Thank you so much for your comment and advice. I am shocked to hear that you have had this since childhood (and still have it). I know that must be difficult, but I am glad it doesn’t seem to bother you very much any longer.

About the Zyrtec, I completely understand what you are saying. I did actually take a Zyrtec about a week or two ago, and it did indeed prevent an attack for the rest of the night. The only problem is, it did make me very drowsy (both that night, and the whole next day). I do know that the body does usually adjust to the drowsiness after a few days, but in my experience, the body also adjusts to the antihistamine and they seem to be less effective. I have never tried this with Zyrtec, but I have experienced this with others. For example, I once took hydroxyzine when I first got CU, and it literally knocked me out cold that day (I took a long nap).

After about a week, it didn’t make me quite as drowsy, but the hives returned to almost the same even though I still took them. So eventually I stopped taking them all-together. I suspect Zyrtec may be similar, but it is interesting that it helps you that much.

Plus, I tend to use the approach you mention, and I only take an antihistamine when I am going to do something big. I hate to take medications because I always worry about the negative effects on the body. I never take them when I am going to be home all day sitting around. In those situations, I never have full blown CU, and if I get a little prickly, I just go cool down or flip on the AC. I only take them to events such as DollyWood, outdoor activity, or if I know I am going to be in a potential situation that causes hives.

So that is hard because that means if I take a regular Zyrtec on those rare occasions, I will automatically get drowsy since I don’t take them regularly. That is why I like the “D” a little better. It does help some (perhaps not as much as the regular, but it is hard to say in comparison), yet at the same time doesn’t make me drowsy. I still have a lot of Zyrtec D left (which will probably last for several months), but when I run out, I may get some regular Zyrtec for a while and see if I notice a big difference.

As far as the allergies thing, I do not (and have never) had asthma. I do have a stuffy nose a lot. I have made several posts about bouts with eczema, which started about 3 years after I first got CU. I basically get some skin rashes, which I have actually pinpointed to be caused by foods. I had eczema so badly at one point, that the back of my calves both had a huge red patch, my arms had a huge red patch, the back of my neck was covered in eczema, and it was an itchy mess.

I eventually cut milk out of my diet, and that knocked out about 99.9% of all the eczema. As of right now, I have a couple of itchy bumps on my arm (very small pinpoint size), and I small round patch about the size of a nickel on my shoulder. That is it, and that will go away when I continue eating raw veggies and fruit for a few weeks (as it has in the past).

I have also posted in the past how my CU gets dramatically better (but not 100% gone) after eating a super clean diet for a week or two, consisting of foods such as rice, veggies, fruits, and very lean meat. This really leads me to believe that all of it could be allergy related in some way (both environmental and food allergies), but it is just speculation.

Anyway, thanks again for the information & great advice. I hope your CU continues to not give you too many problems.

I can definitely relate to how terrible the “prickly/itchy” feeling is. I hate it. I have often mentioned that they should try to figure out a way to induce cholinergic urticaria so they can torture terrorrists or something.

I know it must be hard dealing with this in high school. I had it during college, and it practically drove me crazy. Thanks for the comment & good luck with your Cu!

From one CU victim to another: good luck, and I wish you many cool, windy, rainy days!!