Living with chronic urticaria

I have created this page, using the information I sourced, that I hope will help you get the answers that you need to move forward and cope with living with this condition. Amongst the information I will tell you about our experiences, remedies we have tried, money we have paid out and hopefully enable you to gain an understanding of the difficulties it causes for both the person with the condition and the people in their lives that care.

There wasn't any page when I was looking, (and I trawled through the internet for weeks, hours at a time!) that had compiled the information so this is what I hope to do for you.

When you are desperate, itching and in pain, the last thing you need is to pay a website for information that swears it will help you, only to be let down when you receive it and realise that you already know the information. This page is free to read and the information will hopefully help you.

I am not an expert on chronic urticaria but I have gathered a lot of information and these are my findings.
Urticaria, also known as hives or nettle rash, can be acute or chronic. About 1 in 6 people will have acute urticaria at least one in their life; a rash will appear because of an allergic reaction and will last for less than six weeks.
Chronic urticaria is a rash that occurs on most days for more than six weeks; this occurs in about 1 in a 1000 people, more likely in women and can in some cases last for years. In about a third of cases it is an autoimmune problem, the body's anti-bodies cause the problem, they cause the body to release histamine, the body's natural defence, and the reason for this is unknown. It can be caused by an allergic reaction or there can be a physical cause of urticaria.

The rash can affect any skin on your body.
Wheals, which are small raised areas, develop on the skin and if they are close together they can form one large wheal. They look like blisters and itch constantly. They can be any size, any shape and anywhere on the skin, red or white in colour and usually surrounded by a red area of skin called a flare.
Each wheal has a life cycle of about 24 hours, however as one fades another can appear so it can feel like a never ending attack on the skin. When they appear on the face, they can completely close your eye, they can cause your lips to swell and at times your face will be swollen. This can be an uncomfortable time and not only are you itchy with possible restriction on your sight or other senses but it can make you feel very alone and not want people to see this very obvious looking condition.


It can all sound very clinical when you read it but the welts are very real and no words to describe them can explain the distress that a person goes through with them. I remember my husband becoming very despondent and withdrawn; it was a very dark time. I just wanted to explain what they were before I go into any of the other information. I will also add links throughout this page to sites that I found helpful. I have shared our experiences, saying what worked and didn't work for us.

I say possible because there is a lot of speculation on what the causes are; I have found no definate answer, each person is a unique case and sometimes like in the case of my husband it is his immune system which was attacking his own body, for no reason the doctors could find.

However I would always suggest going to the doctors, who should in turn refer you to a skin specialist. They will probably conduct tests to check for allergies or known causes and then often the treatment is a course of anti-histimine tablets, in a dose that is specific to you. as I am not a doctor I will not add a huge amount more about that.

Causes that you could look for are as follows, a food that is causing an allergic reaction, a washing powder, a soap, grass, animals, SLS (sodium laureth sulfate), paper, chemicals and many many more. As you can see there is a wide variety of things that can cause urticaria and to eliminate them all from your life is in itself not only impossible but also very distressing.

We started eliminating foods that are naturally high in histimine, tomatoes, strawberries, eggplants, spinach, cheese, milk, wheat, eggs and fish (unless caught and cooked almost immediately). Be aware that if you cut it all out if you are trying to determine which it is when you reintroduce them, do it one at a time for a couple of weeks to see a reaction if there is one.

It may be worth checking for coeliac disease as this can be one of the symptoms. I paid a website £12.95 when we had got desperate for a cure to find this out, don't pay for information, everything you need is out there for free, they do not have magic cures.

We started to use a toothpaste called squiggle; which incidently I was using as a cure for my ulcers, as it did not contain SLS and our shower gels and shampoos.

Your doctor will work with you on this and alternative practitioners will too, homeopaths, herbalists and chinese medicine practitioners to name a few, listen to what they say but make sure that they also listen to you, it is your body!

Want to know the symptoms of chronic urticaria? They can be many and vary from person to person. These are described in my own words and experience so click on the links below for the medical findings.

The most obvious syptoms are the welts and weals that appear on the skin, often raised, red and very itchy; they can be anywhere on the body and any size. Rashes that contain these appear on the skin.

Swelling; most commonly in the face though can be anywhere. In severe cases this can restrict breathing so always have it checked out in a hospital if you experience this. Eyes, lips and cheeks swell up causing temporary distortion of the face, restricting sight at times.

Depression; not only does the endless itching and the constant irritation cause the person to become withdrawn through frustration and pain but also we were told by the doctor that the chemical imbalance can cause actual depression.

For every illness there is someone peddling a miracle cure or ways to solve this problem. We clicked on one link that charged us about £12.95 stating although it was not a miracle cure that the person had gathered all the information that you could want in one place. Hoping they had researched something that I did not know about and my husbands skin was so bad, we paid the money.

What I received was a file to download and the earth shattering discovery within it's pages? The fantastic research that she had discovered? Just that it can sometimes be an allergy to gluten and that you should get tested at a doctors, I already know this and I am sure that if you didn't before now, I have told you for FREE!!!!!

Every person has a right to make money, I however do not think it should be at the expense of people that are in pain and suffering badly. In some of the worst cases I have read about people are unable to work and their quality of life is so low and these are the people that these websites are targeting; I do not think it is ethical, moral or fair.

I hope that you have found your way here first, i do not ask for your money; I just want to pass on the information and advice that I have gathered, I truly hope it helps you.

I will be adding a guest book for you to share ideas that have worked for you and like a plant I hope we are able to create a community as strong as a tree."

A cure is the ultimate goal but on that journey, there will be many an itchy and painful day, sometimes having different ideas to try and help soothe your skin a little can give you temporary relief.

I came across so many strange ideas for helping to sooth the skin, some worked for my husband, some didn't. I'm going to include all of them as everyone is different and I am hoping that one of them will help you.

1. Anti-histimine creams, this can take the edge of the itch though it can get very expensive if it covering a huge expanse of skin.

2. Urtica cream - a homeopathic cream that you can buy in a big tub for £19.80 from Ainsworths, they come in smaller sizes too though if it is for most of your body, this is the most cost effective. We used Ainsworths for the cream regularly and have added the link to the picture, click on it and it will take you through to their page. My husband said that this was one of the best creams and numbed down a lot of the itching.

3. Bicarbonate of soda in water, applied to the skin with cotton wool. We tried this and it made some difference but it was messy and the effects didn't last long.

4. Bach flower remedy - crab apple. Take dose as recommended and add to water and apply to skin. We tried this and it had some effect, it took a couple of days but there was a definate reduction in itching. can be bought through a local bach remedy practitioner or at an online store such as Ainsworths.

5. Aloe Vera, either in a cream or in a natural essence in a bath.

6. A luke warm bath, this did ease it for a while though the effects wore off and it was not that pleaseant in a luke warm bath.

7. Olive oil on the skin can ease the itch.

8. Put about 2/3 rose water in 1/3 vinegar and apply to the itching areas. We never tried this so cannot say for against it.

9. Boil mint and sugar syrup and drink it daily. One that several people swore by again not tried by us.

10. Drink apple cider three times a day. We did try this and my husband hated it so much that he stopped after three, no idea if it helped but it made him feel sick.

He was on 9 strong tablets a day and still he would have outbreaks most days, often he was in pain and he was constantly itchy. We had seen a homeopath who had started to treat him with urtica urens and it had started to work initially but soon came back, I do not fault the practitioner or homeopathy, I know people have said it worked for them.

We next went to see a chinese herbalist, who explained that in China, hospitals use both traditional and chinese medicine in conjunction with each other. The herbalist stated that both practices complimented the other and aided better healing within that person. We had got to a stage where we would try anything. As my husband had been taken off his sulfasalazine tablets a couple of months before, we were not sure now if they had anything to do with it as previously believed. The herbalist who was very practical explained the process and the costs involved, it was £30 a session and the herbs would be about £20 every 2 weeks. It seemed like a lot but we wanted to try it, chinese medicine has a strong success rate with skin conditions.

My husband had his first session; he was told that it was likely to have been the sulfasalazine and that his immune system was now so sensitive that the anti-hisitimines could no longer suppress the flare ups of the wheals and welts. He said the long term plan was to enable my husband to stop taking tablets and not be taking herbs for good but in the short term, he was going to calm his system down to stop the constant flare ups. We went home to boil the herbs, which was a lot of effort but if they worked I would have done it for life.

After a week, my husband noticed that the flare ups had diminished somewhat; even having a couple of days with only one welt, this was a major change. After two weeks we returned to the chinese herbalist and my husband was able to tell him that he had had his first day with no urticaria flaring up, it was the first of many turning points.

It was explained that the body was still having the allergic reactions but the concoction of tablets he was on was suppressing it; if there is no other solution, tablets can be the only thing that can make life bearable for urticaria sufferers. He was given a slightly different make-up of herbs and to return in two weeks, which he did, having only one flare up in that time. The herbalist said that he would be happy for us to approach the specialist my husband had been seeing and discuss reduction of tablets. As we worked in conjunction with both, this was possible and he was given the go ahead to start to reduce them down, he was under the supervision of both of them.

Over the next eight weeks he changed from the boiled herbs to the powders, easier and cheaper, and he reduced his tablets down to two a day and his skin was fine, no hives, no welts or itching, it seemed like this was the perfect solution. We were now seeing the chinese hebal practitioner every three weeks and was going to reduce the last couple slowly, over thos weeks he reduced it down to one, it felt wonderful; he suddenly felt more normal.

After the next visit he was advised to cut the tablets down to two days taking one, one day not until we next saw the hebalist. However as it seemed it was all sorted now, only a matter of time til he was tablet free and he chose to reduce the amount he was taking quicker than advised. A couple of days later he noticed he had urticaria on his arms and then again the next day on his legs. We went back to the herbalist who changed the herbs and increased the tablets to one a day again. this worked fine and the welts went away.

It was decided that he had tried too quickly and it would be a much slower process from this time.

June 2011
He has not had any signs of urticaria for 4 months which is wonderful. He is still taking the herbs and one tablet every three days. It feels like a really long journey but we do see an end in sight, this is not going to be the answer for everyone but it has been the solution to my husbands condition.

7 years of suffering and not knowing if there was an end in sight and finally he is able to do everything with more energy and a smile.

September 2011
He has had a slight flare up when he missed his herbs for a couple of days but has since gone when he restarted it. It is a great feeling knowing it has now been seven months, each day seems brighter.

It's a new year and hopefully a new chance to overcome this frustrating condition. I have no other insights per se although recently against my judgement my husband had tomatoes and his skin flare up somewhat, this was coupled with again a few days of not doing his herbs.

I remember his complacency in my own history and it's up to everyone how to look after their helath but he's back on the herbs, tabvlets reduced even further and no flare ups for the last few weeks, crossing fingers this is the beginning of the end.

I am wishing you all well for 2012 and please leave a message if you want to ask anything or just want to talk to someone, it can be such an isolating condition that is easily misunderstood.