Very bad hives since 3 weeks ago, source not identified. Sadness. You need help

Age: 30

Sex: Female

Complaint: Hives that start on the palms of the hands and spread to other parts of the body, come and go but almost always have hives somewhere.

Area: palms, arms, back, legs, feet, ears, neck, face, vulva

Origin: I was out visiting a friend when this all started on 1/10. It started breaking out on my hands, then my wrists. SUPER itch. I didn’t think much of it. It would come and go. The next day, it itches even more. Took an allergy pill, it helped a little. He took a flight home. For reference I moved from Florida to home in Michigan.

The hives continued. They began to spread to other places; the palms weren’t too bad. We didn’t do anything near any plants, etc. when i was in florida other than sleeping by the pool, i didn’t even go in the pool.

Bacterial illness: 4 days after this, my husband fell ill with a respiratory infection. I got it after 2 days. I don’t believe I was exposed to any virus in front of him as I was out of town when his brother got sick, then he got sick, then I got sick. Fever, aches, cough that lasted forever. It took about a week or so. It was very bad. Chest is worse than before despite improvement.

Only new items:

1. I got a new bracelet the night it started. It mostly has nickel in it. But it has been removed for more than 2 weeks.

2. Could using tretinoin while in FL and possibly my palms, which used to use it, have a bad reaction to the sun? (Idiot move though)

3. I had stomach problems the day before it started and took an anti-diarrheal (loperamide), something I rarely take. I’ve had bouts of diarrhea a few times since then, as I’ve had stomach/diarrhea issues. Last dose: 7 days ago

I break out in random places and break out when my skin rubs against anything/scratches like never before. And my face explodes. My eye itches sometimes.

Doctor Appts:

-Emergency care was clueless – prednisone 20 mg was prescribed

-Primary care doc said to look into it and see a dermatologist/dermatologist

– consult an allergist; confirmed hives and gave ok to increase Zyrtec, add Pepcid

-allergy test tomorrow (2/3)

-Dermatology appt tomorrow (2/3)

I stopped the prednisone 2 days ago as I can’t take the allergy meds before the skin test and it didn’t help. I don’t understand how this started on my hands 3 weeks ago today and now it has spread everywhere. And it comes and goes, as nests often do. Each location usually appears for about 30-60 minutes and then goes away. I find many new places for it every day. My skin is starting to look and feel dry despite moisturizing.

Zyrtec 20 mg is helping but still cutting back on it. but it gives my stomach a lot of pain so I don’t really want to take the 40 mg they say I can go up to. I added Pepcid and the combo helped a good amount but not enough. Claritin didn’t work, I’m trying Allegra now to see if my stomach responds better. But it was stopped due to allergy testing.

I feel like I’ve lost my life all of a sudden. I can’t do anything but suffer, and I feel like my whole life is on hold. I cry every day. I feel really scared and hopeless. I’m taking a break from work because I can’t work.

Is there anything I should bring up at my dermatology appt? I’ve seen this derm before and he’s always in a hurry, so I want to be prepared and not get fired. Sorry this is long.