Unexplained hives (child)

[Grumpy's Gal]

I know hives can be mysterious and unexplained sometimes, but I just wanted to hear if anyone has any similar stories that can give me any insight as to what might be going on.

Has anyone or their child experienced anything like this and was a cause ever determined? I remember having a bout of hives for about 2 weeks in my mid twenties, but I never figured out what was causing it.

Yep! Lots of times. DD has several triggers to hives. Red food coloring (even orange or purple candy), Gain laundry soap and horse hair ( also found in antique chairs).

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

My dd11 gets unexplained hives periodically. Generally, she just gets a few random ones - on her abdomen or sometimes on her face - but not covering her body. We've determined it's stress-related. She's fair-skinned and also has had some eczema issues over the years. When she's really upset about something, out pop the hives - even if she doesn't realize she's upset or stressed. It's just her body's way of coping I guess.

 

[wenrob]

My younger DD, redhead, extremely fair skinned has gotten them twice. I've never been able to nail it down. The common things were: same time of year, back to back illness one right on top of the other and the school having been sprayed. The last most likely just a coincidence but it's hard for me to discount. I think her little system just gets overwhelmed. They'll appear in one spot, recede and appear in another. I keep her on Benadryl until they're gone. This last time seemed worse than the time before which kind of scared me. I've watched her dad have some very scary reactions. Anyway, everything I have looked up says it could be anything.

 

[2China2009]

I work for an allergy asthma office. 99.9% of the time when a patient comes in for hives we have no idea how they got them or what could have been a trigger. Our standard practice is to give Zantac 150mg 2x a day am&pm along with Zyrtec 10mg am and pm. In most all cases it does the trick. It might take some time for the hives to go away, but for most patients they have had them off and on throughout their life. Taking prednisone only helps for the time a patient is on it and the hives will come right back and it just masks them. My daughter who 8 at a time had them for 3 mos straight last fall. We never knew why, but treated with the above meds and then gradually weaned her off. If the hives disappear, do not automatically stop the meds, Wean them slowly until off. If the appear again start right back up. My daughter gets them every now and then and we immediately treat and stay on the meds for about a week. The reason for the Zantac is b/c it is a different histamine blocker than the Zyrtec. If you have any questions feel free to email me.