It Can Happen to You

Have you ever had hives in your lifetime? If you haven't, odds are that one day you will. Anything could trigger hives from eating a certain food, taking medicine or using a new lotion. I grew up in Seattle never having allergies. I was one of the lucky ones that didn't know what thousands of people suffered with. So, last year when I got a really bad cold, I made the mistake of telling God, I would much rather have allergies then to ever be sick again. Well, I sure learned my lesson to hold my tongue next time, because several weeks later I was diagnosed with CIU (Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria). CIU is chronic hives, meaning you have hives for more then a few weeks like 6 or so. 

In January of 2009, I started to get red itchy bumps where my pants rubbed. Okay, I live in LA now and yes I was wearing skinny jeans and leggings pretty regularly so I suspected that my skin just wasn't used to such tight clothing. Then, we would be out at a concert or The Roxy in Hollywood and I would get little red hives on my inner arm, opposite my elbow. It got pretty hot at those concerts, sweaty hot, not hot hot.