Allergist Appointment
Today, I went to see an allergist for the first time. He was awesome and so thorough.
I explained to the doctor the Chronic Urticaria has been going on since the end of October 31, 2017. After 8 weeks hives are considered Chronic. We went over my multiple ER trips, as well as all 9 medications I have been taking for the hives since October. I have been on Prednisone since October and that is not good for me or anyone, long term. I look like a whale. Not only do I look like a whale, the meds are destroying my stomach. My doctor told me so many other side effects with just Prednisone alone that I was experiencing. I didn't realize it could be from all these medications. I am so relieved I'm off all 9 meds.
During my 3 hour appointment the nurse did a scratch test. Which is basically an allergy test. She poked my back 32 times. Then you wait 20 minutes. Doctor B said the allergy test will definitely be negative, since he did not think this was allergy related what so ever. Sure enough, he was correct the entire allergy test was negative.
I am still shocked because this has been a mystery for months. Chronic Urticaria is from all my Autoimmune diseases and Thyroid Cancer. Basically, my body is attacking itself from the autoimmune diseases. It does not matter what year or the timeframe I was diagnosed. The hives can come at anytime in your life and stay forever.
Overtime, my body has been through so much. Between a total thyroidectomy in 2012, two rounds of high doses of RAI, then more scans, and more treatment. More radiation in 2013. Don't forget I almost went into a coma a year ago. Having a really high TSH in the 100's is very dangerous.
The next step is I will be going back this Friday, to try an injection which will take place in the doctors office once a month. The new injection is called Xolair. This medication blocks out the hives. It is a brand new drug which has many side effects just like everything else. It can and cannot work. My doctor says it has an 80% success rate. If it doesn't work than I hope my doctor has a backup plan.
Friday, I have to be there are 9:30am. I have to sit in the office for 2 hours to make sure that I don't get a severe allergic reaction to the drug. The reaction is Anaphylaxis. When your throat closes and you can't breathe. The doctor and nurse will have to monitor me for the 2 hours. In the meantime, I still have to take Allegra 4x a day and something else.
Below is a booklet Dr B gave me today. The picture of the women basically is what my hives look like all over my body.
What a coincidence, this article popped up on my news feed on twitter days later.
Link below.
🤟🏻 Danielle