Cholinergic Urticaria (Chronic Heat Hives)-Cholinergic Urticaria.net I Get Itchy Heat Hives (Cholinergic Urticaria) When I Get Hot or Exercise

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Hello Everyone!

Well as you know, I am experimenting to see if there is any possible connection with food allergies to Cholinergic Urticaria (hives). Basically I just want to rule out food allergies as a possible cause. We I wanted to give an update on the situation that happened over the past couple of days.

First, you all know I have faithfully been avoiding gluten & dairy products, since that is the main suspected food allergens. I also recently made a gluten free pizza as you can see from an earlier post.

The pizza turned out great, and tasted pretty good as well. Everything was great, and I was thinking, “WOW, this gluten free/milk free diet isn’t bad at all.”  Yeah, I thought that alright, until several hours later when that pizza had digested!!!

I am not trying to gross anyone out here, but I haven’t had that kind of stomach pain since cutting out milk/gluten several weeks ago. I was DOG SICK all night. I had BAD stomach cramps, bloating, gas, and you guessed it, severe diarrhea (sorry for the details). I stayed in bed for the rest of the night. My wife ate the exact same thing, and only had a little gas. So I know that something in those ingredients messed me up, and my wife doesn’t have a problem with whatever I have a problem with in those ingredients)!

So I was kind of in shock about the situation, because all the ingredients specifically listed that they did not contain dairy OR gluten! So I thought to myself…Okay, perhaps I have an issue with Soy or one of the other ingredients as well (the “cheese” was soy based, and the pizza sauce also had soybean ingredients).

So the next day (which was yesterday July 27th), we made another couple of pizzas (I was finally feeling a little better). This time, I didn’t add the “soy” cheese topping to mine, and instead just had the crust with pizza sauce & pepperoni to see if it would mess me up again without the cheese. And the same thing happened, only not near as severe as the day before (again my wife was fine & actually ate the cheese again on her pizza). I once again had bad gas, bloating, and some cramps (although not really diarrhea this time).

Not only that, after having my stomach all messed (BADLY) all weekend, I have now noticed an increase in my cholinergic urticaria sensitivity today. I just walked outside, and BAM, started getting a little prickly. As you know, I have had a pretty good period of less reactive hives before this incident. My wife & I suspect it is linked to the food/digestion problem. I was doing much better, the hives not near as severe, and my stomach was feeling great.

Then, within the same time period as my stomach getting all crazy, bam, the hives go up a notch in intensity right along with it. I think I am starting to see a pattern here!!

So I looked at all the ingredients on the labels & here they are:

For the Pizza Crust Mix: Whole grain brown rice flour, potato starch, whole grain millet flour, whole grain sorghum flour, tapioca flour, potato flour, evaporated cane juice, Xantham gum, active dry yeast, sea salt, guar gum.

For the Hormel Pepperoni: Pork, beef, salt, contains 2% or less water, dextrose, spices, lactic acid starter culture (not derived from milk), oleoresin of paprika, garlic powder, sodium nitrate, bha, bht, citric acid.

For the Pizza Sauce: Tomato puree (water, tomato paste), soybean oil, salt, spices, parsley, natural flavors (contains soybeans).

So when I ate it with the soy cheese, it really messed me up. When I ate it without the soy cheese, it still messed me up, but not as bad.

So I am just absolutely confused right now about what is going on! So do I have to watch out for soy now as well? Or did some other potential allergen mess me up such as the Xantham gum, or the yeast, or preservative?? It seems that it might have been the soy since that is what really messed me up, and since I still got a dose of it from the pizza sauce ingredients when I ate the second pizza without the soy cheese??

Conclusion: I am still going strong on the gluten free/milk free diet. However, I am starting to realize that if something messes up my stomach that bad, there is a good chance I have some sort of allergy or intolerance to it, and I need to avoid it. It is NOT natural to get cramps that badly, and I KNOW it was from something in that food that messed up my stomach!

An Even Stricter Diet??

Therefore, I have a new plan. I am going to eat up the remaining food I have that is gluten free/milk free over the next few days. Then, I am strongly considering going on a pretty serious elimination diet. I will keep everyone posted when/if I do it. An elimination diet is where you restrict all foods that contain any possible main allergen, and eat as natural & plain as possible. Then you see if the allergies/problems go away.

I am talking plain rice, a few plain veggies, and perhaps some plain sugars (such as honey), and maybe plain meat (without any preservatives, etc.) if I can find it. I would cut out the cereal, snacks, etc. It would be very hard to follow that diet, and I would probably do it for at least 2-4 weeks to see the results. If I don’t see anything after that period of time, then I have no idea! I know my stomach will be better on this diet, because it always feels really good when I eat simple foods like rice & veggies, and even feels good now that I haven’t ate more pizza. But the question is will it help/cure the cholinergic urticaria?

I have to know 100% in my mind whether or not foods or ingredients in my diet is causing this!! Maybe it is related to food, maybe it isn’t? Or Maybe it is multiple foods allergies or multiple things causing this?? I know CU has its normal ups & downs and cycles of intensity, but it seems every time I start to get intense, I can pinpoint a severe stomach episode, or rash on my body that happens right along, or just before it.

If I go on this very restrictive diet, and still have the hives after another 2-3 weeks more on it, then I will have to assume that the diet is not the cause. But I still suspect my diet is somehow link (and my wife does as well).

Only time will tell….

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