OTC items to help hives

Thought I would do a quick post on a couple things I found helpful for my hives.  There items are low cost and readily available.  

BAKING SODA

I was actually surprised how well this worked.  

I read a study from the 80s where people suffering from exercise induced urticaria would take baking soda prior to a workout and found it helped their hives.  It was a small sample group but I figured it was worth a try.  Baking soda is something I already had on hand and has low chance of adverse side effects.

I get hives when out walking neighborhood trails so I started off taking baking soda (¼ tsp and upped it to ½ tsp) and it does seem to help.  I see the hives form under my skin but they don't form the hot painful, itchy bumps.  I also started to take it at the beginning of a hives outbreak.  

THIAMINE (VITAMIN B1)

In my hives research I came across how thiamine helps clear hisatime from the body.  Knowing from annual bloodwork that my levels of thiamine are low I started taking a methelyated B complex years ago which has 25mg thiamine.  

I did not know about taking high dosage of thiamine, around 300mg. There is also a fat soluble   form benfotiamine which is supposed to be more easily absorbed by the body. I bought 150mg capsules and slowly worked up to 300mg  (after a week of taking it once a day, started taking 2 capsules every other day, then 2 capsules a day, at different times).  This helped lessen the severity of the hives outbreaks but not their frequency.   I think this might work with regular B1, which I see in 100mg tablets   Might switch to regular thiamine when I replenish my supplements just to see if there is any difference.  

ICE ROLLER

Note this will only work if your hives are not triggered by cold (mine are heat triggered).

I used to use a piece of ice wrapped in a muslin facial cloth and when I found that helped lessen the burning I began to think of a less messy alternative.  That led me to facial rollers.   I already had a jade one and I liked and used occasionally. I began to freeze it to see if it would work.  It did but it didn't stay cool for very long so I bought a stainless steel one. I keep it in the freezer in a resealable pouch.   

If I feel a hives attack coming on (for me it starts in my face/ears) I grab facial roller out of the freezer and start rolling it all over my face, neck, and upper chest.  It helps alleviate the burning pain and usually helps to keep the hives from spreading.  

My research continues and I am trying a few other things.  Will update with anything that I find that works.