Let's try this...

Edited to add, Saturday morning: They're a lot better. Not gone, but better. Which makes me wonder if I DID get exposed to something Thursday (like celery) that bothered me. But, ugh. I'll be glad if the D3 works or if they ever DO go into remission (supposedly chronic hives can)

E-ETA: it is also cooler today, with a breeze from the north (which just feels different and better than the southwest wind we had) and it is far less humid than it was. I think sometimes high humidity makes my hives worse and that could have been part of it. (Yes, some people get hives from heat, humidity, pressure, cold, all kinds of weird things that aren't typical allergens. Supposedly strong emotions and stress can even bring them out in some people.)

(And if you're the praying sort, would you throw a little one on your list? I've been reading and it looks like 20% of people with chronic hives go into remission and stop having them around the five-year mark. I'm about a year away from that and am REALLY hoping I am one of those 20% of people. The good news is, I guess, only about 1% suffer for 20 years or more.)

***

So. The hives. They have been unusually bad this week. I am not too sure why, though I suppose "ragweed season" explains some of it. Also, the unusually cool (for some values of cool) and damp summer we had (well, up to these past couple weeks) probably let mold grow.

And in my building we have these new chairs in one of the classrooms where I teach. I suppose they are nice, they are fake leather and look very professional, but they stink. Some kind of outgassing solvent, I guess. I was getting headaches every time I taught in there (the stink seems to slowly be going away).

I also may have got something last night with celery in it. My mom has a celery allergy where she gets TERRIBLE hives if she eats it. (And do you know how hard it is to go to a restaurant and avoid celery? Pretty hard: no soups, nothing with stuffing, and no chicken or shrimp salad). I think I react similarly to celery. 

And I mowed on Wednesday.

But whatever it was, they were BAD today. I even wound up with one on my eyelid, which is kind of the freakout point for me. So after I got done with all my schoolwork (at 5 pm, sigh), I ran to the pharmacy and bought a new bottle of children's benadryl (the old one had expired) just in case (the PA I went to told me if the hives got really bad, to take a small dose of children's benadryl before bed, on top of the other meds).

But another thing I've been reading various places: Vitamin D3 supplementation may help. At first I was leery - D is one of those fat soluble vitamins that you don't want to take too much off (Things like the B vitamins, just leave your body via, uh, micturation, if you take too many of them. And C can, in really high doses, cause GI distress, but that's shortlived. Too much A - a fat soluble one - and you can fry your liver). But everything I read said the recommended doses for treating hives seemed to be "tolerated well" and they could not find any serious side effects. So, guardedly, I'm taking a goodly dose of D every day from now on (barring some weird side effect) to see if it helps.(They do say it takes a while to see an effect, so I am going to give it at least six weeks unless I have to stop for some reason)

The studies seemed solid, they were medical-journal-type studies, not "I have a nutrition blog so trust me" type studies, so I'm inclined to be hopeful. (One of them mentioned  inside using the D in conjunction with the other medications I already take for hives). Hopeful, because I'd love to get rid of them for good.

(I will admit in darker moments I wonder if this is some weird autoimmune disease, but: I think my blood work I had done recently would have thrown up something wonky and all the numbers were right in range, and I think if I were developing an AI disease I'd feel sicker and except for itching like a wench, I feel pretty much fine. And anyway, the hives seem to get worse with mold exposure and get way less when I stay home inside my relatively clean, relatively mold-free house. No, I can't notice any relation to foods I eat other than maybe celery, so I doubt it's dairy or grains or anything like that - I can get bad hives on a day when I barely touch milk and have few on a day when I drink nearly a quart. Mold seems to be the only correlate.)