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Original poster

What's going on? The whole family has hives!

37 replies

OinkBalloon · 14/04/2015 21:51

Well, not quite - 1 out of the 5 of us doesn't. But the rest of us keep getting batches of little hives. It's been going on for a couple of months, now.

Why? What's causing it? How can we make it stop?

OP posts:
textfan · 14/04/2015 21:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Whensmyturn · 14/04/2015 21:54

Check out to make sure you haven't got bed bugs. Detergent sounds more likely though.

Original poster
OinkBalloon · 15/04/2015 08:20

Not changed the detergent (and we use Surecare, as I'm allergic to fragrances).

Don't bedbugs leave bloodstains in the bedding? Also, no bite marks on us, and it has happened away from home, too.

OP posts:
Original poster
OinkBalloon · 15/04/2015 18:24

Dd has just come out with another couple of hives on her arms. She has not been in bed since morning.

OP posts:
juneau · 15/04/2015 18:28

Do you have cats? It could be cat fleas, if so. Every time I go to my mother's house I get bitten by cat fleas and they bite in batches. I have two on my hip, three on my thigh and about six behind my right knee. My DC are bitten too, yet she denies there are fleas in her house. We never get bitten when we're anywhere else Sad

Original poster
OinkBalloon · 15/04/2015 20:03

No pets. We have lived in a house were there was a flea infestation, and the bites were always around the ankles, or forearms if we had been playing sitting down on the carpet. We don't have this pattern now. The hives appear anywhere.

OP posts:
goingwildforcrayons · 15/04/2015 22:20

could be a seasonal allergy? DS gets a similar thing around this time of year.

Could also be a virus, some can cause hivey rashes.

Itchy? or red? warm?

Original poster
OinkBalloon · 16/04/2015 09:08

A virus that causes hives? Never heard if such a thing! But I've just googled, and wonder... It would fit the pattern of first one of us starting and then the others catching it.

I just don't see how it could be an allergy, because we break out at different times and in different situations, and never all together.

The hives are small, generally 0.5-1cm, with the occasional larger one. The bigger they are the itchier they are. They only get the hard white wheal when scratched.

No fevers or other ill-health.

OP posts:
ageingdisgracefully · 16/04/2015 09:14

I have something similar, and I'm convinced it's bed bugs, although I have not seen evidence of the little sods. The bites, if that's what they are, start off as innocent-looking blobs, then on scratching develop large wheals(sp?) . They come in groups.

Can you attach a pic?

Original poster
OinkBalloon · 16/04/2015 09:23

On the app, so can't attach pics.

But if it was bedbugs, why would the hives appear during the day, why would u get them but not dh, why would my biggest batch have appeared when sleeping away from home?

OP posts:
ageingdisgracefully · 16/04/2015 09:43

I'm always the only one to be bitten, be it fleas or random insect bites. Some people are more susceptible.

Mine appear at any time. I don't think it's a case of the hives appearing directly after you've been bitten either-sometimes they take a while to come up.

And there is a chance that wherever you slept actually DOES have bedbugs and you've brought them back?

They travel well, apparently (the buggers...).

Do your hives have a little spot in the middle? If so, apparently it's likely to be a bite rather than an allergy, say.

CaTsMaMmA · 16/04/2015 09:48

hives are much more like nettle rash...raised itchy bits under the skin and usually spreading over quite a large area.

your affliction sounds much more like bites of some sort! You are being eaten alive!

ageingdisgracefully · 16/04/2015 09:57

Yrs, mine are most definitely bites. Have you googled urticaria (fascinated.....)

TheMagicToyshop · 16/04/2015 10:00

It sounds like bedbugs to me, possibly more likely than the whole family developing the same allergy. Bedbug bites come in small clusters as they bite as you move - for me they were often on the thigh/hip/torso. The bumps don't always appear first thing in the morning, they can come up later. You don't always have blood on the bedsheets (I didn't). Like PP said they do travel so you could have brought them to/from home when you were away.

A good test is to strip your bed and investigate all the seams etc. of the mattress. If you don't see anything try spraying diluted lavender essential oil on the mattress - they hate it and jump a mile. This is the only way I ever saw a bedbug when I had them!

Original poster
OinkBalloon · 16/04/2015 10:07

Oh god!
Shock
Noooooo!

I have to go out now. I have no time to investigate the beds. This is not displacement activity this is genuine (but nonetheless welcome avoidance).

OP posts:
Original poster
OinkBalloon · 16/04/2015 10:10

No bite marks. And I'm usually allergic to anything that bites me, so come up in mega itchy lumps at the site, which isn't happening here.
(Hopes, fingers crossed... Bedbugs - ewwww minging!)

OP posts:
TheMagicToyshop · 16/04/2015 10:51

Oh no sorry if I've freaked you out! I was a total wreck when we had bedbugs, but I used the diatomaceous earth method (lots of info on google) and we were bite free in a week.

notsogoldenoldie · 16/04/2015 11:27

......scabies perhaps?

Original poster
OinkBalloon · 16/04/2015 16:51

Ok, here are some pics. Can't see any bite marks. This batch weren't too itchy, so I managed not to scratch, and they faded fairly quickly. I don't have any pictures of the other batches. Mostly they aren't in groups like this one, but are 2 or 3 hives 5-10cm apart. The bigger they are, the itchier they are.

What's going on? The whole family has hives!
What's going on? The whole family has hives!
OP posts:
LikeABadSethRogenMovie · 16/04/2015 16:53

Impetigo?

Original poster
OinkBalloon · 18/04/2015 12:08

Not scabby or rough-textured. Also they fade within days.

I went to bed last night in thick leggings tucked into close-fitting socks. New hives on my legs this morning. Do bedbugs bite through clothes?

I've set up a CO2 trap in our bedroom. Most bugs are attracted by our exhaled CO2, so, if anything creepy-crawly is munching us, this should catch it - hopefully!

OP posts:
Staywithme · 18/04/2015 12:11

Sorry, that looks like flea bits to me. Sad Are they wet when you scratch them and does the scratching ease once the skin breaks?

Original poster
OinkBalloon · 18/04/2015 15:09

Not wet, no. Nor are they severely itchy. Itchy, but not maddeningly so. We've managed not to scratch until the skin breaks. If we scratch they flare and become bigger and itchier.

OP posts:
Original poster
OinkBalloon · 18/04/2015 15:10

Also, when we lived with a flea infestation, dh was bitten as much as the rest of us. This time he is the only one not getting the hives.

OP posts:
moonbells · 19/04/2015 18:34

I have hives regularly and they take over everywhere and merge into a single red expanse. Its awful. They come and go in 2-3 hours, and I have to take daily antihistamines to stop them. I also get bitten regularly by bugs if I am in the garden and the bites come up usually after a day and then last 3-4 more. I'd say these were classic bites.