Chronic hives not responding to otc h1 or h2. prednisone helped for 7 days, but hives came right back. i went a dermatologist who ordered blood tests, all negative. please help!

Difficult : Of all the OTC antihistamines, cetirizine is the most effective for hives, and for a bothersome enough problem, should be taken daily for prevention rather than just as-needed. Working to identify and avoid your trigger(s) will be important. A nasty rebound after finishing a steroid is common if the trigger is still present in your environment. Allergy testing may be an option based on response

? Chronic Urticaria: Mostly idiopathic,meaning no clear cause known to us,if your Dermatologist performed the routine tests for such condition and all came back normal,and gave you steroids to control the symptoms earlier,you need to be on antihistamines on regular basis,not on as-needed basis,as Dr Clear pointed out to control the symptoms,it can last for sometime.Food allergy panel blood testing might help,c comment

Agree: I agree with Drs Clear and Hegab. I sympathize as itching is sometimes worse than pain is it not? There is still a good chance that your hives will eventually resolve by themselves. It turns out that the strongest antihistamine (H1+H2) is an old medicine used for anxiety, sleep, stress and depression called Doxepin. Some patients find this a good fit taken at night and cetirizine daily

Chronic hives : If antihistamines and H2 blockers do not bring temporary relief, you need to be tried on other medications. A board-certified allergist-immunologist might be able to spend more time on your case than most dermatologists . There are a number of medications like Singulair, (montelukast) Zyflo, dapsone, plaquenil and colchicine , that sometimes help with hives--trials warranted. Most cases resolve over time .