during urticaria episode

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So you/one has just had another flare up episode of hives (lets say its not usually constant, but recurrant) , the welts sort of come and go every 24 hours, sometimes completely go for a few hours, but return again in different places.

do you think when it returns like this during an episodic symptomatic period that it likely has been triggered again by a cause / allergen / chemical etc or is it just a result of heightened histamine levels? like a kind of knock on effect of original trigger.

the reason I ask is , one morning for a few hours the rash had completely gone, then i went for a walk and came home and it has come back. could i have retriggered it by recontact with whatever caused it or even something new... or would it have happened anyway?

i find when im wearing clothes it comes back, maybe im allergic to the clothes or maybe the washing machine has some allergen in it. but maybe its just friction or just would happen anyway.

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7 Replies

  • Posted

    I believe it is an acquired autoimmune disorder. Idiopathic urticaria is the blanket, the practicing professionals, diagnose us under. There are a bazillion triggers for what our bodies now have. We should be studied so the generations behind us can be better educated on what NOT to eat/drink/breathe/use daily or monthly. I wouldn't wish what I go through on my worst enemy.... ok, maybe she could have it for 24 hours 😉 .

    • Posted

      also urticaria caused by physical contact or from environment is also likely auto-immune.. other than allergies but its either allergy or autoimmune isn't it? or sometimes both... theres no reason to just get a rash from like the temperature on a regular is there.. something must be going on. so the line between physical and idiopathic must be blurred. anyway i don't think mine is caused by temperature, but it can be made worse with changes in temperature,.. once i'm already suffering i think. anyway its a bit of a mystery. so you believe for you there was a trigger once and now it just randomly occurs and isn't effected at all by environment or physical factors?

    • Posted

      About 6 years ago, I laid down for a nap and I awoke to a full body (intense) hive breakout. Doctors told me how impressive they were; I wanted to knock them out! Steroids and anti -histamines were prescribed... to no avail. lipstick on a pig, I say.

      So when i was a 3-4 year old i played in sulfa coated peanut hulls (I'm a 70s baby from Southwest Georgia..) and I had a severe allergic reaction. I think that was the day I compromised my flora/gut flora/gut microbiome. That reaction and/or the medication used to 'treat' me. My skin was 'sensitive' from then, on... a scratch would welp up like crazy. When I had my eyebrows waxed they would swell into purple-y pink golf balls. When I was upset or nervous a red spot would appear between my eyes. I had horrible razor burn. I couldn't wear my contacts without my eyes turning red. Clothes are terrible- it can be the softest material with what feels like zero pressure and if it brushes up against the skin.... HIVE.

      Changing my diet has helped with the symptoms tremendously. I am trying so hard to fix my underlying issues. The struggle is real.

  • Posted

    It's more likely it's spontaneous (idiopathic) or a physical urticaria that triggers lots of histamine to be released by your mast cells. It's usually not environmental or allergic. Most common physical types are triggered by heat, cold or pressure. Could be the pressure from the clothes or did you get hot and sweaty walking? But given the time of year, I wonder if it could be cold triggered? You can do an ice cube test or pressure test (have someone press the blunt rounded end of a pencil firmly but not roughly onto your back). If welts appear, then probably physical urticaria. Pressure urticaria can be set off by belts, clothes seams, straps of heavy bags, rucksack straps etc..

    • Posted

      tried ice cube and pressure, and nothing happened.. I was worried it was caused by mould spores in clothing.. because i found black mould inside washing machine..or i thought maybe its from dust mites or candida and/or something ive eaten.. but cant be sure

    • Posted

      It means they usually don't know what causes it and rarely find a cause. But, it's more to do with a fairly random autoimmune response than environmental causes. It could be something random like having a cold say. Then you have antibodies / antigens that cause your mast cells to release histamine. If you think of it as something like asthma, except it is skin inflammation lung, that can be a better way to think of it. Can be triggered by all kinds of things, some or most you will probably never know. Until medical science catches up and figures it out, the best thing is to try to accept it and focus on relieving symptoms, the same way an asthmatic might. I know that's hard, and it's human nature to want to try and find a cause, so you can remove it. But that tends not to be how urticaria goes. But you can relieve symptoms and it is time-limited, so unlike asthma, you probably won't have this forever. Usually runs it's course. It's a good thing it's not cold triggered, as that tends to hang around the longest.

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