Phrick, are you seeing a specialist for this? I would recommend a specialist and not just your GP. I took prednisone for at least 2 months during a severe poison oak reaction. Just could not get rid of it without steroids. It was really hard, as the prednisone made me very jumpy and not able to sleep. Perhaps a specialist has another solution.

With hives, you often never find the cause. My daughter gets them occasionally, and we think it has to do with fragrances. I got a really bad case about 6 years ago that lasted for over a month and never found out why. They were all over my body and would come and go in the course of seconds, with nothing touching the skin at all. You could see them grow and recede before your eyes. My face was swollen and I got a lot on the bottom of my feet and this made walking very painful. I was hobbling around like someone much older would, and at one point, I was using a cane. I wore very loose clothing, natural fibers, and when I was in my own home, I wore no clothes when I could, and this helped somewhat. Even the briefest touch by someone or something would bring on hives. I took benadryl and oatmeal baths. The thing that most helped was getting shots of cortisone from my doctor. Eventually, I got over the hives.

Good luck, Phrick. Hope you can get some relief soon.