Before going to a medical appointment, always try to pay attention to the details of your flares. The following observations can be very useful for your healthcare professional:

• Try to remember your first flare. Were you ill? Did you take any different medicine? Did you notice swelling on any part of the body?
• What about subsequent flares? Have they presented with similar symptoms? Was there anything different?
• How long does a single lesion (hives) last? What about swelling (angioedema)?
• Is there something you believe is a triggering factor? Any food or drug? Anything that could make flares worse?
• List all drugs you take on a daily basis, as well as those you take occasionally. Everything you keep in your medicine cabinet that you use sporadically.
• If you have ever been submitted to a test, please, take the results to the appointment.
• You can also start to write a flare diary – to learn more about this, please click on “how to write a diary of flares”
• Another important measure is to take pictures of the lesions when in flare. It’s quite usual a patient presenting with no lesion on the appointment day. Photographing hives or bumps is very useful for your healthcare professional.
• Bring a list of all drugs you have taken to treat your urticaria. Take notes of dosages and try to remember how you responded to those drugs