Has anyone had a long term, chronic, experience with hives -- that has lasted for years?

I had hives for 10 years or chronic urticaria and they were triggered by pressure, heat, cold, vibrations. So I hope the other two people that have answered you read this and maybe my experience will help one or all of you. My hives were controlled by a combination of claritin D and an asthma medicine (either serevent or advair, and I know someone else that uses singulair and someone else that uses doxepine) Anyway, I went on a gluten free diet after a diagnosis of celiac disease. Celiac disease is an intolerance to the gluten found in wheat, rye and barley and things made from them. You can get tested for celiac disease usually starting with some blood work and possibly an endoscopic exam. Keep consuming gluten until you have the tests as stopping will give a false negative. If you test positive for celiac disease, then you will have to go on a gluten free diet. When I went gluten free, my hives cleared up in about 3 weeks and I went off all my meds and have been gluten free, med free and hive free for 6 years now. If you test negative for celiac disease, it is still worthwhile to try a gluten free diet for a couple of months to see if possibly you are either sensitive to it without having celiac disease or allergic to either gluten or one of the grains. The easiest way to start a gluten free diet is to just eat fresh fruits and vegetables and nonprocessed meats. You can also use frozen veggies as long as they don't have sauces. Add in rice or potatoes for carbs/starches and you have enough to keep going for a month or so along with eggs. Good luck and if you have questions about this, contact me through here.

I've gotten hives since I was 9 years old (I am now 18). But it wasn't just out of nowhere, it was whenever I got cold. The first time I got them I was outside by the pool on a chilly day, playing in a Tupperware tub of water with my toy dinosaurs, and when I pulled my arm out of the water it was just covered in itchy red hives. My mom took me to the doctor and he suggested maybe something bit me, but nothing did. We assured him it was because of the cold, but he didn't even believe us! So we had him place an ice pack on my arm for 5 minutes and no hives. He told us that nothing was wrong with me. Sure enough, when we left the doctors office, I had broken out on my arm, where he placed the ice. My mom then switched doctors because he obviously wasn't a very good one to not believe his patient. 9 years later, I still have this problem. My new doctor now is open to the idea of why I get them, but I've never been actually diagnosed. I have tried Claritin, Benadryl, and any other allergy medicine you could think of. Nothing worked to stop them from coming. Any part of my body that gets "cold" will break out in hives. In weather as cold as 40 or 50 degrees I will break out all over my face and anywhere exposed. If I go swimming, and I get out and there is a cool breeze, I will get them. Also, when I'm at school, and my arm is on the desk, just the coolness of the desk will make my arms break out. One time at school it was 30 degrees outside and I had nowhere warm to go (our school is an outside school). No classrooms were open yet, and I had hive all over my body, even the places that were covered up. I started having a panic attack it was so bad, and I couldn't breathe. I started crying because my whole body was numb, and the hives weren't even itchy anymore, they burned. My boyfriend told me to go to the clinic, and so I did. The nurse was so surprised, she thought I had chronic acne or something on my face because it was so red and bumpy... but I actually have a really good complection. She called my mom and she came to pick me up. My mom is an EMT and she was really worried because I was stuttering and I couldn't breathe. I've been told that if I get them bad enough, I could die. My mom said that someone should have probably called an ambulance. I got checked out from school that day, exhausted. I slept for 8 hours when I got home, and when I woke up I still had hives all over my body. It has been a constant battle trying to suppress them. I live in Florida, and even the winters here are too harsh for me. After that incident, my boyfriend decided to go online and do some research. He found a condition I believe is called cold urticaria. It's a condition where the blood doesn't flow through my body like it should when it's cold, and so I break out in hives. The condition is said to be fatal at times. This really worried me, but I have yet to actually be diagnosed by a doctor. I still don't know what to do to keep them away. On the medical website, it said the only way to keep hives away was to dress warm in cool weather. But it also said some depressant medicines are used to keep them away. But the thing is I don't even know if cold urticaria is what I have. Hopefully one day I grow out of it. It can be really embarrassing. People look at me and ask, "omg what are those bumps?" They get scared that they are contagious, and I always have to reassure them they are not. I know this sounds nothing like your problem. But hopefully someone will read this that has the same problem, and can maybe tell me what's wrong with me? I wish you luck, and I hope you find out what's going on.