February of this year I suddenly broke out with hives. Once they started I would break out about every 2 to 3 hours for 30 minutes. The worst was at bedtime and my entire legs would be bright red and on fire. I visited my GP and learned that hives can be triggered by various things and there is no one well defined cause. She prescribed Benadryl, but I didn't get the pills because I wanted to figure out the cause, not just treat the symptoms.
I started by cutting out non-essential consumption items one at a time. Coffee first, wait a few days - no change, etc. I finally discovered the trigger to be Copenhagen (snuff). After a few days of no hives, I had some Copenhagen again and they returned.
I researched some naturopathy on-line & in books and got a hint that they could be caused by intestinal parasites. So, I ordered parasite treatment herbs (primarily wormwood & black walnut husks + other herbs) from a company I frequent and went through the month-long treatment. At the end the hives were gone and I've returned to using Copenhagen since with no outbreaks.
Evidently intestinal parasites were the problem in my case. I eat a lot of salad (lettuces + raw spinach + other veggies) and I figure I got the parasites from the raw food, perhaps the packaged greens from Mexico (it's stamped on the package).
I've done the same parasite treatment periodically over the last 20 years (perhaps once every year or two) and have never experienced any bad side effects.
Hope this helps.
I started by cutting out non-essential consumption items one at a time. Coffee first, wait a few days - no change, etc. I finally discovered the trigger to be Copenhagen (snuff). After a few days of no hives, I had some Copenhagen again and they returned.
I researched some naturopathy on-line & in books and got a hint that they could be caused by intestinal parasites. So, I ordered parasite treatment herbs (primarily wormwood & black walnut husks + other herbs) from a company I frequent and went through the month-long treatment. At the end the hives were gone and I've returned to using Copenhagen since with no outbreaks.
Evidently intestinal parasites were the problem in my case. I eat a lot of salad (lettuces + raw spinach + other veggies) and I figure I got the parasites from the raw food, perhaps the packaged greens from Mexico (it's stamped on the package).
I've done the same parasite treatment periodically over the last 20 years (perhaps once every year or two) and have never experienced any bad side effects.
Hope this helps.