Zyrtec and Allegra for Dermographism

by Wendy
(SC)

I've had acne in varying degrees my whole life. I'd come to realize that it was stress related, and managed it with benzoyl peroxide and makeup as best as possible.

About 5 years ago I was laid off of my job and within a week was covered in itchy sore red splotches that at the time my family doctor called Rosea. The bright red patches went away with the help of some creams, change in clothing, and Xanax... so all and all we wrote it off as a stess episode. But now, several years later it has returned, this time in itchy patches with no cause. All of a sudden a patch of skin would start to tingle and scratching it only made it spread like poison oak, itch worse, burn, and welt up. At first it was concentrated around my ankles mostly at night, but soon it was head to toe all day and every day. Benadryl never did help and creams only soothe the scratches made by your own nails.

I went to an allergist. My hives were so bad the dermagraphic test was worthless, but a blood test revealed I'm not allergic to a darn thing. I never have been. We have yet to determine a solid cause but I know it's just stress. Since my 1 a day Zyrtec wasn't working enough, I was told to add on Allegra 2-4x a week and take an extra Zyrtec at the onset of an "episode".