Chronic Urticaria - HIVES!!

DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor. This blog intended for the sole purpose of sharing my experience and is in no way intended to diagnose or advise. Consult your own physician before making any changes.


April Fools!!
Sometimes, the universe can have a demented sense of humor.  Saturday, April 1st began the worst Spring break of my life. That was the first of 8 miserable, sleepless nights with a scary rash and itching that made me feel like I was entering the depths of hell every time the sun began to go down. Unable to sleep, the dark hours began my research frenzy! I dreaded the day's end knowing I would be trapped in my own house of torture until around 4 AM where I would intermittently pass out, forcing myself to get up by 9AM and resume research. Night time was the worst! The itching was beyond intolerable, and the intensity unimaginable.


 As a Para Educator I work in classrooms Pre-K to 8th grade, so it's not surprising to see lice, skin rashes, scabies, ring worm, and all sorts of other cooties throughout the year. I also teach bootcamp classes at a couple of gyms, so there is another source of community cooties I can be vulnerable to . My first action was to rule out any of the cootie varieties. Can I just say, reading about scabies at two in the morning while scratching until I almost bled is the grossest, creepiest, thing I have ever experienced?! Between all of my research  and doctor visits, I can safely say, all of the community cootie possibilities have been eliminated.


 While I've been Hypothyroid for about 7 years, I knew very little about Hashimoto's until March of this year (2017). That's when the hives appeared. In the beginning it started off small and mysterious. Over time it steadily ramped up to a peak, and then slowly descended back down to mild. Severe hives and sleepless nights began my researching frenzy. While I still don't have all the answers, or even close, I have learned enough about what helps (and what doesn't) with my hives,  Hashimoto's, and possible parasites that can be connected.

 I am breaking down the course of these hives because they  had a unique pattern that completely baffled my doctors, and if anyone dealing with this reads this blog, I want to provide as much detail as possible to save someone else from feeling like a freak show.


Days 1-5  itchy rash on the back of my neck just above the hair line and behind the ears in the hair line.

Days 5-8 spread to front of neck, specifically just below the Adam's apple, if I had one.

Days 11-14 spread to trunk and wrists and up the inner arm. They looked like hives, but also presented as red bumps.

Days 14-28 (Spring Break and April Fools Day!) Hives all over !! Uncomfortable yet tolerable during the the day, but ZERO SLEEP at night!! Oh Gawd! Nothing helped. The itching was a combination of intense deep itching that when scratched, felt as  euphoric as when you scratch an intense mosquito bite, but all over, and non-stop. Then there were the random, all-over active nerve "zings" of spontaneous, intense itches.  Every night I cried, scratched, and even screamed out of losing my mind from no sleep and relentless itching.  I was desperate to try anything and everything and I did!


This was my outer thigh at around 1:00 AM on one of the the sleepless nights after too much scratching. They raise higher the more I scratched, but I couldn't not scratch. I couldn't.

 This was my stomach in the middle of the day. Wearing anything tight around the waist band would make it itch more. 

 I tried every suggestion and found remedy on the internet, no matter how crazy it sounded! . 

• Anti-histamine diet 

• switching laundry soaps, bath soaps, and skin products....

• sleeping on the couch away from the bedding and mattress

• Benedryl

• Claritin

• Zyrtec + Zantac

• Caladryl Clear

• Wal-Dryl

• Hydrocortisone

• Lamisil

• Diphenhydramine and Zinc Acetate

• My dog's "hot spot" spray (not even joking!)

• oatmeal/ epson salt baths

• cold showers

• Selson Blue ( on hot spots for 10 minutes, then rinse) 

• high CBD lotion

• WINE! LOTS OF WINE!! 

The only thing that provide an ounce of relief was,

• High CBD, low(ish) THC (don't judge... desperate times.... )

It didn't make them go away, but it knocked me out on night 7, despite all the itching zings I was feeling.
I don't smoke, but this was a life saver!! I now keep some on hand for such emergencies. 

Doctors couldn't figure it out. Google 'Chronic Urticaria' (Hives).... From medical articles, to blogs, the internet is full of doom and gloom. I can't even tell you, while going through this how devastated I was to learn people had been going through this for years with no answer. YEARS?!?

Days 28 -37 They began to  decrease as slowly as they increased until they were gone(ish). While the hives were gone, my skin was still extremely reactive and itchy. It was reactive in a manner that when ever something brushed my skin, it would get that 'mosquito bite' itch sensation, but if I lived  with the discomfort and didn't scratch, I was fine.

Twelve days passed before the hives ramped up for a second course in the same fashion as the first, starting at the back of the neck, to behind my ears, and finally trunk, arms, and legs. This time I was armed with some supplements  I found on other blogs ( http://hypothyroidmom.com/ ) and lotion a Facebook friend had recommended. In addition I went Gluten free for 2 weeks. here is what I took daily at the first sign of them coming back.

•  600 mg Organic freeze-dried nettle tops
• 250mg Olive leaf extract
• 1,000mg Quercetin
• 500mg Bromelain
• 1,000mg Liposomal Vitamin C
• 700mg Organic Ginger Root

I also showered twice a day, and used SkinTifique Moisturizing lotion that is said to  protect from pollution and metals. The hives ran the same course and timeline as the first round, but with much less intensity and they didn't kept me up at nigh this time. I honestly cannot say if any or all of these things worked, or if it was coincidental, but rest assured, this is now my go-to arsenal.

It has almost been twelve days since the last course, and I am waiting to see if they come back for a third...

Through all of this I learned that if you are hypothyroid, it is likely due to Hashimoto's which is your antibodies attaching your thyroid, hence causing it to dysfunction. Hives are among a wide range of symptoms that can be experienced due to Hashi's. In addition, I learned  parasites can be a cause of Hashi's and also present hives as a symptom. Learning these things is what prompted me to get tested for both.  Hashi's came back positive, but parasites, negative. That doesn't mean I am free of parasites, some are harder to detect and require more than a stool sample. Depending on what happens next, that may be something we explore further.

My hope is that this blog finds people in need of answers. For me, medical jargon is great way to nerd out and learn specifics, but people's personal experiences has been invaluable in guiding my research and that is a community I want to be a part of.

If you are going through Thyroid issues as well, please subscribe to this blog and become a member of our community!

UPDATE: It is now August and I have been gluten free for two months. My hives have banished, but occasionally I will get one or two hives on my wrists when I go out to eat and have  a drink with  some chips and salsa from my favorite Mexican restaurant. It is not consistent, but I wonder if it's a gluten cross contamination from the chips sharing the same fryer as gluten food. I'm not sure yet. At some point, I plan on directly reintroducing gluten to see if I have a reaction. I will update again when I have more information.