To ask about hives and swollen fingers.

[Dishwashersaurous]

Yesterday I suddenly was covered in hives. Took an antihistamine last night. Still there , itchy and unpleasant to look at, this morning.

I'm not allergic to anything. I ate and drunk nothing I hadn't done a million times. Don't feel ill.

Does anyone have any personal experience of hives, medical websites seem to suggest that allergic reaction is the trigger, however I don't have any allergies.

So, does anyone have any idea what it might be, and if so how to.get rid?

You can develop an allergy at any point, even to things you've previously been fine with, so it sounds like you do have an allergy.

Are you in very hot weather? Have you touched any plants such as Ivy?

Hot weather nope. Uk currently. And not done any gardening

My DD gets this post virally. It normally goes after about a day and a half. Hope yours is the same, time-wise.

You can become allergic to something at any point in life. My grandad became deathly allergic to eggs in his 70s after eating them his entire life. One day ate an egg sandwich and had such a severe allergic reaction we had to call an ambulance.

Allergies are weird things. So you may have developed an allergy to something you weren't allergic to before.

I get hives every day, suddenly started about 4 years ago. It’s not an allergy in my case it’s autoimmune.
chronic idiopathic urticaria

I suffer from the same thing OP every October it starts sounds mad but I don't know what causes it. I have had it really bad three times where it's all over my body and face to the point I feel like I've got dust on my chest. I take antihistamines and it normally sorts it out. I feel your pain with the itchiness and it feeling hot. I think I know what causes mine but can't be 100% I think it's the weather. Either I feel hot on my skin but I'm shivering or the other way around and it starts at night. I have been to the doctors but by time I got an appointment and they had seen me it had calmed down (typical right).

Contrary to most of the information online, hives aren't always caused by an allergy. One day in 2012, a few months before I got married, I suddenly came out in hives. I'd started swimming again, so thought it must be something to do with that. Then I went on to suffer with them every day for the next 7-8 years. Then I also started getting hives from the cold. This I still suffer from. As @NoAprilFool says, the former is known as chronic idiopathic urticaria and the latter, cold urticaria. I saw one the world's leading experts in the condition a few years ago. There are treatment options, but they're a bit grim and expensive (NHS won't pay) so I just had to learn to live with it. Don't let people tell you it's stress either. I was told stress can exacerbate or trigger, but it's not the underlying reason - no one knows what that is.

Hopefully this won't be the case for you OP, but I just wanted to share as I went almost demented with years of misery before I found someone who actually knew what they were talking about. One GP accused me of making it up!

I had this one Christmas - I had become allergic to Christmas trees! (Not had the hives since, but headaches and runny nose when near a Christmas tree for much time.)

Have you changed washing powder/moisturiser- anything like that? Many years ago I bought some cheap washing powder and it irritated all the skin on my hands.

I've never changed since!

Okay… Here’s the thing. You ARE allergic to something. You just don’t know What It is yet. You need to have a couple of different antihistamines with you to take in case this kicks off again. It could be a good source, a hand soap, body lotion, fragrance, Something airborne, or you were stung… anything.

Allergies can develop after repeated exposure, so it could be something you thought of as safe. Work out what you ate, drank and touched in the 24 hours before they came up.

It can be related to menopause and changing hormones.

I get them when it's cold and wet. It's called cold weather urticaria and can be chronic and can come on whenever.

I take antihistamines for about 8 months of the year but can stop in summer

Another urticaria sufferer here OP. I've had it for about 25 years now. I'm not allergic to anything. I get it in cold weather but also in hot. Get it in "moderate" temperatures too. I keep antihistamines at home and in my bag as I never know when it'll strike.

Good news is that now I'm over 60 it doesn't happen every day, maybe once or twice a week.

Obviously we can't diagnose it for you and you'd be well advised to go to your gp, in case as a PP suggested you've suddenly become allergic to something.

If its not an allergy then antihistamines have always worked well for me, I've tried most of them and find Telfast works well.

I get similar if I eat anything with soy or paprika additive - well that's what I seem to have pinpointed it down to but never had a tolerance test or anything. Particularly bad if I have anything like southern fried or spicy coated chicken. I also get itchy soles of feet, nose, nipples, and vag so it's like all extremities. Drives me insane if I haven't realised. 😵

I have chronic spontaneous urticaria and cholinergic urticaria

Mine got so bad I couldn't move, had to stop all exercise and I've had it 25 years now. Started on Xolair and it's been an absolute miracle drug
First pic without Xolair after a night out dancing
Second pic with Xolair after a 45 min spin class

Have you had a virus. I always get them after a virus. The first time I had covid I had them for weeks in my belly. Huge ones.

@PeloFondo flowers for you too because it's awful isn't it! I also get them when I get sweaty, but I don't know whether that's the sweat or when I start cooling down after exercise? Either way, I wish it would bugger off! Lockdown helped massively as I wasn't out commuting getting cold, or doing any exercise. Now I'm on mat leave so won't be going out in the cold early mornings either. But with the price of gas I might be getting cold in the house this year 🤦‍♀️

I feel like I've found my people on this thread!

A lady I know gets this. Stress is the trigger it's now gone into an autoimmune condition. Can't remember the name from it.

It's awful, I've put up with it all my life and managed through exercise etc, then it got really bad
The consultant I saw (I went a weird referral route to get referred outside my area as my area doesn't do Xolair) asked how I was and I just sobbed at him. He immediately approved it and I can do anything now like wear a coat, have a hot bath, sweat and no hives

If you have swelling in your lips or have trouble breathing, seek immediate medical attention. Otherwise you could take some pics, take anti histamine (according to instruction on the packet) and call your gp?

the allergic reaction can vary in severity quite a bit. It’s helpful if you know the trigger - but it is not always possible. Certain meds might be associated with this type of reaction (even if you have taken them before without a problem).

@PeloFondo all your life? 😱 is that normal for cholinergic urticaria? I was hoping the cold urticaria would eventually pass 😕

Started around age 12 so 26 years for me now. It's rare for it to last so long, I think 8 years is the average time