Urticaria and BD

[alfredo884]

Is there any connection between BD and urticaria? I've been suffering from hives for the past six months. It's a sort of persisting nettle rash mainly on my face, head, and chest and I can't even sleep at night. I'm in therapy with colchicine, prednisone 5mg and cetirizine. This is giving me a significant relief from itching. However, as soon as I stop taking antihistamine, the problems occure again after a couple of hours.

[magirose]

Yes there is. It is a pretty common symptom. I get it but not frequently now.

[sneakyblonde]

Hi,

BEHCET'S is VASCULAR INFLAMMATOION. UTICARIA IS ALSO CALLED "HIVES".

AN ALLERGIC REACTION TO COLD, FOOD, ETC.

KEEP A DIARY OF WHAT YOU EAT, WEAR, PETS, ETC.

Just enter: corn flakes and milk, or petted the neighbor's cat.

You will see a pattern emerge, 6 hours after petting the cat - Hives.

Most help for allergies: "DOCTOR IS THIS MY CHILD?" BOOK BY DR. DORIS RAPP

YOU ARE NOT A CHILD - IT IS THE MOST INFORMATIVE AND HELPFUL! Trust and believe - it will change your allergic life.

Best of luck and health,

Cindy

[Alex97]

I have hives caused by the cold. Had this for about 4 years now. Affected mostly in winter and cold shelves at supermarkets. I take antihistamines twice a day every day and it keeps it at bay.

[klaris]

Hi, yes I believe there is a connection. I have BD and have suffered from urticaria at times over the past few years. The dermatologist I saw said there was no link to BD - but I think we know that's not true! It may not be a recognised symptom of BD, but I believe that having BD makes us very sensitive to developing these sort of things.

I had an extremely severe episode a month ago, which was diagnosed as Solar Urticaria as it occurred 48 hours after a sitting outside in bright, hot sunshine. I don't think it was to do with the sun on the previous occasions though.

One thing to consider is a possible link to lupus - there does appear to be some cross over between a number of different auto-immune diseases.

If it's mainly upper body for you, have you considered all the usual things such as shampoo, shower gel, soap, hair colourant etc?? I'm sure you have! I really hope things improve soon, as it's a horrible thing to have, really disturbs your sleep and makes your system hypersensitive so you feel as if your body is in permanent battle mode.

By the way, I was told that different antihistamines work differently for individuals. So that if the cetirizine doesn't work too well, then try a different type. In the end I was prescribed Fexofenadine - which is very strong but it did do the trick. Sending you all the best X

[alfredo884 in reply to klaris]

Thank you very much for your reply. I agree with you about the cross over between different auto-immune diseases. Actually I have been diagnosed BD, but I also have a positivity to Antinuclear Antibodies (ANA) 1:320, which is not typical for Behcet. My urticaria does not depend on temperature - I've been suffering from it since last March. My rheumatologis would like to try with an immunosuppresant, but I'm not convinced about it because of its side effects.

[Anne_08 in reply to alfredo884]

Hi, Alfredo. May I ask a question? What is the standard of this ANA? nuclear? Nucleolar? I have positive ANA too.

[alfredo884 in reply to Anne_08]

Hi Anna. I did the test in April and June and the pattern was homogenous 1:320. I repeated it last month and the result was 1:640 dense fine speckled.

[Anne_08 in reply to alfredo884]

Thank u

[gillianTS]

Hi I have had to come off a trial of Colchicine based on toxic allergy to the drug, not only did I get the rash I also had low white blood count and elevated GGT levels which have only just returned to normal since coming off the drug on 17 July and I beleive my hair is coming out because of this reaction too. I have images of the rash if this is helpful to you, not sure if they can be uploaded on the site? if not if you message me your email address I can send directly. Good Luck. Gillian

[alfredo884 in reply to gillianTS]

Hi Gillian,

thanks a lot for your kind reply. Unfortunately my urticaria started last March and I've been taking colchicine since the end of July - that's why it can't be a reaction to that drug. How much colchicine did you use to take? I usually have a low dose per day, half a tablet (0.5mg).

[gillianTS in reply to alfredo884]

Hi I started off on .05mg and went to 0.5mg but I knew even after taking 0.5mg things were going wrong with my health, yes it improved the ulcers but I felt my joint pain was worse I had a sore throat, generally felt unwell, my eyes were very sore and then ultimately rash came initially is started on my wrists and I just thought it was an issue with disposable gloves, or gardening maybe I had touched a nettle, it spread all over and just as it had started it was the last place for it to go from in my wrists, I do however think I still have the remnants of this because now when I get hot I can see the grains under my skin on my wrists.

Hope you can get yourself sorted out soon.

Gillian

[cherie1w74]

Hi

I've suffered with urticaria alongside bd on several occasions over the last 20 years. I have tried every remedy available and the only thing which currently works for me is immune suppressants combined with maximum dose fexofenadine and maximum dose hydroxizine. I too have been told the conditions aren't related and medics are now trying to say they aren't sure I have behcets as although I have all the symptoms, mine do not present in the 'classic way. To me, it seems all these conditions are caused by the immune system working overtime and producing too much inflammation in the body (histamine production is a form of inflammation) hence the immune suppressants and antihistamines working to damp down my symptoms. I know immune suppressants are a bit drastic but after not sleeping a wink for 13 months due to the discomfort of the urticaria and subsequent bodily swelling including my windpipe I was prepared to try anything. I had tried variations of elimination diets and the eliminating the usual aggravations and had various patch tests and intolerance testing with no success so know its not being caused by a physical stimulant in my environment. Good luck in finding a solution to your problem. Let us know how you get on. Best wishes.