My mother has had a condition for a couple of years now that she has seen several doctors about and has never received any real help, just more medication that never works.

She gets hives all over her body that swell up and turn red. The other day she had them all over her arms and she said it was stinging and painful. She said it had never been that painful before.

She didn't go to the doctor because she doesn't have health insurance.

What kinds of things can cause hives? I'm thinking she's having a reaction to a medication that she's taking but I would think that would be the first thing that the doctors would eliminate.

The hives only last about 24 hours but are always replaced by more.

Yeah, you would think the doctors would check for a medical reaction, but they don't always look for the obvious!
Has she seen any different doctors that could offer more help?

Here are some sites that may give you more information:

http://www.allergycapital.com.au/Pages/urticaria.html

http://www.8004asthma.com/hives_information.htm

http://www.regionalallergy.com/education/understanding/sinusitis/rhinitis/asthma/hives.html

Also another site recommends cool water for baths as warm water may be more irritating.
Good luck!

Texan-In-Exile, my mom said thanks for those links. I printed them out and gave them to her. She learned a lot from it, more than she learned from the doctors. The best part is that it's not dangerous.

http://www.familydoctor.org/flowcharts/545.html
You can also try this and go down to where you find hives..hope she gets better soon.