Probiotics, histamine and urticaria/hives

I have been suffering from hives since 2006, it first started the last term of year 10 whilst i was in school. It came out of no where and was angry. It started on my hip bone, it was raised, red raw and painful. As the days went by, it began to spread, quickly. I went to my family doctor who took one look at it and called a dermatologist who diagnosed it as pityriasis rosacea, this was done over the phone and never actually thoroughly looked into. For about 2 months I was covered, head to toe and i mean everywhere. Majority of the time there wasn't a part of my own skin that wasnt covered in welted wheals. It got to the point where parts of my skin almost looked blackened, inside the wheals. Apart from the unbarable itch, it was incredibly painful. At one point, the hives were so inflammed that a single movement sent shooting pains through my body, i couldnt even walk without crying. It was very depressing, i didn;t leave my house at all. I have a peanut allergy as well as asthma and a history of depression. My immune system has never been the strongest and I still frequently get sick. I went to immunologists, dermatologists, GP's, I eliminated everything in my diet, I did EVERYTHING i possibly could, nothing worked. Eventually they died down and went away completely but i had a few fake disappearances for a while there, id be spotless and then it was back with a vengance the next day. At the end of 2007 and into 2008 They were back, I figured it was stress, Id lost a lot of weight by this time and i was frequently coming into contact with peanuts (which now makes my hives come up immediatley). This was not as painful or severe as the first time but i was covered head to toe and they moved to different areas daily. they died down after a good 4 months, through 2009-2012 they would come and go and would be quite small and localised. now since the end of 2012 to present They now focus themselves on the trunk of my body, my hands swell with them and are incredibly painful, my scalp is covered, my lips swell and my neck and even my buttocks and genitals are targets now, they come and go as the please, my antihistamines do nothing for them, they progressively get worse before they die down and move to somewhere else. I feel its a combination of stress and allergy. and ive learnt to control them by ignoring them but that only works temporarily. I know after research that i have not just one type of uticaria as i have experienced, the swelling of the lips and throat, hands and feet, entire body, aches and pins and needles, immediate appearance from contact, and bruising from severe swelling and inflammation. It is a burden, it is something i feel i will never get rid of and i'm at my wits end. I hope i'm not the only one.

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My first post to a forum. I wanted to share my experience with hives.

Folks, the doctors I've seen treated my symptoms, but I still get these chronic hives.

I am diabetic, overweight, age 66, female. Never had hives until 2012 in May. My hands began to itch, then I began itching under waistband and elastic leg bands.

The only different foods that week were fresh cherries, soy milk, and a probiotic capsule. I stopped those three items, but continued eating other foods with no restriction other than sugar. After taking the probiotic, I had much more energy, less joint pain, and less general swelling than before, so I was sorry to discontinue taking it.

One co-worker had hives at the same time starting in the same places. Hers were not as bad as mine, and cleared up quickly. Mine progressed to angioedema on bottoms of both feet, and my lips. Doctor gave me Atarax, didn't help, went back, and Dr. said take 4 Atarax at night. Didn't help. Saw different Dr. with hives now all over my body, large angry welts. This Dr. added Zyrtek and pepcid to the Atarax.

I didn't think this was helping, but if I didn't take it, I got much worse fast. I also quickly found that eating anything made the hives worse. Lost about 20 pounds just drinking a lot of water, and eating chick peas or some other bland food so that I could supress the hives enough to work. Some days I looked so bad that I would not leave the house to go to work.

In late summer, I went to allergy Dr. He added several more anti histamines to my list of meds to take. The non drowsy in the AM, 1 Singulair, 1 Allegra, 1 Pepcid, and drowsy in the PM, 1 Pepcid, 4 Atraax, 2 Benadryl, and 2 Doxepin still little relief. Went back to Dr. after scratching until I had bloody bruises in several places. Dr. gave me a steroid shot to give me some respite, although we knew it would make my sugar higher than normal for a few days.

Toward the beginning of October, I asked this Dr. if I could try Claritin to see if it would help. He said to take up to 3 per day, in addition to the other meds. After taking one Claritin, my hives began to fade away. I thought that the Claritin cured me at that time, but I was wrong.

No meds or hives for the rest of October, Nov. and Dec. I could also eat anything during this period. I gained back 15 pounds. My hair began to shed excessively in this period. Toward the end of January I started to get a few hives, and after they worsened with some mild angioedema I got all new prescriptions filled to combat them again. My same co-worker got hives the at the same time.

I had been reading these forums all along, and was not sure that the leaky gut thing actually exists, so didn't try that diet. Dr. checked for infection, but no elevated white count. Ordered ultra sound for gall stones, no stones. Orderded hyda scan for function, and found this to be 17%. Hives were beginning to fade, but could not resume eating normally for fear of new hives. Something I ate gave me heartburn, and nausea. After throwing up, all my hives disappeared immediately, but re-appeared. Extra stress at home and at work. Had surgery for gall bladder removal at the end of March. Threw up after liquid breakfast, all hives disappeared immediately, and slowly began to re-appear much redder and more numerous than before the surgery.

My legs under the white stockings they put on you before surgery were all one large hive, slowly the hives were fading. After taking an alka-seltzer and a Claritin, the fading was faster, and with only a few small spots left, I ate an actual meal 5 days post surgery.

Hives again mostly on legs, hands and feet. I'm drinking lots of water, will eat bland foods only when I get very hungry, let a few weeks go by to see if they go away, if not, I'm may try a liver cleanse. I've reasoned that if my gall bladder had low function for a long time, bile may have built up to toxic levels in my liver. I may ask for thyroid testing at my next Dr. visit.

I don't know if there is a way to tell if the histamine reaction is to an allergen or a toxin. My co-worker with the hives, has severe acid reflux that caused her enough pain that she saw the doctor last week. She got the ultra sound test for gall stones, she had no stones, and a test for a muscle mal-function in her esophogus which was OK. She is not overweight, and has a history of kidney stones. She canceled the hyda scan the Dr. ordered.

It seems to me that there is a definite connection between hives and digestive problems. I will post again as my bout with hives progresses. I will also be reading what everyone else writes. This is definitely a stubborn ailment, worse that anything else I have had in my life.

Hi think this is the right place for me to ask for help, I am on steroids and was posting somewhere else first. Not sure if I have hives or not the best the doctor has said is that I now have chronic urticaria. I have a appointment in a weeks times with a specialist in dermatology. I have tried to cut back on the steroids and had got them down to 10mg, since I have been on the 10mg the rash/lumps have been getting progressively worse to the point that this morning after a horrible night I have gone back up to what was the max steroid dose for me of 30mg. Without input from a doctor does anyone think this is stupid (I am going to try to taper again and settle perhaps at 20mg) but this and i know people deal with problems that are so much more serious rash whatever it is for me is making me so utterly miserable. Any thoughts from anyone

HELP!?

I have had Hives or chronic urticaria for over a month now. The doctor's don't seem to know what the cause is, as every test I take comes back negative. Most of the hives I break out in throughout the day are claw like marks (like a tigers scratched me across my body). I am taking zyrtec and that is about the only thing that has kept me from scratching the skin off my head it itches so bad at times.

I have not changed anything in my diet, workout, daily routines besides 1 thing. I had problems with mucus buildup in my throat and went to an ear, nose and throat doctor. He prescribed me with Omeprazole (prescription Prilosec), not for Ulcers which is its intention, but he believed my throat problems may have been from issues in my stomach. I took 1 40mg tablet once a day for a month and nothing happened. He then up'ed the dosage to 2 40mg tablets a day and about a week later I broke out in Hives and they have not gone away since.

If someone knows of a link between the two, or if you have any suggestions to help me get rid of these Hives once and for all please post and help me. Thanks!

Thought I would share my experience of chronic hives and extremely dry itchy skin as a result of the hive outbreaks in the hope that I may help someone similar out there and not endure what I have had to. I endured 2 years of suffering from chronic Hives outbreaks which could erupt at any time, anywhere, for 2 days or up to 2 weeks causing insanely itchy skin which then turned into incredibly itchy dry skin in between the outbreaks. I decided that endless visits to the doctors was not going to cure me. It became that bad I started being miserable and spiralling toward depression. If you do suffer from Hives visit your doctor to ensure all is well as far as internal goes... Blood test etc. When your doctor says all okay and all they can do is prescribe Cortisone Creams or even an injection to help relief on the itching because there is no cure for Hives, this is when you have to take control. Firstly I kept a strict diary of What & When I Ate, What & When I Drank, Where I Went & When I Went and most importantly when the hives flared up. The hives broke out any time, any place, any where so this would hopefully enable me to start pin pointing THE ALL IMPORTANT TRIGGER... Doctors say there is no cure and they are right as each person is individual as to what triggers there outbreak so your doctor can't simply diagnose like if it where measles. Also your doctor will not follow you around 24/7 to monitor your Hives breakouts so its essential to keep a STRICT DIARY to monitor your every day routine if you are to rid yourself of hives. There is no cure simply preventing the TRIGGER from occurring. I had so many possibilities that could have been the trigger within 3 or 4 days around my first outbreak. I had been bitten by an insect, Just purchased a hot tub, Started drinking Coors lager instead of my usual lager, bought a new memory foam mattress and so on... I monitored everything. When I didn't have an outbreak I started with the new influences and changes introduced around the first outbreak. I had several pints of Coors... waited 2 to 3 days - No reaction. Again when i was in remission I spent several hours in the hot tub - No outbreak... Waited 2 or 3 days and moved on to the next. No results apart from the hot water and possibly chlorine element in the hot tub aggravated my dry skin. The dry skin was a result of the Hives so was not the trigger. Then it was a case of going through the STRICT DIARY. I kept and looking at when I had my outbreaks and referencing all the possible influences against my dairy. After changing wash powders, fabric softeners and everything you read about on these forums plus a years worth of other possible influences always reverting back to the same so I maintained the original environment around me I finally isolated the trigger. When I went on holiday it cleared up in a day... and this was the key factor. Was I allergic to my home. The allergen was something in the house, not diet related or such. My trigger was Ironing Water... Plain and simple Water... Although when you read the label it on a very well known brand it has no ingredient list so you take it as simply perfumed Water. Not the case. It contains after searching google Perfume, Benzyl Alcohol, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisotizolinone. No mention of water... Its one of these ingredients that's my trigger which one does not matter. Washed the bedding several times and bought a new iron for £40 and I'm cured... For any sufferer out there keep a diary and get in the routine of keeping a diary and you will find your trigger. One thing I have learnt from reading endless forum posts on Hives, Dry Skin, Uticaria and the likes of everyone's trigger is different.

Dear mcrfan, I just read your post that Ibuprofen is bad for hives. I nevr heard that. I
was taking it for the pain of the welts.

I woke one day about 7 months ago with my hands red and swollen. At the time I thought it was no big deal and went to the pharmacy where I was given an antihistamine but after about four days it became worse and started to cover other parts of my body. So I went to the hospital where they prescribed me another combination of antihistamines which did not work also. After a few days I came down with a heavy fever with cold like symptoms. So i returned to the hospital where they told me i had some kind of bacterial infection which caused the hives and as soon as the infection was resolved the hives would disappear along with it. Ok, so i received an IV three times a day for 10 days of which the hives were reduced but ultimately did not go away. The doctors assured me they would just go home and take the antihistamines. Now more than half a year later they are still here sometimes covering 80% of my body sometimes just 5%.

Now I realize this is dragging on so i will just cut to the chase and say what I have tried and to what effect so that someone might be able to point me in the right direction.

So what I've tried so far:
All major antihistamines(Zyrtec, Pepcidac etc..)
Gluten free diet for 5 months
Anti-Candida diet for 4 of those 5 months (So no sugar no dairy no fructose etc)
plaquenil
Vitamin supplements d3, fish oil, magnesium, zinc, C, probitotics, l-glutamine, st. john wort
Tested for allergies of which I only have a slight peanut allergy
Exercise 5 days a week running 9-13km a day
Traditional chinese medicine(I live in China so it's neither expensive or difficult to find a good traditional practitioner)
Apple cider vinegar
8-10 cloves or raw crushed garlic per day
Drinking at least 2.5 liters of water per day(Which I did before all this even started)
Tried cutting out all meats

And a bunch of other things that don't come to mind at the moment, all of which had no noticeable effect. Except one thing: Oregano oil. After being on the candida diet for about a month i wasn't noticing any improvement so i decided to try a natural anti-fungal to help. There was an instant reduction of symptoms of about 85%. But after about a month of taking it there was no further improvement and the hives lingered. If i stopped taking it the hives would come back as before but if i kept taking it even without the "anti-candida diet" my hives stayed reduced. So this is my question it seems my problem is not candida as i had once thought it might have been but my hives are immediately but only temporarily improved by taking oil of oregano. So does this mean I have some untreated fungal or bacterial infection or is it just the anti-inflammatory properties of the oregano oil? I'm really at my wits end with this emotionally, financially and physically. Like I said I live in china and the every doctor in every hospital has basically prescribed me antihistamines or prednisone which i did not take. so I'm on my own to figure this out any advice as to why oregano oil is the only thing that has had an effect is greatly appreciated. Oh i should add that i have no external fungal infections that i am aware of.

I have been dealing with eczema dermatits for last 5 yers, until I was able to find ECZUR,

I have been using  Eczur cream by Elimia, really cleared up my skin from eczema on my hands, neck and face. Amazing results, I started seeing results in about 1 week. I was really compliant and applied 3 times a day on effected areas. It works! Found this cream on some blog in Europe but this cream is distributed by company called Elimia in US. Very happy w results. Most importantly it contains no hormones& no steroids. Good luck to everyone. Thought I'd share so it may help someone else.

 

 

tam29 said...
Hi I'm not usually the type to post on forums but told myself if i found something that treated my chronic urticaria/ hives then i would share that information.

Just a bit of background on my condition. Started getting a breakout of hives since April this year and progressively got worse after a few weeks to the point where it would come on everyday for at least a few hours if not for most of the day. Couldn't really say there was anything that triggered it. Antihistamines (Telfast, Zrytec) worked to mask the symptoms but wasn't really a treatment option.

Then I read about leaky gut syndrome which is really just caused by increased permeability of the gut (through damaged or altered gut lining) which then allows toxins and microbes to leak through the gut wall. This creates an immune response by the body which releases histamine and the body can break out in hives.

So with this information I just researched ways to repair the lining of the gut. I came out with L-glutamine and probiotics which are often used to do just that. I took about 30g of L-glutamine and one daily capsule of probiotic per day for 3 weeks. After that the hives progressively got better before completely disappearing.

Just a tip. Buy the glutamine in powder form cause the capsules/tablets are usually only 500mg and you'll need to pretty much finish the bottle to get 30g.

Hope you'll achieve the same results as I did with this treatment. And do let us know how it goes.

I have had hives on my face and chest for two years without relief, I recently started a vegan juice diet and despite losing weight and feeling great really only saw some results with improvement with my hives. In the beginning of March I did a cycling tour of Cuba spending a week touring out of the same resort needless to say I went off my vegan diet. However after about 4 days I noticed my face clearing!?! By the time I left my face was healing beautifully, I have since been trying to figure out what occurred as my hives have returned. I know it wasn't the sun as that always makes them much worse so through the process of elimination I am trying to work out what might of done it; I have currently removed all artificial sweeteners from my diet as I did not have any of those in Cuba. I will continue to try and figure it out but it was so encouraging to see my face heal for the first time in years; if anyone has had a similar experience I would like to hear your input.

Hi! I never go on these things but I am desperate!!! At the beginning of the month I mysteriously broke out into hives... painful, burning, so itchy hives.
I usually get spring time allergies, but they are usually jus the sniffles and itchy eyes. Never ever like this!!
I have eczema and psoriasis for most of my life so I actually have made my own laundry soap for years because of this.
Why now? Why all of a sudden would I get these hives? Anywhere I am touched I will break out.
I went to my doctor who told me I have dermographism.. where you can run anything across my skin and I will break out in the pattern that is drawn on me in hives! I was put on singular and I quickly took myself off after being so drowsy I could barely function. I am a very very active person and for the last month I have been scared to do anything. Picking up my kids will even cause my skin to break out.
I thought maybe I was allergic to polyester since most of my hives are behind my knees ( huge welt like hives) and my stomach which takes the brunt of the hives. my face will get some here and there if I touch it, so thats what made me think maybe an allergy to the chemicals in clothing that are synthetic.. I have had blood tests done for celiac, for my thyroid, for diabetes, etc.. and they are all clear. my upper stomach area feels bloated isn.. and since most of my hives are on my stomach i am wondering if maybe I have some kind of leaky gut or something. I cut out gluten for a week and never really noticed a difference... Change of seasons usually makes my skin go wild ( my eczema ). I have eczema on my eye lids and finally have found a cure kind of for that.. Gluten free, all natural, 100% vegan makeup!! But its not helping the rest of my body at all... this chronic hives thing and dermographism SUCKS!!!!!!!

Hi everyone . . . I've been following this thread for quite awhile but have just registered.

A bit of background. I developed hives in the Spring of 2011 and have been battling them ever since. I've been to doctors and dermatologists. The diagnosis was cholinergic urticaria. However, I don't think my symptoms reflect CU . . . but my doctor is insistent.

I'll do my best to describe my symptoms. All over my body (and I do mean all over . . . ) I have irregular-shaped patches of skin. As in, you can see the outline where the skin has swelled. The patch shapes are random . . . I guess they resemble puddles (as in, the shapes are all different). These patches are slightly indented compared to the rest of my skin. They swell up every so often. I don't know if anyone knows what I'm talking about. I occasionally get little red spots, but not many. The patches don't itch. I might get an itchy red spot about once a month? They seem to be worsened by heat.

Here's the kicker: everyone says that these patches move around. But I've had the same patches in the same shapes in the same places for three years. I sound insane, I know. I have one shaped like a boat beside my mouth for example. For three years. And these same patches, in the same places, just swell up over and over and over again. I have quite a few broken veins and capillaries now because of this constant swelling in the same places. Sometimes, when they swell on my face, they actually cut the skin around the edges. I have a hive spot that appeared in February beside my eye, and it's still there. If I touch it, it swells up. So . . mine don't move around. They're permanent. Perma-hives?

Even Predinisone did nothing (admittedly I was low dose . . but even so). I've tried every antihistamine on the market. Nothing.

So my question is . . . does ANYONE know what I'm talking about/know what I mean? Because everyone with urticaria always describes the red itchy spots. Those are rare for me. I feel like I will have these unsightly patches forever.