Severe hives - too afraid to touch anything. Sat on office chair naked and crying

[Dancerk]

So for the past three days I’ve had some sort of reaction. I’ve got hives/welts all over (scalp, bum legs, hands) plus blotchy skin. Hands and feet swollen slightly. Mostly it’s a mild nuisance. But a few times a day it just fucking gets so intense that I have my dogs comb brush I am just basically sanding my skin off to keep the itchiness at bay. Talking 30/40 min flare up where my body explodes. My body is so raw from scratching using all sorts. Even used a butter knife and blunt scissors to get a bit of relief

I haven’t eaten anything new and I have no food allergies that I am aware of. I do randomly get hives maybe once a year but normally it goes after half a day.

Just had a flare up which left me crying as it was so uncomfortable. Felt like my whole body was erupting.

I’ve convinced myself it’s either my detergent or dust mites. Im so scared to touch anything so im
sat on my plastic office chair butt naked. Crying. My feet are very itchy. Tbf everywhere is but my feet are so bad that everything pales in comparison

ive taken piriton but nothing helped.

i did have a stubborn cold I’m getting over (chat gpt said it may be linked)

im just hoping for advice. Im so paranoid. Literally shivering from the cold but worried it’s my detergent I have issues with. It’s been 7 days of shitness (period, cold, hives). My joints have also started to hurt,

I’ve got to leave the house in 3 hours. Not slept 😢

x

I was also going to say you’ll likely need steroids.

Ring in sick at work. You aren’t well. You need to be seen asap.

Also agree to try cool shower and use a flannel to try and run any dead skin away.

Not helpful and not possible imo either but I was told that if you scratch you release more histamine and it makes you itch more - my ds use to get hives.

I hope you manage to get some sleep- but I agree with the others you need to take today off work and get some treatment.

MN is wonderful in times like this, I hope you feel better soon.

It sounds like it could be post viral urticaria, and as it’s severe you probably do need steroids. It has happened to a few people after certain types of covid infection. The joint pain could also be part of an immune response.

I agree with pp though you need to see a doctor to get assessed for any other cause, and access the right medication to get this under control.

Cancel everything you can today, and hope you feel better soon, I am itching just reading about it, you poor thing.

Hives are really common with/after a cold - I was told (when I had the same thing) that a cold is the most common cause! Antihistamines should help - go and pick up your other prescription and ask your pharmacist for an over-the-counter antihistamine and ask for the max dose you can take (it might say once a day on the box but many can be safely taken more frequently - the pharmacist can advise).

If the antihistamines don’t help, then you will need a medical appointment but I can’t imagine they’ll do anything without trying the antihistamines first anyway. You could end up with a secondary infection from scratching so try to relieve the itching with antihistamines, loose clothing, lukewarm/coolish showers/baths and avoid scratching as much as possible.

Itchy hives - it’s miserable, hope you get relief ASAP.

Stress hives maybe? With my second, I was about 5 months postpartum. They were massive welts, all over. I even had my lips swell once.

Did the same as you with touching things and then also with food. Went to the doctor because I couldn't handle the itching anymore. He put me on two different types of allergy medicine (one over the counter) plus a prescription cortisone cream. Than, for awhile, a round of steroids to get it to just go down.

Gives can be reoccurring for reasons unknown. Chronic hives. I still get them when I'm stressed and it makes me so cranky cause my skin just crawls!! It's so itchy I can't think about anything. I've woke up with blood all over me too cause the itching is so much and I'm so tired from the one allergy medicine I don't even realize it.

Another voice saying steroids. I had quite a bad allergic reaction to an antibiotic last year which resulted in dreadful full-body hives, and the steroids helped so much. If you can't get in to your GP, go to a walk-in, and for goodness sake, call in sick to work and tell your friend you're ill. They can still crash if you're happy with that, but you can't clean for them.

Agree that you’ll probably need a round of steroids to get rid. I had similar after having my daughter and it was so stressful as there was seemingly no trigger. We think it might have been the fairy max power I’d bought a week before, but even now, 2 years on I get a bit anxious trying new things in case it triggers it again. The only thing that helped was a round of steroids and heavy duty antihistamines. I usually hate anything that makes me drowsy but in this case was just relieved to escape the itching for a few hours!

Also please tell your friend who's staying that you have a severe cold that's potentially COVID (test positivity is increasing in the UK so there's more and more about) because they probably don't want to start their trip sick.

If they do come please ventilate your house extensively as most respiratory illnesses are airborne.

I had this with COVID. It was the only symptom I had. It wouldn't have even occurred to me to test except that my son had tested positive. It was miserable. I took Benadryl and used lotion with hydrocodone.

As I have gotten older my skin has developed some sort of reaction to something that causes me to start itching like mad and, having no self restraint, I end up scratching until I get a small lump in the general area and then continue scratching until I presumably scratch out the irritant and I bleed. I grew up with asthma and allergies that affected my sinuses etc and only the very occasional hive, bur calamine did nothing. I have done all the obvious, but still get them.

Anyway, a couple of months ago I used Tincture of Iodine on a scratch because I began to worry about infection as I have a compromised immune system from RA. It was like a miracle. After the first Iodine savage sting the itchiness subsided. I googled it and apparently Iodine can have that effect.

OP, you are not leaving the house in hours (or 0 hours now) you are not well! You need to call in sick and rest. Call the gp as soon as it opens.

Sounds similar to what I had years ago and I had to sit in a rubber ring as my bum was too sore to sit on. Hoping you get some relief.

I had similar before- if you don’t need steroids there are prescription strength antihistamines they will give you. I have had it after few months post partum and earlier this year I had a run of flu followed by an ear infection, so my immune system was clearly shot (and I am probably perimenopausal too, as seems to happen at times when there are hormonal change) and I was also low level stressed for a continuous couple of months at the time which didn’t help either. It is so stressful when you are experiencing the hives too, as obviously you panic a bit.

I found cool showers and light pyjamas helped alongside the medication.

I had this once. It was a painkiller I was regularly prescribed, I took it for slightly longer (by a day or two) and I had an delayed allergic reaction.
I had to go to hospital and have adrenaline mixed with piriton and then a steroid injection.
Go and get checked out they can definitely make you feel more comfortable at least, it is truly miserable!

It’s quite possible you have shingles.
It tends to erupt when your immune system is weak. You’ve just had a long and nasty cold.
Definitely call the GP as anti-virals will help.
It is also contagious so I would not be going anywhere.
The reduced inflammation could purely be due to you stopping the scratching.

It’s hard to know the difference when you get hives due to allergies. (I get them and have lots of allergies too). So I would definitely seek a medical opinion.

If nobody has suggested it OP, make sure you take some pictures when it happens again so you can show GP. I hope you feel better soon xx

You need Allevia Hives over the counter tablets. £9.00 for 15 but I hotvthem on prescription so doctors said 4 a day not recommended 1..
I take them and takes a while to get in system but definitely helped me. and calamine i use Rona Ross for prickly heat but normal calamine to soothe as above pp have said. The itching is relentless isant it. Cold flannel and cold sprays too helped me

I had an allergic reaction of unknown cause about 10 years ago. My face started swelling up, ambulance was called. I still don’t know the cause but my GP recommended taking two cetirizine hydrochloride (as opposed to a different antihistamine) if it happened again. It hasn’t but I have had other reactions, like hives, and use this immediately. I always carry it with me.

Ask the pharmacy for fexofenadine antihistamine, it's stronger than piriton. I needed it last week for an allergic reaction to a bite, definitely helped more.

But also see a GP or go to the out of hours drop-in.

It's horrid. I get one after every bad infection, norovirus, a really bad chest infection etc. I take fexofenadine maximum strength and it does help but time is the only thing that truly does. Why do our bodies do us twice lol, once with the infection and then again with the rash. Charming 🤣

You you haven’t been on antibiotics have you? Especially penicillin, my mum and sister allergic to penicillin and get that reaction.

I had this a few years ago, reaction to antibiotics and was following on from bad cough. GP gave
me steroids and told me to take antihistamine. Was worse at night as the warmth of duvet made it worse, spent a few nights watching tv for distraction moving a bag of peas wrapped in a tea towel from place to place. Take some photos in case it’s not showing when you see someone. If there is a pharmacist open early you could go there for advice, I had it from tops of my ears to my toes, really horrible, my sympathy , hope it’s better soon.

I really hope OP is sleeping peacefully at the moment and gets another couple of hours sleep.
Then inform work you are ill.
Then GP get appointment/help for this.
Have a peaceful and restorative day.
And let us know how you're doing - if you want to and in your own time.

Also, patting can be better to help scratching, read it. somewhere reputable recently

OP I had something similar last Christmas. It turned out that I was allergic to a seed topper that I was putting on my porridge. It was honestly one of the most awful things I have experienced as I was constantly scratching and sleep deprived like you and would just cry for days.

Like PPs have said please seek medical advice as soon as you can. I got steroid cream from my GP which did bring relief while we worked out what it was (took months and several flare ups) - once I stopped eating the seed topper went back to normal in no time. But honestly I was paranoid about everything and that has a real psychological impact. Sending hugs OP.