On the subject of weird health issues....

[conuly]

I haven't had a case of hives in ages - I think the last one came after I carried a cold bottle of soda home a year ago, but I think I haven't had any others since then. I don't know why hiveyness comes and goes, but I'm sure not complaining. (I mean, my best hypothesis is "stress", but if that's so then this week I should be itching up a storm and I'm definitely not. One of these years I'll take the time to have a professional medical person figure it out.)

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Comments

[marahmarie]

Hives are...something else. I got my worst cases with chickenpox (still get them on and off for I don't know what reason unless I'm stressed, which clearly can cause it for me), which apparently I was allergic to, so I'd be broken out in hives constantly (I was very weak at the time so it took almost two months to heal).

The worst was/is getting them over my eyes, which can swell shut (luckily both have never done so at once, though both have swollen at once). I never have figured out what the heck that is, what causes it (but I have to watch what I put on my face since that seems to be one factor) or if it can really be considered hives thanks to the location, but it's scary as fuck and has definitely caused some skin damage.

[conuly]

Reminds me, I need to get the chickenpox vaccine one of these days.

Hives over the eyes sounds really really terrifying and I'm sorry it caused lasting damage!

[marahmarie]

Yeah, thanks. it's not awful (yet) but it'll get there one day. The lid over my right eye droops if it gets too dry, either from soap or dry weather, which started a few years ago and is likely from all the swelling. So for now it's on and off (though once I age enough it will be all-ON, I'm sure).

I wish there'd been a vaccine for it back then as it was the first and only time in my life I didn't think I'd live through something. After that I swore to myself I'd never get *that* sick again, and (just luckily) I never was.

[conuly]

I hope you don't get shingles later on, that sounds worse.

[marahmarie]

From what I've heard it's vastly more painful. I think as long as my immune system stays strong I won't, but that's always (at best) a crapshoot for anyone.

[conuly]

Isn't there a separate shingles vaccine?

[marahmarie]

Yes, there is: https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-q-and-a-new-shingles-vaccine-recommended-for-most-adults-over-age-50/.

It's only 90%ish effective and isn't recommended for those allergic to their first shingles shot (you have to get two to make it effective, but I was allergic to chickenpox itself so worry I'd be allergic to the shot).

Also this: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150811103555.htm and this: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6720a4.htm make me think I might just wait things out.

[jtthomas]

It’s the same cause, most of the time. Mast cell reactions go hand in hand with hypermobility. Complicated system there, and diagnosis is pretty much impossible because doctors don’t recognize that either one exists. I’m stuck in about the same place myself.

[conuly]

Do they really? Huh. Is it a logical connection or just a fluke connection?

[jtthomas]

No one knows, too little research. There’s talk it’s a triad: hypermobility, postural orthostatic tachycardia (lightheadedness on standing, especially in the heat) and mast cell problems. Salt is the agreed solution for all three, just a bit more to help regulate blood flow. Experiment if you want, and be careful with new medications because they can cause the reactions really easily.

[jtthomas]

Also the mast cell thing is well known to have temperature triggers, so there’s that.

[conuly]

Yeah, I knew that one.

[conuly]

I just want to reiterate this for my sister's benefit (hi, Jenn!) - that's a triad of hypermobility, lightheadedness on standing, and hives?

And at least one of those conditions is also connected, if google is correct, to migraines and/or heart murmurs, right?

[jtthomas]

Correct on all counts.

[conuly]

JFC.

[fred_mouse]

hyper mobility and anxiety disorders are also known to be commonly comorbid.

[conuly]

Actual conversation with my mother:

"You know, hypermobility and autism are apparently comorbid"
"What could possibly be the connection!?"
"I dunno, maybe it's like the fact that lefthandedness associates with being transgender?"

Apparently I'd never told her that latter tidbit before, because she was both shocked and fascinated. There is a small but very real correlation between those two states.

Conclusion: bodies are weird and so are minds, and sooner or later everything is connected to everything

[fred_mouse]

Conclusion: bodies are weird and so are minds, and sooner or later everything is connected to everything

Yep. All it takes is one protein or group to be coded differently, and suddenly a whole raft of systems work differently.

[marahmarie]

I didn't know about the left-handed/transgender association! As a lefty this interests me. Maybe we're just not as moored to traditional gender roles and feelings to begin with (I never was, and to this day resent being forced into any sort of overly-feminine role or expectation as to how I should look, think, talk, act, feel, etc.).

[conuly]

Yeah, it's such a weird correlation, too. Small but quite real. I like it because every time I encounter a dipshit going on and on about how there's no "gene" for being gay or trans* I can point out that there's no known cause for lefthandedness either but that's definitely innate.

* To my knowledge there is no correlation between being gay/bisexual and being lefthanded.

[marahmarie]

Bottle feeding's correlated with left-handedness (with all the usual addenda that correlation doesn't equal causation yada yada yada): https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190107142231.htm

[batwrangler]

My sympathy on the hives!

[conuly]

Thanks, but they seem to be died down forevs right now, and let's hope it stays that way.

[wpadmirer]

Hives suck, and they can be from something you've eaten, something you've breathed, or something you've touched. Bastards to figure out.

[conuly]

In my case, during certain periods of my life I get them due to extremes of temperature. Showering in middle school was awful because I came out all itchy.

[wpadmirer]

ARGH. Pat has extremely sensitive skin, which is why his poison ivy went systemic. It's a hard thing to live with!

[conuly]

Yup!

When I'm in a hivey period I generally know what the triggers are - extreme heat (to the point where I can do that "writing in hives" trick), extreme cold (see above), getting scratches of any sort but especially from cats and certain plants, general stress. When I'm not, only a very small number of things will do it, and I have to pretty actively seek them out.