Hey Everyone,
Ugh, where do I begin this update? First, my wife and I have been sick the past week. My wife had it first, and then accidentally gave it to me. I suppose it is some kind of cold (or Flu). We have had temperatures of about 100-101. We have also felt very tired, weak, sleepy, and had runny noses. Luckily, my wife has pretty much recovered, and I only have a day or two of this bug (I hope).
I always hate it when I am sick, because a fever usually makes my hives worse. Since it increases my body temperature, it just puts me that much closer to a reaction. Luckily, I have stayed in my room with the A/C running, so I haven’t had that many attacks.
My Cholineric Urticaria, New Symptoms, and Something I May Have Discovered
I have some weired new symptoms lately, which I am not sure if it is related to the hives or not. Whenever I wake up in the morning, the back of my hands and tops of my feet itch like crazy. It doesn’t do it until I get out of bed, and then lasts for only about 30 minutes to an hour.
It doesn’t feel like the cholinergic urticaria type itch, although it is a prickly kind of itch (it just doesn’t really sting). I suppose it has something to do with my circulation or something, since it doesn’t happen until I get out of bed. But it is enough to really aggravate me for about an hour each morning.
Okay, so about my hives. For the past 3-4 years since my hives came back, they have been fairly manageable. I would usually have a severe attack, but then they would kind of calm down. In fact, after a severe attack, often times I could actually sweat. Unfortunately,for the past 2-3 months this hasn’t been so. I have tried taking Zyrtec, which helps, but not enough. I also recently noticed that Zyrtec is the thing that has been giving me diarrhea and upsetting my stomach.
The hives come on, and torture me relentlessly until I can cool down. There is no sweating happening at all at this point. I am not sure why they are so “on edge” lately, but it has been both depressing and disabling. So much so, that I have actually started to talk very seriously with my wife about steroids–something I vowed I would never do if possible.
An Interesting New Idea About Why My Hives First Went Away
As I was pondering my own hives situation in the past, I always think back to the first time my hives went away. I had them for a few months, went to the doctor, was given antihistamines (and eventually a steroid shot). None of it seemed to work, but the hives magically got better about a month or so after the steroid shot.
Well, looking back at my whole hives story, and given a new thing I discovered, I am actually starting to think the steroids did indeed play a key role in my first remission (which lasted about 3-4 years or so).
I have no idea what the shot was, only that it was definitely a steroid (corticosteroid—not the anabolic muscle-building kind). I distinctly remember that after a few weeks, I still had hives. Thus, I thought the shot did nothing, and I gave up on my dermatologist and realized nothing was working. Then, a month or two later, they went away.
As it turns out, steroid injections in your ‘rear end’ tend to slowly release the chemical into your body over the course of weeks, or sometimes even 3 months! Wow. I didn’t know that. Turns out, I think that darn steroid shot may have been THE THING that put my hives into a nice 3-4 year remission.
For the life of me, I have no idea what the actual brand was. I have been researching online, and it seems Kenalog is one type that is frequently used by dermatologist (and is often slowly released for up to 3 months). Prednisone can also be inject-able, so it could have been that too. Or, it could have been a different steroid altogether.
Unfortunately, steroids aren’t something to joke about. These things shoot down your immune system, leaving you susceptible to infections. Also, they can have all kinds of terrible side effects (although honestly I can’t remember any side effects when I took that one). Plus, even though steroids don’t necessarily cause cancer, a weakened immune system could potentially increase your risk a bit.
My New Battle Plan–Steroids in the Spring If My Hives Aren’t Better
Okay, so I have really researched this and talked to my wife about it. She agrees that the steroids are probably what put my hives away. I was actually going to make an appointment to the dermatologist soon, but then I remembered something–If I get a steroid shot now, that means my immune system is going to be weakest when colds, the flu, and other diseases are at their peak (in the winter).
Probably not a good idea, eh? I may actually need my immune system during that time. So instead, I have decided that this is what I will do: If my hives are not significantly better by this spring, then I am going to go ahead and try 1 single steroid shot (hopefully they have my records and can find out what it was and the same dosage). If that one single steroid shot works, then great. If not, then I am not going to pursue steroids any longer due to the risks involved.
Taking steroids all the time is a really BAD idea. It can leave you with all sorts of side effects or diseases. So that is what I am going to do. I will try it 1 time in the spring (about 6-7 months from now), and if that works–great. If not, I guess I will just have to take antihistamines and try various meds or treatments to make it as bearable as possible.
Funny thing is, it will be exactly 10 years since my last steroid shot this spring. It would be so great if it actually worked, and my hives went away for years again, or even forever!
Oh, and one last thing: While thinking back about my hives going away (and thinking it may have had a lot to do with a slow-release injection of steroids)–I was also pondering what may have started them back up again–since they didn’t come back for a few years (long after the steroid effect probably wore off). I can actually remember 1 serious event that stands out crystal clear in my mind, that could have been a reason my hives started back up again–a severe illness.
While I was working at a retail store (Target), during the November shopping season, they had ordered a bunch of sandwiches for us. They were great, and I went home happy. Unfortunately, I got SEVERELY sick that night. I vomited profusely–at least 20 times that night. I have never ever ever been that sick before in my LIFE. Even when nothing came out, I was still vomiting. It must have been the mayonnaise or something from the sandwiches sitting out all day–I have no clue what it was that made me that sick.
Fast forward, and just 1-2 months later, my hives started to come back. Maybe it is just a coincidence. Or, maybe this illness got my immune system jacked up, and after a couple of months the hives were back. Just speculation, but it is interesting to think about. It also makes me wonder if I had never gotten sick, would the hives came back? Or would they have stayed in remission?
