Sudden chronic hives/urticaria for 5 weeks + extreme reaction after waxing. Is this normal?
TL;DR: I’ve had daily itching and hives for 5 weeks that get worse at night and appear even without scratching. Got waxed today and now my skin is extremely red/blotchy and itchy. Wondering if this kind of reaction is normal with urticaria and whether it’ll calm down on its own.
Around April 3rd, I suddenly started getting intense itching all over my body, especially my scalp. At first I thought it was some random allergy, but the itching kept happening every day unless I took an antihistamine.
Then I noticed that whenever I scratched, the skin would immediately turn into raised red welts/hives. But even without scratching, I still randomly get hives on different parts of my body throughout the day. It gets noticeably worse at night.
Since this started, I’ve changed a lot of things trying to figure out the trigger:
switched to fragrance-free/baby products
changed bedding/detergent
cut out dairy and other foods
stopped using irritating skincare/body products
Nothing has really made a difference so far.
Today I got waxed, and my skin reacted REALLY badly (photos attached). It’s red, blotchy, welt-like, and pretty itchy. It looks terrifying honestly, even though it’s not severely painful.
Has anyone with chronic urticaria experienced reactions like this after waxing or skin trauma? Does this look like something that usually settles down on its own, or should I be more concerned? I have no idea wtf caused this flare up in my system. Help!