I have been suffering from chronic hives/welts that itchy and when I scratch them it spreads and gets scaly. It is usually concentrated on knees, elbows, behind my ears and lower back.

It started a few months after I had my second child, first I used over the counter anti-itch cream and that stopped working so I visited a dermatologist who suggested it was ezcema and prescribed mild steroid (I was still nursing at the time) to control itching. At first the steroid cream worked and after few months it got worse, I went to a different dermatologist and she prescribed stronger steroid cream and suggested I switch out all clothes detergent, shampoo, lotion, etc. to allergy free products.

My skin got better but once again, after a few weeks it was a lot worse. I went to an allergist who administered "prick" test for food and environmental allergies. The test showed a few minor allergies (ragweed, pine pollen, etc.) but nothing unusual. I was also tested for Celiac disease (through blood work) and it came back negative.

I visited my internist who tested for unusual levels in my blood to check for autoimmune disease and everything came back normal. She suggested I visit another dermatologist who is very good and finding answers for difficult skin conditions.

The third dermatologist I visited asked a lot of questions about my lifestyle (stress level, eating habit, excercise, etc.) and thought my condition maybe driven by my hormone levels during pregnancy, nursing and chronic physical stress from insomnia and taking care of an infant. He gave me a non-steroid cream (since at this point my skin thinned due to prolonged use of topical steroids), gave me a prescription for Allegra (to control hives and itching) and performed a biopsy. The biopsy indicated that they are hives. The dermatologist said I should continue the allergy tablets for at least a month and stop taking them to see if the hives return, he also suggested I take extra vitamin C and increase my intake of iron. He speculated that once I stop nursing it will take around 6 months for my hormones to regulate and hopefully my problem will go away.

It's been 3 months since I stopped nursing (I nursed until my second child was 15 months old) and 3 months since I've taken daily allgery medicine (generic Zyrtec) and I still get itchy welts and hives. They are definitely better when I take my allergy medicine but it's still not completely gone. I don't want to increase my daily medication and am wondering if an holistic allergist can figure out what's causing my chronic hives that itchy. This has been going on for 15 months or so. I am very aware of environmental toxins and consume and use only all natural/organic products/food.

 Any suggestions for comment will be greatly appreciated. 

Kate

by Michael Cohen, founder of RaphaYad Bioenergy Healing Research Foundation on 05 Nov, 2008 Health Specialist Bio View Therapist Qualifications

It is important to understand that every clients symptoms are very individual and therefore each client will receive treatment individual to them. When you consider blockages in the bodies biological system we begin to appreciate that not only are these physical but are also psychological. We believe that the blockages need to be addressed first and then the physical symptoms will sort themselves out. I think you understand that by taking medicine or applying cream to the affected skin is not enough to clear the condition from your system. Bioenergy Healing treatment is able to address both on physical and psychological levels. On a physical basis, the technique works on enhancing the cellular communication between the brain and the blocked/damaged cells to bring order to the cells in the region of the body where there is disorder. This can also stimulating the bodies natural healing and repair mechanisms to remove any obstructions. During pregnancy our bodies endure so many changes which alter our biochemical make up and put major demands on all our systems to function efficiently. If we have many blockages caused by unhealed trauma (believe me, everyone has unfinished emotional and physical trauma in their systems !!) our cells have a much harder job at doing what they should be doing and this is when we experience symptoms, illness, disease. On a psychological level our treatment releases memory patterns, a form of rewiring the body. This can get to the root cause of the symptoms along with with the current trauma of living and having to treat the symptoms. All without having to address matters on a cognitive level. For more information visit www.bioenergyhealing.org.uk

by Denise Clark, ND on 17 Oct, 2008 Health Specialist Bio Deprecated: strlen(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/worldwidehealth/public_html/blog_question.php on line 181

Did you have your thyroid function tested?  There is a relationship between low thyroid function and chronic hives.. there is a study published on this.  Even if your thyroid function comes back normal, if you have signs of low thyroid functions such as dry skin, dry hair or hair loss, fatigue, weight gain, if your MD is willing it would be worth it to try low level thyroid hormone supplementation.  Seeing a homeopathic doctor would be worthwhile since there are good homeopathic remedies that I've seen quickly clear up chronic hives.  The homeopath would need to take a good case since it will depend on your symptoms. Otherwise having a blood test for IgG reaction to foods would be worthwhile. Typically a MD won't order this since not many of them believe that delayed hypersensitivities to food exist, however in talking to the major labs like Quest they believe it is usefull for conditions like ezcema, chronic hives and migraines.  Some supplements that you can consider are quercitin and/or good quality fish oil to cut down on inflammation.

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