be careful because the second time I had an even worse case. Benadryl did help but it took a couple of days to fully control them.

Rox,

I have never used Quercetin so I can't help there. I just wanted to add that I suffered with itching a lot throughout peri - just in random spots like you have said.
It's pretty much gone now but I never did come to any conclusion as to what was causing it.
Hope you find something that helps.

Hugs,
Arla.

[suzpaterson]

Hi - I share your sensitive skin issue! I haven't tried Quercetin either, I would love to know if it works. I put that Clarydryl all over my bawdy. Put epsom salts on itchies too. I have a tub of Aloe Vera at work in case I need to dab it on my itchy pricklies. Also cortisone cream. I keep cool cool cool as much as possible anyway. I notice a correlation between it and overheating. I have no idea what I am allergic to other than alcohol and citric acid gives me debilitating heartburn and the rash coincided with that. It's terrible. There really is not much worse (well there is but I love being dramatic!) than itchy crawly skin. It drives me to distraction! Itching it only makes it worse too. Why after all these hundreds and hundreds of years of us women suffering can't Doctors be more helpful with this stuff?

I wish you relief!

[Celica2]

I have had a skin condition called dermatographia for over 5 years now, and got it just as other peri symptoms started. I get hives everywhere whenever my skin is rubbed, even just my clothes or sheets rubbing will cause red welts anywhere on my body! I consequently found that sleeping in very cool sheets will reduce the inflammation of my skin, although it is difficult to fall asleep when your bed is cold. Another thing that I gently rub on my skin at the end of a shower is Olays In Shower Body Lotion, and then just rinse it off before getting out. Works really well for that generalized itching. I do take Quecetin almost everyday, and maybe I don't take enough of it, as it hasn't helped my generalized hive condition. Finally, it can be a matter of sheer determination not to scratch those itchies, and this I haven't always been able to do, as I still have scars on some skin areas that I scratched in the past. Hope this information helps you ...Celica2

[cgm]

I have always had very dry sensitive skin, but since I've entered into Peri, I too have bouts of uncontrollable itching, whelps and hives. I feel like I've got mites burrowing into my skin. I probably look like i've got some sort of tourette syndrome the way I start scratching. It's so bad at night that I wake up every hour to apply eucerin moisturizer. Sleeping in a cotten shirt helps. I think that part of the problem is an allergic reaction to laundry powder. I conducting a experiment and reducing the amount of powder in my wash. This whole itchy hive thing comes in @ number two on the PITA list of symptoms of the change of life. My first has been with internal shaking in my head. This has subsided a bit, but from time to time I feel my brain shaking. I had a brain scan done in 06 and all was normal. Wishing everyone well and happy holidays.

[joyceveronica]

I have always had very dry sensitive skin, but since I've entered into Peri, I too have bouts of uncontrollable itching, whelps and hives. I feel like I've got mites burrowing into my skin. I probably look like i've got some sort of tourette syndrome the way I start scratching. It's so bad at night that I wake up every hour to apply eucerin moisturizer. Sleeping in a cotten shirt helps. I think that part of the problem is an allergic reaction to laundry powder. I conducting a experiment and reducing the amount of powder in my wash. This whole itchy hive thing comes in @ number two on the PITA list of symptoms of the change of life. My first has been with internal shaking in my head. This has subsided a bit, but from time to time I feel my brain shaking. I had a brain scan done in 06 and all was normal. Wishing everyone well and happy holidays.

Dear'cgm'

Those mites burrowing feeling is the pits.They mainly targeted my scalp.Had everybody check for lice.Nothing!I finally got relief with Benadryl,a little every couple of hours and then a double dose at bedtime.It really worked and helped me sleep too.

However,as R.R mentioned be careful if driving as it can be sedating in some people.

All the Best
Elizabeth

[thistlebrook]

After posting a similar question to the skin forum a few days ago, I think I may have figured out what is going on with me and I'll share it in case it is helpful to anyone else. For the past few weeks I have also been experiencing the random itching/mite burrowing kinds of sensations and couldn't figure out what was going on since this is new for me. My periods stopped around 2 years ago and I have been on the Climara estriadol patch at its lowest dosage since then. The last couple of months I have been feeling like either I was needing a higher dose or that the patch wasn't delivering as well as it had been. I have lost a good bit of weight in the last year, as well, meaning I am assuming, .that my fat cells were likely not putting out as much estrogen as they had been previously. After just reading a couple of days ago on the PowerSurge website that the patch only really lasts 4 or 5 days instead of 7 I realized that I was going to need to take matters into my own hands and see if adding estrogen would help the itching. I had a box of Estrasorb estriadol cream packets from a previous prescription left over and I started using them in addition to whatever I was getting through the patch. I started doing so a few days ago and by the morning after using the cream the night before my itching had stopped. It has been 3 days now with no itching to speak of and the tinges of hot flashes that were starting to recur have also stopped. For me, I think my answer is going to be to ask to have the estrogen dosage raised when I go to the doctor next month and see how I do for a while. Hope this helps someone, somehow.

Dear'cgm'

Those mites burrowing feeling is the pits.They mainly targeted my scalp.Had everybody check for lice.Nothing!I finally got relief with Benadryl,a little every couple of hours and then a double dose at bedtime.It really worked and helped me sleep too.

However,as R.R mentioned be careful if driving as it can be sedating in some people.

All the Best
Elizabeth

[Cynth8]

During perimenopause, I got hives so bad on my face I ended up at ER and had to be given Prednisone. I think it was probably the Prevage I tried on my face but why have I never in my life had an allergic reaction to cosmetics and creams before?

And last spring and summer my whole back was itchy. I would have to itch it with a plastic ruler or a pen. Bathing and soaping it didn't seem to help.

I have dandruff now, too, and an itchy scalp. I think it's the change, I can't think what else.

I hope you get some help and relief. Hives are so awful to have.

[joyceveronica]

During perimenopause, I got hives so bad on my face I ended up at ER and had to be given Prednisone. I think it was probably the Prevage I tried on my face but why have I never in my life had an allergic reaction to cosmetics and creams before?

And last spring and summer my whole back was itchy. I would have to itch it with a plastic ruler or a pen. Bathing and soaping it didn't seem to help.

I have dandruff now, too, and an itchy scalp. I think it's the change, I can't think what else.

I hope you get some help and relief. Hives are so awful to have.

Dear'Cynth8'

I recently had an outbreak of itchy hives as well as a prickly heat rash on my legs.I went to my local Pharmacist-a very sensible and well trained lady-she told me to take a warm bath and then apply a light powdering of Johnson's Baby Powder.The one used for prickly heat rash in babies.She then prescribed an Anti-histamine called Histazin 25mg,a small blue tablet once a night for two weeks.It worked and because it has a slightly sedating effect even helped me sleep better.Hope this is of some use.

Warm Wishes
Elizabeth

[Bookworm56]

One of the odd things about peri/meno is the sudden onset of allergic reactions for some of us. I never used to be allergic to 1) seafood 2) peaches 3) raspberries 4) detergents 4) medications. All this began in my late 30's. Argh!

Last year I broke out in terrible rashes on my legs (inner thigh area) and no doctor could figure out what it was. They treated me for everything from Lyme Disease to Cellulitis to no avail. They even put me on an antibiotic that made me break out in a rash everywhere else on my poor, itchy, battered body. I literally lived on Benedryl for weeks. I don't know how I functioned.

Someone recommended Zinc Oxide and that was the only thing that helped me and healed the rash. The rash popped up again in the same place a few months ago and instead of haunting the waiting rooms of my doctors I simply started the zinc cream again. Sheesh.