Hives accompanied by headache - anyone had this?

[PunishmentRoundupWithJoon]

I've recently started to come out in hives all over my body when overheated and rushing around. It's ONLY when the exertion has caused overheating. I never get them if say, I'm too warm because of central heating being too high.

I've had hives in the past so it's not brand new to me, but this time they seem to be accompanied by a headache. It comes on very suddenly and coincides with the hives. The headache does subside, but am vaguely concerned. Why would a headache come along with the hives?

The hives come on almost instantly, within a minute.

I'm not overly bothered, I guess, by the hives, just the headache.

Anyone had this?

I get hives. They’re generally an allergic reaction and treated pretty seriously by the
medics. Next time you get them, take photographs and see a gp

i don’t get a headache with mine but I’d not say it was a particularly good sign.

I had hives and head ache. I was allergic to histamines and since going on a histamine diet it has massively reduced .

@PunishmentRoundupWithJoon this sounds like a textbook description of exercise induced urticaria.

Top hit on Google tells me that it can be associated with stomach cramps or headache so I guess that is you.

I find it easiest to just take an anti-histamine (or more than one) every day to keep my urticaria under control.

@AnnaMagnani - thank you, yes, it does sound like that. I guess I'll have to start up with the antihistamines again. It's just taken my by surprise, it's literally only been in the past ten days or so this has started to happen - it's come from nowhere.

As I said, it used to happen years ago but not like this, absolutely covered my entire neck and it's bright read, like tiny blisters. Really noticeable!

@Yogabearmous - will have to look into that, thanks. Glad to hear things have improved for you.

@LoveSandbanks - Will mention it at some point to GP.

Have attached a pic though it probably won't appear immediately as it will have to be checked by mumsnet.

I’d do an econsult tomorrow tbh and see the gp. If I sent that photo in I’d get a same day appt.

if you have over the counter antihistamines I’ve been told (by medics) that it’s perfectly fine to double up.

@LoveSandbanks - I can guarantee I won't get a same day appointment! I'll send a pic though, for sure.

How did you get on @PunishmentRoundupWithJoon ? I’ve been getting exercise induced urticaria and am struggling to manage it with antihistamines. Any success?

@MaggieGlover - It's still ongoing, I'm afraid. I have to take an antihistamine every day before going out or it's incredibly unsightly. It's definitely related to rushing about and getting hot (though not sweaty).

The headache aspect seems to have stopped, so that's a positive!

What antihistamines do you take? I use Fexofenadine 120mg, though it doesn't completely stop the reaction, it dampens it somewhat.

Where is your urticaria; is it in one place or all over?

It's really hard not knowing why it suddenly started a few months back.

This is so strange, we just had a bad stomach flu I guess you’d describe it- possibly Covid or something, horrible stomach, headaches, exhaustion and high temperature but doctor found nothing for each of us but we all broke out in hives too. Lasted 2/3 weeks. Awful! Antihistamines did nothing at all. Hope you get it figured out

Yours sounds the same as mine… is soon as I get warm from moving around. The hives seem to start in hotter areas (inner elbows, chest, thighs, behind knees) then all join up! It’s bad after 15 mins of jogging then spreads over the next 60-90 mins. Makes me so sad! I love exercise/running and it really puts me off!

im taking 2-3 antihistamines on activity days (under GP advice). Have tried cetirizine, fexofenadine or combo… nothing seems to really work.
im 47 so have wondered if its menopause… so started HRT earlier this week.
if that doesn’t work im going to look more at my diet… I do eat yoghurt for breakfast (trying to be healthy) but this is may be increasing histamine.
how old are you? Do you eat lots of fermented food like yoghurt?

@MaggieGlover - it's a total pain, isn't it?

I'm 57 and going through the menopause now, think mine was relatively late. I tried HRT some years back but unfortunately it made my hair fall out so had to stop it (don't worry about this, by the way, a lot of women find it really helps their hair).

I don't eat fermented foods so can't be that. I can't find anything in my diet that may account for this - it's really annoying.

Fexofenadine is the only thing that really works for me, the other antihistamines don't touch it. I'm so sorry to hear that antihistamines don't seem to help with your hives. It's especially difficult if you're a very active person. Exercise is so good for us so anything that prevents that is really frustrating.

Have you had any blood tests at all? Maybe to rule out auto immune disorders or similar?

@Itsniceoutside - glad to hear your hives cleared up eventually! Yes, it's bloody annoying for sure. Can't seem to trace it back to anything. Had pneumonia last year but can't remember if I had this before then or not. Keep hoping it'll disappear as quickly as it arrived!

Have you looked into Mast Cell Activation Syndrome? It might be worth asking your GP.

Gp did mention this… but there didn’t seem to be any treatment?

I looked into MCAS a while back but as @MaggieGlover says, there doesn't seem to be any treatment or even a reliable test.

@PunishmentRoundupWithJoon If you find that Fexofenadine helps, you can get a stronger dose of 180 mg from Boots if you order on line from their pharmacy team. https://www.boots.com/boots-fexofenadine-hydrochloride-180mg-film-coated-tablets-30s-10375563
I developed a similar looking rash to yours during the summer heatwave. Mine was mostly on my legs and arms and itched like hell. My GP prescribed a very high dose of Prednisolone (30 mg a day for 5 days) which had a miraculous effect.
It occasionally starts to flare up again when I get hot but the Fexofenadine seems to keep it under control.

@TamzinGrey - Oh, that's really interesting! I never thought to ask about steroid medication. Will ask my GP about that when I'm able to get an appointment. So, the 5 day course seemed to subdue your hives even after the course was finished?

Have now got some 180mg Fexo, thanks. It's such a pain having to take them every day.

Really glad to hear that your rash seems to be better controlled now.

@PunishmentRoundupWithJoon - I was so lucky with the GP I saw because it's a bit hit and miss who you get at our surgery. This one had a special interest in skin problems and he really knew his stuff. It was a strong dose and he told me to stop it after 3 days if the rash had disappeared by then, but it hadn't, so I carried on for the full 5.
It was incredible - I could virtually see the hives disappearing before my eyes from day 1. The relief was lovely.
I've still got a few hives on my legs that start to flare up when I'm hot but I'm hoping that a cold winter will see the end of this 🤞