<s>[INST] For the second time in 12 days I was sitting quietly and suddenly my face felt prickly hot. In the mirror it was deep red. My neck was also red and blotchy and within second the palms of my hands were bright red and the backs of my hands and up and down my arms were blotchy red and itchy. The symptoms started to subside after approximately 25 minutes and were gone completely after an hour although I developed a headache during this time. By upper legs and bottom were also itchy.  I am female and 50 years old so Im thinking - could this be my bodys idea of a hot flash?!?! I had not eaten anything new. Any thoughts? [/INST] Hello, Thank you for posting on Chat Doctor. The condition you have referred to is called Urticaria or hives. It's an allergic manifestation of skin, where an allergen leads to release of certain substances from your blood, leading to itchy skin rash and swelling over soft tissues. Its proper management requires thorough history, clinical and laboratory work-up. You may have to go for specific tests like patch test, food prick test, IGE antibody levels etc. As for treatment part, best would be the avoidance of allergen as far as possible. Try to eliminate possible triggering foods from diet. I would also advise you various antihistamines for long duration(at least 3 months) with or without oral corticosteroids. For non-responding cases there are many other Chat Doctor.  Hope this will help you in resolving your query. Thank you  </s>