Hi Carrie, about a year ago I had the same thing on my hands! it went away after a few days but my whole body itched but especially my hands that were glowing bright red!was so itchy at night i couldnt sleep! I put calamine lotion on which helped for 10 minutes and then they got itchy again! I have also got it a few times on my feet which became massive blisters on my entire heels as a result of my itching! A few months later i then woke up with tingly legs that were so painful i couldnt sleep and walk for a few days before mysteriously going away. I had an x-ray nothing was wrong with me the doctor said it might be that my cartillage was damaged in my hip joints and that i should stop playing so much sport although i had been off sport for 6 months due to injury. Very mysterious but it just dissapeared after a few days so i forgot about it and got on with my life. Im quite puzzled would love to know what it was. I might be some underlying problem that i should be aware of maybe. I was only 17/18 at the time so i think Rheumatiod Arthritis might be quite unlikely!

Thank you for your reply! I know rheumatoid arthritis is typically known as an "old people" affliction, but you can get it as early as your teens! I'm 36 currently. Anyways, i went to an internist last week and they took some blood samples to run various tests...i just found out the test for R. Arthritis was negative, and they also tested for Lupus, which also was negative-thankfully. Still waiting on the results of the Thyroid test. I haven't had anymore swelling in the hands and feet, that is still a mystery to me, but i do still get the tingly-numb pins and needles sensation in my right arm, hand, and right foot. Especially in my foot when i'm driving. It's irritating! And all this occured after the swelling & itchiness episode. I don't feel like i have any pinched nerves anywhere. Internist says he thinks i have carpal tunnel in my right hand...but why would i have matching symptoms in right leg and foot as well? I am also a stay at home Mom at this stage in my life and don't do anything tremendously repetitive, like working a cash register or typing on my keyboard 8 hrs. a day. Whatever is going on is still unsolved and ongoing. I'm wondering if i should be seeing a neurologist. As a side note, i wanted to add that i was on Yaz,(birth control), and after all this happened, i went off of it because i read too many reports where young women were getting blood clots in their legs (embolisms) that traveled to their lungs or brains and gave them strokes! I was so scared and paranoid that the numbness i've been experincing may be directly related to Yaz...so i dropped it. That was 2 weeks ago. If anyone else who happens to read this has any advice, please pass it on!

Hello, I get this on my hands quite often too, I'm 17 at the time on writing. My hands (Palm only often, although sometimes my whole hand) becomes swollen, dry, red and irritable, I read around on some forums and it may be hand dermitis. Also some people are being refered to a page on Reynaud's disease or Reynaud's Sydrome, which you may want to check out. No idea if it is either of these, I am also very intruiged.

I do know Reynauds is characteristic of of your fingers turning white and getting ice cold to the touch. You usually have a low tolerance for cold temperatures with Reynauds. I'm pretty sure i have Reynauds...it's just never been officially diagnosed...because my fingers get that way alot!

Hi Carrie, I had the same exact thing happen to me for the past 4 days, only I couldn't even walk because it felt like I was walking on sharp rocks, very painful! My feet were also red, and swollen on the top and bottom and extremely itchy! The palm of my hands were red and itchy, and felt sore to the touch. I used an ice pack and finally woke this morning to the symptoms quite minimal. I had surgery on my neck (discs c5,6,7), but my neurologist says these do not seem like Neurological issues. I'm definately curious as to what it is, I am also an at home Mom due to other health issues... Will check in regularly. Hope you are feeling better! Marti

Hi Marti! Thanks for your reply and input. the swelling and itchiness probably isn't related to neurological issues, but i'm wondering if the tingling & pins and needles sensation is. It's so weird that you can wake up one day and "Bam!", have all this happen. Just like you, after the initial swelling, itchiness and burning, my feet were very painful to walk on...not so much like sharp rocks for me, but painful nonetheless. Most of that sensation has subsided, but i do have mild pain in my rt.hand all day. I still wake up with it stiff and sore-mainly the joints. That's why they tested for rheumatoid arthritis, but that was negative. What is still a mystery to me is why i've been having all these issues AFTER i woke up one day with the swollen feet and hands & accompanying itchiness. I've been told the swelling & redness, etc. was probably brought on by an allergic reaction to something i ate. I've never been allergic to any foods prior. But, i have also heard that your body chemistry changes every 7 years & you can become allergic to things you never used to have an aversion to. How much truth there is in that statement, i don't know! Do you know if you have any food allergies that could have brought on your episode? Hope to talk to you soon! Thanks! -Carrie

I have been experiencing these symptoms for 13 years. As you I woke up one day with swollen hands and as the day progressed it got to the point I itched so badly I thought I would scratch a hole in my flesh. I could no longer walk because the pain was intolerable. I went 5 years with multiple doctors testing me with anything they could think of. I found a doctor in my town that stated He thought I had something called leaky mast cell syndrome or mast cell disease. I account for an unusual patient as I do not have the brown skin lesions. My hands and feet swell and itch as well as other parts of my body I suffer from joint pain and bone pain.. I seem to have this pain where my body has swelled or itched for about a day or more. also where there is pain it is very hot to the touch. My heart rate also seems to increase when I am very itchy and when I am have a full blown attack my blood pressure goes very low. find an allergy specialist who can run something called a tryptase level. mine is very elevated so that how I was diagnosed with mast cell disease. This is a very tricky illness as people present alot of different symptoms. However the tryptase test can tell you if you have some form of this illness. There is no cure and the only thing they can say is take double the antihistamines and avoid triggers. Hope this helps, I waited years for some type of diagnosis and this is as close as I got.

Before I moved to TX, I've never experienced this? Never had allergies either? Symptoms arrived 2 weeks after I arrived here. How it began- I realized my R palm (in just a little spot) had redness. It was after I went outside and moved some rocks. An hour later that spot itched. That eve I went to bed, and woke up around 4 am, with 2 itchy palms. It had moved to my L palm. Next day I noticed my L index finger was swollen- and itchy. Next day after that, R index finger was swollen. Meanwhile BOTH palms still swollen/ itchy. This continued for about 4 days, until pain in my elbow (L), in my joint began to throb. Went to a local er clinic (thinking I must've been bitten by something?). Before going to er clinic, symptoms got worse. Itchy rash, swollen on L sole of my foot, rotating fingers swollen on both hands, and I was very lethargic. No fever. They took 2 blood tests for Rcky Mtn Tick and Lymes Disease- both came back negative. Went home with low dose of steroids, and antibiotics. For the rest of that week, symptoms went away. All symptoms came back full force that next week. Itching progressed on palms, and red hives (coin size) appeared on wrist and arm. Rotating fingers swelled. Palms itched and burned painfully declining. Woke up one day with L EYE swollen, and L EAR. itchy and red. 2 days later, it was the R eye. 2 days later, my stomach began hurting??wha? this is so strange? Felt like intense heart burn; I've never had that before either? then ceased a day later. Last week, it was in the joint of my L knee, then R wrist. Each day I wake up, is a new surprise? It disappears only to reoccur somewhere else? and nighttime is when it's the worst. What could this be? I have no health insurance, and can't afford the testing it will take. Desperate. I'm only 29 yrs old, and have always been healthy. Please help me

I have been suffering with this "illness" for approximately 12 years. Parts of my body (mostly the hands and sometimes feet and legs) start getting red, and itchy and a bit swollen and also feels warm to hot. It's usually worse in the evenings and lasts about 15 minutes to an hour and then goes away. Sometimes I also get welts (bumps) on my skin that eventually go away.

After years of experiencing this, I notice sometimes it just happens without anything triggering it, but a lot of times it will be triggered if 1) I'm under a lot of stress and 2) I eat bad or excessive seafood or beef.

Benadryl will always take care of the problem. Symptoms will subside within 15 minutes of taking Benadryl, but they will come back every so often.

I REALLY want to know what this is. Please help!

Wow! I thought I was going crazy. After reading all of these blogs, I am experiencing the same exact symptoms. I woke up one morning after excercising the day before and had a rash that started at my feet and ankles and was extremely itchy. The rash moved to my elbows and forearms, and I felt weak and numb in my hands. The next day, I still had the rash and felt numbness in my hands and my feet and hands were both red and swollen. The bottoms of my feet and backs of my ankles were extremely itchy to the point that I have given myself scratches. I went to the doctor who was unable to give a diagnosis-other than the Rheumatoid arthritis, but could not figure out why I would have it. I was given blood tests and was also given a steroid shot to take down the selling, but a day or two later and I am experiencing the same symptoms and can barely type due to the swelling in my hands. The only things that I can think of that I have done in the past month are that I drank a half of a glass of Kendall Jackson cabernet savignon and awoke the next day with the worst hangover I have ever had, I was pulling weeds one day, and the other thing is that the last thing I did was to excercise with weights where I was somewhat over exerted. Otherwise, I am relatively healthy, excercise pretty regularly and do have some allergies but not to explain these sudden symptoms that came back after treatment. I have not received any response about the results of my blood test, but based on these blogs that I have read, I am thinking this is a strange anomaly.

Also, I have experienced the same issue with the numbness and tingling in my hands. I have noticed this problem in the last several years and have not really done anything about it. The appearance of this condition I would not have made a connection except that the swelling in my hands came the next day after the rash and the numbnes in both my hands. It is extremely itchy and since the shot wore off, I can barely feel my hands and my feet hurt when I walk and are both swollen and red.

I was devastated when I started reading that this might be some type of autoimmune disorder. Lupus did not make sense as the rash usually appears somewhere on the face. The doctor thought of rheumatoid athritis, but since I did not have a family history or some type of virus, he did not make the connection as to how I would get it. I did read somewhere that sometimes RA can come on rather suddenly as a result of an injury or physical exertion. I also read somewhere about allergic reactions coming on after exposure to extreme cold or heat, which in my case happened after being overexerted during excercise.

I am a 36 year old female. I was on Vacation last week. The Thursday before I had a fever. I think, but am not sure. this is where my troubles started. I started with minor aggrivating headaches and a red rash on my arms and legs, that was very itchy. I ignored it and thought it was sun poison. By the 4th day I found it hard to get out of bed. Very painful from shoulders to feet. When I got home on the 6th day, returned to work for a 15 HR shift. When I crawled back into bed, could hardly walk. After sleeping for 3 Hrs., Could not walk at all due to so much knee pain. After being helped to the bathroom, and 5 more hours of sleep I was able to walk again with pain. I had been taking Advil on a regular bases for this pain. Now on the 2nd week still feeling pain in my legs, exspecialy when trying to relax. I am very close to seeing my doctor, but I believe they will tell me it is nothing,and put me on an useless med. I think it may be viral? Symptoms...early fever that lasted less then 24 hrs, headaches, itchy rash, fatigue, joint pain and swelling.

I am 20 years old and also experience these symptoms. Today at around 2 am I began to feel my hands start to swell and it is now 1:30 pm and i still have slight swelling but now i can bend my fingers. I have no idea what this is either but would like to know badly. I have had a family member who is a doctor look at it and they didn't know either. I have to admit I am shocked by how many people have the same problem as me!

I have RA and have experinced my times itching around my joints-I have scratched these areas sometime to the point of breaking the skin, the itch is deep and annoying and unrelenting-it seems to be more so when I have more swelling in these areas-it happens in my feet and hands, shoulders, knees, hips, ankles, wrists, elbows anywhere a joint may be bothering me-I asked my massage therapist if I was crazy and I was told that it is a nerve response to the swelling and inflammation involved with RA it can actually cause swelling to point of decreasing blood flow to the nerves which can cause the nerve to respond with an itching sensation. Hope this helps!

I am a 53yr old female who experienced this sudden onset of red, itchy swollen hands yesterday around noon. I had eaten at a breakfast bar and assumed I must have eaten something I was allergic to. After about 1/2 hour it subsided. This morning after I got out of bed, before taking any meds (or water for that matter) the same thing happened again. This time the redness and swelling was much more intense. I alerted my husband as the symptoms began and we both watched in horror as my palms turned blood red and swelled. I tried cold water, topical cortisone creme and after 10 minutes took a 25mg Benadryl. After 30 minutes they began to subside and withnin an hour they had returned to normal. I had done nothing but gotten out of bed, used the bathroom, brushed my teeth and walked out into the kitchen when I was suddenly hit with the symptoms. My sister-in-law suggested Parvo virus (Fifth's Disease). Parvo ususally affects children (fever, red rash on hands and feet) and since I'm a teacher I could have been exposed. If it occurs again, I'll get blood work done...this is scarey not knowing.

VickiiI have all the exact same systems only my rash started on the side my bottom which was so itchy that I made it  red & sore, then a day later both my feet where itchy & red as well as my ankles, then the next day the palms of my hands, that has gone away but now my ankles & hand & rists are all swollen and sore joints I have a thyroid conditions so doctor checked that and is normal to my surprise so now they are doing more test & get the results tomorrow, I have been just been taking some pain medication which is doing nothing as the doctor didn't want to give me anything as he doesn't now what the problem is as yet. I will update the results tomorrow after I see the doctor...

OK. I spoke with my brother who is an internal medicine doctor. His first question was " What is your latest thyroid level? Above or below one?" He went on to explain that the normal TSH level done when you get your thyroid tested is actually a normal range (around 1.0), and that doctors have historically under prescribed thyroid medications to their patients, thinking everyone near 1,0 has a "normal" thyroid level. Well...he further explained that when people are under stress (emotional and physical...recent surgery or medical procedures included) that the thyroid hormone readily binds to globulins (proteins) that increase during that stressful period, thereby affectivly lowering the blood thyroid levels. Low levels cause neuropathy, and especially extreme reactions to temperatures!!!! In my case, I had arthroscopic surgery on my knee 4 weeks ago, and was diagnosed with hypothyroidism 6 weeks ago. My TSH level was checked the day before my surgery and I was told it was normal(I was on 0.05mg thyroxin by then). My sudden onset of fire red hands occurred 2weeks after the surgery upon waking and washing my face with cold water. I have since experienced the red, itchy reaction on my feet (touching cold bathroom tiles) and face, as well as my hands. I got in a cold saltwater swimming pool this weekend and had to get out and get in a hot tub to relieve my EXTREMELY itchy palms!! So...I'm calling my doctor tomorrow, relaying this info, and hopefully with his blessings increasing my thyroid medication levels. I'll keep you informed of any changes.

I don't have anything new to reply, only to add weight that we're not crazy! I have it, too, it seems. Lately I've had sudden unexplained deep intense itching and swelling and redness in my fingers and hands. Sometimes one hand, sometimes the other one, sometimes just fingers.

I can say that I AM having a seriously stressful life right now, and that's all that's different. I know my sister's on thyroid meds, and maybe I need to be, too. She and I have lots of the same problems...

Good luck, everyone!!!!

Try the "ice-cube test"....My doctor diagnosed my red, itchy hands and feet as COLD URTICARIA. He did the "ice cube test" on forearm and within 1 minute of removing it, the area where the ice cube had been turned BRIGHT RED, raised, bumpy and ITCHED like crazy!! He does not believe it is related to my thyroid nor does he think my surgery and anesthesia triggered it. He said it is an AUTOIMMUNE syndrome and can last a few months or FOREVER!!! My thyroid (TSH) was rechecked and was still within "normal" range (2.55). I contacted another doctor who believes my TSH should be 1.0 and I am increasing my thyroid medication (levothyroxin) in an effort to bring my value down closer to 1.0 (The normal range is between 0.2 to 4.5 )Neither doctor had an explanation for my COLD URTICARIA but one gave me an antihistamine and a prescription for a medrol-dose pack (cortisone) if it gets worse. I'll keep you up to date....so far no cause for the COLD URTICARIA...just the diagnosis.

I can't remember when my symptoms started but the first time I ignored them, this time I grew concerned. My palms and wrist started off itchy and the soles of my feet! They burn after you scrach them and like some of you, It seems symetrical, right side or left side. I have found cortizone to relive the itching.

I don't know if I should call my allergist or general practice doctor for these symptoms. I have had problems with allergies over the years and for many years I took a daily dose of allegra but have stopped b/c I found the neti pot to be natural and just as effective.

It seems like doctors are taking a stab at the diagnosis as several possible diagnoses were thrown out in these posts.