Hives and Me

Hives suck.
They can be summed up as being irritating, painful, debilitating, itchy, and sometimes they can swell you up to look downright freakish. (Swelled eyes, lips) Hives are something I've been dealing with most of my life.  At age 13 I came down with my first bout of hives after licking a spoonful of peanutbutter (now 29). Hives are split up into types.. Food Allergies, Other trigger allergies, Hot and cold triggered hives, Pressure Hives, Hives from stress. I'm sure there are more that I will add to this list later, but for now it will suffice.

Hives related to food allergies happened much through my life starting at age 13. My arms would ache, and I would be covered in hivey welts a bit after eating one my nono foods. My food allergy list kept growing and growing and still does to this day, unfortunately. Avoiding certain foods became a habit. At about age 20 I had sporadic bouts of what I later found out to be Delayed Pressure Urticaria (delayed pressure hives). When doing activities such as using oars to row a canoe in calm waters leaves hives forming deep inside my hands in the area which I've used the most to do the rowing. My hands and fingers blow up like a balloon, leaving it red and swollen it feels like there's a golf ball stuck in my hand, and could not even come close to making a fist, let a lone a finger-bend. My hands were so swollen they ached and itched deep in my hands, and I imagined it probably felt how a person with arthritis would feel. A deep pain.

I have Auto-Immune issues as well. It seems as if there is a Strange Freakish disease that doctors do not know much about, I happen to have it. (FRUSTRATING) My body somehow likes to attack itself. I was in the hospital for 2 weeks at age 19 because of  idiopathic swelling in my spinal cord (Idiopathic Transverse Myelitis) Which came with a huge list of completely bizarre side effects, from the left side of my body becoming numb, to trouble walking. I had an *imaginary* flareup of this again two years later, I say *imaginary* because the doctors could find nothing wrong with me, yet I had all the same bizarre symptoms and pain as the first time. I was however under a great deal of stress at the time, and after seeing many doctors who could only scratch their heads at this phenomenon, it was summed up to be my body attacking what had already been damaged, possibly due to stress, causing psychosematic symptoms. (Again, auto-immune stuff)

I am convinced the auto-immune issues and hives are closely connected, so I am trying to treat both the best way that I can. Traditional doctors only want to treat the symptoms, not the entire picture, or the underlying problems. I am taking matters into my own hands! Hives have become ridiculously frustrating, and debilitating. I am a dog groomer, and I use lots of tools with my hands, and have to work with the dogs (some of them very difficult to groom!) If I use my scissors too much, my wrist and connecting tendons/muscles will swell up with deep painful hives about 6-8 hours later. If I brush a dog out who has a very thick coat, the pressure from the handle on my hand will turn my hand into a foreign-looking swelled up mess. This is really interfering with my work! I have to then ice whichever hivalicious part of my body is swollen and overdose myself with benedryl to (hopefully) clear it up by morning. Sometimes even the slightest bit of pressure can ruin my day. I wear crocs to work (my feet area always getting wet) and I busted the strap off of the back of one shoe. That tiny fluctuation of not holding my heel in the EXACT place it always holds it turned my foot into a football that night. I was in tears and disbelief that my foot could be THAT sensitive. I mean SERIOUSLY???? Sometimes the smallest bit of pressure can create huge problems. Carrying a bag on my shoulder? FORGET IT! I will have a natural shoulder pad by that evening.
This is unacceptable! I have a physically demanding job that I love, and I don't want to ever have to give that up. I've been just *dealing* with it most of my life, and I want to be rid of this! So.... I have been doing research and have somewhat of a plan. I plan on keeping a journal on how things are working as well. Hopefully I can help myself, and possibly others! Wish me luck!