Dear Debbie, My wife is a lactnet junky and I was reading over her shoulder. I am an allergist-immunologist and see scores of patients with hives every year. I am sorry for your daughter's difficulties, and hope she will be feeling better soon. I suggest the following as long as the hives are itchy but not painful, are not accompanied by fever or bruising, and that she is otherwise feeling well. 1) Avoid all non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs such as ibuprofen, naprosyn, and aspirin) 2) A short (7 days) course of prednisone at 20-30mg per day taken with food should not harm her or the baby and will help get the hives under control 3) Cetirizine (in the US this is Zyrtec) 10 mg twice daily is not passed on in breast milk 4) Discontinue all topical medications (for example, any topical Benadryl = diphenhydramine) as they can actually worsen the hives because the so called inactive ingredients trigger an allergic contact dermatitis; other topical agents are fine, as long as they are hypoallergenic and dye and perfume free -- an example is Eucerine Cream 5) Stress may be a precipitant, but quantifying it is difficult, so no rigorous studies shed light on this factor, though many patients attest to its role 6) The arrhythmia was likely an effect of the antihistamine, but cetirizine is less likely to get into the baby's system and cause this; be careful of sedation, even with this "non-sedating" drug, as it can be dangerous to drive if she is feeling sleepy or disoriented Mind you, I am a very close minded, Western-medicine-type person, so you and your daughter may dislike my suggestions. Hives that last more than 6 weeks (so called "chronic urticaria") are due to an autoimmune basis 35-50% of the time. The condition is distressing but not dangerous as long as the hives and swelling do not involve the mouth and throat. Using medicines for a short but intense period will likely get the hives under control and will save her taking a larger aggregate amount of medicine in the long term. Minimizing all medicines, including any "remedies" is best -- all medicines are potentially poisons, regardless of whether they are advertised as totally natural or totally safe and evaluated by government agencies such as the US FDA. This is all the more true of medicines that are not evaluated by any agency because they are considered "supplements." Sorry to respond "off list" but I do not know how to respond to lactnet. Kol tuv, David Sloane, MD *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome