So what are hives, really? Hives come in many shapes and forms, but most often they are flat, slightly raised bumps that cause a lot of itching. Hives are the result of your body’s reaction to an allergen, a foreign substance in or on the body. The body releases histamines into the blood, along with some other chemicals, in an effort to combat the invading allergen. Hives are the reaction your skin has to histamines, and so it’s obvious that antihistamines remain the number one cure for hives.
Trouble occurs though when the hives form deeper in the skin, becoming welts (Angiodema: a disease that is different from hives, but can happen at the same time), or when a person’s allergies escalate and they find it hard to breath when exposed to a particular allergen. What’s worse, sometimes allergens aren’t the cause of hives; instead, stress and anxiety can cause your body to release histamines into the body as a sort of false alarm. In light of these facts, here are some things you can do to help relieve and get rid of hives.
Common Causes & Treatment of Hives
If you don’t know where your hives are coming from, it may be time to do a little research. To detect a food allergy you should start a diet journal, documenting everything you’ve eaten, and whether or not you experienced hives that day. Some foods to avoid would be: tomatoes, shellfish, citrus fruit, nuts, dairy products, and even aspirin. You may also consider looking into allergies to other problems like dust mites, pollen, mold, or bug bites and stings. Bee stings, mosquito bites, gnat bites, and tick bites are extremely common allergies that can produce painful and itchy hives.
Getting rid of stress often gets rid of hives. Natasha suffers from anxiety/stress induced hives, and treats them with a prescription antihistamine. Of course, the problem of stress and anxiety still remains after she takes the Zyrtec, leaving the problem quite unresolved. She’s working harder at not getting ramped up about little things and trying to make more time for herself and her needs. If you want advice about getting rid of stress, here’s an article about how to get rid of stress.
If you have hives in one particular spot on your skin, say on your face, an antihistamine may not be needed. Generally speaking, antihistamines are only used to treat severe cases of hives or what doctors call Angiodema, welts, which are hives that form deeper beneath the skin, becoming red bumps. Usually hives will go away with time, so long as you don’t scratch them, otherwise a typical treatment is to apply something cold to the skin, like a piece of ice wrapped in a paper towel.
Hives that occur all over a person’s body should be treated with an antihistamine to prevent that person from going crazy. Well, they won’t really go crazy, but they kind of go crazy what with all the itching. If you don’t have a prescription for an antihistamine already, Benadryl is one of the more powerful antihistamines available over-the-counter, but beware that it causes drowsiness. Natasha has been using Zyrtec to get rid of hives. Claritin, Clarinex, and Allegra are common non-sedating prescription antihistamines.
If your hives become something more than hives, like welts, or large bumps, or swelling in the throat, it’s time to go to the hospital. Angiodema (deep hives/welts) is a difficult problem for the sufferer, because the tissue that itches cannot be reached from the surface of the skin with finger nails. Similarly, large bumps or difficulty breathing due to a reaction to bug bites or a food allergy can be treated immediately with an Epi-Pen (a syringe filled with automatically injected epinephrine) followed by a quick trip to the emergency room. I always keep an epi-pen around the house, just in case.Antihistamines & Hives Medicine
Really, the only known medication for hives and other allergic reactions are antihistamines, found either over-the-counter or prescribed by your doctor. I recommend getting a prescription strength antihistamine if you suffer from regular episodes of both stress induced hives or allergy hives because those antihistamines are usually non-sedating, unlike Benadryl. But it’s important to talk to your doctor about the side effects of any antihistamine she or he suggests because of size of the list of possible side effects, which are: dizziness, tinnitus, blurred vision, euphoria, uncoordination, anxiety, insomnia, tremor, nausea and vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, dry mouth, and dry cough. Other side effects of antihistamines include rare instances of urinary retention, palpitations, hypotension, headache, hallucination, and psychosis. As you can see, it’s important to find the least “intrusive” antihistamine for your body, and take it as infrequently as possible, as your body will eventually learn to resist the effects of just about any medication you take.
