This question is prompted by the excellent article that Lymetoo just posted here on keeping your liver healthy. I'm going through quite a reaction right now - very itchy, may be due to taking too much Tylenol.
Currently putting a paste of baking soda and water on my body where it itches and also using calamine lotion.
Can't wait for this to be over! I think the article about the liver is very good and worthy of study.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Baking soda can be a bit caustic to the skin. Be careful with that.
May help in calming the HISTAMINE reaction. -
Posted by lpkayak (Member # 5230) on :
If you have hives it can be allergy and can kill you
Especially if it happens soon after you take med
I get hivs with any sulfa med and need something immediately tostop throat from swelling(i was in hospital and everyone went crazy til things were under control but i dont know what they gave me)
Once a lady came to support group meeting with hives all over from plaquinel
I know the itchy feeling when.liver isnt happy to and dont think that is life threatening....but you need to get help right away if you break out in hives after taking an abx
Posted by NeedHelpLymeDis (Member # 44394) on :
Robin, check out the symptoms of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, which is dangerous. A drug reaction can cause it-particularly sulfa drugs, such as Bactrim.
Did you start any new meds lately? Apparently though, you can develop an allergy at any time.
I hope that it's not serious and that you feel better soon.
Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :
Thanks for responses and concerns -
Keebler, I do a light mixture of baking soda in water and it's the only thing I've found so far to cover the wide itching area. Then I use Shikai borage lotion on the dry skin areas and that clears them right up.
How is stinging nettle best used for this kind of reaction?
lpkayak, I do know what an anaphylactic reaction is like - that presents itself pretty quickly and benadryl and epi pen is used for that if it happens. Plus trip to hospital if needed. They could have given you epinephrine.
When you say you know the itchy feeling when the liver isn't happy, can you say more about that, as in what has triggered that off for you? I guess you stopped whatever it was when you knew. A pain doctor said an itchy response to a med like Tylenol could take some weeks to calm down.
Needhelp, I just checked on the SJ condition - photos look horrible! I don't match those symptoms, but it's good for us to be reminded of what can happen to people - that was a new one on me -
I've been taking Tylenol for two years, and I think I finally reacted. This is on top of taking pain meds since 1995, much stronger ones, so tylenol, ibuprofen and aspirin are lighter ones than the earlier ones.
It's very frustrating when I still need pain med sometimes for sleeping - I pretty much suck it up during the day but do need something to sleep. So now I just have plain aspirin and ibuprofen left.
The liver article that Lymetoo posted is very good. It sounds like me, and I have confirmed SNPs through the 23andme testing. I think it's going to be a liver thing and I'm going to have to learn what to do about it. My body is very sensitive and has a hard time taking supplements. I usually detox in a FIR sauna.
If anyone knows anything more about how to take care of the liver, besides what's in the article about keeping the liver healthy. please post - thx -
Posted by beaches (Member # 38251) on :
Didn't read lt's post. But to answer your question, yes! During a trip last year I developed a uti. I started taking bactrim, which I've done a hundred times. The itching was unbelievable! So now I am unfortunately allergic to a basic abx that could keep my chronic utis in check.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I have chronic hives now. Such a joy. It's OK as long as I stay away from foods that are high in histamine. I also have to watch for foods high in salicylates.
Robin, almost any drug will make the hives worse. I had to quit Tylenol about 2 yrs ago. It was really causing me gut/liver issues.
I take nettle each day. It is a natural anti-histamine.
Hope you can get them under control with diet. Have you read Yasmina's blog on eating low histamine? She healed herself by gradually eating more and more green foods, etc.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
So it sounds like anything can set off the liver eventually. I think the itching is from the liver not being able to process the drugs.
Ok, I'll check Yasmina's blog out. So far, I have not seen a correlation between what I eat and the itchies.
Posted by dal123 (Member # 6313) on :
take Benadryl and adrenal support, lots of it.
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
Lymetoo, I have a friend with chronic hives. They started 8 months ago, 2 weeks after she had a knee replacement. Allergy testing revealed nothing.
Doctors aren't helping.
They have her on 3 medications for the hives and now she is getting episodes even on the 3 meds.
Can you point me to a website or 2 that lists the foods to eat and to avoid? She would like to try the diet you are on.
She will greatly appreciate any help you can give her! Her hives are bad when she gets them--eye swells shut, etc.
Thanks!
Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :
If she started two weeks after she had a knee replacement, has she discussed it with the surgical folks - what if she's reacting to materials they used in the surgery?
Posted by Catgirl (Member # 31149) on :
If you want to clean your liver, do a coffee enema (works great).
Posted by TF (Member # 14183) on :
Robin, that is her great fear. But all the doctors are pooh-poohing it. It is rare to be allergic to those materials. They used the most hypo-allergetic ones.
Also, why would it take 2 weeks after the replacement is put in for the hives to start?
If she IS allergic (no way to tell) the tragic consequence is that they remove the replacement and what? she can't walk for the rest of her life? Not an option.
I believe these hives were set off by all of the meds she was put on right after surgery. Lots of new meds she had never taken before. Sounds like she may have histamine intolerance. Her story fits what they say about it.
She really needs to try the diet and see if she can get some relief.
So, I'm really interested in hearing from folks with persistent hives with no apparent cause.
Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :
Actually, she would be lucky at this point if she had hives due to the meds they gave her, and not the implant.
I asked the implant Q recently as I had surgery last year, and the answer was that there would probably be more local reaction than bodywide.
Gosh, I joined a urticaria group and these folks are nonplussed about what's causing their hives. I don't think enough research has been done in this area and people are suffering!
I bet if your friend developed hives right after the surgery, that it's related to that, and hopefully to the meds used.
A pain doc I consulted with said it can take several weeks for a reaction to meds to calm down.
Posted by marypart (Member # 27012) on :
My son had lots of rashes in reaction to the antibiotics in the first couple of months. His doctor thought it was a mast cell response to all the bacteria that was dying off from his antibiotics.
He took anti-histamines-- some were prescriptions and also over the counter.
He also took Histame with meals to counteract the natural histamine in some foods.
Posted by hadlyme (Member # 6364) on :
I'm just now looking into the Mast Cell and histamine intolerance thing. I too will have hives that come and go.
When looking into this mast cell thing, I see my symptoms completely in this type of intolerance!
Something we all need to know about. Bug bites trigger it! Don't ask me much more, as I'm just starting to read about it! I want to be tested for it!
Posted by hadlyme (Member # 6364) on :
BYW: I get my hives to stop and go away now with and antihistamine and an H2 Blocker..... amazing! Wish I would have known this earlier on! And it get's rid of my acid reflux at the same time! Might not work for everyone...
Posted by marypart (Member # 27012) on :
Yes, yes, yes! I forgot! My son also took Zantac or the generic, Ranitadine. It is labeled as an anti-acid, but it blocks Histamine 2.
I take both Claritin and Ranitidine when I have a drippy head cold. Claritin (or Allegra, or Zyrtec) are all Histamine 1 blockers, and Zantac is a Histamine 2 blocker.
Yes, my son took both. The Histame was also really good.
Posted by hadlyme (Member # 6364) on :
Yes, that's what I've been taking and I love the combo! Zyrtec and Zantac.... working miracles with a lot of symptoms in my body. Very strange! and good all at the same time!