i've been practicing the skilled relaxation religiously for 6 months and in that time my symptoms (giant hives, joint pain, and terrible mood swings) have improved dramatically. in the last week or so, though, the hives and attendant mood swings have been increasing. the last couple days have been particularly severe. My diet, etc. has not changed. are relapses like this, lasting this long, after such a long period of time to be expected. frankly this is driving me nuts. last week i would have said that my progress was amazing. now it seems like it's all been undone. if this is dietary, how long after ingesting an allergen for the effect to wear off? in other words, could it be something i ate days ago? you've mentioned self-hypnonsis in the past. could you please elaborate on that? thanks very much for all your help and encouragement over the months. i really need some now.
Follow Ups:
Re: hives relapse
Posted by Walt Stoll on October 29, 1998 at 12:51:49:
In Reply to: hives relapse posted by d on October 28, 1998 at 14:49:25:
Hi, d.
Do not despair!
Remember, the length of time it takes to RESOLVE a case of long standing hives is 6-12 months IF the person always does it at least twice a day. During that time, relapses are not unusual--it is just that they tend to be further apart & milder each time till they are finally gone forever.
For you to be clear for a long time and then have a flareup of this intensity means it was likely triggered by something in your environment (food being the easiest to do something about) that would not have the power to do this in another 6 months IF you have been doing your relaxation religiously all this time.
Food flareups last an average of 3 1/2 days and can be short-circuited with the "Alkaseltzer Gold" mentioned so many times on this BB. See notes by Bob McFerran or send him a note.
I hope this doesn't describe you but, I have seen this too many times not to mention it: The majority of people tend to forget how bad they felt and, once they have done a lot better for a while, stop doing what they did to get those benefits. THEN, they are surprised when the problems come back. I know this has happened to me several times and it was the rare patient to whom it did not happen till they learned to keep up their curative ways long enough to avoid relapse.
Talk at me. Walt
Follow Ups:
1 more question please
Posted by d on October 29, 1998 at 13:27:49:
In Reply to: Re: hives relapse posted by Walt Stoll on October 29, 1998 at 12:51:49:
i'm much improved today. thanks for your quick reply. i have been very diligent with the skilled relaxation since it's the first thing that has given me any prolonged relief. i have no intention of atopping. ever. thanks alot for that too. one more thing i'm curious about. these hive are almost always worst in the morning. in fact, i'll lay in bed waking up for a few minutes without a problem, but as soon as i get up i break out. is it possible the reaction is mostly or partly (or totally) psychosomatic and if so, do you think hypnotherapy would help? thanks again for your time and concern.
Follow Ups:
Re: hives relapse
Posted by tk on October 30, 1998 at 11:02:15:
In Reply to: hives relapse posted by d on October 28, 1998 at 14:49:25:
i have had chronic hives for a year now ( actually they went away after doing walt's protocol for the last 3 months- every once in a while i get one or two small hives if im stressed out). i thought i would give you my idea of what triggers relapses(im no doctor , but conventional docs have no explanation anyway). walt is right , something - food, environmental substance, mercury, candida toxins, undigested proteins etc will cause a reaction in your body. if you are calm enough ( long term) your body may react but you wont break the "hive threshold". for now i see 3 options-1) remove the offending substance , which is hard to do if not impossible for now.i went off all animal proteins for a while which seemed to help , especially if you have leaky gut 2)do MORE proper skilled relaxation and dont get stressed about having a relapse( i know its hell and this is hard) 3) take medication to mitigate the attacks( avoid this if possible and again im not giving med advice- but for me i have found a mild dose of atarax at bedtime ( 10 to 15 mg) helps, there is also an over the counter european drug called ketotifen ( if you plug this in on the net you can find where to order it) which took mine away before i ran into dr stoll, again research this yourself to make sure its safe for you. good luck.
Follow Ups:
Re: 1 more question please
Posted by Walt Stoll on October 30, 1998 at 12:36:53:
In Reply to: 1 more question please posted by d on October 29, 1998 at 13:27:49:
Dear d.
By definition, hives are always "psychosomatic". That means that the mind is effecting the body. Self-hypnosis would be of help to you. However, in the end, the regular practice of skilled relaxation will give you more relief of the causes. Some people can use self-hypnosis as their skilled relaxation.
Walt
Re: hives relapse
Posted by d on October 30, 1998 at 13:11:07:
In Reply to: Re: hives relapse posted by tk on October 30, 1998 at 11:02:15:
thanks for the encouragement, tk. that's been pretty much my strategy as well, except for the medication. none of them seem to help much. i agree the skilled relaxation is the biggest help and i've redoubled my efforts. i'm also posting a question regarding naet which may be of interest.
Re: hives relapse
Posted by Marc Hawley on January 05, 1999 at 19:30:31:
In Reply to: Re: hives relapse posted by tk on October 30, 1998 at 11:02:15:
My wife had chronic hives for about 7 months. We tried everything. A "complete" blood test showed no infection. Only cortisone controlled the hives and she had to take cortisone every day. Finally her allergist heard of some new research linking hives and the bacteria, H. Pylori. This is the bacteria that causes ulcers. She tested positive for H. Pylori. The treatment is multiple courses of strong antibiotics. This is a very difficult bug to kill. After two courses of double antibiotics, the hives are gone! Her allergist is Dr. Amadio in Evansville, Indiana. Tell your doctor. Spread the word.
Follow Ups:
Re: hives relapse
Posted by Walt Stoll on January 07, 1999 at 15:24:50:
In Reply to: Re: hives relapse posted by Marc Hawley on January 05, 1999 at 19:30:31:
Dear Marc,
Congratulations to your wife for her response. Unfortunately, if that is all she does, they will be back!
The H. Pylori only contributes to the hives and getting rid of the H. Pylori will not result in a permanent cure.
H. Pylori cannot survive in anyone without LGS. LGS is almost always caused by the overwhelming stress-effect storage in the hypothalamus we have discussed so often on this BB. Isn't it iteresting that that same thing is the only known cause of dysautonomia which has to be present before the chronic hives can occur?
You both would profit greatly by reading Dr Pelletier's classic "Mind As Healer, Mind as Slayer" (newest edition). This problem will be back. Now, while it is gone is the time to study up on why this happened to her.
Walt