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

Yesterday my wife had finished taking her Nclex boards (to get officially licensed as an RN Nurse), so she had the day off after she was finished. When she got home, we ate and spent some time together.

I know this sounds corny, but we were watching some “Leave it to Beaver” episodes on Netflix (I LOVE Netflix by the way). That show is so old (it is in black and white), but I still think it was such a great show. In fact, I wish real life was so innocent and nice as it is portrayed in that series. For those of you who don’t know what I am talking about, it is about a small boy “Beaver” and all of his mischievous things he manages to do in each episode. I know, a bit geeky for a couple of 20 somethings to watch, but oh well.

Anyway, after we watched a couple of episodes, my wife suggested we visit the local park. I had previously been wishing I could get out to get some sun exposure anyway, and I was a little tired of staying indoors all day for the past few weeks, so I agreed to go.

So we got in the car, and off we went. I didn’t take a Zyrtec before I left, for a couple of reasons:

1. I usually take the Zyrtec-D because it isn’t quite as powerful and doesn’t make me drowsy, but last time I took it I actually did get drowsy. It kind of ruined my whole entire day, as I was so sleepy I could barely focus.
2. And most importantly, they haven’t been stopping the hives lately at all. So the way I look at it, I may as well not take them if I am going to feel like crap (sleepy) and still get hives.

Anyway, we finally got to the park and walked around for a while. It was cloudy when we left, so I was glad and thought I could get some outdoor exposure without getting baked at the same time.

Knowing my luck, the sun came out full force after a few minutes. I was fine for about 20 minutes while we watched the ducks play in the water, and I tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. I didn’t even get prickly.

Then we walked down to another area, and the sun was beating on me the whole way. As we stood there, I started to feel it coming on. I can always sense an attack, because my entire skin gets this sensation on it. I call it my “Spider-sense” like in Spider-man. It started as a couple of pricklies on the back of my neck. I told my wife, “Oh no, I am getting a little itchy.” I could feel the Cholinergic Urticaria trying to creep its way into my flesh.

I backed off into the shade to try to dodge the attack. It didn’t work. The sun was still shining and seemed to even intensify a bit, and the shade wasn’t helping. Then it got worse. The stinging feeling starting randomly popping up all over in random spots. It feels like I get pricked with a small needle, and then it itches really badly for a second afterward. This all happens really fast, and it moves from one area to the other.

This cycle continued, and it kept randomly popping up all over. I started to scratch, and scratch, and scratch. First my head, then my chest, then my back, then my forehead, and on and on.

I started to get really annoyed. My wife could see the frustration on my face, and she said, “Do you want to leave.”

“Yes,” I replied. “Let’s get the heck out of here right now. My hives are getting bad.”

So we had to walk all the way back to the car, and the hives were full force the whole entire walk, and were getting worse. I was scratching like crazy, and just kept saying, “I am so tired of this.”

There were people out too, and I tried to make it look as nonchalant and normal as I could, but I had to scratch. The pain and itching was almost unbearable, and it wasn’t letting up.

We finally made it to the car, and of course thanks to the greenhouse effect it was super hot. So I immediately blasted the A/C on full blast, and began to drive with one hand while frantically scratching myself all over with the other hand. I was going nuts scratching myself all over and trying to keep up with all of the “pins and needles.”

The hives were still stinging me everywhere, and at this point I just lost it. I let out a big scream saying, ”Dang it..What in the HECK is wrong with me Why in the HECK do I have to feel this torture almost every day.” My wife jumped, as she didn’t expect a big loud outburst.

I then went on a screaming rant for the next 10 minutes about how much it sucks having hives, how I hate it, and how I am so tired of living like this. This is odd for me too, because I am usually really quite and calm acting. I was so upset I just felt like I was going crazy. Like I could cry and scream and pull my hair out or something.

My wife just sat there and listened. I hate how my hives have to not only affect my life, but also hers. She is always great about it, but it still stinks!

Eventually the hives faded once the A/C got going. Like always, I felt drained and depressed afterward.I looked down and had tons of little red dots (hives) on me again. I usually only get those when I have a bad attack, and this was a very bad attack. When I got home I could see how my entire chest was flushed bright red, but it had faded during the drive. I would hate to see what it looked like during the actual attack.

Needless to say, I was pretty down in the dumps yesterday, and even today as well. I often talk on the forum about trying to maintain a positive attitude, and to not let the hives get you down. I believe in this attitude wholeheartedly, but unfortunately, it is easier said than done. This is particularly true when one experiences a really intense and emotional reaction like I did yesterday.

I am positive most days, but when I have days like I had yesterday it really affects me mentally. I feel like I am being tortured for no reason. I have no idea what is causing it or if it will ever go away. I get extremely upset and bitter towards live. I begin to loath life, loath the hives, and everything else.

I feel like I have nothing to look forward to. I have no idea if it will ever go away, or if I will ever be able to have the health I once had just a mere 8 years ago. And regardless of what I try to tell myself, it has MAJORLY impacted my life (and mostly in a negative way).

I find myself stressing about silly things in fear of an attack. I find avoiding as many social events as I possibly can. Instead, I seek solitude and isolate myself in a way to avoid attacks. Between my stomach issues making me avoid going out to eat, and my hives making me avoid doing anything physical, I basically do nothing. Dollywood was the most fun I have had in a while, and the hives even managed to sting me during that.

The truth is, people can live with CU, and I believe in making the most of it that you can. After all, it isn’t like it is bad 100% of the time. It kind of comes and goes in intensity. But it is downright hard live with this at times. Sometimes people just have to break down, or at least I know I do. There are just some days when a positive attitude doesn’t cut it any longer. It is time to face reality. It is time to be bitter, and rant, and let out steam.

I honestly don’t know what in the heck is going on with my body, but I hate it. Why oh why do I (and we) have to keep living with this. Can’t we get a break? Can’t we all just have a break from this torture? Why me, why you? Why can’t doctors figure this thing out? Grrrr.

Furthermore, sometimes I get pretty depressed about life in general. As I have stated on the forum before, each outbreak reminds me of my own mortality. It reminds me that, “Hey, your body is not working right, and one day you will die because something else in your body will screw up. Have fun.” I wonder if I will suffer and even get worse until my life comes to an end by some other disease.

This gets me even more down, because I realize the fragile nature of life. We live to die. There is sadly a lot of suffering felt in most cases (except for those few lucky ones who die in their sleep). I don’t know how or when I will die, but I know that I am suffering right now. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have to suffer through this ever again.

Not that I am suicidal, because I am not at all. I just feel like life loses its luster when your health is stripped away (or damaged).

Update on My Diet & Stomach Issues

Well, I have been eating healthy again with no junk food or processed foods since Monday. So far my stomach still gets a bit bloated even when eating healthy foods, and my hives (as mentioned above) seem to still be rather intense.

As I mentioned in my last post, I am starting to wonder if perhaps I have some type of in chronic inflammatory bowel disease which could be responsible for everything (hives and stomach issues). Hopefully I can figure this stuff out and perhaps see a doctor within the next few months if something doesn’t get straightened out in my body.

I swear, it is times like these when I seriously start considering taking some more extreme medicines (like corticosteroids or steroids). But then again, there is no guarantee those will even work.

Anyway, I just wanted to sort of rant and share my experience yesterday, and also update on the diet/stomach thing. I hope everyone’s hives goes away soon, and I hope they aren’t giving you grief right now.

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The past couple of days I have been having quite a few hives attacks. First it started with a trip to my mother’s house with my wife. I was outside with my nephew “fighting”. For some reason, he always tries to drag me outside to “fight” (which simply means sword fighting with sticks). He loves it, so I play along.

Anyway, it was a very chilly day of around 40-50 degrees, and after some “fighting” I took my jacket off. We continued until suddenly I experienced a pretty annoying attack of hives. I must have sat there and itched for like 5-7 minutes straight until they finally went away. It gets so annoying having to do that.

That was just the beginning. Later on, I was helping my mother hookup some cables to her TV. She keeps it very hot in her house (lucky me), and of course I began breaking out into unbearable itching while I was attaching the equipment. I had to stop and open windows and cool off before I could continue.

And then, as if that wasn’t enough, my wife was trying out this new salsa recipe her mamaw gave her. I know to avoid spicy foods since they tend to raise our body temperatures and cause a reaction, however, I didn’t think the salsa was going to be that spicy.

After eating only a couple of tortilla chips in the salsa, I began getting the little prickly/itching sensation on my forehead. So I had to stop eating them right away. It was so itchy too, and it feels like it is just beneath the skin’s surface where you can almost scratch it, but you just barely miss it.

On top of all of that, I have been having a few episodes of hives in my sleep. I will wake up hot and itching, and have to cool myself off, or just lay there until it ends. It isn’t fun at all.

But anyways, I get so sick and tired of having this stupid hives stuff to deal with. I have to literally stop and think before I do something to make sure I won’t have an attack. I can’t go most places, at least, not without a hive attack. It hurts and itches severely. And it just isn’t fun.

I sometimes lay in bed at night and think to myself, “why me?” Why do I have this? Why do I have to be tortured like that. I am young. I am not perfect by any means, but I haven’t done anything to warrant this torture. Why can’t some murderer, thief,  woman beater, or really “bad guy” have this instead of me? Will this condition ever go away, and if so when? Am I going to be doomed to live a life of torture like this?

Needless to say I get pretty down in the dumps sometimes. I hate it. To add fuel to the fire it is kind of annoying when people don’t really understand what we go through. I know they try, but unless you have felt the pain and itching–there is no understanding. It is terrible. I have had poison ivy, mosquito bites, chicken pox, and more. Nothing even comes close to this torture called cholinergic urticaria.

What makes it even worse is that I live in this crappy apartment with paper thin walls. The apartment itself is actually nice and it was brand new when we moved in about 3 years ago. But I can’t go outside (neighbors everywhere and I hate small talk every day), I can’t filter water to see if that helps, and I honestly feel like a prisoner of war.

Almost daily I live in solitude hearing the neighbor to my left drop stuff and talk on the phone all day. While my neighbor to the right enjoys having extremely loud “intimacy” with their same sex partner every other day (which is gross because I don’t want to hear anyone having intimacy), and allowing their relatives’ young kids come over almost daily and cry and stomp around all day. I can hear it so loudly, it is almost as if they are inside of my apartment.

Literally the only thing that gets me through it is the fact that my wife will be graduating with her degree in nursing within the next 5 months, and finally we will be able to apply for a mortgage loan for a house and move out of this place. I can’t help but feel as if having a house will make my life 1,000 times better. I am literally counting the seconds…

Not only will I finally have some peace and quite when I get a house (something every human deserves), but I will also be able to try many experiments I have been wanting to try. For example, I can try filtering the water system, growing my own organic fruits and veggies, experimenting with a steam/sauna room, getting more sun exposure/outdoor activity, make my house dust mite-proof, and so much more. Not only that, but aside from doing stuff for the hives I can actually listen to music loudly. I can watch TV without having to turn it down during the loud parts. I can actually do a few hobbies such as building stuff, or fixing my vehicles. I really feel as if having a house will help me get rid of these hives, or at least make life more bearable and the hives more manageable and less intense. Here is a tip if you are young and considering moving out of your parent’s house: APARTMENTS SUCK-and if you ever think about getting one, you better make sure you can’t hear your neighbors! If I could go back, I think I would prefer a cardboard box on the street.

I usually try to maintain a positive attitude about all of this. If I didn’t, I don’t think I could survive it. The hope that one day I can live a normal life again helps me to wake up every morning. The fact that I know there are others that suffer through this as well helps tremendously. The hope that one day it will go away keeps me fighting. I just hope that one day the cause will be figured out, or a cure, or at least a reasonable treatment that works. Or even better it just goes away forever and never comes back.

I know that some people have it worse, and we should focus on that and be thankful that we don’t have something worse. We could have terminal cancer. We could have a condition that makes us completely disabled. We could have an amputation or other serious medical problem.  So I am definitely thankful for that.

But at the same time I can’t help but notice how so many people around me have it better. They don’t have to worry about Cholinergic Urticaria. They don’t have to worry about anything. They can eat what they want, do what they want, and nothing. No itching, no nothing. They can workout and sweat as the human body is supposed to do it. They can run outside with no worries. They can wear a sweater on a cold day without worrying about getting to hot and developing hives inside of a building.

Oh well. That is enough ranting and whining I guess. I am sorry to anyone that reads this, and I hope I didn’t bring you down. I just get so tired of it, and I am sure most of you do as well.  Maybe you can relate with some of the stuff I wrote, and that will help you knowing that I understand the crap we all have to go through. I just hope this goes away soon for all of us. We deserve paradise after suffering through this.

By the way, I can’t help but notice how much better I feel. Talking to people about your feelings (even online), and ranting about it, really helps by the way! I actually feel so much better now that I am proof-reading this post. Like a weight has been lifted off. If you ever feel overwhelmed with this, I would highly recommend talking to someone close about it. If you have no one, you are welcome to open a thread on the forum and vent about it, and I will be glad to relate and talk with you.

So let me end this post on a positive note. We have been through crap with this condition. But we aren’t going to let it win, are we? No,– we will wake up again and fight and hope and one day we won’t have this. After all, it supposedly “goes away” one day for most people. One day we can look back and think, “wow, that was crazy when I broke out in hives all the time.” We can tell our kids stories. We can help others who are just getting CU. Maybe we can write a best selling book about our trials and suffering, and perhaps become multimillionaires. Never say never! We will beat this. We will fight the good fight my friends. We will be victorious! Let’s just hang in there.

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