Hives problem

[Lynne17]

Hi All, I've recently been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and have been on Propanolol and Carbimazole (was on 20mg, now on 15mg) for the last 5 weeks but have suddenly developed terrible hives all over my body. Could it be the tablets as I notice it's worse about 3 hours after taking the Carbimazole? Has anyone else experienced this as antihistamines aren't helping to control it. Thanks itchingly in advance!

[RedApple Administrator]

Lynne17, Hives can be a side effect of carbimazole, but it's also a common symptom of lowered thyroid hormone levels (i.e. too little thyroid hormone) . It's possible your dose of carbimazole is still too high. I suggest contacting your surgery for a repeat thyroid blood test asap., given that you should be monitored six weeks after a dose change anyway.

[Lynne17 in reply to RedApple]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I had a blood test last week and levels have come down but still abnormal e.g. T4 30 (range 12-22). Spoke to endo on Friday just gone who said to lower dose to 15mg which I did straight away. The hives started Saturday

[RedApple Administrator in reply to Lynne17]

In which case, I would talk to your GP about some prescription strength anti-histamines. Not all antihistamines are the same, so GP will be able to prescribe a different one like fexofenadine.

[Frank57 in reply to RedApple]

Yes. Try fexofenadine!

[Alanna012]

What antihistamines are you taking? And how often?

Unfortunately it may well be the meds, yes. Or more precisely how the meds are tolerated by your immune system. Same thing essentially.

[Lynne17 in reply to Alanna012]

Thanks for replying. Have tried loratadine (no use) and chlorphenamine (on nurse advice as can be taken more often) but don't seem to be helping

[FallingInReverse in reply to Lynne17]

For myself and I’ve read here by some - loratadine doesn’t work.

Recently someone posted similar and mentioned fexofenadine as RA did above.

This year after cycling through every antihistamine /allergy pill out there - I too found this one actually worked for me.

Just sharing my experience.

[Lynne17 in reply to FallingInReverse]

Thanks for that, I'm going to give that a try!

[FallingInReverse in reply to Lynne17]

As a person with inexplicable allergic reactions my whole life - everything is worth a try huh : ) !

[Qwerty12345]

This was me! After around a month on carbimazole I developed hives all over (although luckily not on my face!). I saw my gp who called endocrinology dept for advice (I was under their care). I had to stop carbimazole and take the second choice drug for graves which was ptu. They couldn’t be certain it was the carb but that’s what they felt I should do. The only other time I have had hives like that was around one year prior to diagnosis and no cause could be establised - I had to take antihistamines for one month. With hindsight I wonder if the hives were due to fluctuating thyroid levels. When I had hives on carbimazole I had actually become hypo so i think they might have been due to fluctuating thyroxine rather than the carbimazole. Anyway, endocrinology changed my treatment to ptu. I never had hives again by the way.

[Lynne17 in reply to Qwerty12345]

Thanks for that. I did see a nurse practitioner about them but she just told me to try different antihistamines otc. If I'd doesn't go soon I think I'll call them again

[pennyannie in reply to Lynne17]

Hey there again :

Ask to be switched to PTU - Propylthiourcil - the other Anti Thyroid drug - as detailed in my reply to you some weeks ago -

I think if you have the Carbimazole Patient Information Leaflet it lists hives as a side effect of this AT drug.

To find your previous posts and all your replies - simply press your Profile icon on this page - sitting alongside My Hub - Chat - Post - Alerts and Menu options.

Please register for on line access to your medical records held at the surgery as then you can easily see and track your T3 and T4 readings falling back down into the ranges - and share with forum members - if wanting further advice.

Hopefully your symptoms have reduced since my last reply and you are now a little more comfortable, signed off sick and hopefully your boss more understanding.

The PTU is a different sort of AT drug, the dose of which will be different to that you are currently taking - do not worry -

[A2C3]

I got really bad hives when I was first diagnosed with hypothyroidism and my levels were too low for me!x