I have figured out what is causing my hives

The hives stopped.

This is a long post but worth reading because I have figured out what is causing my hives. My heart goes out to everyone with hives and is suffering needlessly because your doctor cannot tell you why you have hives but only treat your symptoms with high doses of drugs. I was like you prescribed the protocol of Allegra, Hydroxyzine, Pepcid or Zantac, Zyrtec, Xyzal, singular, prednisone, etc. or even suggesting Xolair shots. I hated taking that many drugs and felt terrible. My journey has been a year long.
I saw a dermatologist first who punched wholes in my skin , left me scarred, prescribed all those drugs and wrote me off as you will never find out what this is so just get the Xolair shots for $1000 a month. The derm wanted me to take 5-6 Allegra a day when the manufacturer states 4 at the most. I talked to my pharmacist and they said Zyrtec is better for hives. I started 2 Zyrtec a day, one in the morning, one at night. That managed my hives to minor flare ups.
I saw an allergist who tested my blood for a few allergies but I couldn’t do the full allergy prick test because I couldn’t be off antihistamines for 7 days. She thought it was my thyroid, I have been on thyroid meds for 20 years. So I went down that path for a while.
My internist told me we could do a lot of tests but they would be expensive and we may never find out what is causing my hives. Blood work indicated I had a high autoimmune index. Does this sound familiar to anyone so far?
I didn’t want to take the Xolair shots because I thought my body is trying to tell me something is wrong. Plus
I hate shots. Taking the shots meant turning off the switch that indicates something is wrong. I understand it gives great relief to so many of you. I get it. I’ve had my legs, arms, back, stomach covered with hives. I’ve had the swollen lips and missed work. Unable to sleep, function at work or just feeling like my skin is highly sensitive, bruised and sore. I was on prednisone for 3 months which brought relief but its own hell. I would wean myself ever so slowly off prednisone to trick my body into thinking it still existed in my bloodstream. To the point when my dr said 2 pills a day for 3 days then 1 pill for 3 days, I would then follow with half a pill for 3 days then half a pill every other day.
After the prednisone I used ice packs to numb my hives, oatmeal baths and triamcinolone cream. I would literally get up at 3:00 in the morning to put ice on my hives because I couldn’t sleep. I wore my pajamas inside out because the seams would give me pressure hives. I tried celery juice, exercise, less sugar, other suggestions that worked for other people.
It wasn’t until I saw a functional dr that that I figured out that the hives would appear every time I ate corn or more likely the pesticides they use on corn. The dr explained 80% of my immune system is in my gut. She told me to reset my microbiome go gluten, dairy and sugar free for a month. Plus she prescribed digestive enzymes and probiotics.
I lasted 26 days on that diet but felt better and lost the bloated feeling in my stomach. I had also eliminated corn from my diet. About a week later I had 4 servings of corn in one day through corn chips, corn salsa, corn tortillas and the next morning I woke up with the bird beak angiodema lips. My groin area was swollen and I had hives between my legs as the day went on. My joints were sore and hives were reappearing on my ankles, knees, elbows, etc. it was the connection between the swollen lips and groin that made me realize it was something I was eating. I don’t know if it is corn/pesticides or what, but it is definitely corn.
I hope this helps some of you to either try eliminating corn or to just listening to your body. The answer lies within you. Please don’t think that I’m suggesting that every single person is having an autoimmune reaction to corn on this website. Or please don’t start a chain of comments saying I eat corn and I’m fine. But what if it helped 10% or 20% of the people and they are in the same boat as me?

Discussion

Marian Wertalka
I had hives every day for 5 years. Finally got tested for SIBO by a functional medicine doctor, and took 2 courses of Xifaxan. The hives stopped. I’ve been clear for 8 months. Still following a mostly low histamine diet.

Frankie Sinclair
Marian Wertalka what is SIBO? And what is Xifaxan?

Marian Wertalka
Frankie Sinclair SIBO is small intestine bacterial overgrowth caused by a couple specific types of bacteria. Xifaxan is a narrow spectrum antibiotic that specifically targets those bacteria.

Rebecca Ibrom
Yep probiotics, Apple cider vinegar and digestive enzymes are the go and healthy eating. Making sure you’re flushing toxins out of you’re system.

Stef Britton
Yes listening your body is the only way to go. Wztch the documentary Heal totally opened my eyes, I went on a histamine diet changed my mindset and started meditation. 👍 thanks for sharing your amazing story.

Jane Crowley
Totally agree. My daughter had to elimate gluten and wheat plus dairy which she was already off (the think it s coeiliac related especially because of her age) but it works

Wendy Sanchez
Yes! same thing happened. And is prob the same with gluten, dairy, sugar and food coloring

Michelle Denise
I had all of the exact treatments and timeline, the punch biopsy, the 3 months of Prednisone, getting ready to start the Prednisone, all the different allergy tests, CT Scan, Pulmonary evaluate, but I almost never eat corn…. I may need to look at pre and probiotics, as well as my diet. My problem started after a solid month of Keto, then low carb…. The holidays hit and lost traction, and the hives them began.

Dori Domerese
Low histamine diet has helped me, I also noticed reactions to supplement capsules I think cellulose and it’s probably chemically processed. It’s also in tablets, so now using pure powder supplements.

Joe-terri Bready
Right there with ya. Sadly we had switched from one snack food (to corn chips) because of the high amounts of glyphosate used in wheat harvesting ( used as a ” quote ” desiccant! to dry the wheat to protect EQUIPMENT!!!!! 😡, Legally!!! ). A bit after the switch my face blew up with swelling, inflammation , redness and itching ( unlike the rash I would get on my torso in past eruptions that I could hide)
( now I realize probably corn too and oats are all allowed to be dried with glyphosate!!!! It’s poison that causes cancer but is ok to use to dry our crops ( just as long as one calls it ” a desiccant” !!!!!!!) Why is this ok???? In my body it seems, stress , emotional stress ( work- family worries loss of a loved one or pet etc)and illness stress ( like a cold or flu virus, or sinus infection or even a red ant bite or bee sting), combined with the trigger foods creates like a perfect storm and triggers an outbreak in my body. It’s frustrating but also like a built in signal my body uses to really get my attention!!! The body and mind is an amazing thing. I am grateful for it ( most times 😏)

Sarah Koehl
I don’t know that it was corn for me but after going off dairy, gluten, sugar, nightshades and legumes, and doing a low histamine diet for 2 months…I am hive free now for 2 weeks. I was told to not eat any pre-packaged foods and eat a whole foods diet as the preservatives and chemicals in the food was likely adding to my illness.

Eric Moutsos
Sarah Koehl what do you mainly eat now? Your go-to’s?

Sarah Koehl
I eat meat, vegetables (low histamine) low histamine fruit (I eat an apple in some capacity every day), coconut/almond milk or creamer for coffee…I introduced some rice product and been ok. (Rice pasta, bread etc) but in small amounts. I still eat eggs. It was hard at first but as it goes along…its gotten easier. The worst culprit for me was gluten, premade products and cinnamon. (I loved cinnamon! boo!)

Sarah Koehl
I miss tomato stuff too- hard to eat salads without tomatoes, or tomato sauce for (rice) pasta but I found other ways to eat it which are ok. The doctor said it might be possible down the line to eat those things again…I am doing this to reset my immune response

Bill Luanne Koski Johnson
Thank you for posting

Mary Kane
Thank you for sharing!!

Edith Smith
I’ve been listening to Dr. Joe Esposito’s podcast and he says many of the things you mention, corn being a big culprit and certainly sugar & dairy.
Thanks for the reinforcement, I’ve got to give it a try, but I admit, it’s going to be hard 😫

Jan Hosbach
Edith Smith I only went gluten, dairy and sugar free for a short amount of time which was doable for me because I saw an end in sight. Now I’m 80% gluten, dairy and sugar free. But 100% corn free. It can show up as corn syrup in foods so you have to read labels. Good luck and I hope you find relief from the hives.

Jacky Kemp
Thanks for sharing, mine is dairy intolerance, we all have a trigger, it’s finding it.

Cindy Goodwin
I’m still trying to figure out what mine is but this gives me hope because I have an appointment with a functional doctor next week. 🤞🏻

Roberta McElwain
I have been trying to find the cause of my hives. I started taking Cinnamon to lower my blood sugar, thought I was doing a good thing for my body . Nope broke out in hives right in front of my eyes. Stopped the Cinnamon. Next I was craving Clementines, and yogurt and watermelon. I was having hives but hey I figured that I was eating healthy. Nope I was breaking out in hives and swelling. Off the clementines, yogurt and watermelon. Less and less hives. Sometimes what you think is good for you isn’t. Back story, I had all the allergy testing no allergies. I had the blood work etc. Xolair ,antihistamines etc. Nothing helped. Hopefully I will continue to have less and less hives with less and less medication.

Manda Merica
A functional medicine dr gave my life back to me too..