I was wondering if anybody has ever heard of birth control causing hives such as ortho-novum? My doctor put me on it a while back and I broke out into hives. Im almost sure that the pills are what caused it but my doctor never told me there was a chance it could happen and honestly it scared the crap out of me. Help?

I do know something from experience about this subject but my case may be different. I was getting hives from some of my pills, especially some over the counter ones were giving me hives. After doing some research I learned that most medications contain lactose. Many people cannot tolerate lactose or have an allergic reaction to it. All of the birth control pills except Demulen have lactose in them. Doctors will tell you that lactose is only milk sugar and you can't be allergic to sugar, but in many cases there is a residue of milk protein (which does cause an allergic reaction in some people) in the milk sugar, or lactose. You would find a lot of people through the allergy boards on the internet who cannot tolerate lactose, or get really sick or break out in hives from it. Another theory is that birth control pills alter your hormones. So many different things in your body (like your adrenals and your thyroid) also regulate hormones. I have heard of people getting hives from having a thyroid imbalance. Maybe this is related to hormones and you are having a similar experience from your hormones being changed by the birth control pills. Doctors have no clue about how this all works, I know because I have talked to several on my own behalf. Did you try a different birth control pill to see if it gave you a similar reaction?