Hypoxia and Medicine

Hives?! Why has this happened for 9 years?

This is what I posted as an answer to someones question on here a while ago. I was maybe hoping someone could help me. I have an appointment with a dermatologist this Tuesday, which I am hoping he/ she will diagnose me properly. Has anyone heard of anything like this? And does anyone know of any meds that can help it? I've gotten hives since I was 9 years old (I am now 18). But it wasn't just out of nowhere, it was whenever I got cold. The first time I got them I was outside by the pool on a chilly day, playing in a Tupperware tub of water with my toy dinosaurs, and when I pulled my arm out of the water it was just covered in itchy red hives. My mom took me to the doctor and he suggested maybe something bit me, but nothing did. We assured him it was because of the cold, but he didn't even believe us! So we had him place an ice pack on my arm for 5 minutes and no hives. He told us that nothing was wrong with me. Sure enough, when we left the doctors office, I had broken out on my arm, where he placed the ice. My mom then switched doctors because he obviously wasn't a very good one to not believe his patient. 9 years later, I still have this problem. My new doctor now is open to the idea of why I get them, but I've never been actually diagnosed. I have tried Claritin, Benadryl, and any other allergy medicine you could think of. Nothing worked to stop them from coming. Any part of my body that gets "cold" will break out in hives. In weather as cold as 40 or 50 degrees I will break out all over my face and anywhere exposed. If I go swimming, and I get out and there is a cool breeze, I will get them. Also, when I'm at school, and my arm is on the desk, just the coolness of the desk will make my arms break out. One time at school it was 30 degrees outside and I had nowhere warm to go (our school is an outside school). No classrooms were open yet, and I had hive all over my body, even the places that were covered up. I started having a panic attack it was so bad, and I couldn't breathe. I started crying because my whole body was numb, and the hives weren't even itchy anymore, they burned. My boyfriend told me to go to the clinic, and so I did. The nurse was so surprised, she thought I had chronic acne or something on my face because it was so red and bumpy... but I actually have a really good complection. She called my mom and she came to pick me up. My mom is an EMT and she was really worried because I was stuttering and I couldn't breathe. I've been told that if I get them bad enough, I could die. My mom said that someone should have probably called an ambulance. I got checked out from school that day, exhausted. I slept for 8 hours when I got home, and when I woke up I still had hives all over my body. It has been a constant battle trying to suppress them. I live in Florida, and even the winters here are too harsh for me. After that incident, my boyfriend decided to go online and do some research. He found a condition I believe is called cold urticaria. It's a condition where the blood doesn't flow through my body like it should when it's cold, and so I break out in hives. The condition is said to be fatal at times. This really worried me, but I have yet to actually be diagnosed by a doctor. I still don't know what to do to keep them away. On the medical website, it said the only way to keep hives away was to dress warm in cool weather. But it also said some depressant medicines are used to keep them away. But the thing is I don't even know if cold urticaria is what I have. Hopefully one day I grow out of it. It can be really embarrassing. People look at me and ask, "omg what are those bumps?" They get scared that they are contagious, and I always have to reassure them they are not. Please help! What do I have?

Public Comments

1. What your boyfriend found is the most likely culprit I've heard of- but the condition would be so rare that few doctors would have heard of it. Obviously one has, since the article is there. Try getting in touch with the writer of the article. Hopefully you'll find help. Good luck!
2. What are urticaria and angioedema? this should help you i have recently been suffering from Hives myself :) Urticaria is common, and affects about 20% of people at some stage of their lives. It is also known as hives, nettle rash, or welts. The short-lived swellings of urticaria are known as weals (see below). Angioedema is a deeper form of urticaria. An affected individual may have urticaria alone, or angioedema alone, or both together. The most common form is called ‘ordinary urticaria’, which is usually divided into ‘acute’ and ‘chronic’ forms. In ‘acute’ urticaria/angioedema, the bout lasts from a few days up to six weeks. Chronic urticaria, by definition, lasts for more than six weeks. Other less common types – such as the physical urticarias - are described later in this leaflet. They include urticarial vasculitis (in which urticaria is due to an inflammation of the blood vessels) and contact urticaria (in which substances, such as fruit, nuts or rubber, cause urticaria when they are applied to the skin). What causes urticaria and angioedema? Both are caused by the release of histamine from mast cells (allergy cells) within the skin. This can be triggered in many ways, for example by exercise, by pressure on the skin, and by other physical factors as well as by foods, drugs and infections. However in the common ‘ordinary’ form of urticaria and angioedema, it is unusual for an external cause to be identified. In some patients with ordinary chronic urticaria, the release of histamine from skin mast cells is triggered by factors circulating in the blood, such as antibodies directed against their own mast cells - a process known as autoimmunity. Tests for this are not routinely available, and generally do not alter the treatments used. Often no cause for acute urticaria can be found, but sometimes it may be caused by infections such as a cold, ‘flu or a sore throat. Almost any medicine can cause ‘acute’ urticaria but painkillers (especially aspirin and medicines like ibuprofen), antibiotics (especially penicillins), and vaccinations, are most likely to be responsible. Angioedema is particularly caused by a type of drug used to treat high blood pressure (ACE inhibitors). Rarely foods are responsible, including nuts, fish, tomatoes, vegetables and berries. What are the symptoms of urticaria and angioedema? The main symptom of urticaria is itching: angioedema, however, may not be itchy. Although urticaria can be distressing, because of itching and its appearance, it has no direct effect on general health. Are urticaria and angioedema hereditary? The ‘ordinary’ common type of urticaria and angioedema is not hereditary. What do ordinary urticaria and angioedema look like? The weals of urticaria may be pale, pink or red, and may look like nettle stings. They can be different shapes and sizes; often they are surrounded by a red flare. They are usually itchy. As the raised weals flatten, they leave red marks that usually disappear in a day. New weals may then appear in other areas. In ordinary urticaria the weals can occur anywhere on the body, at any time, and usually fade within a day. The pale or pink, deeper swellings of angioedema occur most frequently in the eyelids, lips and sometimes in the mouth. They may not be itchy, and usually settle in a few days. If the hands are affected, they may feel tight and painful. How will ordinary urticaria be diagnosed? Usually its appearance, or a description of it, will be enough for your doctor to make the diagnosis. In the vast majority of people no cause can be found, though your doctor will ask you questions to try to identify one. There is no special test that can reliably identify the cause of urticaria, but some tests may be done if your answers suggest an underlying cause. In acute urticaria, investigation is usually unnecessary. Occasionally, if an allergic reaction is suspected, a specific blood test for allergic sensitisation (RAST), or a skin prick test may be performed. These and other tests should be carried out by a specialist in skin or allergic disease. In chronic urticaria, it is rare for allergy to be the cause, so routine allergy tests such as skin prick tests or RAST are not necessary. In a small percentage of people, foods, colouring agents and preservatives appear to worsen the urticaria. A food diary can then be kept: these substances can be left out of the diet to see if the condition improves, and later deliberately reintroduced. However, as urticaria is such a variable disease, the interpretation of these elimination diets is difficult. Can ordinary urticaria and angioedema be cured? The treatments outlined below suppress the condition rather than cure it. In half of the people with chronic ordinary urticaria, the rash lasts for 6-12 months, and then gradually disappears. It usually does not return. However in any one individual the course of urticaria is unpredictable. What