Hi, for the past 3 weeks i have been having slightly itchy skin(i say slightly since it becomes very itchy only if i started scratching) bumps would show up after scratching, but not very big bumps, like small bumps. The initial ones on my arms did not go away and became very dry skin.
But when i scratch my legs, i have bumps that come and go, it mostly itches at night when i am sleeping and cannot control my actions, it is not difficult for me to fall asleep, but the itching wakes me up often in the middle of the night..
I was worried i had scabies, but i heard scabies are very contagious and are intensely itchy, but my friends and family around me do not experience any itching so far. Whenever my face gets itchy, especially the jaw, cheek and eyebrow area, bumps just show up, and my eye area can get swollen, but it also goes away few hours later.
How do i get rid of this ;( the atarax or aratax that was prescribed does nothing but makes me sleepy(i still wake up in the middle of the night scratching away)
Link below of my latest reaction:
http://imgur.com/EGesJ3G
slightly blur but i think it is noticable..
EVERYONE READ....THIS WORKS!!!! Hello all, I am new to the site as far as contributing but have been reading posts for a few months now. I have had hives for almost 6 months now and as all of you know, it is worse than horrible. I have been to my GP, Dermatologist, Urgent care twice and 1 trip to ER in search of answers or at least some relief. I have been unable to sleep during this entire thing except for an hour or 2 here and there. Until last night. A few days ago I read a post from "hives and thyroid" about her cocktail which she swears works. Yesterday I go to the Allergist still looking for answers and my main concern I will be off my 5th round of steroids since January, and I know it will come back very strong. After talking a while she changed my antihistamine to Doxepin. Hmmm, that sounds familiar...I went home and read the post again and yes, it is one of the drugs that worked for her. Singular I am already on. Thats 2 of the 3!!! The other is Zantac..over the counter. I picked up a box and went home and made my cocktail....Singulair 10 mg. Doxepin 25mg. and Zantac 150 mg. I KID YOU NOT GUYS...MY ITCHING STOPPED WITHIN AN HOUR. TODAY ALMOST 24 HOURS LATER, STILL NO ITCH!!!! The hives are slowly fading as well but they dont itch!! It seems that the combination of these drugs hits all the H1/H2 receptor sites to stop the histamine from being released into the body. The Zantac hits the receptor site H2 which it seems the other antihistamines do not. Zantac, who knew??? I feel like a new person. What a relief. Talk to your doctors and get these 3 meds!!!!! I will keep you posted on my progress...Now to find the cause of it .btw...Zantac (ranitidine) was first developed to be a histamine antagonist, hence it's use, along with other antihistamines, for hives. Good luck everyone, I know you are all as desperate as I am
Hi Larkie, Sorry to say but it looks like you have joined our elite group of sufferers. As time goes on if you cannot find the cause it will worsen to the point of unbearable itch/scratch which will consume your life. Its great you have already started on the meds. Below is what is all of a sudden working for me. Also if you can find my original post, there atr several comments from people which might help you as well. Good luck to you and may you find quick resolve
I have antihisamine but it does not help, yes it makes me sleep but then i will wake up in the middle of the night scratching away, bumps appear then disappear when i wake again in the morning..
same here my friend. Until night before last, I havent slept thru the night in 6 months. There are receptor sites in your body which are releasing too much histamine and if you dont have a drug, or herbal supplement etc. hitting each receptor it does little good. I too am just finding this out. If nothing else, try adding Zantac 150 mg. Its over the counter. It hits one of the receptors which antihistimines do not. It should give you some help. Stay on top of it...read others blogs and see what has worked for them...Thats what I did every night for 6 minths when I couldnt sleep.
Thank you, I'll try and get zantac. How did you take the zantac together with the antihisame though? Cocktail...?
Just pop them in and swallow. I call it a cocktail but it is just pills in hand. lol
Oh! Ok hahaha, thanks. So are your hives gone yet? I'm worried only cause im not sure if i have hives or something like scabies, though nobody around me showed any signs of catching my itch.
I thought at first mine was scabies also. Do u have between fingers and toes? Tell tale sigh of scabies my doc told me. The hives are not gone but the itch is. When it is time to take meds again I can feel my skin starting to crawl but after taking my cocktail it goes away. At least I can concentrate on finding why this happened itch free
Try the zantac with what u are taking and if it works...great. If not ask your doc for the singulair and doxepin. It has worked miracles so far and others have also said the same thing
No i don't have any between my toes and fingers, i do have eczema between my last finger and fourth finger on my right hand but that's about it, and that has started way longer than my itch on my body has.
you will need to keep pushing for the specialist urticaria clinic in london st thomas hospital, theer are different types of urticaria the doctors do not know this field so just pump us with different antihistamines steriods which after 2 years has cost me a fortune etc its taken me 2 years. i now know i have symptomatic dermographism urticaria , when i get stressed, hot, when i scratch myself it comes up etc, i have just started new antihistamines for this type of urticaria so fingers crossed.good luck
Well bad news is i do not live in london, i do however have a derm appointment tomorrow. Even though i really don't think they can help, it's better than nothing i guess..
Okay, so the derm confirmed i had hives, since i showed her the picture and my ears have bumps now and i showed her that too. She said if it didn't clear up by the next appointment which is 2 months away, i may have to take a blood test or thyroid test, will those help to figure out what's going on?
did they ayt least give you meds to calm it down? Geez I hope so
Yupp, 100x tablets of cetirizine. And i have atarax, hope cetirizine helps
Also diagnosed with eczema lol how bad can my life be right now. Ytd i had a rash on my back after sitting on my couch leaned on it, and when i asked her to check she said she didn't see anything. Now that I'm home and on the couch again it shows up. Geez miserable times.
OMG Larkie, I understand. Atarax didnt do much for me and am unfamiliar with your other med. I think the reason the atarax didnt work is that it was the only one I was taking and it wasnt nearly enough. I have had great success over the past few days but I dont see it lasting. My skin right now feels like it could explode any time. It is better than it was though
I googled that med it said zyrtec, maybe you would be familiar with that. It was given for my itchiness rather than hives though, but she said it would help for hives. My skin right now just feels like im sensitive to everything, afraid to eat, afraid to use products. I was even given steroid cream lol but i heard so many bad things about that. Not sure if i should use it.. had been on hydrocort for a year for my facial rash.
Ok I use Zyrtec also. Couldnt tell you if it works or not cuz I am on so much. lol. My skin is very sensitive also. The itching has subsided a lot and I keep my hands off of it maybe it would further go away. I cant sttop scratching...Its awful
Btw im curious, when did your hives first start? Anything that you think started it first?
Yeah cant stop scratching too, i haven't been sleeping much this nights..