Be Happy In The Skin Your In

So, I stared getting hives all over my body in January of 2009. Yes, everywhere except my face thankfully. That would come later, but in the form of a swollen lip. The funny thing was my lip was swelling in the movie theater when we were watching the new Star Trek and in the movie, Chris Pine's lip was swelling at the same time mine was. What are the odds of that?
Back to January though, I get sick more than the average person, so my husband really thought these hives were nothing to fret about until I came out of the shower and showed him, we both laughed even though it was not the least bit funny. It looked like I had the plague. Which one? Isn't any plague pretty bad? At that point we knew this was not normal and it ended up being the worse case of hives the doc had ever seen. Just imagine a hive the size of a basketball? Well, maybe I am exaggerating a little, but it was pretty close to that. Try living in a hot climate and having to cover your skin wherever you go to dodge unwanted stares and questions. It wasn't easy. I have always had great skin and I guess I took it for granted. If you are someone that does not suffer from skin problems, count your blessings. I can say that today, my skin is great with an occasional hive here or there thanks to some powerful medication. I will leave you with a quote and just remember whatever trial you are enduring right now, this to will pass. :)

"Son, if you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now quiet! They're about to announce the lottery numbers." - Homer Simpson

I have had an incredibly difficult journey this last year. I wanted to start a blog to:

A) Make people aware of CIU

B) Be an encouragement to those who suffer with chronic hives, allergies and all the horrible side effects that go along with taking steroids, antihistamines, and antidepressants to combat this disease.

C) To create a place where others with similar stories can come and offer advice, hope, comments and laughter...yes we can get through this!

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.