I am being driven to despair at the moment by my skin!!! It burns, it itches, and I just feel like flaying the lot off!!!

Doctor has diagnosed it as Chronic Urticaria and given me antihistamines to take. I've been on steroids, and other drugs but nothing removes the intense stinging and itching.

No idea what has caused it as it just all of a sudden flared up all over my body.

Any one got any other suggestions that might alleviate this?

I'm assuming you've ruled out all the obvious stuff such as a change in diet and washing powders etc etc? Also, if you are going naked among nature, there are quite a few plants which can cause an allergic reaction.

Has your Dr given you a liver function test? Often itching is a sign of something wrong with one's liver.

Hope it gets better soon.

Well nothing I eat or do has changed. I've had a liver test and that came back all fine. This is what I don't understand... me and my skin are at war!

"Diagnosed Urticaria". Great. It's hardly a diagnosis. He's just named it in Greek. It means "itching". Regardless of cause or cure. If that's a diagnosis I am a small blue gerbil.

Going naked in the woods just might be a factor. It need not be. Get hold of some emmolient cream and make life a bit more bearable. Even if nothing external has changed, prolonged contact with some substances can cause an allergic reaction. I'd investigate the washing powders first.

It's also possible to have a reaction against combinations of things, like flower-pollen AND sunlight, together.

That's a bummer, Paganboy. I hope you find something to ease the discomfort, and to cure it.

Here's a practical suggestion. The word "urticaria" is the same word used to classify the common stinging nettle. Everybody knows dock (or docken) leaves ease nettle-stings.

Most people tend to rub the nettle-stings with a docken leaf. This is no use at all. What you need to do is get a quantity of docken leaves and either squeeze the juice out of them, or soak them in water. Apply the juice, or the water, to the itchy part.

It's a long shot, but it just might help to ease things. Try a little on a small area at first, just in case it makes things worse.

Urticaria. Could he not have mistaken it for shingles?
Anyway, mentholated talc helps.
you have my sympathy. Hope it passes soon.

Try applying Milk of Magnesia to the weals, it should help calm the itching,
try drinking a mint tea made with fresh mint leaves, and brown sugar in a cup of hot water (about a 1/4 Oz mint leaves to about an Oz of brown sugar) that is another supposed to be very good to calm the itching.

Mentholated aqueous cream should help cool the itching too.

hello
I sympathise - I get three sorts of hives/urticaria - dermographic, idiopathic and another one. Although the doctors don't know what causes it - (idiopathic means unknown!) I do and I arrived at this through a process of elimination. I am allergic to dust mites - at my partner's house there is dust everywhere and that's where I get it. At my house I hoover everywhere (including the mattress) and I don't get it there unless I forget to hoover/change the bedclothes/pillows often enough. That's my dermographic hives. The other ones are stress on the skin (I call it pricess and the pea disease - if I get a light slap an enormous hand shaped blister comes up! Discovered this in a workshop for stagefighting. The last one - I always get hives when trying on clothes in any of the big chain stores (next/monsoon/m&s/topshop etc). This dosn't happen in small boutiques. I think they either use insecticide in the changing room carpets or fire repellent /insecticide on the mass produced clothes. Once I've worn them at home, it's fine...

I know mine isn't food related. Is there any way of trying to work stuff out by elimination, by staying in a different house (week's holiday?) That's how I worked mine out.

At one point a herbalist recommended nettle tea, because it had helped a few of her clients. Certainly that is liver cleansing. Didn't help me but was very nice!

If you smoke, that exacerbates hives/psoriasis/ecezma. This is to do with when your liver can't cope with things, your skin starts to do job of liver and expels poisons etc in these ways.... Definitely worth asking for a liver function test.
Although the soothing suggestions here are good, I know you really want to find the causing agent and eliminate it. Diet - are you allergic to the nightshade family? (potatoes/tomatoes/chilies/peppers/aubergines/tobacco?) Or wheat/milk?
those are the most common food related problems.
Externally, could be pollen etc - but might be worth asking your gp to send you for extensive allergen testing.
I found out last year that I couldn't cope with multiple (20+) mozzie bites - (went into anaphalytic shock and now have epi pen). Allergen testing could be a lifesaver....

Another way to ease (most) itches is to add two tablespoons of Bicarbonate of Soda to bathwater, and sit in it. Leave out the bath salts, bath oil, bath bombs and any of that stuff.

Thanks for all the replies. I have been researching the "dock plant" thing and most say that eaten or imbibed they have a strong laxative effect. Don't want that, though bathing in their juices might work I guess.

The nettle tea sounds good as does the mint tea.

I've been reading about it on the net and for some it gets so bad they commit suicide! Luckily I'm not quite that bad... i'd just be happy to amputate my legs and arms.

Funnily enough its much better when I dont have anything touching the skin, i.e. clothing

Are you familiar with Giant Hogweed? Its sap can give a nasty rash. Some people get a reaction from touching the leaves or stems. It might be worth checking that out.

You have my symnpathy PB.

What I don't understand is how something that's suddenly flared up can be labelled as "chronic."

Sometimes the body can suddenly react against something we've been ingesting for years. I don't know why it does this, but it does. A friend of mine suddenly became allergic to yeast - which was a bugger for him since he loved his beer and bread - but almost overnight his body just rejected it and he came out with all sorts of problems. It took a while to find out what he was reacting against but since he's cut them out the problem went away.

Buttercups are also notorious for causing rashes.

I hate to appear to beleaguer the point about gluten intolerance, but itching is yet another of the earlier symptoms. Also, what about a yeast infection? When the body gets too much sugars it can develop yeast overgrowth, and not always as Thrush either!

Are you "regular" (coffs) cos as said earlier, the skin is one way of eliminating toxins, and if the bowel is sluggish, then the skin can and ofetn does take over this function.

Lastly, tension/nerves/depression/anxiety can all be mainfest in itching. If you are experiencing any problems, maybe getting this area sorted would help?

I suffered from this when I was going thru a period of great stress at work, bullying, etc etc. It statrted to flare up on the Friday pm, and by evenign my feet were like ballooons, it was all over my body, I could have torn my skin off. Called the doc, and had to go there in flip flops, couldn't get shoes on. Took anti-histamines, and used calomine lotion to cool it down. By Sunday evening it was more or less gone.

Absolutely awful. The treatment worked to, sorecommend it.

Cheers
Finvarra

I have strong antihistamines to take at the moment, not sure how effective they are being though as it still itches. Plus I am taking pain killers as that numbs the pain a bit

Antibiotics I was first on did nothing.


The thing is (and this sounds weird but hear me out). I used to shave my chest. A while a go I decided to let the hair grow back out and its since then that I have had this itching and rash. Its only confined itself to those areas that have hair, any area pretty devoid of hair is fine. Unfortunately the male body has quite a bit of hair.....

My girlfriend says its the weird temperature changes that has caused my skin to flare up...

If nothing has changed at the end of the week I will go back to the Docs and see about allergen testing.

interesting PB you might have a touch of folliclitus if its only in areas of hair growth and urticaria might just be an overiding symptom. get your gp to send you to see the dermatologist just to make sure as they can give you antibiotic cream which is far more effective. make sure the derm team give you lots of aqueous cream as well, you can use it as a soap its really very soothing.

if you are looking for a natural remedy cool some boiled water and add some calamine powder* spread this over the affected area for instant relief if you want a more lasting relief try mixing the calamine powder with a basic aqueous cream then apply it. calamine is a really good soothing agent.

urticara can also be called nettle rash or heat hives even if your liver function test is normal try adding 10 drops of milk thistle to 10 mls of warm water every morning this repairs the liver and gives it a good flush out.



*calamine powder can be bought from all hairdresser and beauty suppliers and its really not that expensive and a pot will last you years.

Curious piece of serendipity to see this thread come up as I also have come out in a bout of hives over the last few days, mostly in my lower left arm which is now quite swollen, but also with patches on my stomach.

Seems to have stemmed from brushing against some goosegrass (I know I'm allergic to it but normally I just get a small weal and it's gone by the following day. Not this time...)

Have started taking antihistamines but I've also found that hot water alleviates the symptoms. I get the shower hot enough to be too hot (but not so hot as to scald) and train it on the itchy patch for a few seconds, take it away again, blast it again, take it away again, and so on until it stops itching. Works for about 5-6 hours.

gwyn eich byd

Ffred

Do you go in any damp buildings? Or anywhere new?

Black mould spores set me off on exposed skin, and if I then drink tea it makes it a whole lot worse. Usually I can drink tea without a problem but it acts like a catalyst if there are mould spores about and the itching spreads all over. Not urticaria, but related, when I lived in Edinburgh I had really bad Psoriasis on my elbows in the summer, which I eventually linked with resting my arms on my desk at work with bare skin. I don't know if it was the polish or the varnish on the wood.

It could possibly be that shaving has somehow sensitized the skin, and a chemical residue left on the hair is causing the problem. It could be shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, soap etc etc One of my girls got Avon shampoo for Christmas, and it set her exzema off on the top of her back, upper arms and the back of her knees All of us have temperamental skin!

I hope it clears up soon and doesn't come back Paganboy. If it does carry on it could be worth keeping a diary of what you've eaten and where you've been, along with a record of any soap/shower gel/shampoo/washing powder/conditioner you've used.

It's been like this for well over 3 weeks now.

It tends to be worse in the evenings and is going to end up driving me insane with the "itch me, scratch me" voice in my head!!!

I have been given lots of Aveeno cream which is supposed to be good as well as large doses of steroids and antihistamines. I am also taking pain killers as they seem to dull the sensation pretty good to.

It seems to be worse after hot baths; I had a cold(ish) one this morning and it felt better and at the weekend I rinsed a tea-towel in water, froze it and then applied it to my legs and I was back in heaven!

The doc also said that I might have folliculitus as someone suggested but then thats weird cos I've had a smooth chest for years and nothing like this has happened. Its only since I decided to regrow it that my skin has reacted badly. Plus I had lots of antibiotic tablets and they did nothing to remove or reduce the problem.

Is it possible to be allergic to your own body hair?!

Have you tried Homoeopathy PB ?

Here is a site with an on-line remedy finder



http://abchomeopathy.com/

actually its not unheard of to be allergic to your own body hair it is exceptionally rare tho. did the doc give you antibiotic cream or tablets the creams work better for foliculitus.

have you tried shaving the area again or a small part of the skin affected to see if it helps at all. if it does it might be worth looking into getting a proper waxing will last about 6 weeks.

hope you find some comfort soon