Hello.
Thank you for asking at HCM.
I went through your history.
I would like to ask you about your symptoms in great detail, like - what are the activities that precipitate itching & rashes, whether they occur without any activity as well, whether you have any other medical conditions, whether you are taking any other medicines on regular basis, whether you have any other allergies, etc etc.
However, from your history, I woud first think of what we call "Cholinergic urticaria". It is not exactly due to "allergy", rather it is due to some physical factors which causes rashes and itching.
Were I treating you, I would suggest you as follows:
1. Please avoid exercises and activities causing
excessive sweating, if possible.
2. Please avoid bathing in hot water,
sauna baths, exposure to hot temperatures, etc. However, if any of these does not cause you symptoms, you can continue with it.
3. I would suggest you to avoid hot beverages, alcohol and hot-spicy foods as much as possible.
4. If you are having mental/emotional
stress, I would suggest you regular
meditation and stress reduction techniques as it also can be aggravating your symptoms.
5. If you are not comfortable with
cetirizine, I would personally suggest you to take
ketotifen, which works better for these types of urticarias.
6. Please do not scratch when you itch, it will only aggravate itching. You can apply lotion on itchy areas.
An important thing I want to mention here is please do not think of "addiction" of antihistamines. These types of urticarias usually last for several years. So as long as you have symptoms, you need to take antihistamines like cetirizine.
Hope above suggestions will be helpful to you.
Wish you the best of the health.
Should you have any further query, please feel free to ask at HCM.
Thank you & Regards.