Severe Itching, Rash, Brought on by weird things

[Myron123]

Hello,

I will start from beginning. In 1998 I had strep throat in January, I was given some kind of penicilin. Then in Feb 98 I got it again, and gioven same medication. I went home, and hung out with my girlfriend for a bit and then noticed I was starting to itch. I went to the bathroom and started showering, because my skin was burning up. I noticed severe hives all over my body and I could not stop scratching. I was getting frantic, so I got dressed and went into the living room and my mother was over and I just flopped down on the couch. I found it very hard to see and my breathing was very weird. My brother was called over and drove me to the hospital where I was told I was taking a severe alergic reaction. They gave me shots of Benedryl and adrenaline. (they said I could have died if I left it go any longer). Anyways, I am also a severe Asmatic, and for about 2 months after this alergic reaction, I had no sympthoms of it. I could run, do whatever. Like I never had asthma. Well, after a couple of months, my asthma re-appeared and brought with it this rash. I don't have it all the time, but literally anything can bring it on. The Cold brings it on, the heat brings it on, the Shower, running, walking, asthma attacks, eating chips, sex, laughing, stress, etc. But the thing is, I can do these things sometimes, and nothing happends. I can run some days, and then run another day with totally different results. First I thought it may have been chocolate, and other foods I was eating a large amount of (I lov Chocolate ), but when I stopped 100% eating particular items, it had no effect. I thought it might have been my Asthma medication, but after stopping taking my medication for about a week (which resulted in living with asthma sympthoms), it had no effect. I tried changing my laundy soap, using lotions, etc...nothing. I went to the doctor in 2000, and she said it was probably something from the alergic reaction that has set this off. She said I have (I am not spelling this right, but it sounds like it is spelled here) Erticaria? And she told me to take a Benedryl from now on, once a day. I thought it was stupid due to it having drowsey side effects, but I did that for a week, and nothing aswell. Nothing seems to work, and there does not seem to be any real system to this rash. I have read throught the boards to find answers, but nobody seems to be having the same problem as me. These are my sympthoms:

- Severe rash over every part of my body, lots of hives.
- Every square inch of my body itches to the effect of a Musquito bite when I have this rash.
- It holds me back from doing things I want to do (before I had this, I was a very good basketball player, but can't stand the fact of having this rash infront of people).
- Very red blotches when I have rash.
- Confidence level dropped through the floor, I rarely leave my house.
- Burning hot, and when the rash goes away, I am very tired and have to lay down and sleep.
- it seems to relieve on my back when it is scratched for about 2-5 minutes. Hives stay, but does not seem to itch.

Can anyone PLEASE help me?

[Aaron00]

Last night I found the same kind of hives on my arms and down the sides of my stomach. Realy itchy and red. Also my lip feels a bit fat for some odd reason. I am still trying to figure it out myself. Its wierd though.

[Myron123]

yeah, I get the lip thing too.... usually my upper one..

[gobbleduck]

Have you been to an allergist or have you had any allergy testing? I had a friend that had really weird random rashes and asthma-like symptoms. The rashes/asthma started out of the blue one day and became more and more frequent over time. She tried eliminating certain foods, changing her cosmetics/detergent/etc. and keeping a symptom diary, but they couldn't figure out the cause. The doctors were stumped, and she was miserable. Finally, she went to an allergist and it turned out she was allergic to wheat. Her regular doctor didn't think of it because she didn't have any of the intestinal symptoms common with wheat allergy and because wheat allergy is usually found in children (and true wheat allergy is really rare). Anyway, I'm not saying you have wheat allergy. It's just possible that you have a really uncommon allergy that only an allergist can uncover for you.

[Hogan Grimm]

Hello Myron123,

Well you can count me in on the hive thing. The proper way to spell what you have been diagnosed with is (Urticaria). I started getting hives/rashes about 4 years ago. It started out slowly at first, then as time went on it became worse.

Like you, a cause has not been found. I get them for no explainable reason,
sometimes all over, or sometimes in various places. They will disappear in one place only to reappear in another. Sometimes the hives will be small red bumps, or very large whelts.

When you have had hives for a long period of time, and from what you posted you have, the diagnoses becomes what is called (chronic idiopathic urticaria). I have had every test done under the sun, with the exception of a few, and in my case a cause has not been found either. My life has become a living nightmare because of this.

There is no cure for urticaria, only treatments, and the sad fact is in the US the is not much research being done to find a cure. I have done a great deal of research on this condition, due to the fact that doctors, allergists included don't seem to know very much that can help.

I just got plain tired of waiting around for answers. I will post a lot of my research here if you are interested. It really helps to understand more about it especialy when you see your doctor because then they can't lie to you.

Hogan Grimm