It made me look back in my cell phone's photo gallery to compare it to other blotches and hives and rashes, and I found the blotch that started it all!
Before my CU fully set in, the week prior, I noticed a mysterious red blotch underneath the skin on the palm of one hand:
At first, it didn't itch, then after a few days it started to itch a little. And another one showed up on the same palm. In a few days, I have hives on my wrist of that hand, and on the top of that hand. The CU set in from there. I don't know if anyone else with CU had a similar experience to this. My CU also only ever affected the top half of my body -- from my pantylines (pressure hives) to my head. Never on my legs or feet, even though I would have "pressure" there (shoes, socks) and sweaty areas there too (bottoms of feet, behind knees). I always thought that was curious and somehow meaningful, though the dr's never made much of it.
UPDATE TO THIS POST (JULY 29, 2013)...
Looking back on this post now, with the benefit of hindsight, the red 'blotch' on my neck on the day of this post was most definitely NOT a hive. I think it actually was a little bug bite. Shows you how paranoid you can be after suffering from a bout with chronic hives!! Every little red mark puts you on "HIGH ALERT!!!" :)
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ReplyDeleteFor the last 20 years or so, I have been getting hives just as you said, from the waist up. They happen every 2-4 years. The ones on my face and body tend to swell like the typical hive, the ones on the hands do not, but very soon start to itch severely. I have been to countless doctors specializing in allergies, the immune system, etc. None have come up with a cause or cure or diagnosis. The only thing that seems to help is prednisone and who wants to be on that for any legnth of time. My hives can last up to 2-3 months then dissappear completely. Have you had a diagnosis or successfull treatment?
ReplyDeleteHello Moose, nice to hear from you. Your post makes me uneasy, as now I am wondering if my hives will reappear again some time in the future! Not sure how much of my blog you read after you posted this, but I never got any real diagnosis or successful treatment. They just said it was "idiopathic" (unknown cause) and to keep dosing on the H1 and H2 histamine blockers. My own current working theory is that mine were caused by medication, and the hives faded as my body finally got used to them after many months, but I can't say for certain. My hives also appeared after an extremely stressful 5 months of my life, so perhaps that knocked my immune system for a loop. Have you noticed any kind of pattern at all? i.e. do they emerge after you get sick? or start a new medication? are they seasonal in any way? Just curious... good luck and keep me/us posted!
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