My history of Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria (hives)

I am not normally one to post on the internet however I hope that my experience with chronic idiopathic urticaria in the run up to my wedding might help other brides and those with a special event that are concerned about hives ruining their special day!

I am sure if you are reading this you or someone you know can relate to the information below.

I have had chronic idiopathic urticaria for nearly 10 years. It started when I was a student in my final year of uni and after what the doctor thinks was a virus brought on by a period of extreme stress.

Over the course of a few weeks I noticed my scalp was feeling itchy, so I tried changing my shampoo which helped a little and I didn't think anything of it. Then one day I noticed what looked like a mosquito bite on my forehead, no drama's, I just covered it with concealer and carried on with my day. Over the next night and day I developed a few more spots on my face, then the following afternoon, in a matter of hours and as if by magic a few spots turned into a rash that covered my entire body, leaving the doctors baffled as to what had caused this reaction and how to treat it.

At the time we treated with antihistamine and steriods which calmed it and I thought that would be the end of it. How wrong! This bout of urticaria lasted about 2 years and attacks came on with no warning, one day, one hour, one minute, I would be fine, then next a red, ugly, itchy mess. I am sure anyone reading this can relate.

My hives always began on my scalp and then spread across my face and head, neck, chest then my legs and torso, new wheals popping up as quickly as others went down. I knew that from the moment my head started to itch I would be covered within an hour. Frustrating, painful, depressing, I tried numerous treatments with limited success. And then after 2 years they disappeared. Just like that, one day they were gone. No changes to diet, environment or anything else, they literally just went.

A couple of years later I suffered another period of stress and again my hives returned with a vengeance. This time was worse. Again I would be covered with hives in a few hours. I had extensive allergy testing at this time from a very good UK clinic and discovered what I already knew to be true, I suffer allergic reactions to all air borne allergens, dust, fur, mould and so on, which make me sneeze and give me watery eyes but this was not the cause of my urticaria. No physical trigger was found for my hives. I had found that some things could make a reaction worse but it was not the root cause. The triggers I discovered included alcohol, especially anything containing sulphites like wine and cider, ibuprofen and eating a lot of shellfish in one go, so I knew to avoid them if possible, but they were just an aggravator, really stress seemed to be the cause.

At the time I was treated in the emergency department on several occasions for my extreme urticaria and angioedema reaction.  I was treated with antihistamine, steroids (prednisolone), intravenous hydrocortisone which calmed down the extreme burning, itching pain but left me exhausted and feeling hideous and of course didn't prevent the next attack.

I was prescribed additional medication in the form of the leukotriene receptor antagonist (LTRA) montelukast and Cimetidine (H2 antihistamine) by my Allergy specialist. None of these treatments worked against my hives and I continued to break out at random.

Some info on the drugs prescribed below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montelukast

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H2_antagonist 

Again, after a couple of years my hives vanished as quickly as they had come and another happy few hive free years followed. I was so delighted, especially as they were unresponsive to treatment. Once again, no change of lifestyle, they just disappeared.

A couple of years ago I moved to Australia. I had been hive free for about 3 years but then I got engaged and that set me thinking 'what if my hives come back for my wedding?'.

I became very stressed out over wedding plans, but also about my hives returning. I couldn't think about anything else. Lo and behold my hives appeared again! Four months to go until my wedding and I have developed hives every single day, always on my legs, face, chest and torso, even a few on my hands and arms. This time the attacks are not as severe, I have only missed a couple of days of work, but as I have them every day I can predict that they will be there on my wedding day! I do not want hives on my wedding day!!

So, I decided that I was going to wage war upon my hives, they were not going to ruin my wedding. This is what this blog is about, how I am working on curing my hives for my wedding day in the hope that if you have a big event you too might be able to draw some ideas and comfort from this information.