I have a skin condition called urticaria. I was wondering if anyone else has this and what they do about it?

I just got diagnosed about a year ago, but I've had it all my life. My parents always thought it was just allergies, but it got worse as I got older, so I finally went to a doctor. I take 10mg of Singulair in the morning and 150mg of Ranitidine before I go to bed. It helps alot, but I still occasionally have breakouts, but not everyday like before. What do other people do and what works best?

Thanks for your advice about the allergy tests, but, I actually went to the doctor to get tested for allergies, because thats what my mom thought it was, but my doctor (who is an allergist and immunologist) said that it would be useless to give me an allergy test because I would react to all of the needles and they wouldn't be able to tell if I was reacting to the allergens or not. (He scraped his fingernails lightly down my back and it made huge whelps, so he said my skin will react to almost anything that touches it.) I have tried changing things, like laundry detergent, but nothing has made a difference so far, except medication.

Urticaria is a fairly generic term that basically means you get hives. Frustratingly, most general practitioners seem to feel satisfied at that point and do not pursue the cause of the hives. To get to the root cause you will either need to do to a dosctor specializing in allergies or do some investigating on your own.

To investigate to see if it is a food triggering your hives you will need to go on an elimination diet. To do these you need to set aside time in which you will fast for 2 days drinking only water. Then gradually introduce one ingredient foods, one per day, until a reaction occurs. When a reaction occurs you need to treat that food as suspect and later challenge yourself with the food again to see if the source is confirmed a second time. We used this method to discover that my husband reacted to wheat which later led us to a correct diagnosis of celiac. He didn't have hives. His reaction was digestive and rash related.

Contact reactions are a bit tougher to identify. I would try the food based method first and if that doesn't locate the source, go to have the allergy skin test with an allergist.

ADDED INFORMATION - Since you are so reactive to touch, your allergen is extremely likely to be a food or medication. I was exactly the same way. My skin would constantly trigger into hives at just handling anything - wood, plastic, metal. It didn't matter. All that was needed was a touch or a scratch. Many allergens are ushered by the body to be stored just under the skin. Many conditions, even in animals, are from this (hives which can be from any allergen source, Dermatisis Herpetiformis which is when the allergen is gluten/gliadin, etc.) Do try the allergy elimination diet and don't forget to include medications if can safely do so. No doctor is trying, so it is up to you. I used the allergy elimination diet and successfully discovered what my hives were being caused from. I also used it many years later and discovered that my husband and daughter were celiac (reacts to gluten/gliadin). If I had left it all up to the doctors all three of us would still be suffering.

Urticaria is the vascular reaction of the body due to allergy occurs at any site of the body . Provoking causes are: A) FROM OUTSIDE BODY 1.Ingestants : a) drugs b) foods : sea foods. eggs,spices,some dhals ,peas, some vegtables, etc.3)Inhalants: pollens,plants, animal dander, dust pores. 4)Injectants :Penicillin, Insulin, antisera, vaccines, 4) Conatactamts :Bee stings, bug bites, animal dander, plants. B) FROM INSIDE BODY: a)Infections : Chronic septic focus, UTI,Virus infections, Candida b) Infestations: Helminths, amoebiasis, Giardiasis, c)Systemic diseases :SLE,Lymphomas Malignant mastocystosis,e) Psychogenic : Emotional stress. Types; Ordinary, chronic, cold, solar ,light, pressure, etc, If it is due to food, drugs, physical or contact ,the cause shoud be identified and avoided, Then Treatment must be given.So consult a dermatologist.