Struggling with recurring hives on myself

[wendinbill]

In January of 2009 I started Weight Watchers on the 3rd, by the 10th I was covered from chin to toe in hives. After 7 weeks on steroids and trying various creams, cortisone shots, etc, it was gone. I had gained back even more weight after that. I had allergy testing done & found out I was allergic to a few food items, such as basil (which came back the worst) wheat, chocolate, hops, and fish. The doctor told me to avoid basil altogether, but to limit chocolate & wheat. (the other two items I don't eat)

This February I started a diet again, just really eating clean, counting calories, etc. No chocolate, but eating wheat (he said once a day was okay) No basil. I'm breaking out in a rash again. I want to cry. I cannot CANNOT go through that again. I am so upset. I just don't know what my next step should be.

Has anyone gone through this? I saw a dermatologist, and an immunologist/allergist last time. WWYD?

[sbgrace]

What's different about what you're eating now and what you were eating prior to re-starting your diet? Something you're eating now but weren't eating before is your likely culprit. I'd check other foods related to the ones you have known allergies to especially. Basil can cross react with marjoram, lavendar, sage, mint for example. Check any new foods and see if they contain trace amounts of basil (ie spices or natural flavors in the ingredient list). Another big issue might be that many spices you might be using could be running on shared equipment with basil. We ran into that with sesame and spices with my son. Basil would be even harder to deal with because no company treats basil like an allergen.

But beyond that I'm very confused by what your doctor suggested. You were positive to wheat (on skin prick or RAST/blood) and he told you to eat wheat once a week?
You don't eat foods you're allergic to. You don't eat foods you're reacting to even if the allergy test is negative (reactions trump results). I can't imagine an allergist telling a person to eat their allergens! If you're not allergic to wheat (say you had a negative food challenge) you should be able to eat it at will. If you are allergic you avoid it altogether. So his advice makes no sense to me from an allergy perspective.

Cut out all the food you're allergic to, including cross contamination with basil or wheat. Cut out anything you suspect you're allergic to. If they continue you might try a rotation diet to figure out remaining allergens but hopefully cutting known stuff is enough.

Outside of that, and whatever the cause, zyrtec usually will take care of even chronic hives. You likely don't need steroids again. Zyrtec helped my son with chronic hives and my dad as well. My dad was reacting to ibuprofen and it took months to get out of his system and my son took a long time to stop reacting to oranges in skin...hives can take a long time to stop once they get going but Zyrtec will quiet them for you.

[wendinbill]

Yeah this whole thing is confusing. I am going to go back to white bread products-because since starting to eat better I have been buying 100% whole wheat. Maybe that's "too much" wheat vs. white bread? I know there is wheat in white bread products though. So weird. Maybe it's a quantity issue? Maybe I can handle smaller amounts vs. larger? Basil is most likely in sauces and such that are on pizzas we order, and as far as I know have not presented a problem. Last year I was using a basil body scrub when I broke out badly. The doctors all believed it was something ingested, not something topical. So confusing with so many opinions. I will take an allergy pill today, and try to warn off anything further. The good news is it doesn't seem to be progressing at all, but it's not getting any better, either.

A chiropractor did a "test" on me re: allergies and said he didn't think wheat was a problem. Not sure I trust that test though. I'm tempted to go back to the allergist & request another test & see what comes up.

Thanks for your help!!

[iamme]

I'm so sorry.

I agree to NOT eat offending foods-even white bread.No sauces or mixed spices. Immediately get on an allergy med. 24/7.

My dd's hives are just calming down,after being on Zyrtec for 6 straight days, and now Clariton in the AM, Zyrtec in the PM.

Absolutely no to foods you know you are allergic to. We have gotten rid of the offending foods to dd-and are uber careful about what she eats-especially with nuts and peanuts.

I hope you feel better soon.

[sbgrace]

Originally Posted by wendinbill

A chiropractor did a "test" on me re: allergies and said he didn't think wheat was a problem. Not sure I trust that test though. I'm tempted to go back to the allergist & request another test & see what comes up.

Thanks for your help!!

I would not trust the chiropractor results that conflicted with the allergist results. I do think you need to see the allergist again.

Wheat is wheat. You need to get to the bottom of what you're reacting to via allergy testing and maybe controlled food trials.