How do I get rid of chronic hives!!!?

[Clayton]

Im 17 and I've had hives for over a year and a half. I can't stand the itch and sometimes pain I get from it. My doctor did tell me it's chronic urticaria but I don't get why it takes so long to go away. I was already on Doxepin for a few months and a gluten free diet. The only thing I noticed is in the summer when I wasn't in school was the best. Is it the heat that got rid of it or because I wasn't stressed about school. Please give me all the ideas to help stop the itchiness. Thanks!

[shauna]

So first - did you see an allergist? If you did not, I would do so.

If you saw one, did you test positive for anything, even slightly? Some folks will get hives even from milder allergies, or from substances that are just EVERYWHERE, like corn - you'd be exposed to corn constantly, for example. Or if you are allergic to mold, the school might have a mold problem and it's setting you off.

And lastly, I would HIGHLY recommend checking out something called mast cell activation disorder. This can be triggered and for some of us, puberty itself seemed to trigger it - I triggered at 16, myself. Basically, it's a disorder where the mast cells - which degranulate during an allergic reaction and can cause hives - start reacting to things that aren't allergens. Like chemicals, smells, foods, even certain temperatures. So yeah, with this conditions? If you trigger to cooler temps, then heat can actually make it stop! Also stress can trigger it as well, so being less stressed can also help this condition.

You will find little information on the web, because it is considered rare and most doctors don't even know about it. However, on facebook, there are support groups for this, for MCAD, MCAS (mast cell activation syndrome) and mast cell disorders or mastocytosis - all of these groups, if joined, have very good files on what current doctor are saying about these disorders and how to treat them, how to diagnose them, etc...

Most of the information is so new, it can be things like transcripts from recent medical conferences, for example, and you can't really find it elsewhere. Most of the information that is easy to find makes it seem like all people with this go into anaphylaxis constantly, and that's just not the case.

Seriously - I would explore this. This is EXACTLY what happened to me - hives during the school year, which ended afterward. No doc had a clue what was going on. Only I didn't get diagnosed for years.

Wishing you the best. Hope that you feel better soon - those constant hives are just horrid!