I know what they are but I don't know what causes them, unfortunately. I get the occasional patch from a mild skin allergy I have but not often enough to be concerning. Hope yours don't turn out to be fleas, mate.

How about Laundry detergent? I get them on occassion, and once narrowed it down to that when I realized it was just where my clothes were touching me. (And no, I am not a Klinger )

(And before the wise cracks start, apparently bleach negated the detergent as it was only where my non-bleached clothes touched my skin).

I am sensitive to some laundry soaps, but have used a hypoallergenic one for a long time now, and they don't seem to correspond to where the clothing touches me.

Right now they're just an annoyance, but if it continues I suppose I'll consult my quack, errr I mean doctor.

I had never dealt with hives until a few years ago. I got them all over and in less than an hour I was almost one solid hive. My chest and back were 75% covered by one!

I went to the ER because it was late when it happened and I freaked out. I followed up with a dermatologist and after a couple of weeks and lots of steroids they went away.

The doctors all asked what was different and nothing was different. The only answer I could come up with was stress. The worst part was I stressed more trying to figure out where they came from and I think that just made them worse.

The last time I had an outbreak, I took a moment and sort of meditated. I did what I could to calm myself down and they went away in a few hours. Unfortunately you are surrounded by stressors all day (read: passenger cars).

I can't really claim stress as a problem. Most of the time I am pretty relaxed.

My quack resents that implication!

Within a month of my 25th birthday I entered into the world of hives. I never went to the doctor or allergist as I knew that I would probably spend lots of money on tests not necessarily yielding promising results.

Here's what I have learned....

Hives are a allergic response closely connected to your immune system. Anything bleached (flour, sugar, etc) basically weakens your immune system. I personally have had tremendous success with drinking nettle tea which is available in most herbal shops. I have picked mine because most of those in the store are baked and I found them to be less effective (but still effective). Only use this if you don't deal with high blood pressure as prolonged daily usage can raise your blood pressure a little.

Another suggestion that I would have is to do a total detox on your system. There are a variety of ways you can do this as you probably know. Many times this is helpful as we periodically deal with toxic buildup in our systems.

Are any of your lymph nodes swollen in particular in the groin or shoulder areas?

Hives TOTALLY SUCK!

Hope one of these suggestions are useful.

Hives are produced by histamine and other compounds released from cells called mast cells, which are a normal part of skin. Histamine causes fluid to leak from the local blood vessels, leading to swelling in the skin.

In laymen's terms it's a way for your cells to tell your immune system that some shit is going down and it reacts accordingly trying to eliminate whatever is attacking or irritating your skin.

I don't get them often...but the itching sucks and it sucks hard.

~Zoo

An itch that is best not scratched!

LOL!

  

~Zoo

Thanks for the info. No other symptoms of any kind.

Yeah it will but that stuff makes me really sleepy. Not a great thing when at the wheel of a big rig

Thanks