Does anyone else here deal with random hives?

[one l michele]

Sometimes I really feel like a martian. We have three kids all who get random hives, sometimes we figure out why, most the time we haven't a clue. I can't even count the hive episode in a year, yet alone in their lifetime. It's frustrating. I posted last week about my youngest reacting to lentils we think, then both him and his older brother a couple days later reacting to split pea soup that was homemade, then tonight my middle broke out in hives literally head to toe - on the soles of his feet and tips of his ears. He was riding his bike? We carry liquid benadryl and epi pens everywhere. It's so frustrating.

[Whisperlily]

Yep. My DD's even allergic to cold. :) She gets hives when her skin is exposed to wet/cold weather. If her body temp drops while in the pool, or when she gets out of a pool in the summer she'll have hives from head to toe.

There's a name for it, Cold induced urticaria, I believe.

We also get the random hives. (I should mention that all of these kids do have severe food allergies too.)

[Janet in WA]

My twin sister and I used to get "random" hives when we were children. We're not identical twins, and I was the only one with any allergies to speak of. And yet we'd both break out in hives at the same time. And then they'd be gone as quickly as they came. My mother and our pediatrician never did figure out what caused them.

[Tutor]

My dd just started getting random hives last year. Head to toe, hives on hives. She has had two major outbreaks and numerous small one. We're all stumped. No idea what is causing it. They generally last 12-24 hours then disappear as quickly and mysteriously as they appeared.

I get hives if I am tickled for too long or if someone tickles me on my feet. No idea why.

[one l michele]

That's interesting about the food allergies and hives. My oldest and youngest have had anaphylactic reactions - oldest to egg, youngest to milk. The child that got the hives tonight doesn't have food allergies, but does have pretty bad seasonal allergies.

Do hives still worry you? I've seen hives turn into an anaphylactic reaction twice now, so I think I tend to be nervous when I see them, not knowing if this is the start of something else or if this is it - YKWIM?

[Plaid Dad]

There's a name for it, Cold induced urticaria, I believe.

My dw has this. She has actually passed out from it after swimming - a sort of "shock" reaction to the allergy and exertion. That's what I thought of when the OP mentioned bike riding. I wondered if the child got cold and reacted. My dw now takes OTC Claritin daily, and rarely has a problem, despite our cold winters. Maybe that would help? I don't know if there is a problem with children taking it, but it's worth asking a doctor or pharmacist.

[abbeyej]

There's a name for it, Cold induced urticaria, I believe.

Dd had this temporarily (lasted a few weeks) after a virus a few years ago. I even knitted her a balaclava because it was November and even here in Atlanta she broke out in hives between the house and the car. She couldn't eat ice cream, couldn't wash her hands unless I warmed the water first. I found it really scary and was *so* glad that it turned out to be temporary. :(

[Mom2legomaniacs]

Hives are weird. We definitely understand the mystery around here! I just went through allergy testing. I did the huge thing with all the pricks on my back and then about 23 injections in my arm along with the RAST blood draw. I am allergic to nothing that shows up in a histamine based blood stream response.

Yet, you touch orange oil to me and I will have hives. There are quite a few other things that cause me to react as well. My ds is like this too. They are not allergies in the true sense of the word (as in above) but sensitivities. I will react if pollen hits my nose. But things like Zyrtec will not work because of the type of response, so I take Singulair and a nasal thing.

Have you done allergy testing? The hives are weird. I wish you luck trying to find out the cause. Sometimes the response time to that kind of reaction is not immediate -- 12-24 hours even -- making the identification of the offending item extremely hard to find!

[Janet in WA]

Do hives still worry you? I've seen hives turn into an anaphylactic reaction twice now, so I think I tend to be nervous when I see them, not knowing if this is the start of something else or if this is it - YKWIM?Hives do worry me with our youngest son. He has also had hives as an allergic reaction that later escalated to anaphylaxis. I wouldn't characterize his hives as "random", though, as we have always been pretty sure what has caused his.

[Whisperlily]

Do hives still worry you? I've seen hives turn into an anaphylactic reaction twice now, so I think I tend to be nervous when I see them, not knowing if this is the start of something else or if this is it - YKWIM?

I've gotten pretty good at eyeballing hives. ;) I always carry Benedryl and Epi-pens with me, so I have a few options in my "back pocket" if necessary. I have only used an epi-pen twice, and it was on the same child within a one-week period. One time when DD was 6, we were at a T-ball game and the weather turned sour. Her arm started becoming swollen and red (one large hive) and it was creeping up her arm. We gave her benedryl immediately and started warming her up (though we have had to do it slowly, sometimes a dramatic change in temp. will make things worse.) There was a paramedic who was attending the game, who saw this and it scared him. He marked the edges of the inflammation and wouldn't leave until he saw that it was, indeed going down with Benedryl and some warmth.

Also, another thought... did your child touch anything new? THIS (http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y119/Shynie/August2006.jpg) is what happened when my son allowed a slug to crawl on his arm. Everywhere he touched his skin with the fingers that had touched the slug broke out in hives like this. I took this picture before the hives had even fully developed. That is my child who has a lot of seasonal allergies, and tested positive for a shellfish allergy (we think the slug must somehow have been in the same family?) but no other food allergies.

[Mabelen]

My 3 yo broke out in hives when she had a cold a few weeks ago. It happened one night before her bath. At first we thought some bug had bit her, but the same thing happened again the following evening around the same time. I took her to the doctor and we were told it could be just due to her cold. Apparently some children will react to the infection that way!

[Laura Corin]

As hives go, WTM is fairly focused and easy to deal with.

Laura

[Susie in MS]

Sometimes thyroid issues can cause hives.

[Jean in Newcastle]

As hives go, WTM is fairly focused and easy to deal with.

Laura

You're so bad, Laura! Psst. Don't tell anyone - I had the same thought about "hives".

[one l michele]

Gosh, I can related to that picture, only my middle ds's ears also turn bright red as well as his eyes being red and watery. He was riding his bike in our unfinished basement (but heated and insulated), it's a new house, but he's been doing this for 6 months now. I was upstairs going over paperwork with dh. My older two were downstairs, middle riding his bike and oldest working in his woodshop. He came up and said he was tired, which isn't that unusual, it was nearing his bedtime and this child will ask to go to bed. My only guess after talking with both is that he touched the ground or some saw dust and then itched or rubbed his face. It helps to know I'm not the only one walking around armed with benadryl. I'm sorry our kids have to deal with this. We have an appointment at the end of the month with a ped allergist here for two of our three boys and I'll be asking many questions.