I don't have type 1. I'm a prediabetic. I had chronic hives for several years. I had to set an alarm clock to wake me up in the middle of the night to take medication or I wheezed in the morning. The cause was never determined. The problem slowly went away. I get one or two hives occasionally.
I later found out I am allergic to aspirin and Advil. It is possible one of these was the cause.
Yes, this same thing happened to me before I was diagnosed with diabetes. It was horrible. Iām having a flare honorāwhen it occurs, my blood sugar spikes and I have to use twice the amount of insulin I normally use. Your daughter is not alone out there. Iām sorry sheās going through this. My doctor put me on hydroxyzine (2 times a day at 50 mg), Zyrtec twice daily, and Pepcid taken at meals. It works.
I was diagnosed T1 at the young age of 45 about a month after a 24 hour bout with quarter sized hives that swept around my entire body - including the soles of my feet. I was told there were quite a few new T1 diagnosis made in my town around the same time so Iām thinking this was the response to whatever viral trigger set off my autoimmune system.
Wow. This is what happened to me before I was diagnosed. My hives lasted for six weeks and then went away. Iāve had one other occurrence of the hives and my BSs were sky high the whole time I had them. I went on a REALLY strict diet and they went away. My doctor says theyāre autoimmune, but triggered by something in my environment. The only thing that helped was hydroxyzine and a very strict diet.
Yes, I was sick with a virus before the hives/diabetes diagnosis, too.
I realize this is an old postā¦ but my daughter was diagnosed with new onset T1 on 2/1/2017. I am searching for answers, trying to figure this all out. She began having hives 10/2012. She was diagnosed with chronic hives 11/2012. She had hives, terrible huge hives daily for about two yearsā¦ we never figured out what she was allergic toā¦ the hives have tapered off over the years, but just had a small breakout Sunday evening. Since this post is several years old, has there been a connection made between chronic hives and T1?
Type I diabetes is an autoimmune dysfunction. I believe hives are an auto-immune or allergic reaction. I think they are related. Whether thereās a correlation or cause and effect relationship is something I donāt know. I also treat a hypo-thyroid condition that is autoimmune related.
Here is an article that suggests that chronic urticaria (hives lasting for more than six weeks) is an autoimmune condition rather than an allergy, though allergic reactions can also cause hives: Chronic Urticaria and Autoimmunity
I developed cold urticaria around the age of 21. It took over a year to figure out what was causing the chronic hives (I live in FL so it was not completely obvious). Many people told me it was ridiculous to be allergic to the cold, so that also delayed diagnosis. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 25. Six months later, I now have iron deficiency anemia which can also be related to auto immune disorders. I have been taking 800-1600% my daily value for three months with minuscule improvement my iron storage. I believe there is definitely a connection between the cold urticaria and T1D, and possibly anemia.
Please consider getting tested for celiac disease which can be a cause of anemia (malabsorption of iron or b-12). It is strongly linked to TD1 (about 10% of TD1 patients develop it). My ferritin was a 2 and supplementing did not improve it much. Because I have Thalassemia (genetic anemia), it was often overlooked until one celiac-savvy doctor ordered a celiac blood panel.
Oddly enough, I had cold urticaria until I was diagnosed with Celiac disease. By calming down my immune system and being menopausal resolved it for nowā¦
Here is more information from a reliable source:
I developed chronic hives right before I was diagnosed. The only thing that helped was a prescription by my doctor for a medication called hydroxyzine.
Hi everyone. Iāve been suffering from hives for almost 11 years since I was 12 years old. I was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 5!
My allergist has diagnosed me with many environmental allergies and I tested negative for all food allergies. Over the years of having hives almost every day, Iāve noticed how certain things triggers my hives. What I have found that really triggers my hives are my emotional health and high blood sugar.
As everyone is different these two things for me cause my outbreaks.
well, that certainly gives you motivation for keeping your blood sugar low. I too have suffered from eczema for many years and find that my emotional state has a big effect on this allergic problem.
I have had eczema for years and itās been particularly bad for the past two years. I ended up being referred to a dermatologist who prescribed a super strong steroid cream to get rid of the eczema on my hands. It comes back every time I try to stop using the cream, so I have to use it a couple of times a week as maintanence even after the rash disappears. I also have eczema on other areas of my body that keeps coming and going. Iām sure that stress plays a role for me, as does the climate and weather, and environmental factors such as soaps, creams, shampoos/conditioners, adhesives, water. Iāve started wearing gloves during food preparation as that seems to really irritate my skin, and am beginning to try to avoid as many chemicals in care products as possible and to take greater measures to control allergens in my apartment (my allergies are horrible every single day). I asked about getting patch testing to see if Iām allergic to any chemicals, but my dermatologist said that I have atopic dermatitis and thatās rarely caused by specific allergens, even though itās related to being allergic/atopic. I often break out in random hives here and there, especially if I try to stop taking antihistamines for a day or two (then the hives happen a couple times a day), but it just seems related to my body being so overly reactive to everything. I havenāt noticed any connection to my blood sugars or to specific foods I eat (though I do have known food allergies, which of course I avoid).
That is crazy! Iām the T1 in our family but I have 2 girls that struggle/have struggled with hives. With my middle daughter it was really bad (but she also has asthma and skin issues). We eventually figured it out to withdrawals from Zyrtec. Took us several months to wean her from it but she hasnāt had it in 2 years and no hives! Will never ever give my kids that stuff again. Granted that is rare! My other daughter is fit as a fiddle but every so often she will have a terrible episode where her stomach hurts her so badly and then her whole body breaks out in hives. Benadryl does the trick though. She was born tiny and stayed tiny and her 1st pediatrician was always concerned for her growth so sheās had every test under the sun. But Iām always watching like a hawk for diabetes related symptomsā¦
I realize this response is to an old thread, but your story sounds scarily similar to my spouses problems. She actually bounced around between Allergists/Dematologists/ and Endocrinolgists before discovering an acute sensitivity to the isothiazolinone chemical family. That chemical and its family members are in EVERYTHING liquid or gel in the house, even paper products! Usually itās not listed in the ingredients because it is less than 1% of the total product. Every Dr she saw save one told her the Hives were caused by hysteria (they also claim multiple chemical sensitivity doesnāt actually exist)
If you can identify chemical triggers, there are several databases online that list products by ingredient so you can try to avoid/eliminiate them.
I hope you find relief!
How did your spouse identify her sensitivity? Was it through testing?
My allergies in general are horrible and just keep getting worse. I took today off work because I was so sick from them (not unusual for me once spring hits).
Several of her chemical allergies were identified through testing, such as
a component of black ink/ black mascara/toner. Others were over several
years and a process of elimination. Itās truly frustrating how many times
we were told that she couldnāt be allergic to a chemical because it was
non-reactive or in some cases hypo-allergenic. She has had 2 extremely
serious immune āmeltdownsā over the last 10 years with hives/rashes over
90% of her body that take 18-24 months to resolve. We saw many dozen
doctors, including doctors that were professors at well known ivy league
schools and that specialized in allergy/immune disorders before we finally
found one that was open minded enough to consider the possibility that her
issue didnāt fit neatly in the preconceived shoe box that everyone is
taught at medical school.
This website among others helped us to identify hidden ingredients in
products - https://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/
@Jen sorry you are having these difficulties. I can completely relate. One thing I would do for my wife is set her on the couch with a tv remote control, and pack as many rash areas as possible with ice packs. With numbness comes relief.
That sounds awful. I hope your wife has had some relief since getting to the source of the problem!
My current problems arenāt really hives, more eczema (primarily on my hands), though it does get horribly itchy at times. Most of my problems are also with more typical allergy symptoms like congestion, running nose, watery eyes, itching, coughing, and so on.