Are these hives?

[user045632]

They keep appearing randomly on my body, they are so itchy. I have taken antihistamines but they are not helping.

Do you have pets? They look a bit like bites

@dementedpixie

Do you have pets? They look a bit like bites

no pets

I get something very similar, feels like nettle stings, it's hives I think

I’ve currently got hives (attached a photo). Your pic does look like bites.

I had a terrible bout of hives recently. I'm sure it's to do with Covid somehow but i've got no actual evidence.

Hope you feel better soon.

I would say not hives, bites maybe if you have been walking in woods etc, could be some sort of prickly heat.

they look like hives to me, I've had ones that looked like that

Are they on you body or your limbs? Do they come and go? Those seem to have a raised do in the middle that looks like a bite? Or a blister?

I get hives, they are raised and white , but mine disappear as quickly as they come.

When my ds gets hives they are much larger, raised and almost white in colour. They look more like bites than hives to me.

@Iknowtheanswer

Are they on you body or your limbs? Do they come and go? Those seem to have a raised do in the middle that looks like a bite? Or a blister?

I get hives, they are raised and white , but mine disappear as quickly as they come.

Yes they disappear quickly, the itching stops and they turn into little red spots because of the scratching. They are usually on my limbs sometimes on my stomach.

I've had a lot of red lumps recently that look like bites. I've no idea what they are or why I'm getting them. I've had at least one every day for almost three weeks now, sometimes about three. In total I'd say I've had about 30. Most of them are on my legs but I've had a few on my abdomen and a few on my arms & chest. They are really itchy too.

If I continue to get them over the next few days I may go to the pharmacy for advice next week to see if they can identify them.

Might be hives then. Can you take an antihistamine?

I get them if I touch tree pollen (so, all over my face at thd moment!) but ds once has them for months after a tummy bug. Apparently it's common to have a reaction to a virus.

They look like hives (urticaria). I have phases where I have them constantly with no known cause, but they are often an allergic reaction. The only thing that stops mine is a combination of cetirizine (antihistamine) and ranitidine. Unfortunately ranitidine has now been withdrawn due to previously unknown health risks, so I don't kniw what I'll do next time I get an episode! Hopefully yours are a reaction to something and you'll identify the cause, OP.

@lazylinguist

They look like hives (urticaria). I have phases where I have them constantly with no known cause, but they are often an allergic reaction. The only thing that stops mine is a combination of cetirizine (antihistamine) and ranitidine. Unfortunately ranitidine has now been withdrawn due to previously unknown health risks, so I don't kniw what I'll do next time I get an episode! Hopefully yours are a reaction to something and you'll identify the cause, OP.

Have been using cetirizine which have been helping slightly. Can I ask why you were using ranitidine thought that was for heartburn/indigestion?

My son has hives right now. He's started having them since yesterday morning.
No idea why, and not treated them with anything but Sudocreme. He is COVID negative. They pop up from nowhere randomly on his face and body, and are gone within 20 mins, only to pop up somewhere else. He says they are itchy.

Dr Google says if they are still bad in 2 weeks to see a doctor. Other than itchiness, they are not bugging him, so I am not worrying too much about them.

He has no know allergies except hayfever.

Can I ask why you were using ranitidine thought that was for heartburn/indigestion?

The cetirizine is what I'd used for hayfever etc but it didn't touch the hives. I eventually saw a specialist who recommended the ranitidine combo. Apparently there is another set of histamine receptors in the gut which often don't respond to normal antihistamines. Ranitidine is marketed as an antacid, but it has a side effect of dampening down histamine reactions in the gut. The specialist didn't explain all that, but I looked it up afterwards. I'd had the hives for months by that point and was desperate. Within 30 mins of taking the cetirizine ranitidine combo they completely disappeared!

@Redstar2014

My son has hives right now. He's started having them since yesterday morning. No idea why, and not treated them with anything but Sudocreme. He is COVID negative. They pop up from nowhere randomly on his face and body, and are gone within 20 mins, only to pop up somewhere else. He says they are itchy.

Dr Google says if they are still bad in 2 weeks to see a doctor. Other than itchiness, they are not bugging him, so I am not worrying too much about them.

He has no know allergies except hayfever.

Could this be hayfever? When my DD was younger as soon as the weather got nicer and the pollen went up she’d break out in hives. Antihistamine helped

I just had a quick google and apparently ranitidine and another medicine called cimetidine are known as H-2 antihistamines. As I said, ranitidine is now unavailable but it looks as if cimetidine does the same thing. It's worth a try if your normal antihistamine isn't having any effect.

You may well have an allergy to something. Mine is classed as 'chronic idiopathic urticaria- i.e. no known cause.

@CandleWick4 - I hadn't thought of that actually. I presumed it was too early in the year, but he is so sensitive to pollen, it wouldn't surprise me. Better dig out the anti-h's and hope they are in date! Thank you.

These are hives that I had covering my whole bottom half on and off for nearly a month. Turned out to be caused by fabric conditioner. Anyone suffering, have you changed clothes washing powder recently? Or has the brand you use changed ingredients?

More of the same....

mine look like @Redstar2014 's pictures....they pop up randomly on my upper arms, thighs, hips, back, shoulders I've never really worked out what causes them but a range of antihistamines keeps them in check!

They have just started again after a good 18 month absence which is annoying. Also it's quite hard, but don't itch them, if I do that they get worse and worse and creep over a much larger area and flare much more often.

DS once had hives like Redstar2014's picture.

Only lasted for about 2 hours.
No clue what brought them on, either.
I dunno difference between hives & rash. Does rash last much longer?

They don’t look like hives to me - the hives we're used to are way bigger than that. There are many different antihistamines to try ... as well as cetirizine, there’s loratadine, fexofenadine, piriton (chlorphenamine maleate) to name a few. They all work differently for different people.

Could be hives. They can look so different, mine come up like this (pretty much daily)
I take 4 cetirizine a day plus Xolair injections