Guest guest Posted March 19, 2001 Report Share Posted March 19, 2001 I understand exactly how you feel. My 11 year old daughter was diagnosed a year ago with CU. She had had episodes before with hives but it would only be once or twice a year and would last maybe a week or so after taking predisone. This time it wasn't like that and the weeks turned into months (I hope this won't be the case with you). She has had hives everyday now for over a year. We have had several tests done on her including allergy testing through blood work but the only thing that came up with that was that she has a slight allergy to an animal and dust mites but they couldn't even tell me what animal it was. Other than that she is an extremely healthy child that rarely gets a sniffle. Anyway we have two cats also. We have had house cats her whole life. As a precaution we totally redid her whole room last year. Carpet, curtains, mattress, etc. We replaced everything and kept the cats out. It didn't change a thing. The allergist told us the only way we could truly see if it was the cats was to get them out of the house for 6 months. This is harder said than done because they have been declawed so we just can't let them out and everybody we know either has severe allergies to cats or has dogs so they can't take them in. Now that the weather is getting nicer we are going to make up some sort of a pen outside to see what happens. I don't want to have to get rid of them unless I know for sure that this is the problem because we have had them since they were kittens. Chances are they aren't the cause but I am willing to try anything. By the way, she is currently taking 20mg of Zyrtec a day along with the Zantac. She does excellent on this. We tried several other medications. Some helped, some didn't. I fear her body will get immune to the medication as has happened with so many other on this site. I am going to have further tests done in August when our pre-existing clause in our insurance is through. Just keep in contact because everyone on this site has been really helpful. I have learned more here in such a short time that I feel I could ever learn from a doctor. Take care and I hope you are one of the lucky ones that has the hives go away. Donna (Richmond, IN) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2001 Report Share Posted March 19, 2001 No, She hasn't had any skin tests done. I wanted to but the allergists said since she has to take her medicine regularly or she has a major outbreak of hives it wouldn't be wise to go off of the medicine for a couple of days in order to do the skin test. If she misses one dose she breaks bad out from head to toe. If she takes it regularly no one even realizes that she has this problem. I have also heard from others if I'm not mistaken that it is possible to go into shock if you have the skin testing done while hiving. Correct me anyone if I am wrong. Donna (Richmond,IN) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2001 Report Share Posted March 19, 2001 I've had the cats since December and my hives started around February. I haven't had any other allergy symptoms. I was kind of hoping that it was the cats since then at least I could do something about it. The hive are constant and won't stop even with taking hydroxyzine 3x a day and reactine once a day. I'm going to an allergist April 10th, I just wanted to hear from people who have it since doctors seem not to know too much about it. Sherry > Hi there, and welcome to the group. A couple of questions for you - how > long have you had the cats? Did the hives start when you got the cats or > have you had the cats for ages, and the hives started up long after? I've > had CU for a number of years and have 10 cats, and they don't affect my > hives. > Allergies to animals usually means an allergy to animal dander, I believe. > It usually manifests itself with sneezing, runny nose, teary eyes, etc. - > not hives. If you suspect you may be allergic to animal dander, you need to > vacuum the house every day and keep the cats out of your bedroom. > Apparently recent research has shown female cats to be less allergenic than > males, and bathing a cat weekly with plain water may reduce its > allergy-provoking dander. (Having said that, I can see this as not being a > fun task with cats.....!) > If, however, you've had the cats for ages, I would suspect that they have > nothing to do with the hives. Are you on any medications for this, and what > has your doctor said? Some of us have found that using things like Vaseline > Intensive Care Lotion (green bottle) helps to calm the itching, along with a > combination of antihistamines. Let us hear more from you, best wishes, > Carol > Hives won't STOP! > > > > I just started getting hives about a month ago. I started reading > > everyone's messages and to be honest they're scaring me. I thought > > this would go away, but there seems to be no hope. > > I have 2 cats at home and we recently cleaned the whole house and > > stopped letting the cats go in the bedroom. If it is the cats that > > I'm allergic to do you think these actions would help or do I have to > > get rid of the cats? > > > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > If you do wish to unsubscribe then you can click on the following link: > > <mailto:urticaria-unsubscribeegroups> > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > > > This list is in the service of those who suffer from Chronic Urticaria > (hives). We strive to support and lift each other as a worldwide > cyber-family. > > > > We share whatever needs to be shared to help one another in our struggle > with Chronic Urticria. > > > > Any posting that is off the main topic of Chronic Urticaria, we post with > a prefix of NCU -. This is done out of respect for those who do not wish to > read such postings. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2001 Report Share Posted March 19, 2001 You should try to get her to live with a relative for a month or so. Just keeping cats out of her room probably won't help because it's the dander from the cats that usually cause the allergies and she is probably still breathing it in and being exposed to it. I know it's hard to get rid of cats that you've had all your life. Did the allergist do a skin test on your daughter to see if she reacted with hive to animal dander? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2001 Report Share Posted March 20, 2001 Dear Donna (and others), Your daughter can have blood allergy testing while she stays on the antihistamines. I didn't know about blood testing for 3 years b/c my doctor never mentioned it. I couldn't have traditional skin testing because they tried one test and I also responded to the placebo as well as the test spot (those tricky little itchies). I read about the blood testing and it said that doctors use the skin testing instead of the blood testing b/c they make a lot more money from it despite the blood testing being just as accurate. (those tricky little doctors). So, maybe you could ask if they could just skip the skin testing all together and try the blood tests. Why are doctors so frustrating? Good luck! Sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 20, 2001 Report Share Posted March 20, 2001 Hi Sara, Thanks for the reply. My daughter did have the blood allergy testing done. It came back negative except for a slight allergy to some form of animal and dust mites (who doesn't have these) but they could not tell me what the animal was. That is why I wish she could have had the skin testing done because I think they could pin point the animal better then. I don't know if there is a more detailed blood allergy testing. As far as allergy symptoms such as itchy eyes, sneezing, running nose, coughing, etc., that are normally associated with allergies, there aren't any, just hives. The doctor even admitted that if we find out what animal she does have the slight allergy to that probably still wouldn't be the result of her hives. It is just frustrating not knowing what is causing this. She went from a healthy, normal, preadolescent to a healthy, hiving- daily, preadolescent. The only change in the last year is her starting the puberty stage. I originally asked the doctor if the hormone changes could be the cause and he said no but I still wonder. Donna (Richmond, IN) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 19, 2007 Report Share Posted March 19, 2007 Hi there, and welcome to the group. A couple of questions for you - how long have you had the cats? Did the hives start when you got the cats or have you had the cats for ages, and the hives started up long after? I've had CU for a number of years and have 10 cats, and they don't affect my hives. Allergies to animals usually means an allergy to animal dander, I believe. It usually manifests itself with sneezing, runny nose, teary eyes, etc. - not hives. If you suspect you may be allergic to animal dander, you need to vacuum the house every day and keep the cats out of your bedroom. Apparently recent research has shown female cats to be less allergenic than males, and bathing a cat weekly with plain water may reduce its allergy-provoking dander. (Having said that, I can see this as not being a fun task with cats.....!) If, however, you've had the cats for ages, I would suspect that they have nothing to do with the hives. Are you on any medications for this, and what has your doctor said? Some of us have found that using things like Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion (green bottle) helps to calm the itching, along with a combination of antihistamines. Let us hear more from you, best wishes, Carol Hives won't STOP! > I just started getting hives about a month ago. I started reading > everyone's messages and to be honest they're scaring me. I thought > this would go away, but there seems to be no hope. > I have 2 cats at home and we recently cleaned the whole house and > stopped letting the cats go in the bedroom. If it is the cats that > I'm allergic to do you think these actions would help or do I have to > get rid of the cats? > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > If you do wish to unsubscribe then you can click on the following link: > <mailto:urticaria-unsubscribeegroups> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > This list is in the service of those who suffer from Chronic Urticaria (hives). We strive to support and lift each other as a worldwide cyber-family. > > We share whatever needs to be shared to help one another in our struggle with Chronic Urticria. > > Any posting that is off the main topic of Chronic Urticaria, we post with a prefix of NCU -. This is done out of respect for those who do not wish to read such postings. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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