Re: New, very itchy and depressed member...

[Guest guest]

Hello, Sian, and welcome to our group. You've come to the right place for

information, discussion, and lots of sympathy! My name is Jackie, and I'm a

13 year sufferer, plus I believe I also had this as a child (just

undiagnosed).

Whenever there is swelling (called angioedema, by the way - angioplasty is a

procedure to open clogged arteries using a little balloon on a catheter)

that involves the mouth or throat, yes there is a danger that you could be

heading for anaphylaxis (allergic shock or " shocking " ). If you feel like

you're having trouble breathing, call for an ambulance and get to the

emergency room. Some of the other common symptoms of " shocking " are: light

headedness, " spacey " feeling, extreme tiredness, racing heart, chest pains,

nausea (sometimes with vomiting), sore or itchy throat and mouth, low blood

pressure, pruritis (intense itching, all over), feeling of impending doom,

and feeling like you're going to faint or actually fainting. Anyone with a

history of shocking needs to have emergency rescue meds (an epi-pen,

cromolyn inhaler, liquid dyphenhydramine (Benadryl)), and if you are going

into shock, do not do it alone. Have someone with you! The symptoms of shock

can progress very slowly, or can suddenly happen within a couple of minutes.

It is potentially life-threatening; your airways can close to the point

that you will suffocate (been there way too many times, personally).

The majority of urticarians find they get the best relief using a

combination of medications, usually a Histamine 1 (H1) and Histamine 2 (H2)

combo. Sorry, I don't know the generic names offhand, but here in the USA

the two most efficient combos are Zyrtec with Zantac and Atarax with

Tagamet.

Have you been tested for allergies? What other testing has been done?

As for the rubber and pressure, this is kind of two different things. Some

people do have allergy to latex (rubber), and some people suffer from a form

of urticaria known as delayed pressure urticaria (DPU). With DPU, swelling,

redness and pain occur at the site any pressure is applied to the body.

Jewelry, carry something heavy, walking/standing, tight clothes, being

grabbed too hard, can all bring on the DPU. Rubber has nothing to do with

it, it's the pressure that brings it on.

Hope this helps, and again, welcome!

Air hugs,

Jackie

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[Guest guest]

Hi Sian and welcome to the group. You will learn a lot here. I am sorry to

hear you are having such a horrible time getting into see a doctor. I am

glad however you have found some relief. I am curious though, is it only

nuts that cause you to break out? Do you carry and epipen in case you have

trouble breathing? I hope you find some relief. Best wishes~~Alena's

Mom

New, very itchy and depressed member...

> Hello,

> My name is Sian and I am a professional musician in Wales, UK... this

> is my story of recently developed allergies.

>

> It all started back in late July 2000, when I got itchy hives over my

> legs. By August, it seemed never to go away even when I took Piriton.

> I was on a weekend camping break when I had a major outbreak and

> ended up in a surgery where the doctor saw fit to treat me for

> scabies, just in case. When I returned home, I saw my own doctor who

> said that it might calm down during the fall.

>

> In October, I was doing some work in a hotel and had a piece of pecan

> pie. After about half an hour, my face went red my lips swelled and

> turned a bluey colour and my eyelids started to shut. I was sent home

> and took a large dose of piriton and a cool bath... Obviously the

> following morning I went to the doctor, where I was prescribed

> Telfast 180 (USA Allegra 180) and placed on steroids for a week to

> try and settle the angioplasty down, it seemed to work and I was told

> that the likelyhood of this eruption could have been nuts.

>

> I was told that I would be put on the NHS waiting list to see a

> specialist/dermatologist, which the doctor told me was 6 months long.

>

> Since then I have struggled to stay off all nut products and those

> products with traces in, too. (Christmas was hell - no nuts, no

> chestnuts, no chocolate unless it was handmade!). I have weekly

> outbreaks of mild angioplasty and urticaria, until 2 weeks ago.

>

>

> I went to see the doctor about a repeat prescription and to find out

> if anything had appeared from the specialists clinic. I was given the

> number to enquire... Boy, was I in for a shock. I made the call and

> asked where I was on the list, I was then told that the list was

> 22 months long and I wasnt due for another 17 months. AAAARRRGGGHHH!

> I told the receptionist that anyone could die in that time!

>

> Then, I overstretched and hurt my back, which left me feeling pretty

> low and having a week off work. I was also suffering PMT, heightened

> by everything. Then to top it all, a bad outbreak of urticaria and

> angioplasty, I took two Telfast 180 for relief for 3 days, until I

> was able to get an appointment with my doctor. In those 3 days, I

> felt tortured, what with PMT, back pain, itching and swelling. I

> blew - I had a major row with my partner and ended up, on invitation,

> hitting him and gave him a black eye! I told the doctor about the 22

> month wait, the deep, deep, blackness of depression and intense red

> of my rage, my joints aching and general lousiness! He told me NOT to

> take two tablets a day as this could produce arrhythmia. I'm now in

> the fast list to see an imunologist, and am having blood tests to

> check for possible rheumatoid athritis too. I was also advised to

> remove egg products from my diet. He didnt prescribe me any

> anti-depressants, should he have done so?

>

> Last night I had my worst attack ever. I awoke at 4am covered, head

> to toe in hives, my skin felt heated and raw to touch, and a heavy

> feeling around my neck. I wasnt due to take a tablet for another 7

> hours - sometimes you just say 'buggerit!' (in this country!)

>

> I took another tablet, some paracetamols and applied some topical

> oitment made up of 5 drops of lavendar essential oil, 10 drops of

> chamomile roman oil, 5mls of peppermint oil blended in 100mls of

> aqueous base. This is cooling and relaxing, so I have 500mls made up

> as a general supply.

>

> The main thing that frightened me was the heaviness around my neck -

> could this be leading on to anaphylaxis, as everything else seems to

> be getting worse? I read about rubber being a possible cause through

> pressure on the skin and am trying to find underwear with elastic or

> rubber (I could be carrying a lot of safety pins around with me!)

>

> I'm constantly worried about my appearance as I am a performer and am

> concerned, that if I felt a tingle in my lips or face in the middle

> of a concert, whether or not I'd be able to deal with it.

>

> I know I'm not the only person in this world with this disorder - but

> at the moment, I really feel alone... So this is my reason for

> joining this group.

>

>

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> If you do wish to unsubscribe then you can click on the following link:

> <mailto:urticaria-unsubscribeegroups>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> This list is in the service of those who suffer from Chronic Urticaria

(hives). We strive to support and lift each other as a worldwide

cyber-family.

>

> We share whatever needs to be shared to help one another in our struggle

with Chronic Urticria.

>

> Any posting that is off the main topic of Chronic Urticaria, we post with

a prefix of NCU -. This is done out of respect for those who do not wish to

read such postings.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Welcome Sian, I have been a member of this wonderful group for a week

now and I can tell you that I do not know how I would have got

through this week without everyone!

Being from England (now Florida USA) and still having family there I

can sympathise with the NHS treatment.

Some of the medications have different names in different countries

so if you can give the generic name so you can be helped with your

medication. I really thank the list for the help with explaining

what medication combinations have helped them.

Hoping you feel better by the time you are reading this.

[Guest guest]

Hi Sian,

We all know somewhat of what you're going through. I'm on a waiting

list to see a dermatologist too. The doctors don't seem to care.

They just tell you it's a long wait.

Anyway, my lips and eyelids tend to swell sometimes too. I've found

that once I feel that familar tingle, if I put ice on it right away,

it can sometimes stop the swelling from happening. Also, if you're

in to homeopathic remedies, Apis (which is basically crushed up bees)

is supposed to help. You take it right when you fell the tingle and

it should go away. I tried dit last night and it worked for me... I

could have just been lucky though

Sherry

> Hello,

> My name is Sian and I am a professional musician in Wales, UK...

this

> is my story of recently developed allergies.

>

> It all started back in late July 2000, when I got itchy hives over

my

> legs. By August, it seemed never to go away even when I took

Piriton.

> I was on a weekend camping break when I had a major outbreak and

> ended up in a surgery where the doctor saw fit to treat me for

> scabies, just in case. When I returned home, I saw my own doctor

who

> said that it might calm down during the fall.

>

> In October, I was doing some work in a hotel and had a piece of

pecan

> pie. After about half an hour, my face went red my lips swelled and

> turned a bluey colour and my eyelids started to shut. I was sent

home

> and took a large dose of piriton and a cool bath... Obviously the

> following morning I went to the doctor, where I was prescribed

> Telfast 180 (USA Allegra 180) and placed on steroids for a week to

> try and settle the angioplasty down, it seemed to work and I was

told

> that the likelyhood of this eruption could have been nuts.

>

> I was told that I would be put on the NHS waiting list to see a

> specialist/dermatologist, which the doctor told me was 6 months

long.

>

> Since then I have struggled to stay off all nut products and those

> products with traces in, too. (Christmas was hell - no nuts, no

> chestnuts, no chocolate unless it was handmade!). I have weekly

> outbreaks of mild angioplasty and urticaria, until 2 weeks ago.

>

>

> I went to see the doctor about a repeat prescription and to find

out

> if anything had appeared from the specialists clinic. I was given

the

> number to enquire... Boy, was I in for a shock. I made the call and

> asked where I was on the list, I was then told that the list was

> 22 months long and I wasnt due for another 17 months.

AAAARRRGGGHHH!

> I told the receptionist that anyone could die in that time!

>

> Then, I overstretched and hurt my back, which left me feeling

pretty

> low and having a week off work. I was also suffering PMT,

heightened

> by everything. Then to top it all, a bad outbreak of urticaria and

> angioplasty, I took two Telfast 180 for relief for 3 days, until I

> was able to get an appointment with my doctor. In those 3 days, I

> felt tortured, what with PMT, back pain, itching and swelling. I

> blew - I had a major row with my partner and ended up, on

invitation,

> hitting him and gave him a black eye! I told the doctor about the

22

> month wait, the deep, deep, blackness of depression and intense red

> of my rage, my joints aching and general lousiness! He told me NOT

to

> take two tablets a day as this could produce arrhythmia. I'm now in

> the fast list to see an imunologist, and am having blood tests to

> check for possible rheumatoid athritis too. I was also advised to

> remove egg products from my diet. He didnt prescribe me any

> anti-depressants, should he have done so?

>

> Last night I had my worst attack ever. I awoke at 4am covered, head

> to toe in hives, my skin felt heated and raw to touch, and a heavy

> feeling around my neck. I wasnt due to take a tablet for another 7

> hours - sometimes you just say 'buggerit!' (in this country!)

>

> I took another tablet, some paracetamols and applied some topical

> oitment made up of 5 drops of lavendar essential oil, 10 drops of

> chamomile roman oil, 5mls of peppermint oil blended in 100mls of

> aqueous base. This is cooling and relaxing, so I have 500mls made

up

> as a general supply.

>

> The main thing that frightened me was the heaviness around my neck -

> could this be leading on to anaphylaxis, as everything else seems

to

> be getting worse? I read about rubber being a possible cause

through

> pressure on the skin and am trying to find underwear with elastic

or

> rubber (I could be carrying a lot of safety pins around with me!)

>

> I'm constantly worried about my appearance as I am a performer and

am

> concerned, that if I felt a tingle in my lips or face in the middle

> of a concert, whether or not I'd be able to deal with it.

>

> I know I'm not the only person in this world with this disorder -

but

> at the moment, I really feel alone... So this is my reason for

> joining this group.