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Type 1 Hives

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For about 2 weeks now I have had hives on my belly, hips and thighs, posted on an Omnipod forum and someone said that apparently Insulet have had complaints that people have reacted to some pods, so I went back to pens last night but today the hives are still bad and hives have spread to my face... I haven't changed anything and now I'm trying to eliminate what it could be and was wondering if you can become allergic to novorapid despite being on it for years. I have already seen my GP twice and both antihistamines haven't worked. I'm so itchy and debating on going to A&E but also don't want to go there and waste NHS time?
 
Knikki said:
Hello @ohitsnicola sounds like your having a bit of a rough time.

I'm not medically trained.

I was on Novarapid for 20+ years and did not suffer any skin allergies, however I was doing the Google and came across this which is a Nova patient information leaflet from California,

https://www.novonordisk.ca/content/...oducts/PDF/novorapid-consumer-information.pdf

Note on page 7 under Less Commonly Repoted side effect it mentions hives.

But if they are causing you that much discomfort then I would certainly see a pharmacist or go to A&E to get some treatment.

Good luck.
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Thank you - I will go to a pharmacist see what they say and if they think I should go to A&E. I have been on novorapid for 15 years so I've no clue if it is that
 
ohitsnicola said:
Thank you - I will go to a pharmacist see what they say and if they think I should go to A&E. I have been on novorapid for 15 years so I've no clue if it is that
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Nicola - Do you have a walk-in centre nearby? Our newarest here is about 15 miles away, so they're not alwys convenient, but they are good for the maybe-not-quite emergency things that are driving us bonkers.

We do have an out of hours GP, accessible via 111.
 
DCUKMod said:
Nicola - Do you have a walk-in centre nearby? Our newarest here is about 15 miles away, so they're not alwys convenient, but they are good for the maybe-not-quite emergency things that are driving us bonkers.

We do have an out of hours GP, accessible via 111.
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My closest walk in centre is 9 miles away but A&E is a five minute walk but don't want to go there and waste time, I went to out of hours GP last weekend who said if the tablets she gave me doesn't work then I'd need bloods done... I'm just unbelievably itchy
 
ohitsnicola said:
My closest walk in centre is 9 miles away but A&E is a five minute walk but don't want to go there and waste time, I went to out of hours GP last weekend who said if the tablets she gave me doesn't work then I'd need bloods done... I'm just unbelievably itchy
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Oh, that's so annoying.
 
I used to get allergic skin reactions a long time ago. My mum's advice back then was that I use either an epsom salt bath, or else add some jumbo oats to the cut-off foot of a pair of tights, tie it in a knot and soak it in the bath. (The tights foot is to stop the oats turning into porridge in your bath). Worked pretty well for the itch. Epsom salts was best.

If you've never used epsom salts for anything, you might want to do a skin patch test - especially if you've scratched raw patches.

Granted it was a fair while back but it worked! And I did the oat thing with my son when he was tiny and had chickenpox badly. Also, don't forget good old calomine lotion.

I second the speaking to a pharmacist for advice; they can be helpful about this sort of thing, whilst waiting to see a doctor.
 
WuTwo said:
I used to get allergic skin reactions a long time ago. My mum's advice back then was that I use either an epsom salt bath, or else add some jumbo oats to the cut-off foot of a pair of tights, tie it in a knot and soak it in the bath. (The tights foot is to stop the oats turning into porridge in your bath). Worked pretty well for the itch. Epsom salts was best.

If you've never used epsom salts for anything, you might want to do a skin patch test - especially if you've scratched raw patches.

Granted it was a fair while back but it worked! And I did the oat thing with my son when he was tiny and had chickenpox badly. Also, don't forget good old calomine lotion.

I second the speaking to a pharmacist for advice; they can be helpful about this sort of thing, whilst waiting to see a doctor.
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Tried looking for Epsom salts when I was out but couldn't see any. Spoke to a pharmacist, who said to carry on taking the fexofenadine and wait to see a GP but obviously if I get any worse then get seen sooner. I just hate not knowing what it is! Woke up this morning and then just flared up again and then took my daughter out for her birthday and my face and eye lid started to flare up
 
Also, I injected rapid about 20 mins ago and I'm itching everywhere again
 
ohitsnicola said:
Also, I injected rapid about 20 mins ago and I'm itching everywhere again
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Are you on a new batch of your insulin Nicola? Sometimes manufacturers reformulate medications - tablets, lotions, that sort of thing. They mainly do it to make the products more stable or improve in some other way, so if there is anything else in the vials, that could be the issue?

The Patient information leaflet lists the following ingredients:

"The other ingredients are glycerol, phenol, metacresol, zinc chloride, disodium phosphate dihydrate, sodium chloride, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide and water for injections."

I hope you get to the bottom of it all soon.
 
DCUKMod said:
Are you on a new batch of your insulin Nicola? Sometimes manufacturers reformulate medications - tablets, lotions, that sort of thing. They mainly do it to make the products more stable or improve in some other way, so if there is anything else in the vials, that could be the issue?

The Patient information leaflet lists the following ingredients:

"The other ingredients are glycerol, phenol, metacresol, zinc chloride, disodium phosphate dihydrate, sodium chloride, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide and water for injections."

I hope you get to the bottom of it all soon.
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I have no idea, how would I find out if its different to what I was using?
 
DCUKMod said:
I asked Dr Google, but nothing came up.

You could always give their medical information line or customer care line a call?

View attachment 32737

The Patient Info leaflet is here: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/7920/pil#companyDetails The section listing ingredients is Section 6.

Who knew there was so much in a vial of insulin?!
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I will have a look thank you! Never been allergic to anything in my life well not that I know of and now I can't work out what I am allergic too haha!
Thank you x
 
DCUKMod said:
I asked Dr Google, but nothing came up.

You could always give their medical information line or customer care line a call?

View attachment 32737

The Patient Info leaflet is here: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/7920/pil#companyDetails The section listing ingredients is Section 6.

Who knew there was so much in a vial of insulin?!
Click to expand...
Just called 111 who said to just wait until my GP appointment Tuesday, yet my hives are worse, I've taken my libre off now too, I'm so itchy and fed up, in tears my it's spread to my foot and breasts now tooIMG-20190505-WA0016.jpegIMG-20190505-WA0008.jpeg
 
DCUKMod said:
Aside from the hives, do you feel well otherwise?
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I feel okay, just extremely fed up and itchy trying to refrain from scratching but it's so hard! Took a fexofenadine couple of hours ago and it's done nothing, which is why I rang 111
 
ohitsnicola said:
I feel okay, just extremely fed up and itchy trying to refrain from scratching but it's so hard! Took a fexofenadine couple of hours ago and it's done nothing, which is why I rang 111
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You'll be needing some cotton mittens soon to stop the scratching. Did your little one have those as a baby?

It must be rotten being so itchy for so long, when you think it might be your novorapid, but obviously have to continue to take it.

If you begging to feel unwell, you must do something before Tuesday.
 
DCUKMod said:
You'll be needing some cotton mittens soon to stop the scratching. Did your little one have those as a baby?

It must be rotten being so itchy for so long, when you think it might be your novorapid, but obviously have to continue to take it.

If you begging to feel unwell, you must do something before Tuesday.
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She did, not that she kept them on haha
I have lichen sclerosis on the vulva and the hives feel worse than that at the moment!
Thank you for your help xx
 
ohitsnicola said:
I feel okay, just extremely fed up and itchy trying to refrain from scratching but it's so hard! Took a fexofenadine couple of hours ago and it's done nothing, which is why I rang 111
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I had something similar which started whilst I was in Philippines in Jan 2018. Mine progressed to anaphylaxis within a couple of days. Got an antihistamine out there which stopped it straight away but it's a controlled drug here.

Rash continued back here and UK doctors put me on Fexofenadine which was pretty useless. I tried all the over the counter antihistamines and settled on Ceterizine as being the most effective.

Eventually I was sent to a dermatologist and she gave me a script for Ceterizine in quite a high dose which did suppress the reaction after a few days.

By then I had started to suspect Glargine insulin because systemic rashes are a listed side effect, but the dermatologist was dismissive saying that it was unlikely to be my insulin because I didn't have localised rashes at injection sites. So I kept taking the Ceterizine all through last summer.

Around August time I managed to persuade the Endo' to switch me from Abasaglar to Levemir and most of my problems (including severe myalgia in my shoulders) have abated.

I also stopped using the Libre last autumn because of the rashes and now I'm not sure if maybe the Libre issue made me more sensitive to other things.

So a long winded way of saying try other antihistamines and see what works best for you.

I had been using glargine based insulin for 3 years before the muscle pain started and the rashes about 3 months afterwards. Thankfully it seems to have stopped now but I am still waiting for a referral to an immunology.
 
DCUKMod said:
I asked Dr Google, but nothing came up.

You could always give their medical information line or customer care line a call?

View attachment 32737

The Patient Info leaflet is here: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/7920/pil#companyDetails The section listing ingredients is Section 6.

Who knew there was so much in a vial of insulin?!
Click to expand...
I went A&E today as they got even worse today - A&E doctors were stumped as everything they assumed was causing, I had already been tested for recently. They gave me steroids for a week and GP needs to refer me to immunology for allergy tests. They mentioned my insulin and if it's changed manufactors but they haven't ‍♀️
 
ohitsnicola said:
I went A&E today as they got even worse today - A&E doctors were stumped as everything they assumed was causing, I had already been tested for recently. They gave me steroids for a week and GP needs to refer me to immunology for allergy tests. They mentioned my insulin and if it's changed manufactors but they haven't ‍♀️
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Oh dear. You're in the wars! I hope those steroids don't boost your bloods into the stratosphere, meaning you need additional Novorapid. That could be uncomfortable!

When I talked about the potential for reformulation of Novorapid, I meant like changes to the "recipe", as opposed to the maker. That said, when I looked I couldn't find any comments about that potential on the internet.

If it ramps up Nicola, don't ignore it. Some allergies tick along at the really annoying stage for ages, but sometimes they can suddenly go a bit wappy. Always be safe.
 
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