Hives!!!! - Tampa,FL

My 3 1/2 year old son broke out in hives after his first introduction to strawberries; somewhere around 1 year old. They really aren't a big deal, but can be very persistant. We ended up going to a dermatologist and getting a prescription (oral meds) that cleared it up right away. And he's never had them since.

Hi F.,

I've had hives twice - once was a severe case that turned out to be an allergic reaction to an antibiotic. The other was a mild but persistent case that disappeared on its own after a couple weeks, and I never figured out what caused them.

In the mild case, yes, I had ones fade and new ones appear. It is very important to watch her closely, in case the allergy gets serious. In my case with the antibiotic, the hives got so bad overnight that hives were actually inside my windpipe and caused me to wheeze (closing off the airway slowly) and lose ability to stand up (because I'd faint), so I was taken to the hospital. I would just check on her once or twice a night if possible for severe puffiness and smooth breathing, just in case.

As I understand it, hives is always an allergic reaction to something. The hard part is finding out what that "something" is... it could be a suddenly developed allergy to the cat, or to her bath soap, or anything. I've read it's best to eliminate all possible substances and then re-introduce them one at a time. Or go for an allergy test, though they can be quite expensive (and I've heard they are sometimes not too trustworthy). I hope this helps!

to answer your question about the family cat, yes they can suddenly develop allergy to comething they have been around all along. My nephew who is now 5 1/2 has a terrible cat allergy. When he was first born we all lived together and had a cat, when he was about 18months old he started to develop these wierd allergy symptoms that progressed to hives and rashes, along with eye swelling and runny nose...we had him allergy tested becasue we had no idea what was causeing it and the only thing that came back was cat and it was a severe allergy, Now years later he can still not be around cats even when premedicating with his prescibed allergy meds and benedryl. good luck with your daughter-hope its not the cat

hi,

my son had hives at the age of 8 months old. so bad he was rushed to the doctor and put on oxygen and given steriods. we were instructed to take him to an allergist. we did and they did the punch testing. he tested positive to carrotts and broccoli. nothing else. this was a learned allergy because he was on veggies since he was 4 months old. we were told to give him benadryl and were given an epipen. we have never had to use it but it is good to have on hand.. take her for allergy testing asap. my son will be 7 in two weeks and we are starting to introduce carrots again slowly. no reaction yet.
it takes a few hours for the benadryl to work totally. just watch him carefully. good luck. go for testing while she is young.

My daughter got them at ~1yr, after 4-5 days of no relief on the Benadryl I took her to After Hours (she had them all over- even on her eyelids, she could not stop scratching and she could not get comfortable to sleep, she was miserable!)it is scary because they itch so bad and it is an allergic reaction that can affect breathing. At After Hours they gave her a dose of steroid and they began to reduce drastically within 30 minutes. She continued her doses of steroid for ~3 days and it kept all hives at bay. It took about 2-3 weeks for all of the skin to heal back to normal. We rubbed her down real good w/ Aveeno moisturizer to replenish her skin. My doctor's said just wait & benadryl as well, but they were so bad I took her else where...I know each case is different, but in this one After Hours even agreed she needed effective fast relief!

try aloe, warm aveeno bath and starch powder you'd be amazed what happens. and the amazed part about it is how do they get these types of things.

My daughter is 6 yrs old and has extremely sensitive skin. She got the hives for the first time when she was about 7 months old after her first cold/fever. Since then, she gets hives almost every time she gets a bad sickness. She recently broke out with the hives because i added bath salts to her bath. We have been giving her a benadryl pill before bedtime and putting the cream on her twice a day for the itching. It has been working great. It usually takes about 48 hours to go away, although my daughter has on occasion had them for 5 days. Hope this helps.

F.,
When my daughter was about 3 years old, one day she broke out in hives all over her body for no reason. They were white & they went away just as fast as they came. I ran to the doctor because I was scared they would miss them. They would break out all over her face for 20 min then go away & she would break out on her arms & so one. They ran all kinds of test & nothing was wrong. The doctors said they thought she was stressed. How can a 3 year old be stressed?????? She had just started going to a pre-school. I never thought a pre-school could stress out a kid. She didn't want to be away from me. The hives have never come back & she is 6 years old now.

Dear F.,

With our daughter it was food allergies. The most common was wheat. But she also got them from peanuts, strawberries, and milk. We cut all wheat out, which is not easy.

Keep a food diary and that will help you figure out what is causing the hives. Then eliminate. Or, clean up the diet alot, and try new things one at a time and see what is causing the hives.

Look up allergies on the internet and I am sure there are lots of sites with information. The healthfood store also has vitamins for kids and you should get her on acidophilous (spelling) it is a natural ingredient that is important for the digestion.

My daughter eventually grew out of these allergies. She is now 6 and can eat almost anything, we are still careful with wheat, but she can handle peanut butter and all fruits and has not had hives in years.

D.

I see the responses about food and animal allergies. You may also want to check your laundry detergent. I have a friend whose entire family is allergic to Tide. They all get rashes and such from it. Try washing her clothing in Woolite (if you don't already)or the store brand if the food and animal ideas leave you baffled.
Good luck. I know how miserable it is when your little one is miserable. =(

F.,
Some people have delayed sensitivity food allergies (IGg)and hives is one of the side effects. I work with a company who offers an in-home test kit to check for 10 major food groups that are most likely culprits to hidden food allergies. I had urinary tract infections for years every few months - when I did the test, it was eggs!! I would have never in a million years thought I had food allergies...I had no "symptoms". Delayed sensitivity allergies can cause an irritation in the gut referred to as "leaky gut syndrome" that needs to be healed. Once healed and after being off the foods for a period of time based on level of reaction, you can reintroduce those back to your diet. I am happy to discuss with you if you are interested in finding out more. I have seen kids diagnosed with ADD be prefectly normal after testing and discovering it was actually a food allergy. The test is only $99.95 and you do it in your own home then it is sent to the lab and the results are sent back to you. It is brilliant. I have people who work with autistic children that use this testing also. It helped my daughter with ulcerative colitis. You can reach me by email at ____@____.com or by phone at ###-###-####. I am happy to get you a test kit. good luck!!
P. Brockman

some people develop allergies to animals after being exposed to them for awhile. the allergy builds up until their system cannot take it anymore. I am like that myself. I am severly allergic to cats. I can tolerate them but I have to leave after an hour or I will be miserable, itching, sneezing, can't breathe, eyes swelling up bad. I will stay like that for the next day. so if you think there is no food allergies, and tried elimination diet, then you may have to get rid of the family cat. you would also have to clean the carpet, furniture, air vents, and everything else or there will still be a problem. have you tried children's claritin? it works better for hives without making you drowsy. also too much benadryl can cause kidney and liver problems which leads to a weakened immune system. my mother is a nurse and also we have lots of seasonal as well as animal allergies so if you have more questions write to me and I will ask her.

THAT IS WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH RIGHT NOW AND HE HAS HAD THESE BUMPS FOR MONTHS NOW AT LEAST SINCE FEB. oNE NURSE SAID IT WAS CHICKEN POX, I TREATED HIM FOR THAT. tHEN THE BUMPS COME BACK SO I TOOK HIM TO SOLANTIC AND THAT DR. SAID IT WAS THAT VIRUS CALLED SCABEES, EXCUSE THE SPELLING, SO I PAID FOR THAT PERSCRIPTION FOR THAT NOT TO WORK EITHER. i TOOK HIM TO THE ER BECAUSE HE IS THREE AND HE IS EVEN ASKING TO GO TO A DR. B/C IT ITCHES, I FEEL SO HORRIBLE IT IS LEAVING SCARS ALL OVER HIS BODY.SO THIS DR. SAID IT IS BUG BITES AND HE'S ALLERGIC TO BUG BITES. BUT HE COULDN'T TELL ME WHAT KIND OF BUGS, FLEAS, ECT. sO I HAVE NOW A PERSCRIPTION FOR ZYRTEC WE'RE GOING TO TRY THIS OUT. iF ANYONE KNOWS MORE INFO PLEASE WRITE.