Another Auto-Immune something or other..

Wow.. how strange that I happened to stumble into this board. I am currently having my ANA retested also to see if it's elevated. In October, my doc checked and said it was "negative" for lupus. I'm not sure what you ladies mean by "flares" exactly, but let me explain mine. Well first, lol I have been told that I have chronic urtacaria .. which means hives for life. I went to a RA doc and they said it had nothing to do with them and they billed me $400 and sent me packing.. The derm said it was simply hives. Now, my personal opinion from trying to research this all on my own after seeing countless ER, Urgent Care and family doctors is of course some sort of auto-immune something or other. Hives are automatically auto-immune. However, I'm trying to understand this part.. I get hives.. yes all over.. I understand that part. Although, there are days when say in the afternnon.. my arm will start to get sore and then more sore and then so sore I have to actually hold it up with the other arm, because just letting it hang HURTS. Next thing you know within a few hours.. my entire upper or lower arm.. wherever it tends to happen is HUGE. Red, inflammed and hot, hot. When I say huge.. I mean the skin is being pulled so tightly it turns shiny. The derm says.. yeah just another type of hives.. I say.. uhm.. no? The pain and swolleness will last that whole day and part of the next and then be gone. I have journaled my food and cut things out that may have given me certain reactions and nothing works. I tend to get it mostly in my arms, hands, feet and knees. The hives often apear all over.. except oddly.. my lower legs. Also, if one knee is swollen, 9 times out of 10, the other is too. Same with forearms.. if one has a "swellie" as I like to call it.. likely the other arm will have one too. Or it will come the next day. They are usually gone within 24 hours and just pop up somewhere else the next day. I more or less have what feels like a moving disease on my body. It many time stops me from working which is frustrating. I have a very phsyical job and it's all unairconditioned ( hotness brings out the hives ) so if my hand, arm, feet. knees are all swollen and hurting or itchy.. chances are.. I won't make it to work. I just want an answer.. They can't figure anything out.. And I get this goofy chest pain that they keep telling me is heartburn.. And I continue to tell them, it's almost impossible with the surgery and the fact I avoid fatty heartburn causing foods anyway.. they won't listen.. Any input would be appreciated.

I thought this was an allergy board but upon creating an account I find it a weight loss board with strong recommendations of bariatric surgery. Anyhow, I just wanted to let you know I've been dealing with the same problems you're having for a year and a half now.  I have auto immune chronic urticaria with angioedema and dermatrographism. I'm currently being tested for a bacteria called H. Pylori, it's a bacteria that can cause chronic hives, barrets esophagus etc. If you take certain anti biotics and you feel as if your hives get better but they come back after discontinuing the anti biotic then you may want to get tested for that bacteria. I hear what you're saying. They don't have any answers. My next step, after all tests are run, is to send my info. to a naturopathic md. to build my immune system. I think the reason why you can't single out all the foods is that if you have auto immune hives that means that your system is not kicking out anti histamines. That part of the immune system has been damaged or for whatever reason is not working. So any foods or other things such as bees and bee products , heat, pressure, hot, cold etc. can cause hives as your ability to create anti histamines has been lessened to a great degree. Anyhow, not sure if mine is caused from fungal, viral or bacteria, Just wish I knew. If I find anything that works I'll post it up here for you. Good luck.

i was 2 months preganent when my hives started i thought i was allergic to my husbends hair greece then i had black mold growing in my appartment so i went to the alergest i did not even think that my hive were conected to being vilontly ill then the dr said i had autoimmune and H-pylori we treated the h-pylori and then ive been on 2 antihistomines sence and the hives are starting to be a nusence again.  they seem to get better with or with out medication in the am but go crazy as dinner comes around no matter when i take the pills.  that started over a year ago.  i moved out of the mold home and still suffer now i have had a bad pain in my upper right abdomine i went throu test after test when the drs did not find any thing they started sticking cameras places the first one was this thursday and they found barretts.  Im starting to think it's all conected because the hives started when i started to puke and the h-pyloryi coctail helped that.  dose any one know any thing about these thing be conected by the way the baby is great he was 10 8 at birth and one week and one day early

The research I've done says: 

It seems that H. pylori infection can cause the stomach to make less acid. The lower levels of acid mean that the stomach contents are less harmful to the esophagus (in people with reflux). The infection causes many problems in the stomach, but it may actually protect the esophagus.

And also  "people with Barrett's cancer, including cardia cancer, seem to have lower rates of H. pylori infection than others of the same age and sex in the same population."

Therefore, it does not "cause" Barrett's...it actually seems to have the opposite effect...