I have good days and bad days. I have eliminated almost all foods to get rid of the itching. The itching is 85% gone, but I am hungry. Every once in a while I will eat something I know will cause me mild symptoms and deal with the itching for 24 hours. It's usually my hands and feet that start itching first. For the most part I have avoided full blown hives this past year. Last full body hives I had lasted 3 to 4 days! I didn't have time to think because I was itching so bad. Afterwards I dealt with the bruises and scabs. When it starts weighing too heavily on my mental health my coping mechanism is sleep. Not healthy, but better than other alternatives.

For the first few years after being diagnosed with CIU, I resented my body for not being able to function correctly. I hated my body for needing medicine, and I felt like my own body had betrayed me. It took time for me to realize that my body was not trying to hurt me. I have to remind myself that while my body is not perfect, it is trying to be and out it fighting to keep me alive and will. It just needs some extra help from medicine to do its job. I still struggle, but I try not to hold it against myself :)