I've had hives for over 2 years. Thought I'd cracked it with a gluten free diet but recently they've come back with avengence. Doctors haven't a clue.. In fact my latest diagnosis.... "You're allergic to the atmosphere"!!!!!!!! Marvellous! Antihistamines just don't work and make me drowsy. So what works???..... Wine! Every time I drink wine I watch them disappear! Mentioned it to a nurse whose reply was, "oh yes. Wine has a natural, strong antihistamine in it". Great! Alcoholic or hivey monster???? The choice is yours!!!
While there are some low histamine wines, most are histamine rich and to be avoided.
how much wine do you need to take to make the problem go away and how long is the benefit?
there are huge variations in the way that individuals metabolise alcohol with some people being completely intolerant. It may be that this benefit is unique to you!
I think it is just me as I can't find a single other person who this happens to and we are always told to avoid alcohol. If I have 2 large glasses of wine (any colour wine it seems!) I can feel them and watch them disappear pretty much immediately and I'm hive free for all of the next day. Absolutely bizarre!
I have the same issue! Really bad hives and what looks like ringworm on my hands. Disappears in evening and after 2 glasses of wine. Completely!!!
The nurse has got it totally arse about face. Wine is a high histamine producing agent. It also contains salicylates.
Spirts are less histamine producing.
But if it works for you then awesome...
I wonder if it could be realated to relaxing and destressing. So yeah it works, but not directly because of the wine but the fact it stops you being stressed and stress is just big part of this (I think we all agree on that one).
Could be because your hives are anxiety related. Have you tried an anti-anxiety medication like Xanax or Propranlol instead? Are you drinking two glasses of wine every day? If so, dependency itself can cause anxiety which will be relieved on drinking. Be very careful of alcohol, it's very very easy to form a habit especially if you use it for relief of symptoms.
What type of wine?
I’ve been suffering with chronic idiopathic hives since June. I’ve had every test under the sun. I’ve also had multiple second opinions. My final diagnosis is chronic hives. I’ve tried every drug combination and then some! I’ve had 2 Xolair treatments in less than a month with minimal success. My doctor told me have a glass of wine to help me sleep. The itching is unbearable at night. Tonight (day after Thanksgiving) I decided To have a glass of red wine. I had a few. I’m not a big drinker, and can’t even remember last time I had a drink, but praise the Lord, I watched my hives disappear on my arms while I was drinking that glass of wine. I cannot believe it. If drinking a glass of wine is going to help, it’s 1000 times safer than the Xolair injections and other pills I’ve been taking. Glad I googled this and found your post. This is crazy. They aren’t completely gone, but 95% less than they’ve been for the last few months.
IF i can ever get off the antihistamines i can try the wine.. My hives i so bad i just cant get off them and are doing xoliar shots..
I too have chronic hives. I usually get them after 8pm. I watch my diet very carefully. I notice that dairy products are a trigger. M&M's are an immediate trigger (blah). I'm not sure if various oils in food are a trigger.
I can prevent my night-time hives by drinking a beer - I know it's strange, because many people get hives from drinking beer. so weird. I end up taking benadryl liquid almost every night just to be able to sleep without itching like a madwoman. I'm just about to go on a 2 week vegetable juice fast (only low histamine veggies) and I'll report back. I'll let you know. Thanks for the posts & info!
I have hives for 17 years. I diagnosed myself and I have been to specialists and had tests done. Yes there is no cure and your body will resist more and more over the years. People have laughed at me when I say beer or wine or any alcohol fixes it. Trust me, its does, the only issue is that when the alcohol wears out of your system entirely, it returns. Mine has gotten so bad I even quit alcohol end of August, but I suffer daily. And we all know how awful it is living on anti-histamines. Sudden temperature changes, regular food, when I run, you name it, it all effects me. My doctor told me that I am allergic to the environment years ago, so I just learn to live with it. I am dying to have a beer so I can just feel the relief! My ex house mate used to give me beer to help relieve it, she it worked every time. It only takes 1-2 beers and about 15-20 mins. Once I had a date and was breaking out, but we went to the bar and I couldn't wait for it to kick in so it would disappear. My only issue is that I cannot depend on alcohol, a cool wet cloth stops it from getting worse. Ice cold water makes them hide, and anti-histamines stop the itching. Honestly, nothing works in full. I have tried the Candida diet, if I use any meds, I land up in the emergency room, and the sun or grass aggravates it. It went away when I was pregnant 15 years ago, but it always returns. Food is unpredictable, so I just eat as healthy or pure as possible and dont pollute my body with junk. I developed hives when i was stung by a stinging nettle and my body thinks everything is a threat from that day. There is nothing I can do. Beer really helps (but always wears off).
I have found if i take a ginger bath it relieves them and the itching enough to sleep thru the night but then they are back.. I am in the process of eliminating things i have recently added to my diet etc when the hives returned like this.. I cant drink cause of all the antihistamines and prednisone but then i dont like alcohol much anyway. a very occassional wine is good for me.. I was stung by wasps 8 times this summer and they have gotten so much worse so maybe that was the trigger but nothing I can do... I have started quercetin and bromelain with vit c to see how that works but it does take a month to notice a difference..
THEY FINALLY DISCOVERED WHAT I AM ALLERGIC TO! I AM ALLERGIC TO THE PARTICULAR MERCURY IN THE FLU SHOT. 
PLEASE HAVE YOURSELF TESTED. THIS COULD BE CAUSEING THE DRAMATIC INCREASE IN CHRONIC HIVES
Do you get this reaction right after the flu shot ?? and how long do you have them after?? I got a flu shot last yr but hives have lasted over a year
This is the post I've been searching for! I just posted a cry for advice on this forum. But one of the things I mentioned in it is that if I have 2 drinks in the evening (liquor) my hives completely disappear.
I mean full fledged major hives... they just fade away in front of my eyes with every sip. No one can explain this?!
This is the post I've been searching for! I just posted a cry for advice on this forum. But one of the things I mentioned in it is that if I have 2 drinks in the evening (liquor) my hives completely disappear.
I mean full fledged major hives... they just fade away in front of my eyes with every sip. No one can explain this?!
yes ive had them for years drinking this red wine seems to be working. i also googled vitamin C, nettle tea, briamalin the stuff in pineapples is suppose to help as well as ginger. i already had the wine but im going to try the rest. Benadryl works but after 10 minutes im out.
I have had hives for about 5 years now, I think its mostly milk and barley, rye related but honestly I can get them for no reason what so ever. Even so, Every now and then (perhaps once a fortnight) I have hives for over 12 hours and one glass of red wine is the only thing that gets rid of it! works within 20 minutes, and the effects are dramatic, from hives all over my body to none in 30 minutes, its mad.
SAME!
I had a terrible case of hives about ten years ago. I looked like a horror movie makeup crew went wild on me. Thankfully it only lasted for a few weeks. The only "responsible" cure was drinking alcohol because Benadryl made me black out, if I ate enough.
Since then, I've had a few bouts which were less dramatic. Each time, I find that, depending on the drink, two or three drinks take me from bugs burrowing in to my skin everywhere to feeling pretty normal.
I had a specialist take a biopsy and there was no discovery. I'm having a bit of it at present and I've washed everything and I've replaced the furnace filter with a hypo-allergenic one and I've checked the pollen count, super low.
Everything that the original poster jives with my experience. The only hopeful thing I can say is that my bouts have been temporary and I have a vague feeling that it is worse when I am fatigued (ironic, because the alcohol cure doesn't set you up well for the next day). If it goes away, just start taking care of yourself as best you can. Cortisone cream helps A LITTLE but my doctor warned me that prolonged use damages your skin, so apply only as needed. If you can function on Benadryl, that stuff works pretty well, for a few hours at a time. Probably no worse that booze, you'll wake up itching again.
I really can't know but my best guess is that something is going on with this being an extremely mild winter, where I am. Some life form that is typically subdued by the cold is pumping out something in to the air that is typically not monitored. For all I know, it's squirrel dandruff. That's my best clue. If you figure it out, please let me know.