Hives are driving me crazy! Help?

For the last two or three years I have had hives constantly! If anything puts any kind of pressure on my body, it leaves an imprint in the form of a hive (for example, a friend jokingly slapped me on the leg and there was an imprint of his hand for about an hour)...I went to a doctor and she said that I would have to see an ENT(I've gone before and he said that I was allergic to dust mites and certain trees, but not bad enough to break into hives)... Problem is that I am in college and broke! I had pretty much gotten used to it and then I went to a doctor for an ear infection and she gave me prednisone and Claritin D... While I was taking those, the hives completely stopped... As soon as I ran out of the Prednisone, they came back... I've heard that Prednisone is too powerful to take all the time... I really dont think that it is allergies because I take Claritin for my other allergies and its not working against the hives... They are horrible and I get them EVERYWHERE! Advice?

You could have pressure urtticaria (hives). It has nothing do do with what foods you eat. I would also get a blood test from your doctor for hereditary angioedema. As for the hives, has your doctor tried doxepin? It's an antidepressant which is sometimes used to treat tough chronic hives. I also personally would also get a blood test to check for a weak imune system and also your iron levels. If you've been trying to avoid foods for a couple of years to find the cause, you may not be in the best health.

I get hives as well. I also got hives really bad for like 7 months, and my family doctor didn't know what to say. I hadn't changed my eating habits, detergent or anything else i was allergic too. I'm alergic to A LOT of things by the way. So my doctor finally said to go see a dematologist, i had hives in my ears, my scalp, and places I didn't think were possible. So i went and saw a dermatologist and he asked me some questions to see what was going on. Turns out it was stress, stress caused me to break out really bad for 7 months, the time i was at a new job. He told me I needed to find an outlet for my stress because I can make myself sick and my hives can get worse. I left my job because my time was up there anyway a month after seeing this doctor and my hives dissappeared.

Don't itch them. Try getting a bath in ebson salt(not sure how to spell it). That worked for me. N i hope it works for you too.

You probably have food allergies..I have alot of experience with that. Cut all tomato products out of your diet,, this includes reading the ingredients on every package of food you buy (you'd be suprised at how many foods contain tomato) You definately don't want to keep taking the prednisone as it is a steroid and will cause you to bloat. i only take one for a sever reaction like swollen lips, it usually helps. That way I have more for later. Claritin won't help with hives but Hydroxyz HCL 25mg will.
I had to do my own investigating since I had gotten laid -off and insurance ended. I was miserable til I started cutting things out of my diet,, then,,I'd add one thing back at a time and see how I reacted to it. Sometimes it would happen right away, sometimes it would be the next day For me citrus is a huge allergin. Good luck it could take a few more years for them to ease up