How I'm Fighting Urticaria / Hives
Posted , 10 users are following.
Hi, I just thought I'd post a bit about what I've found that might help some of you suffering from Urticari / Hives. I've had it for 5 weeks permanently, so technically its still counted as "acute", but it might be useful to chronic sufferers (6 weeks or more).
What I’ve found is Antihistamines don't work for everyone. For me, first time I had this, Atarax just wiped it out. Second time 15 years on, I was given Fexofenadine 120mg, but it didn't really help. I think mine are anxiety related.
Anyway, here's what I tried:
Beer eliminated them just like that. (no good if you have a wheat/barley allergy though)…but it comes back once the alchohol wears off and codeine levels get back to normal. But at least if it works for you, you get some sleep.
This routine worked:
1. Bought a huge tube of E45 and carried it everywhere. Any itch anywhere got a splat of the stuff.
2. Took the antihistamine 120mg as instructed each day…plus an extra 60mg. Every little helps.
3. Slurped down 3/4 cups of green tea a day.
4. Changed clothes twice a day.
5. Drank about 2 litres of water a day.
6. Washed bedding twice a week without powders or liquids.
7. Didn’t drink any alcohol (even though it helps) for a week just to reboot the system.
8. Tried to keep to my normal daily routine and spoke to others about my symptoms rather than feel awkward.
**Be careful with the green tea – some people get hives from caffeine. So possibly try caffeine free. Always non bleaced bags.
**Be careful with alcohol – if it doesn’t help, its not for you, and moderation is the key.
Urticaria can be caused by heat, allergies to shellfish, alcohol, caffeine, or a host of other things. Thats why its not easy to find a quick fix.
Hope this helps
3 likes, 12 replies
sherry_29061 adrian33667
Posted
adrian33667
Posted
Hi Everyone, I thought I'd give you an update in the hopes that it might help some of you suffering from this terrible condition.
ANTIHISTAMINES
A few weeks ago, my strong antihistamines ran out. I didn't bother getting more as their affects were not long lasting. Probably 3/4 hours. So, if you have strong ones, I suggest taking them before bed to increase your chances of sleep slightly.
I thought I'd try to find something that could both offer some soft of relief throughout the day/night rather than one daily pill that suddenly gives up the ghost AND something I could just get over the counter rather than having the hassle getting prescription. So, I opted instead for small doses of a different copound - CHLOROPHENAMINE MALEATE 4mg, taken regularly throughout the day. This stuff can make you drowsy, a big plus for me as they can help you sleep. The rest of my routine remained the saame as my previous post.
Hopefully this might help some of you that have problems sleeping with hives, or find the antihistamine dies out too early.
Just to remind you that you should always discuss your condition with a pharmacist before considering any over the counter medication and do not rely solely on the contents of this post.
My next post is an interesting switch from medication to natural solutions.
Maybe that might help some of you that had the same antihistamine
adrian33667
Posted
IS THERE A NATURAL WAY TO RELIEVE URTICARIA?
Hi again everyone. Following my last post that - about switching from standard H2 antihistamines to Chloropenamine Maleate, I have another update that I hope again might help some of you. I'm 9 weeks in now (technically chronic) and my prevoius post talks about my approach up until 3 days ago. I know I just posted it, but I thought it would be useful to some.
So, THE NATURAL APPROCH?
Okay, here's what happened. Chloropenamine Maleate was doing great - but I went on a Stag weekend (lots of drinks) and it wiped out any affect of the tablets completely when I started taking them after the weekend. My guess was that my immune system was shot, and I think that might be the same for some of you.
So, what did I do? Stopped taking the medication. It was a hunch that by body was now reacting to the medication and the medication could be triggering the attacks. Here's what I did:
Day 1. Water, water, water. Nothing else. A lot. I ended up on the loo. Thats good. Its the body flushing out. After the loo, I drank water again so as not to dehydrate. I was sitting on the loo a lot.
Day2. I went shopping and bought this:
- 2 coconuts
- 1 bag of kale
- 6 omega rich free range eggs
- 1 pack of organic vine tomatoes
- 1 Canteloupe melon
- 2 tubs 450g organic bio natural 'live' yoghurt
- 1 litre of freshly squeezed orange juice (not concentrate)
- 1 litre of fresh grapefruit juice
- 2 litres of tomato juice
- 1 pack of green tea
- 1 pack of feta cheese
During the day I drank water, green tea, the litre of grapefruit juice, and swallowed a tub of yoghurt. In the evening I mixed up some kale, 2 eggs, tomatoes and feta cheese and baked it. After, I cracked open the coconut, drank the water and ate the coconut "meat".
After, I met friends in town and drank soda and lime (3 pints).
- I slept really well
- My hives didnt feel so bad
Day 3
- woke up, hives had gone
- didn't need the loo so much
So, during the day I drank water, green tea, and the litre of orange juice. In the evening I again mixed up some kale, 2 eggs, tomatoes and feta cheese and baked it. But after, I drank 500ml of tomato juice instead of eating coconut.
As before, I went out again and drank soda and lime (3 pints).
Day 4
- still no hives. nothing.
- bowel movements back to normal (nearly)
So, during the day, I had the rest of the vine tomatoes, green tea and water, plus the other tub of yoghurt. In the evening, half a litre of tomato juice and another kale/egg/feta mix....and 3 lime sodas.
Something has hapenned and I hope it continues. So tomorrow its time for the canteloupe and the other coconut.
The idea here is to restart the immune system. I suggest you look up the qualities of my shopping list on 'natural food' sites. These are insanely powefurful products with crazily good properties.
I'm going to buy these regularly and create a new diet that contains these items. I'm turning my back on as much pre packaged, pre cooked, GM stuff as I can afford...and I'm ditching the bacteria killing microwave.
I hope this helps some of you. I'll update in a few weeks with my progress.
adrian33667
Posted
10 days, no hives, just a little itchy underfoot at times. The plan to avoid antihistamines appears to be working.
Small body response - slight swelling in my ankles, I'm going to see how that goes, but the diet worked wonders, my hives are losing the battle.
janice72159 adrian33667
Posted
kathykate adrian33667
Posted
I'm interested in you saying 'slight swelling in my ankles' as I sometimes get this too and have had this bout of hives since last September. What do you know about the ankle swelling? I don't get it bad or very often, but have noticed it and wondered how it's related to hives. Cheers
julian18620 adrian33667
Edited
Mine didn't clear up until I finally stopped taking the antihistamines.
Meemaw29 julian18620
Posted
I am beginning to wonder about the same thing. (I'm in my 7th week) Although, today I only took one dose of Chloretrimatron this morning and I've already broke out this evening whereas I don't usually break out until I'm asleep. I'm getting pretty used to living with it, keep hoping that one morning I'll just wake up and they will be gone! In the meantime, I am on 5 pills a day including Atarax at bedtime....which gives me strange dreams, but does not prevent new breakouts....
MOHAMMED74 Meemaw29
Edited
hi i have hides past 3 years .Tried everything.Not allergic to anything but since i started drinking luke warm water every day on an empty stomach the hives are gone.Looks like our body,skin and organs are releasing hestimines cause the organs need water
adrian33667
Posted
I had a fantastic NHS consultant in the UK that tried to figure this out.
I don't have hives anymore - they threaten to come back from time to time, but I can control it before it gets worse than a mild itch on my face or arms...the body warns me that i'm consuming too much of something. For me, coffee and alcohol.
A few points.
1. I'm convinced hives is not an allergy (except if you consume too much vitamin C, Iron or fish)
2. I'm pretty sure hives is linked to high carb intake - alcohol, bread, potatoes etc.
3. Antihistamines, paracetomol or any other man made drug will effectively lose against Hives because the liver sees it as a poison and sends mixed messages to the brain.
4. Cutting out or reducing what you consume the most, whatever it is, will bring benefits in as little as 6 weeks.
5. Water - lots of it, flushes the bad stuff out.
Good luck everyone.
lori38742 adrian33667
Edited
I have had hives for over three years and know how terrible it is. I've woke up totally covered from head to toe, very discouraging...I've tried everything my doctor suggested but nothing worked until i read online that taking 2000 ui of vitamin D3 helps.
I was scepticle at first but had nothing to lose. I started taking 2 - 1000 tablets of D3 per day.
in about two weeks my hives were gone, I almost forgot what it was to have hives.
I have been pretty much hive free for a year now. However if I forget to take my vitamins for a few days, my hives start coming back. Taking vitamins is a way easier solution.
I hope by sharing this info that it might help someone else rid themselves of hives and get their life back.
Wishing you all good luck!
joshuapryce1987 adrian33667
Posted
Alcohol have similar effects as weed. It doesnt do anything to cause hives, at least to my knowledge.