Multiple Sclerosis Community

lepman,

I once had a reaction to prednisone that was similar. An itchy rash on one arm only. So based on my own experience, I'd say it is possible to develop hives in just one area from medications.

Kim

Ok...But I'm not on any medication now...Could this be a symptom of MS...?

I've never heard of MS causing hives. If you've recently gone off a medication, it could still be med-related. Or you've picked up a virus, or gotten bitten by a bug, or had contact with a chemical irritant--or you've unwittingly gotten into a patch of poison ivy...LOL

Kim

All of your suggestions dont make any sense to what happened to me on friday night . I don't go out side much and never go into weeds I have a sever balance problem and the extreme heat we are getting makes my symptoms worse so I don't go out. I only stopped takeing my high blood pressure meds, but have been on them for about a year now and no Hives.
I was taken off it resently to see if my muscle cramping burnning and itching and pins and needels sensation would go away.My doctor thinks the high blood pressure meds are causing it.But on friday night I awoke with burnning and itching in my left arm. I have a blood clot in my left arm also. I felt my arm and felt a bunch of raised welts and thought they were masqito bites, then I realized that there were way too many to explain that.

And boy the itching was unbearable.Now get this the welts or hives were only where my blood colt is at in my arm and there were none anywhere else.My wife called the emergency nurse at our hospital, and was told to go to the emergancy room because she was worried about the blood clot being the cause because my fingures were so swollen. I couldnt even bend my fingers.

The emergency room Doc, asked if I had any changes in my meds or anything new in the hose that would explain it. And of course there wasent. Jut about when the Doc left the room I got this killer pain in my chest but higher than my heart and it radiated through to my back like I was being crushed in someone hand. The nurse ran to get the doc and she hooked me up to the EKG and told me that I was going to have Blood work and X-rays done right away.

I asked her If we could wait a little bit because it was makeing me have a hard time breathing and the pain got worse everytime I exhaled. She got me a wheel chair and had X-rays done and by the time I got back to the room the pain had almost gone away. Acouple of hours later the doc came back and said everything is ok with my heart and she can't explain why the pain was happening or about the Hives and itching and burnning and tingleing and numbness is only happening in my left arm and only from the elbow to my fingers. So I was given some benyadril and sent home and the discharge said Unexplained Cause for symptoms.

Sense I was discharged from the emergency room I have been haveing the pain in my chest but not as bad but enough to keep me from sleeping. and The hives have somewhat stopped a few poping up ocasionally but man the itching and burnning is just driveing me crazy and the benyadril is not working. Or the hydracotizone cream either. I called my Primary care Doc. at the V.A. but has yet to answer my call.

My question is Can or Could this all be caused By M.S. ?

Lepman,

I've done a little research on your rash problem and I've found several links addressing rash and MS.

Here's a link to the Medhelp MS forum where rash is discussed. There are some studies that talk about pruritis as a presenting symptom of MS:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Multiple-Sclerosis/Rash/show/307151

Another study links shingles and MS, chicken pox that can lie dormant for years and then emerge.

If you type "MS and shingles" into your search engine, you'll find lots to read. And if you haven't already done so, you'll find more by typing "MS and rash" into your search engine.

Not many doctors are aware of these studies and my guess is that if you ask your doctor about skin rashes and MS, they will not acknowledge any relationship between the two.

Research is always our best bet.

Kim

Thanks Hackwriter,

I too have been looking for info about Hives and MS, found a couple of things about it and you are right, not many doc's will admitt to thier relationship. I even saw stuff about shingels and MS but nothing about the chicken pox thing. I never had chicken pox but I do know that what I had was more of a rash but more closely resembeled welts or hives.
whats realy weird is they just stopped now, no more itching or burnning or welts? Now I have been dealing with this really sharp pian in my chest and it goes all the way through to my back. Only lasts for an hour or so but sense my last attack it feels as if it's trying to come back..lingering if you will. Same pain but not as intense or lasting as long. I asked someone I know who has MS and they told me it was called MS hug...? So I'm trying to find out how long this could last...

The symptoms you describe (hives/rash, chest pain going through to the back) would be an extremely unusual manifestation of multiple sclerosis. I think it's great that you are looking up information about this stuff online, but you can't believe everything you read either. Before you attribute these symptoms to MS, your primary care doc should thoroughly evaluate for other causes. I would think the rash is somehow related to the blood clot, perhaps the chest pain too.

what you describe as chest pain is the M.S, hug,

Yesterday my upper back at the base of my neck started to itch really bad ... I have been scratching it and can feel welts there. I used to break out in welts when I was a child, I would have an alergic reaction to something but they would go away after a few hours or a day. I have never had them centralized to one location before. I went to the doctor this morning and she said everything looked just fine, didn't look like anything bit me it's just a rash. Very strange, especially when I opened my email to see an article on MS and hives.

I have MS and have had a problem with shingles on one of my feet. I don't care what anyone says, hives and shingles are connected to MS and other immune problems. Have you had a shingles shot? It might help your situation.

Bes of luck.

Lepman,

I too have experienced the hives and welts, they just show up out of the blue whenever they want. I was diagnosed with RRMS 4 1/2 yrs. ago and pretty much have had the problem with them ever since. The itching drives me crazy!! I have spoke with my doctor about them before, he hasn't come up with an answer for me yet, but doesn't believe that I am allergic to the medicine I am currently taking. I can say though that after awhile they seemed to get more milder and less often. I've also experienced the chest pain, feels like someones sitting on my chest and it does radiate to the back. Only ever had that happen once, when I had a flare up. It lasted over a month but slowly went away. I believe that it does have something to do with MS, hopefully research continues and we can have an answer in the near future!! We have enough weird and painful symptoms to deal with already!!

When I experienced hives some years ago that covered most of my body, a dermatologist prescribed Atarax. At that time, my MS had not been officially diagnosed. As it turns out, with MS, Atarax is used to relieve the symptoms of pruritis or paroxysmal itching (one of the sensory symptoms), or dysesthesias, which can be associated with MS. When I learned of this association, I later asked the dermatologist if that was the reason he prescribed Atarax. He said it was just coincidence. Atarax does make you sleepy, but it relieves the itching.

The symptoms would be extremely unusual; however, that doesn't mean they couldn't be manifestations of MS. I have had the same idiopathic symptoms, and after ruling everything out, it was determined that they were directly linked to flare-ups I was having. In fact, when paying close attention to other sysmptoms that occurred concurrently, I was able to notice other signs of flare-up activity (problems with gait, cluster headaches, numbness, cognitive issues, mood issues, the list goes on). And not every symptom is always present for all flare-ups - they certainly vary.
To sum this up, MS itself is very unusual disease, the research is still ongoing, and symptoms from one person to the next and level of severity vary greatly.

I have MS, and have also experienced terrible hive reactions to a simple absentminded"scratch" on any part of my body. Benadryl was effective at controlling the hives for a few months, but slowly became less effective (and ALWAYS made me tired). After several visits to several physicians, an allergist prescribed HYDROXYZINE ( 50mg PRN ). It's been on the market for years, and is very inexpensive -- interestingly, Zyrtec is basically hydroxyzine that has been "premetamobilzed" , and should theoretically work just as well (it didn't for me).
Talk to your physisian, and see if it's worth giving a try!
P.S. COLD PACKS (AND SNOW!) REALLY HELP RELIEVE THE ITCHING ALSO.