What is autoimmune urticaria?

Autoimmune urticaria is a health condition in which the individual experiences chronic hives or increased itching that is not caused by a specific allergen or other identifiable trigger. In this case, the hives could be related to a basic autoimmune disorder such as lupus or thyroid disease. Chronic urticaria is generally not a threatening life, but can be debilitating. Symptoms are treated with everyday use of antihistamines or other drugs, in addition to the effort to treat basic autoimmune conditions as needed. This occurs when the body releases a chemical called histamine that causes blood plasma leakage from the blood vessels in the skin. In some individuals, the hives are triggered by conditions such as heat or stress. These may also be an allergic reaction to specific foods or certain medicines such as codein, aspirin or non -steroidal marty of drugs such as ibuprofen. Occasionally the hives occur without apparent trigger.

chronic urticaria indicates the hives that insiste than six weeks or which disappear quickly, but often repeat. In autoimmune urticaria, the episodes of the hives seem to have a specific trigger and it is assumed that they indicate the presence of an autoimmune disorder in which the individual's body reacts to each other as a threat. This condition is diagnosed with a combination of complete history, physical tests and sometimes blood tests or skin tests.

Treatment of autoimmune urticaria usually consists of daily use of oral antihistamines to prevent the occurrence of hives. Doctors often recommend non -sitting antihistamines such as loratidine (Claritin® brand) or fexofenadin (Allegra® brand), the first defense line. Other types of antihistamines that COULD causes drowsiness includes diffenhydramine (Benadryl® brand) and chlorpheniramine (Chlor-trimeton® mark). In some cases, doctors could recommend using additional drugs to control autoimmune urticaria, including ranitidine(Zantac® brand), short -term use of oral corticosteroid, such as prednisone or certain tricyl antidepressants such as doxepin (Zonalon®) to alleviate.

In addition to autoimmune urticaria, the hives can take many forms. A state of a similar hive called angioedema includes swelling of the face, neck or genitalia that could itch or burn and sometimes can be life -threatening. The physical hills concern the hives that occur in response to vibration, heat, solar exposure, pressure or other physical stimuli, but disappear quickly when the stimulus stopped.