I’ve never had any issues with my skin, really. When I was younger, it was always fine. I used to get a rash on my body of brown patches occasionally when I hit puberty, especially if I over heated. It would generally occur in the areas I sweat (under the breast, on my back if I slept all night on it, etc.). But this came and went and was never really a problem.
The doctor prescribed some creams to use once it flared, and I would just use those to treat it. Then about 8 months ago I had a severe reaction to a new face cream. Actually at that point in time, I thought it was the new memory foam pillow I had bought as well as the new heavily scented cream I was using. I broke out severely on my face, and neck. I went to the doctors, then I went to a skin specialist professor who advised me it was a reaction and a form of contact dermatitis.
They placed me on a pretty aggressive course of Prednisone and gave me a Prednisone cream to apply topically. This seemed to clear it up. I threw the offending cream away and got a new pillow thinking that was it. I had my bloods done and the doctor told me my general inflammation in my body was very very high. I will admit at that point in time I was drinking quite a bit too and carrying a lot of weight so all of those elements probably did not help.
Ever since then I now have regular outbreaks of hives. I have discovered that I am very allergic to dust mites, so whenever I come into contact with them, I develop hives-like reactions. I am working on removing those from my bed and house now systematically. It also seems that whenever I overheat now, the hives break out on my neck and throat, and I get a burning sensation on my face.
I am currently eating a fairly healthy diet mainly consisting of vegetables and fish/chicken. I am doing cardio a few times a week and weight training every day. This has helped me to lose some weight and get a bit healthier. Some of my offending foods seem to be dairy and chilli/spicy foods. Avoiding those helps mostly. However, I still have these random outbreaks like I did last night.
I am not going to play innocent, I drank alcohol which I haven’t done in a while and had a nice warm bath after wards. After a few hours of sleep, I woke up itching like hell. I applied creams and some cool water, took about 40 minutes to get it under control though. Also on Saturday I had sat on the carpet in the lounge room and then touched myself on the shoulder and bam a bit white whelt came up. I am assuming that’s my dust mite allergy cause then by Saturday afternoon I was covered all over my face in whelts and rash. I ended up having too take a prednisone and applying cream, and splashing cool water on it too get it too stop spreading.
Today I have stopped taking the Prednisone and switched to a new 24-hour Telfast pill specifically for hives and itchy skin. It seems to be doing the job for now. I will have to wait and see how it goes. I guess after just reading your book this is going to be a long journey too finding a solution to my problem. I’m just hoping it happens sooner rather then later.
-Manda
Hivesguy says
Hello, Manda! I’m sorry to hear of all those struggles and hives issues you’ve had recently. A lot of people have commented about alcohol making their hives worse on this site, so you’re definitely not alone there.
At least you’re trying things and not giving up hope. I definitely think it will be helpful for you to continue to reduce dust mites and other allergens. The fact that your inflammation is high seems to indicate that something is really bothering your immune system, possibly in your diet or environment (or both). You may want to spend a lot of time with your diet. The biggest shock to me was that I ate those foods my whole life with no issues. Now I can eat very little without a lot of issues.
One thing I would point out is that fish is often very allergic and very high in histamine, which isn’t good for a lot of allergic conditions. Freshly cooked (real) turkey is about the only meat that is hypoallergic for me. I could eat a whole turkey a day and it wouldn’t cause me issues. But red meat and fish does cause me some issues.
I know it’s tough right now, but hang in there. You seem to have an overall positive attitude, and it’s great that you’re determined to keep trying things. I hope your hives and allergic issues calm down very soon! Thanks so much for your support and for taking the time to share your story with everyone.
Helen1668 says
The day hives leave me alone
It is not easy to figure out what the triggers are. Everyone has a different trigger. First, we have to understand what causes the break out of hives. There are a few factors involved: preservatives, pesticides, hormone imbalance, acid-alkaline imbalance, environment, diet, lack of exercise and stress.
When you are having a break out of hives. You got to avoid food like Gluten, Dairy, Refine sugar, and Nuts (except walnuts). Follow by going on a vegetarian diet for a month. Reduce your meat to less, but lean meat or preferable fish. Avoid any deep fried foods. Eat lots of vegetables, fruits and drink lots of water.
As for my personal experience, I have changed my diet entirely; whether I like it or not. I started to have hives during my peri-menopause which was 2 years ago. Everything seems to come to me, hives, back pain, problem standing long hour, walking long distances and could not do any garden work or heavy duty work like lifting 10bs or more objects. It drove me nuts and it seemed like the whole world is attacking me. Very depress and helpless.
I visited many different doctors and specialist those days. They all keep trying me on medications and cream. It was a temporary fix and the hives come back all the time. I was very frustrated and angry. Then I decided to tackle my health problems myself. I started with treating hives as it is the worst of all health problem I had. I rolled up my sleeves to start looking information online. I did research after research every day and gather all the information till I like to understand the hives issues. Then I started to apply the issues on me. But, this time it is all natural products and no side effects.
If you are serious with your hives, you should try out the following.
Morning
After brushing teeth, drink a glass of water. Ten minutes later, drink a glass of water with 1/8 tsp of sea salt. Fifteen minutes later, drink a glass of water with 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar.
A half hour later, you can have your breakfast.
Breakfast: banana, quick oat, golden raisin, walnuts, chopped green onion, cilantro and dill. Take 1 capsule of Cod liver oil (1000mg), 1 chewable 1 Vitamin C 500mg, 1 chewable Extra strength calcium antacid (750mg) and
1 Vitamin D (1000 IU).
Lunch: Salad – any green vegetable, tomato, carrots, celery and sunflower seeds. Meat: Fish or any lean meat (No deep fried). Drink a glass of water with ¼ tsp of baking soda. Take 1 capsule of Cod liver oil (1000mg).
Lunch snack: Dried black fungus (you can purchase from a Chinese Herbs store). In a big bowl, soak 1/3 package of black fungus in water overnight. Boil it for 1 hour with medium heat until soft. Eat 3 to 4 big piece of this fungus. It is the best detox for your body.
Snacks drink: To stop the hot flash or warm temperature in your body. You could eat a kind of dried fruit called Lo Han Goa ( dried mangosteen). You can purchase this from a Chinese Herb Store. In a pot, add 8 cups of water and boil for 15 minutes. Break 1 dried Lo Han Goa into small pieces. Add these pieces into the boiling water and boil with low heat for another 15 minutes and let cool. Drink it as a tea. This would last for 4 to 5 days. Drink it everyday.
Dinner: Fruit salad – any fresh fruits and a touch of salad dressing.
Meat – Fish or any lean meat and mash potatoes or sweet potatoes or yam. Drink a glass of water. Take 1 capsule of Cod liver oil, ½ chewable calcium ( ½ of 750mg) and 1 Vitamin D (1000 IU).
Soup : Any soup add sea weed to the soup.
Bedtime: 2 hours before bedtime drink a glass of warm water with lemon juice.
Baking soda to remove pesticides on vegetables and fruits
Soak all vegetable and fruits in a sink full of water with ½ tsp of baking soda for 20 minutes and rinse of with water prior to consuming.
Detox bath
Add ¼ cup of baking soda, ¼ cup of apple cider vinegar, ¼ cup of Epsom salt and ¼ cup of sea salt to a hot tub. Soak it before bedtime for at least 20 minutes. This detox bath is drowsy. Do this twice a week for 2 months, once a week for 2 months, once every two weeks for 2 months and gradually once a month.
Stop the itchy area
Apply very salty water (use only sea salt) on the itchy area.
With the above method, you will definitely see improvement.
It is lots of work, but you will get used to it! You will adapt to it after a while and it will become a good habit…
ONCE THE DAY THE HIVES LEAVE YOU, YOU SHOULD DO THE ABOVE EVERYDAY TO KEEP IT FROM COMING BACK AND FOR YOUR HEALTH.
Special tonic to keep sickness away
Now I added another tonic daily.
Boil the following and add honey to it.
Cut a big piece of ginger root, 5 big whole garlic (not cloves).
In a blender, add 1 cup of apple cider vinegar, 1 cup of fresh lemon juice, add in the ginger roots and garlic. Blend it and filter the liquid mixture in a cloth bag and squeeze out the juice. Boil it for 150 minutes with medium heat, let it cool down for 1 hour. Add in some honey to make it easy to drink. Pour in a tight container and eep in the fridge. Every morning before breakfast, take 1 tbsp of this tonic. This is to unblock your blood vessels to allow smooth flow of blood and prevent blood clot. Therefore, sickness will leave you alone!
After drinking this tonic my back pain is gone.
Simple Exercise
– Swing both your hands while standing for 10 minutes.
– Walk with your toes for 5 minutes.
– Stand with your feet on your shoulder width, stretch your two hands out squad (just like you were in a sitting position) till you feel your heart beat fast repeat 10 times or till you feel tired.
– Move your head to the left, right, front, up, down for 5 minutes and rotate your neck around left slowly 5 times and right slowly 5 times.
– Stretch your both hands out and top and front repeat 5 times.
Good Luck and stay healthy everyone!