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Itchy Skin Hives and Possible Dog Allergy
by Doreen
(United States)
After reading through the comments on dermatographism causes, I realized no one mentioned pets as a trigger. When I was first diagnosed with dermatographism, I was prescribed the antihistamines Zyrtec and Hydroxyzine. These helped me greatly in dealing with the symptoms of dermatographism. Shortly after that initial visit to the doctor and start of the antihistamine medications, I went away on vacation for a week. When I returned from vacation I picked up my dog from the kennel and shortly after we got back home I started itching like crazy! I immediately suspected it was an allergy to my dog. After that time the itching continued to be a problem despite taking the antihistamines. I consulted with my doctor and he simply told me to take higher doses of the antihistamines. I am now off the Zyrtec and only taking Hydroxyzine. I cannot go a day without this medication. Since then I have been on vacation and away from my dog a few more times and tried not taking my antihistamine when away from him just to see what would happen. I did still itch but not as dramatically. So now I am not so sure if it is the dog causing this skin problem.
I also have an aunt that was diagnosed with Dermatographism. She is the one who told me that it was probably what I had when I started experiencing the hives and itch symptoms and she was right. Now that I look back over my life, I have always been itchy, just not to this extreme. I see my son and granddaughter scratching a lot also, and it makes me wonder if I have genetically passed it on to them! On this antihistamine medication the itching is greatly decreased but my skin sensitivity is still the same. Although the medication does calm the itch, when I do scratch I still have that lingering redness at the point of contact. I really do not like taking any kind of medication at all, so I will continue to try to figure this thing out! Although Hydroxyzine works, it makes me feel tired. If I stop taking it now I will not be able to sleep and I did not have that problem before.
