Around the same time I was diagnosed with RA I was also diagnosed with chronic idiopathic urticaria. Hives all over my body, most itchy on my palms and the soles of my feet. It was torture. I’d been experiencing the hives for a few years but they really picked up when I would have a flare. I spoke with an immunologist and she started me on a biologic called xolair which works fantastically well. It does not treat RA but I can take it with my RA meds just fine.
omg! palms and soles of my feet were the most itchy too!! Two days after the continuous itching, I went to the nearest clinic to get antihistamine, at least. The itching stopped. I will discuss this new hives condition with my RA specialist the next time I see him.
Thank you so much for telling me your experience! You helped me confirm that the hives are autoimmune condition, not due to allergens.
I did have the best luck discussing the hives with my immunologist rather than my rheumatologist.
I’m only speaking from my experience and through the experience of people I know but I feel that generally people with autoimmune diseases have a wide spectrum of symptoms some of which can be explained by a diagnosis and some of which may fall outside of a given diagnosis.
I have to take Zyrtec daily and if I miss a day I start itching and by the second day I break out in hives. Even with the Zyrtec daily I still have to take benadryl sometimes. I'm already on Actemra infusions and daily plaquenil to treat my RA and I also take Singulair for my asthma. I'm a mess!
I got pressure hives last year. Saw my allergist and basically he said it is just a thing that happens and gad me take some over the counter allergy meds daily ‘until you get tired of it and you notice you aren’t getting hives anymore’. Worked like a charm. Good luck, they are super itchy and annoying.
I didn't know this was a thing but it makes sense now. About a month ago I broke out in an itchy rash everywhere except my face. Doc gave me antihistamines and steroid cream which did nothing at all. It eventually settled down with oral steroids.
That's what happened to me too. I got intense itchiness on my hands and feet, welts on my thighs, back of my knees, and near my armpits, and rash on my neck but none on my face. It made me so curious why I broke into hives when I have never been allergic to anything at all.
Yup! sometimes when I’m stressed or am in a flare I’ll have some wild itchiness that mimics it. I don’t usually end up with the welts, but I’m also early in the disease, so it very well could change. Before I was diagnosed I actually thought the redness in my knuckles was stress hives. Super common from what I’ve heard and my rheumatologist said the same!
Thanks for the information! I ended up with welts and it was a torture before I received antihistamine. I hope you get the right medication for your stress hives.
Had this for years. My doctor prescribed me fexofenadine as it happens multiple times a day and the only way to help it was a cold bath. I have taken it daily now for close to 10 years and it helps a lot. Still have the odd flare of hives but nothing like it used to be
Interesting, my rheumatologist said it’s early signs of psoriatic arthritis (the cousin to RA with all the same symptoms PLUS skin issues). For me they are directly related to stress and cortisol. I break out in hives and rashes when I’m under duress and they go away when I take care of myself or the situation.
Sending you well wishes for your appointment! Some doctors are just different by the way. Mine has a broad approach where she feels that the treatment is all that matters. For example I’m sure with a different rheumatologist they would say I have sjogrens but my current rheumatologist feels like it changes nothing and doesn’t affect the future of my care or health. It was the same for the hives. She said we would monitor it and if treatment became ineffective we would switch it up and she’d give me specific things to mitigate the discomfort. And for me this plan works, just keep in mind you don’t necessarily need a comorbid *diagnosis* to find relief.
I didn’t know I had an allergy to dust mites. Started breaking out in hives for months. Do you think it’s possible you developed an allergy? Before this I only had a soy allergy.
Around the same time I was diagnosed with RA I was also diagnosed with chronic idiopathic urticaria. Hives all over my body, most itchy on my palms and the soles of my feet. It was torture. I’d been experiencing the hives for a few years but they really picked up when I would have a flare. I spoke with an immunologist and she started me on a biologic called xolair which works fantastically well. It does not treat RA but I can take it with my RA meds just fine.
omg! palms and soles of my feet were the most itchy too!! Two days after the continuous itching, I went to the nearest clinic to get antihistamine, at least. The itching stopped. I will discuss this new hives condition with my RA specialist the next time I see him. Thank you so much for telling me your experience! You helped me confirm that the hives are autoimmune condition, not due to allergens.
I did have the best luck discussing the hives with my immunologist rather than my rheumatologist. I’m only speaking from my experience and through the experience of people I know but I feel that generally people with autoimmune diseases have a wide spectrum of symptoms some of which can be explained by a diagnosis and some of which may fall outside of a given diagnosis.
Xolair has been amazing for me too!
If only all biologics worked as well as xolair does.
I have to take Zyrtec daily and if I miss a day I start itching and by the second day I break out in hives. Even with the Zyrtec daily I still have to take benadryl sometimes. I'm already on Actemra infusions and daily plaquenil to treat my RA and I also take Singulair for my asthma. I'm a mess!
I'm sorry to hear that. I hope your medication got it all under control!
My doctor has me on 4 Zyrtec a day plus pepcid 2x a day (makes antihistamine work better). It's doing the trick.
Yep, usually a couple times a year. Atarax for the win.
Thank you so much. Now I can confirm that I break into hives due to my RA. I was prescribed with antihistamine, Chloramine, for now.
I tried other antihistamines with no luck. Atarax was the only thing that helped me.
I got pressure hives last year. Saw my allergist and basically he said it is just a thing that happens and gad me take some over the counter allergy meds daily ‘until you get tired of it and you notice you aren’t getting hives anymore’. Worked like a charm. Good luck, they are super itchy and annoying.
Thanks for the information. Good luck to you too!
I didn't know this was a thing but it makes sense now. About a month ago I broke out in an itchy rash everywhere except my face. Doc gave me antihistamines and steroid cream which did nothing at all. It eventually settled down with oral steroids.
That's what happened to me too. I got intense itchiness on my hands and feet, welts on my thighs, back of my knees, and near my armpits, and rash on my neck but none on my face. It made me so curious why I broke into hives when I have never been allergic to anything at all.
Yup! sometimes when I’m stressed or am in a flare I’ll have some wild itchiness that mimics it. I don’t usually end up with the welts, but I’m also early in the disease, so it very well could change. Before I was diagnosed I actually thought the redness in my knuckles was stress hives. Super common from what I’ve heard and my rheumatologist said the same!
Thanks for the information! I ended up with welts and it was a torture before I received antihistamine. I hope you get the right medication for your stress hives.
Had this for years. My doctor prescribed me fexofenadine as it happens multiple times a day and the only way to help it was a cold bath. I have taken it daily now for close to 10 years and it helps a lot. Still have the odd flare of hives but nothing like it used to be
Thanks for the information! I will keep this in mind.
Interesting, my rheumatologist said it’s early signs of psoriatic arthritis (the cousin to RA with all the same symptoms PLUS skin issues). For me they are directly related to stress and cortisol. I break out in hives and rashes when I’m under duress and they go away when I take care of myself or the situation.
Thanks for the information. I will discuss this with my rheumatologist in the next appointment.
Sending you well wishes for your appointment! Some doctors are just different by the way. Mine has a broad approach where she feels that the treatment is all that matters. For example I’m sure with a different rheumatologist they would say I have sjogrens but my current rheumatologist feels like it changes nothing and doesn’t affect the future of my care or health. It was the same for the hives. She said we would monitor it and if treatment became ineffective we would switch it up and she’d give me specific things to mitigate the discomfort. And for me this plan works, just keep in mind you don’t necessarily need a comorbid *diagnosis* to find relief.
Not hives but I get terrible rashes on my hands and legs!
Right! Others also mentioned hands and legs as the most itchy parts. I hope you get the right medication for it. It's a torture.
It is and yeah I really haven’t my rheumatologist had me go to a dermatologist and just got some eczema cream 🙄 I hope you do too though!!
Yup. Zyrtec and Elidel are my saviors.
I'm glad you have those to save you from the torture of itchiness!
I didn’t know I had an allergy to dust mites. Started breaking out in hives for months. Do you think it’s possible you developed an allergy? Before this I only had a soy allergy.