Unknown Condition; Hives, Swelling
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So around mid-January, I applied Voltaren Emulgel to my back, but I used far too much, three to four times recommended dose. Later in that day I started having random swelling in my palms or some of my fingers, never lasting more than 6 hours before changing places. The next day I had hives which, like the swelling, would change places every six to twelve hours. The hives are red circles, slightly swollen, red coin-sized patches that cause no pain or even itch.
When my lips started swelling too, I took Ibuprofen, which started making the episodes much much worse. After half a week of taking Ibuprofen I had so many hives and bumps it was awful to look at. Sometimes my eyes or even my throat would swell up too, extremely painful to swallow but no breathing issues.
I had hives on my arms, especially the forearms, the back of my neck, my hips and my face in general, with the forehead being worse.
Figuring the issue might be the Ibuprofen I stopped taking it, which calmed everything right back down. I went to see the pharmacist and started taking Benadryl, which also helped a lot.
But a month later now, I still have hives and swelling. It's never actually stopped or gone away. What's worse, taking Tylenol for a headache made my upper lip swell for about half a day too.
Last week, I took a single cap of Ibuprofen to test, and sure enough within six hours the hives and swelling got MUCH worse, then calmed back down the next day.
I went to see a doctor and he said he wasn't sure what it was. I'm on a waiting list to take allergy tests to Ibuprofen and Tylenol, but the fact this has gone on for almost a month now makes me question if it can really be an allergic reaction.
I don't have pain or other symptoms. No difficulty breathing, sleeping, my bathroom breaks are normal, I eat as much as usual. I definitely get way less hives than before (maybe 2-3 per day now, usually on my forearms or my sides, compared to dozens at the peak of whatever this is) but I still get them.
0 likes, 3 replies
Drium
Posted
Can't figure out how to edit my post, so just adding this:
I've taken Ibuprofen my entire life, so whatever this reaction to it is, whether allergic or not, is new as of January. Also, my fingers still sometimes swell a bit, as do random spots on my palms. It's not painful, just a bit uncomfortable if I apply pressure intentionally.
My best guess is that when I took too much Voltaren I might have shocked my system into identifying painkillers as a threat. I don't know if that's possible, though, and I don't know if it would make this last for a whole month and some more.
Marina_Dee Drium
Posted
I think you will probably just have to wait for all these reactions to calm down. But be very cautious about taking any of them in the future. Your body now may react to all of them. Benandryl will certainly help.
Drium Marina_Dee
Posted
Thanks for the reply!
Yeah that's been my best guess so far too.
Here's what it looks like on my arm right now: https://puu.sh/zrUqg/59f1a12769.jpg
It's basically like this. I've got some minor hands/palms/fingers swelling too (barely noticeable, my fingertips are just a bit red and I've got similar spots on my palms), but that's about it. No tich, no pain, no other symptoms whatsoever. Worrying, but not affecting me physically (just mentally! what stress when you don't know what you have).