In 1998 my wife started getting hives. At first we thought it was an allergic reaction to something in our new apartment. The carpet, drapes, detergent, whatever... We went to an allergist (thus beginning our incredible hatred for Kaiser hospitals) and skin specialists only to get more anti-histamine and weird creams to put on. Nothing seemed to be doing it. By around the 9 month mark, it seemed that we had exhausted all avenues of hope. There was an active mailing list for folks suffering which we both subscribed to that was helpful in at least knowing that weren't alone.

Then there was the post. A research group in San Diego, California, USA that specialized in serious arthritis had a patient who had both the hives and the arthritis. The doctors gave him one of the usual starters (a drug that's been around since the 50's) to see the effect on his arthritis. Two weeks later the patient came back with no change in this arthritis but with no hives either! Both the patient and the doctor assumed that the hives clearing up with simple chance for that time and medications were switched. Two days later, the patient stormed back into the office and demanded the first drug back. Something was working there...

The doctors started following the patient very carefully and reading as much as they could about "chronic urticaria". After a six week course of the medication, the hives were completely gone. The doctors had a hypothesis and a paper was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. (Unfortunately the only major news outlet to carry the story was the National Enquirer...) The doctors started doing a controlled study and were looking for patients.

What attracted us to this study was that the drug in question was old, well tested and well understood (sulfasalazine). The study was being sponsored by the doctors themselves rather than a drug company. The drive was only two hours away and we scheduled appointments for every other Friday. Even better were the doctors. They were the first we had spoken to who were polite and really were concerned about the hives. They understood the misery and were sympathetic. Even if we didn't find a cure, talking to doctors who didn't believe in medical problems that "just kinda happens, live with it" was refreshing. My wife just felt better with care like that and that mattered a lot to me.

Twelve weeks later we sat down at the Thanksgiving table and had something to truly give thanks about. My wife's suffering had ended.

Disclaimers: It worked for us. It may not work for you.

Unfortunately, the doctors have stopped the testing. Dr. Jaffer has suggested that you refer your doctor to the following article:

Jaffer, AM (author)
Sulfasalazine in the treatment of corticosteroid-dependent chronic
idiopathic urticaria.
J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1991 Dec;88(6):964-5. No abstract available.
PMID: 1683883 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

For all of you who might be interested, here's a National Library of Medicine link to information about sulfasalazine, which is often used to treat ulcerative colitis or inflammatory bowel disease. I would research the medication before taking it. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/uspdi/202537.html

All the best,
-Steve