When my alopecia started, at the exact same time I started getting hives. Bad hives so much so I had to carry an epipen as I would get them in throat and nose. I went to lots if doctors and testing and no cause was determined. I was told while both the hives and alopecia were autoimmune type conditions they were not related. And that is probably true but the cause/trigger must somehow be related. However I could not and still can't identify anything significant that happened when they started. After a while of being up all night with painful hives that would cover me from head to toe, I tried gluten free and within a week the hives stopped. I am not completely convinced the diet change really made a difference since I find it hard to believe I could become reactive to gluten literally almost overnight. Hives are 99.9 percent gone. Alopecia continues to progress unfortunately. So gluten free isn't doing anything for my alopecia. Wish I could piece the puzzle together....I will say that the physical and emotional aspect of hives is so much more than alopecia. I would take hair loss over those hives any day.