Skin is always itchy, forms hives when pushed - and just got a lot worse

March 7, 2022 10:14 PM

I know you're not my doctor. A decade ago I randomly developed a condition practically overnight: my skin became very itchy. And if you pushed it (elastics from socks/underwear, light scrapes, even hard chairs) very itchy hives would develop. I saw a doctor who checked for parasites (nope) and then basically said try a few anti-allergy meds. For a decade I've been on zyrtec and it's been under control. Since Friday, it has not been under control. I'm so sad. I wish I knew what the cause was. I wish I could find a doctor who might have some more will to figure out what this is. I wish I could find others who have a similar issue. I wish I could just go back a week somehow. Ideas on what I should do?

It's not parasites. I don't think it's environmental - I've lived in 3 different places in a 30 mile area. I don't think it's diet related.

posted by Mushroom12345 to Health & Fitness (17 answers total)

Best answer: Urticaria (hives) is an autoimmune reactive disease. Get your GP to refer you to an immunologist to get to the root cause.
posted by essexjan at 10:31 PM on March 7, 2022 [6 favorites]

Best answer: Chronic Spontanous Urticaria or Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria may be useful search terms for you and may at least connect you to others with similar experiences.
posted by rose selavy at 10:35 PM on March 7, 2022 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Allergy sensitivity can change over time and triggers can change too. Have you had an allergen test? That's a first step.

Otherwise if you haven't tried an elimination diet, you might for a bit to see if that has an effect...food allergies can be tough to spot. My ex got terrible hives from a Vitamin A overdose (pumpkin extract) but later found he was also dealing with multiple food allergies that had been causing him more and more misery over the years. They came on slowly.
posted by emjaybee at 10:38 PM on March 7, 2022

Best answer: In the short term, try other antihistamines, like loratadine or diphenhydramine.
posted by flimflam at 10:39 PM on March 7, 2022 [4 favorites]

If you are a person with estrogen, I've found my dermatographia comes and goes with my hormone flows. It's like hives but not related to an allergy, there's some weird treatments available for it (pine tar baths, chlorine bleach dips, coating your body in calamine, etc) but a dermatology or allergy MD can probably find some treatment path.
posted by fiercekitten at 10:55 PM on March 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

Have you already tried putting some kind of cortisone/steroid cream on it temporarily? I'm sure you have, but just in case not, that could help for a short time (maybe longer? Ask a doctor).
posted by amtho at 11:10 PM on March 7, 2022

Best answer: I get this. In my case it’s idiopathic, which basically means an auto immune response that’s not obviously connected to something else. Switching antihistamine might help. When I have flare ups I try to avoid triggers, which is anything that constricts or rubs, so no socks, no bras, soft loose pants, etc. Steroid cream for a day or two does help some with the itching but it’s not v great for long term use and I have the impression that it’s not addressing any underlying cause.

I haven’t found any other magic treatment, so I’m also interested in the answers.
posted by ohio at 11:21 PM on March 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: oof I get this too. triggers can be cold, hot, tight clothes that bind, loose clothes that tickle, exercise, my cycle, stress... sigh, it sucks, you have my sympathy. The severity does wax and wane, so don't lose hope, sometimes it will be bad for a few days, and then go back to normal. I have noticed that though one tends to be agitated and move around a lot when feeling itchy, that only makes it worse. If you are able to lie down, or even just relax with your feet up for 15 - 20 minutes, that can help a lot. When I feel the hives starting, I'll take an antihistamine (allegra) lie down and listen to an audiobook for 20 minutes until it kicks in, and then I'm usually ok for a day or two. I hope you find some relief!
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 2:44 AM on March 8, 2022 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I got this when some (maybe all?) types of fabric softener were used on articles of clothing that rub on me. Ceasing use of fabric softener stopped my symptoms immediately.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 4:11 AM on March 8, 2022

Best answer: Came in to say dermatographia - though unlike fiercekitten, mine is unrelated to anything hormonal. It’s constant.

Did you by chance miss a dose of Zytrtec? Rebound affects from Zyrtec are absolutely a thing per my allergist, and my itchies always get worse when I miss (or have to go off it for testing purposes.)
posted by okayokayigive at 4:15 AM on March 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

Welcome to my life. This symptom of Zyrtec withdrawal has affected me for years. Finally, a reporter who suffered from it started digging. This article has all the information you've need:

Quitting Zyrtec Is ‘Total Hell’

Until this article, I made myself feel like a total hypochondriac searching the internet for years and finding random posts from people in sketchy medical forums or Reddit. I'm so grateful to this person for
this article. I haven't tried the taper, yet, but it's on my list for when I have a few continuous weeks.

I know how terrible it feels. Feel free to memail me, as I'd love to hear how you progress.
posted by AaRdVarK at 5:12 AM on March 8, 2022 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Depending on where you live, seasonal allergies may be kicking in right about now. That is certainly true here in Georgia, USA. For me, hives are an occasional thing, and Zyrtec controls them and my (constant) seasonal allergies well except for peak pollen season, which for me is early spring when trees are blooming and late summer when the asters go wild. It definitely seems like allergy testing would be your next step.
posted by hydropsyche at 5:27 AM on March 8, 2022

Best answer: I had idiopathic urticaria for years. It is awful. Make an appointment with an allergist or immunologist. In the interim, I'd try adding some benadryl to your life at night to see if that makes a dent. I have found that the spray anti itch stuff works wonders (i get the walmart brand, but they're all similar).
posted by misanthropicsarah at 8:28 AM on March 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I take Zyrtec year round. But from April - October I also take Singulair, because I would claw my skin off otherwise. Singulair is an oral asthma medication, my GP prescribed it a few years back when I was going insane from itching.
posted by 8dot3 at 8:37 AM on March 8, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have also have urticaria. It really came to my attention 6 years ago, at which time I started taking antihistamines (with only brief breaks that were never more than a week). I rotated between Zyrtec, Claritin, and Alegra, and found that Zyrtec was the most effective, and Alegra was not that great.

Last time I saw an AskMe about this, I noticed somebody else mentioned the Zyrtec rebound effect that AaRdVark talks about. I read some about it, and decided I would try going without any antihistamines for an extended period. For quite awhile, it was tempting to give up the experiment, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I have now gone 2 months without any antihistamine. In hindsight, I'd say the itching tapered off very gradually over the 2-month period (not smoothly--some days were better than others). Right now, I feel like the hives are mostly gone. There's still some small itch now and then, but I find it bearable. It appears to me that my "self-generated" hives may have declined some time ago, but Zyrtec was artificially prolonging the itchiness.

So my advice:
1) Try Claritin (Loratadine).
2) Try sticking it out with no drugs for several weeks to see if the itching declines. This idea about a Zyrtec rebound sounded fishy to me at first, but I'm so glad I decided to pursue it. If you feel the need, maybe try breaking Claritin (or Zyrtec) pills in half as a way to ease off.

I would resort to diphenhydramine or chlorpheniramine only as very short-term solutions, since they can make you drowsy and are supposed to have other bad effects.
posted by polecat at 9:28 AM on March 8, 2022

Best answer: A lot of autoimmune conditions present with skin itching/rashes/hives. See a dermatologist - a good one, not just the kind who fixes acne or whatever. They should be able to recognize what this is and treat it.

In my case, this was a short course of prednisone, which got the condition completely under control, and then some tests that figured out what I had so I could be treated specifically for it.

In the meantime, for the itching, I always found really hot, not QUITE painfully hot water helped for a few hours. Maybe try some really hot showers while you're waiting to be seen.
posted by invincible summer at 5:04 PM on March 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

You are describing the exact same thing I am suffering right now. My diagnosis a few months ago was a neurological sympathetic nervous system disorder called complex regional pain syndrome. The symptoms vary widely person to person but if you ever feel a burning stinging sunburn type pain on occasion or your skin is just hot to the touch at odd intervals this could be a possibility. The primary issue is lack of good circulation in injured limbs and a body overreaction to the pain stimuli. But the rash is very troublesome
posted by The_imp_inimpossible at 8:30 AM on March 9, 2022