Just wondering if you decided to try the progesterone creme. If so how did it work for you? Have you found anything that helps. You situation sounds similar to mine. My 1st pregnancy when I was 36 I didn't have hives. The second pregnancy at 39 I broke out in hives around the beginning of my 3rd trimester. Now I break out in hives right before my period. It's crazy. I'm scratching like a crack head. I can't sleep because it wakes me up. I went to the vitamin store and got some progesterone creme. It's my 3rd day on it. So far I feel a little crampy but I think that is suppose to happen when you first start using it. Going to try it for a few months to see what happens. I was just wondering what your experience was.
I just started the progesterone creme for the hives. This is day 3 and I still have them. I'm hoping it just takes some time to kick in. I am 41 so I figure my homones are out of whack. Plus I just had a baby last year so that could have something to do with it also. I'm hoping and praying the creme works. Is it still working for you?
I'm 20 years old and have chronic hives which I believe to be cold related. I started getting hives less than a week before my first period when I was 15. I am able to control them with Claritin but they vary in severity and sometimes persist even with Claritin. I've noticed they also come up sometimes when I am not chilled and am nervous or excited. I think I will see another allergist to determine if it is truly cold urticaria or hormone/food/anxiety related. I have wondered why they began almost simultaneously with my first period.
Boy am I glad to know I am not alone because this makes me feel sick a good portion of the time. I am 36 (going on 37) and have two kids (though my oldest is practically an adult now). I have had hives for about 3 years now and they only seem to be getting worse the older I get. The worst breakouts are also around the time of my menstrual cycle and make me feel miserable. I hate going out in public and try to get away with sleeves and pants (hard to do in the summers here in the south).
I have not had the fortune of seeing specialists or doctors about the issue. Limited budget and no health ins so I search the web looking constantly for solutions I can try myself. Not complaining about that, just..where I am in life.
Most of the time I feel drained, itchy, irritable, and frustrated. Every day I deal with breakouts, either severe or mild. I take the equate version of Zyrtec, b12 supplement, and multivitamin daily..... and Benadryl when it gets so bad I can't think straight. -Everything- causes me to break out. Pressure (trying to crochet, walking for a few hours, sitting on a hard chair, etc.), sun (if I get a burn), menstral issues, etc.
I read earlier in this forum of using a progesterone cream and I am going to try that. If I break out severely from it, I will stop and try an estrogen cream. I also read a concoction of vitamins and things to take. I will check into that if the creams don't work.
I feel for you ladies who have also posted here. God bless and I will try to post back if I had any success with creams or concoction.
Hi, I am 26 years old and I have been breaking out in hives for about 2.5 years now. I still have it and they drive me nuts! I get it every day, just like most of u, from right after i shower in the morning till night, it comes and go as it pleases. Heat, tight clothing, sweat etc will cause it to break out. And I do realize now that it gets worse nearing menstrual but even during menstrual and after, I still get it. I went to the skin specialist before but she put me on antihistamine (Zyrtec). I can't take it everyday cause it just drains me off my energy, I could hardly wake up and I felt so drowsy. I also tried to do detox (went on pure juices and vits for 3 days) but it didnt work either. I was crying away because I didn't know what went wrong and i prayed to God that He shows mercy and cure me of this. Then, i rmb my sister telling me that it could be hormone related and started searching on the web. Thank you all for the posts! Now, i know i am not alone and that it isn't like a strange disease that I am having. I will start trying those suggestions posted here which are more practical for me e.g. drink more water, avoid MILK (it got really bad after I drank milk), take Vit. C, fish oil and I hope it will get better soon for me cause the itching + scratching have left so many ugly scars and it stresses me out so much. Thank you all again and let's get better soon! God bless.
Kat here again -
Well, I found I was not allergic to the progesterone cream and still having breakouts. Not going to bother with looking for estrogen. Will try to concoction of vitamins and things when I can afford it all.
I am 40 and have had hives coinciding with my menstrual cycle for about a year now. They last about 9 days (from pre-menstrual until the end of my period). I get weals pretty much anywhere - arms, legs, torso, back, but I also get angioedema, especially my lips, but also my eyelids. I have gone to most of the doctors - primary care, endocrinologist, and allergist, and the most they have come up with is elevated thyroid antibodies. I do have Hashimoto's disease which is the cause of my hypothyroidism and have been on Synthroid for many years and my thyroid is regulated so the elevated thyroid antibodies are mystery. They have have tried Allegra, Zyrtec, Zantec, and Claritin in various doses, but none of that keeps the hives from coming, and none of it helps once I have them. I finally relented about 6 months ago, and tried Prednisone, and it worked (until the next month). The hives were gone after just a few doses, but oral steroids cannot be taken long-term because of the effects they have, so I need another solution and my doctors keep going back to the antihistamines, as if they don't remember that none of those worked. I have flat out refused to take anymore because taking 5 antihistamines a day, especially when they did absolutely nothing for my hives, left me very sedated, and I can't imagine taking 5 of these everyday can be too healthy either, doesn't seem to be a solution. I had a DVT caused by birth control pills so my doctors won't even consider looking at anything that will mess with my hormones. I felt really lost until I saw this board - still don't know what the solution is, but at least it's comforting to know I'm not the only one going through this, because that's the way my doctors have made me feel - I swear, when I tell them I only get the hives during my menstrual cycle, they act like this is a first. I did get the "hopefully this just goes away on its own." I'm glad I pay medical insurance for that diagnosis. I see a dermatologist in a month - hope they have a better answer.
Hi I have been suffering from hormone imbalance since I had my thyroid out 20 years ago. Aobut 5 years ago I started suffereing from hives around my menstrual period. Sometimes before, during and aftter. From what I can gather from reading about progesterone and estrogen your body can have an allergic reaction to either high progesterone called Autoimmune progesterone dermatitis or estrogen dominance which taking natural progesterone seems tohelp. Either way us women are screwed. it seems getting your bodies hormones in balance is the key. Unfortunately for me I live in a country that natural progesterone is by dr prescription only and doctors don't seem to want to hand it out as it is a natural form, not pharmacutically made. Hope this helps.
I am so glad that I found this thred, I am 34 years old and for the last six months I have been breaking out in hives thought it was a bad case of an allergic reaction to something. A nurse had told me about an Alpha-gal allergy when my reaction got so bad it started to close my throat and swell my tounge up and it put me in the hospital. When I got released from the hospital I did a research on the Alpha-gal allergy and stoped eatting any and all meats associated to mammals (like pork, beef, deer, ect.) and the hives got better for a while. Then I started to notice that right before my menstrual it came back big time, so here I am doing research again and I came across this thred. I also noticed that if I eat anything that is high in the carbohated sugars my hives flare up more so I try to stay away from high carbs like potatos and other things like that. So thank you again for your post I am going to try some of these tips and see where it leads me.
I am so glad I found this thread.
I'm 42 and have PCOS (polycysitc ovarian syndrome). I have had irregular periods ALL my life. My first really significant outbreak of hives started the summer before my daughter (only child) was born and so a few months before I conceived her - she is 3 and 1/2 now. I had been trying to have a child for several years; because of the PCOS had infertility issues, for which I was put on Metformin. I also did a lot of exercise that summer. I think the summer before I conceived my daughter, was probably the first time I had ovulated consistently since I was a teenager. It was the also when the hives and angioedema first started. I remember seeing a dermatologist when I was in my teens for outbreaks of angioedema - to no avail. I'd have occasional outbreaks every now and then and would put it down to some mysterious food or environmental allergy in spite of being tested for seemingly every allergen under the sun.
I'll never forget my first really bad outbreak - my hands were swollen and itching so badly that the 'pain' woke me up from a sound sleep - I soaked my hands in an ice bath for over an hour in the middle of the night - adding ice twice because the heat from my hands had melted the ice. At the time I hadn't made the connection with my periods because I wasn't used to having regualar periods! - so over the course of that summer and early fall I had what I thought to be sporadic break out of hives and angioedema - swelling and redness. I conceived my daughter in October and had no issues through the first two trimesters... the last trimester was extremely uncomforatble - I developed swelling in both my arms (not legs) and as a result carpal tunnel syndrome in both my wrists - AND my feet itched so badly I would spend half my nights soaking them in ice baths... totally worth all it; I adore my little girl and would do it all again in a heart beat... but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.
Shortly after she was born though - the hives started up again - appearing at first just as hives on the back of my neck - later on they'd appear as bumps on my head and now 3 years later AND now that I've finally made the connection between my periods and these 'episodes' that start 3-5 days before my period and for about 4 days afterwards - I have hives and angioedema EVERYWHERE. If my waistband is too tight - I get them around my waist - this past week my pendant around my irritated my skin and resulted in hives...
I mentioned the pre-menstrual heightened immune respsonse to my OB a year or two ago and she didn't seme to take it seriously - and although I felt there was a connection, because of my irratic menstrual history I didn't think much of it either... when my outbreaks started getting really bad about 15 months ago I saw a dermatologist and mentioned the correlation to her - she still tested me for every allergen under the sun EXCEPT for endogenous progesterone... (she beleieved me but I have think now that I've read this thread and done some more research that she was/is unaware of APD) - all my allergy tests were negative - I didn't have a single positive reaction... She started me on Xyzal, which helped - but didn't relieve me entirely. I take loratidine, Xyzal, Zantac and Dymista (for sinus symptoms).
My heartfelt sympathies to all of you ladies suffering from hives out there - I am extremely grateful though for all this information... I know now that the connections I made between my periods and the hives isn't just in my mind and a coincidence... I feel fairly certain that I have Autoimmune Progesterone Dermatitis... and quite honestly for the way my break-outs have been controlling my life - I'd consider having my ovaries removed if it would make the hives stop! Not saying that's what I'd do, but I have to admit having read the various treatment options I'd consider it.
On a side note - for somebody with PCOS - taking steriods is short walk to becoming diabetic - which is not something I want to have to deal with... so I've avoided them, but had to relent and take some last August.
My dermatologist also told me that I was allergic to NSAIDs - so no ibruprofen, naproxen, asprin etc... My PMS and mid-cycle cramps often have me doubled over (and I have a pretty high pain threshold) - the Tylenol I'm allowed to take does NOTHING for these cramps... my gut feeling is that I am not allergic to the NSAIDS - just that when I have hives they exaserbate the problem... the idea that I am not allergic to medications that I have been taking on and off since my 20s is actually very comforting to me... So again I thank you all for sharing and hope that you all find relief some time soon. I hope to see my doctors in the next few days and will repost if I have any more info.
God Bless you all!
Just wondering if the progesterone creme has helped you. I started using it in January. I've noticed a slight improvement. I was told that I need a lot more than is suggested on the box. I've also tried Vitamin D3, Flaxseed Oil, and Probiotics. It's only been a few months so we'll see what happens. Let me know if you see any improvement. Thanks
I also had hives during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy with my daughter. I am 41. I had my daughter in October 2011. Although I did have occasional hives before my pregnancy with her I noticed my hives were getting worse once I went off the birth control pill. I went all the way up until my mid thirties with irregular periods then all of a sudden my period was regular then I became pregnant with my son (no hives with that pregnancy). 3 years later I had my daughter (hives during the third trimester). The doctor diagnosed me with PUPPS. She said it would all go away once I delivered. Well it did improve for a few months but after I went on the BCP it started getting worse. Last year my husband got a vasectomy and I went of the BCP and all hell broke loose. Now I'm desperately try to search for an answer. I just started using Progesterone cream. I see a slight improvement. I was told I need to use alot more than recommend to see a difference. That is what I am trying now. I feel for you and everyone in this forum. My bad episodes are at night and a few days before my period up until a week after. It's crazy. I want to scratch my skin off. Antihistamines don't help the itch. They only make me sleepy. I pray for answers. Please let me know how you are doing. Let's share info so maybe one day we can find an answer.
I just wanted to say that I, too, have chronic hives that worsen around the time of my period. I've had them for 15 years (I'm 34). The regimen that really works is zyrtec and 75 mg of ranitidine (zantac). It's to alleviate indigestion but it's also what's called a H2 blocker (histamine) and works better than any regular antihistamine alone. Also, menthol cream on the hives alleviate the itching. Hope this helps.