Question: My throat feels like it is closing up. My lips feel spongy. It is hard to swallow. This happened a week ago, and my airways were clear. My legs are so itchy too. I took 2 benedryl before I went to the ER a wk ago, I had a rash, and I have one now too. It looks like spider bites. Dr. rtp last week said hives. Dr. gave me a shot for the itchiness, and prednizone for 6 days (6 pills the first day, 5, then 4, etc. made me feel horrible!) I do not want to go back on it! I am afraid to go to sleep, that my throat might close up. My son had an anaphal. reaction one time and it scared us all! I want to know what is causing these hives (or spots). I have changed deterg, washed all sheets, etc, Could it be dust mites? When this started, I began working on sewing old quilt pieces together; they made me itch, but I thot the steam iron would kill any dust mites. Please advise. I am mainly scared about my throat closing up, and I want to find out what is causing these red hives.

My husband also had a rash on his back, once, last week, in the am, not like mine, (His looked just like shingles) and it disappeared before nightfall.

Also, we got rid of our air cleaner; it smelled like chlorine and we thot it might be causing our problems.

Unfortunately, I cannot send pictures of the hives now, because they are gone. I did look up on the internet other hives pictures and they look exactly like ones from an allergic reaction to a detergent, and also like bedbugs' hives. I don't believe they are from bedbugs; I have checked carefully for them and laundered over and over and vacuumed, and checked the sheets carefully over and over and have not seen any bugs at all; I did see one spider in my bathroom, next door to the bedroom. I have not had any hives for over a week now, but my husband has had a few lately. I am sleeping in a different bed now, to be safe...and I am wondering if it is my pillow....each time I try to use it, I feel ill, and wonder if it could be dust mites...today I washed my pillow and disinfected it; It is an expensive memory foam pillow and I love it, but refuse to use it until it is safe and clean. (It looked clean enough, and spotless...)

Just wish I could get to the bottom of what caused the hives, and why my lips and throat felt so funny....

Three other people in our town have had similar hives recently...it is a mystery to all of us. Two go to my church.

Any help is appreciated. The hives did resemble dust mite hives too, online I checked.
Oh yes, could black mold be the cause? Today, I noticed a bit of black mold on my window sill in my bedroom. Just thot of it...I washed it off.

Thank you for assisting me in my quest.