Has anyone ever experienced hives and have any suggestions for dealing with them?

Apparently, one of the side effects of the Auto-immune Thyroid disease I have is breaking out in hives. The first time it happened, I thought something had bit me on the back of my head, and I scratched so badly I broke the skin and got an infection.

It is so annoying! There is no rhyme or reason to it, they will just pop up, and itch so bad. Instead of scratching and breaking the skin again, I wind up rubbing them for relief, and then when they go away I am left with a self inflicted bruise!

Unfortunately, the Auto-immune disorder has my blood pressure is so high, that I cannot even take anti-histamines for it!

Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for the link - there are some helpful ideas on there!