 Chronic Hives (plus headaches!)
About three and a half months ago (two months after starting hormonal birth control), I started getting hives. (Big ones: they would look and act like mosquito bites.) They continue to this day. Some days I have up to twenty of them, some days I don't have any. They itch like mad for the first hour or so, and within twelve hours, they usually have faded away. At that point, maybe new ones will have appeared, or maybe I will get a couple hive-free hours or days.
The hives really seem to like my lower back, right on either side of my spine, and on the front of my hip bone. That said, I've also gotten them on the inside of my forearm, all over my shoulders, directly under my breasts, just under my knee caps, and on my shins. (Imagine having mosquito bites pretty much non-stop for three and a half months. Oh, what I wouldn't give to have my skin not itch anymore!)
I've had appointments with my dermatologist and my allergist, and they're stumped. I've always been conscientious of the types of products I use, and I didn't change laundry detergents or start eating new foods. After the first month of hives, I stopped taking the birth control, and my symptoms were unchanged.
In addition, I've been getting headaches. I used to get maybe one headache every week or two, but now it's to the point where I'm getting them pretty much every day in varying severity. (Some days it's just a sort of achey/foggy feeling, and other days it's more of a sharp/shooting pain.) They're sometimes just annoying and will go away on their own. Other times, they just get to the point where they're practically debilitating, or they make me nauseated, and then I have to take Excedrin Migraine (which almost always helps; there have been only a couple that have been truly horrific).
I'm to the point where I suspect the two may be related and that something else may be going on. I have an appointment with my primary care doctor at the end of the month, and my plan is to have her do bloodwork and hopefully rule out autoimmune diseases.
I would be grateful for any suggestions regarding possible causes of these symptoms, as well as suggestions for questions/tests to bring up when I meet with my doctor. (Also, has anyone had these symptoms after taking hormonal birth control, even after stopping it?) If anyone has had similar experiences and knows of some sort of magical cure, I wouldn't say "no" to that either! ;]
Thanks! :]
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