Has anyone had hives over their port?

Posted by val64 @val64, 5 days ago

I had 6 cycles of carboplatin/paclitaxel from fall 2022 to January 2023 and another 8 cycles from December 2023 to May 7 this year. Each time, about 5-6 weeks after the last infusion, I started breaking out in hives, and I feel like it is associated with my port somehow.

Last year, I had a single horrible breakout that took a couple days to go away with benadryl. I had hives over most of my chest, abdomen and back, with a few on my arms and head, and none on my legs. The breakout progressed over a few hours, but I felt like it started over my port. I didn't mention the port when I told the gyn/once nurse practitioner. She said to take Benadryl and talk to my PCP. After a couple bad days, the hives did not recur, and 2 weeks later I got my port removed, in part because of this episode. (I was supposedly cancer-free.)

I had a new port put in when I restarted chemo, and haven't had issues with hives until this week. This time I'm getting smallish patches only across the top of my chest and into my neck. The first and the most recent outbreaks were over my port, but I have had patches that were not over the port. I have attached a picture of today's outbreak right before I gave up and took Benadryl, which did make it go away.

Has anyone seen something like this?

I don't know whether this is just a phase in the recovery of my immune system, and that the hives start at the port because the skin is stretched tight; or if it actually has something to do with the port. I haven't had it flushed since my last cycle of chemo (just under 6 weeks ago), and I was wondering if maybe that has something to do with it? I'm also spectacularly allergic to carboplatin. I wouldn't think that some of that hanging around 5 weeks later could be the problem, but I guess you never know.

I really want this to go away, but I need the port.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Gynecologic Cancers Support Group.

There do appear to be a couple adverse event reports to the FDA about hives over Bard Powerports (which mine is), but they couldn't draw any conclusions. The report from last year isn't about me, since I never speculated to my doctor or NP that the port was the problem. They definitely would have dismissed it anyway.

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You may be allergic to the Port Cover tape. They make a different type for people allergic to the standard port cover. I suggest you ask about it.

Best

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