how to find cause of hives?

[John]

My new girlfriend was at my house for the fourth time when she broke out in hives shortly after
lunch time. The hives are all over her body, chest, abdomen, back, hips, arms. She said her eyes
were itchy too.

Is there a non itching way to figure out the cause (my cat or the lunch we ate at a new restaurant)
from the symtom and its duration? It lasted 3 or 4 days more after she left my house. She said she
used to have cats when she was young.

Now she's afraid to come to my house. I'm hoping it was caused by the food, but if it turns out to
be my cat, I'm not sure what to do. Getting rid of the cat isn't going to remove all the allergens
right away.

 

[Anon]

On 2004-02-28 15:12:38 -0500, "John" <[email protected]> said:

> Is there a non itching way to figure out the cause

Nope. Trial and error, putting two and two together, etc. If you've had only a single episode,
forget about it. If you have more than one, sometimes you can start to see a pattern...but not
always. Hives can be caused by almost *anything*, and 90% of the time you aren't going to be able to
figure out what caused it. Good luck.

 

[Lisa]

I'm betting it's the cat. You need to ask her if she's eaten whatever you had before. Or, are there
any new ingredients that she never tried? I'd also encourage her to go for allergy testing and
they'll test her for various foods as well as animals. Another thing, if she was petting the cat,
chances are she got fur on her clothes. If she went home, put her clothes aside, the fur from the
clothes could be lingering?

anon <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<2004022817474850073%anon@anoncom>...
> On 2004-02-28 15:12:38 -0500, "John" <[email protected]> said:
>
> > Is there a non itching way to figure out the cause
>
> Nope. Trial and error, putting two and two together, etc. If you've had only a single episode,
> forget about it. If you have more than one, sometimes you can start to see a pattern...but not
> always. Hives can be caused by almost *anything*, and 90% of the time you aren't going to be able
> to figure out what caused it. Good luck.

 

[Oldal4865]

John wrote in message <[email protected]>...
>My new girlfriend was at my house for the fourth time when she broke out in hives shortly after
>lunch time. The hives are all over her body, chest, abdomen, back, hips, arms. She said her eyes
>were itchy too.
>
>Is there a non itching way to figure out the cause (my cat or the lunch we ate at a new restaurant)
>from the symtom and its duration? It lasted 3 or 4 days more after she left my house. She said she
>used to have cats when she was young.
>
>Now she's afraid to come to my house. I'm hoping it was caused by the food, but if it turns out to
>be my cat, I'm not sure what to do. Getting rid of the cat isn't going to remove all the allergens
>right away.
>
>

It's usually trial and error and it's hard.

I ended up replacing clothes, cleaning the carpet, and totally changing my diet item by item
until I identified coffee as the culprit. Not caffeine, just coffee. Out of nowhere, at age 50, a
coffee allergy.

The prescription med Allegra did wonders for the hives. Though I haven't had a cup of coffee in 12
years, I still keep some Allegra around. Hives on the stomach are annoying, hives in the throat are
life-threatening. (Allegra had a different name back then)

Regards
Old Al

 

[PF Riley]

On 29 Feb 2004 07:36:21 -0800, [email protected] (Lisa) wrote:

>I'm betting it's the cat.

Probably not. Diffuse urticaria lasting several days as the sole manifestation of a cat exposure
would be extremely unusual.

>You need to ask her if she's eaten whatever you had before. Or, are there any new ingredients that
>she never tried? I'd also encourage her to go for allergy testing and they'll test her for various
>foods as well as animals.

Which would be more likely to confuse matters rather than prove what caused the hives.

PF