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

Hello Everyone!

I just wanted to update on several things. In my last post, I talked about taking some anti-candida treatment, my mom’s visit to the dermatologist, and the passing of my sister-in-law. So here are a few updates:

The Anti-Candida Treatment, Hives, & My Tongue (Thrush)

As I mentioned, I am taking Diflucan (Fluconazole) to treat the Candida on my tongue. I am taking it for a couple of more days, and that will probably be it. I have taken it 4 days so far, so I will have done a total of 6 days of treatment when it is over.

So far my tongue looks a little less white, but still has some Candida on it. I have read online & it does seem to take a few days for the meds to start working, so we will see if my tongue improves within the next few days. It really doesn’t bother me at all, but I would prefer it to clear up a little better. But the main reason I am doing this is to see if it helps the hives.

My stomach feels a bit better, but it is hard to tell if it is from the medicine, or the fact that I have been eating very little over the past few days. I don’t know yet if it will have any effect on my digestion issues & lactose intolerance.

As far as the hives, I still have them. It doesn’t seem quite as intense, but I did have an attack today (I was sitting in the hot car with my wife while doing laundry). But again, it is still a bit early to see if the anti-Candida treatment will do anything at all to the hives. Maybe it will, maybe it wont. I should know in about another week for sure.

My Experience with Zyrtec D Antihistamine for Cholinergic Urticaria

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently tried Zyrtec D for the first time ever. I have tried several other antihistamine’s in the past (Claritin, Hydroxyzine, Benadryl, etc), but I had never tried Zyrtec before this week. Other antihistamines seem to help only a little bit, but always make me so drowsy.

This one did seem to help quite a bit more than the other anti-histamines. Also, I really like the fact that it did not make me drowsy at all. Not one bit. I first tried it when my wife & I went to be with our family, and I didn’t get 1 attack that day.

I also tried it at the funeral. The building was super-hot during the day when my wife & the family went to the family viewing earlier in the afternoon. I was wearing 2 shirts (a dress shirt with a t-shirt underneath), and I stood up front with my wife to greet everyone who came through to view the body. The Zyrtec D helped a lot, and I did feel a few pricklies, but it seemed to make me much less reactive, and I was able to get through it.

Later, during the actual funeral, I didn’t get itchy. I had felt like I had a small sensation for a minute, but it quickly passed, and I was able to get through the whole thing with no hives. I think the Zyrtec D helped quite a bit, but of course, it doesn’t cure it. The real test will come on the graduation party for my wife in about a month, and our trip to Dollywood that we plan to take later this year.

So I did want to share that Zyrtec D may help some of you a bit if you have never tried it before, and they are over the counter. Just make sure you read the instructions & follow doctor’s orders. I don’t plan on taking them daily as the dermatologist recommended to my mom (I will probably only use them on days when I will be in public), but it is nice to know there is an antihistamine I can use that will help some, and not make me drowsy. Come to think of it, it did make my heart beat fast last night though in bed….

I may try the every day antihistamine thing, but I remember when the first time my hives went away for a couple of years, I wasn’t even taking antihistamines at the time, so it may not have anything to do with CU going away. But then again, maybe it does help? Who knows?

Final Words About the Funeral

The funeral itself was very nice. Kayla looked beautiful, and very peaceful. They took a scrap book she had recently made, and displayed a bunch of pictures on a board of her life, friends, & family. It really sparked a lot of memories, and was really hard to look at.

I think it really helped everyone to see her one last time, to say our final goodbyes, and to get some closure. There was a really huge turnout as well, and I know that if Kayla could see the amount of friends, family, and former teachers that showed up to honor her, she would have been so very happy.

Of course it will still take time for us to heal, and as they say time heals all wounds. But she will always be in our memories. My wife is doing much better as well. She is now an only child, and has no other siblings. She said the very last time she saw her sister a few weeks ago, her sister got out of the car & hugged her really hard & told her she loved her. So I am glad my wife will always have that final positive memory between them.

Anyways, I just wanted to update everyone, and as always I will continue to update on the Candida thing & hives. Life goes on. Yesterday was the past, tomorrow is the future, and today is a gift–that is why it’s called the present. Let us make the best of this gift we call life, and our time on this Earth—hives or no hives.

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Hello Everyone!

I wanted to update since my last post on several things that have happened. I have some good news, some more good news, and then some terrible news. I will start with the first good news:

I am Taking Anti-Candida Treatment (Diflucan/Fluconazole)

It turns out I am going to be able to treat the tongue thing (which I suspect is Candida) with Diflucan/Fluconazole. I started this a yesterday, and will continue the treatment for a few days.  I am excited about this for the reasons below:

1. It should tell me if the hives are related to the Candida at all. If not, I can at least check it off my list. If so, then great.
2. Hopefully it will make the very back of my tongue nice and pink (instead of white).
3. It should kill any other yeasty beasties in my body (such as intestines) that could be causing other issues.

So I am excited about this, and we will see how it goes. Again, it may help the hives, it may do nothing. But it is worth a shot, especially since I do have other symptoms of Candida (the tongue thing). So I will keep you posted, and I should know something within a week or two at most.

My Mom Went to the Dermatologist & Asked About Cholinergic Urticaria

My mother had a dermatologist appointment today for a regular mole checkup (everything was fine by the way). She has been to this guy before and said he is soooo nice & friendly. She said she wanted to ask him about my hives while she was there.

I said, “Okay mom, get out a pen and a piece of paper (over the phone).” She did. I said, “Okay, here is what I have…C-H-O-L-I-N-E-R-G-I-C     Urticaria. I then made her repeat it to me, and I reminded her of all of my symptoms. I told her to ask him if he has seen anyone with this, if he knows much about it, etc.

Okay, so anyways, the guy knew exactly what she was talking about. She told him how it has bothered me, and she said he was very enthusiastic and said, “Oh yea, I see that all the time!”  He told her to tell me not to give up, that he has treated people with this before, and not to worry at all. Here is the summary of what this doctor told my mom (NOTE: Please do not take this as medical advice. You should only take advice from your doctor, and I am simply sharing this with  you fellow “hives people” for any possible benefits. Again, please run this by your doctor first):

1. He said he treats it all the time. She asked what to do. This is what he said: He needs to take an antihistamine EVERY DAY and then EVERY NIGHT. So 2 times per day. I found that interesting. He said do it every single day. He said any will do the job, such as Zyrtec, Claritin, etc. He said you may even want to take a normal one in the day, and a stronger antihistamine at night. He said this helps with the itching & helps cut back on attacks. But my mom stressed the “Every day” part. I found that interesting. To me, it was kind of like he was suggesting that somehow it gets our bodies used to sweating again without a reaction, and once our bodies “learn” to sweat, the hives go away one day.
2. He said not to let this get us down. A lot of people get it. In fact, he told a story about an athlete who was a runner. He was getting really aggravated by the CU, and he put him on the regimen above & it really helped him, and he was able to continue running. So the athlete kept doing something he enjoyed (running), and was able to do it without the hives stopping him.
3. This is my favorite part: He said it will ABSOLUTELY go away. He said one day we will wake up, and boom it will be gone. He said it will go away just like it came. We may have it one day, and then poof, the hives will disappear and we probably will NEVER have them again. He said many people he treated over the years has had it just go away one day and it never ever came back. He said absolutely it will one day go away.

So hearing those positive things made me feel a lot better. I also thought the antihistamine thing was interesting. I may try that eventually, but of course, I want to see how this anti-candida treatment goes first.

By the way, I did recently take a Zyrtec-D antihistamine for the first time. I didn’t break out in hives that day either (it was 79 degrees that day). So it seems Zyrtec D works a little better than other anti-histamines.

The Terrible & Tragic News That Has Devastated Us

My wife’s only sister (Kayla), has passed away unexpectedly on April 4th at the very young age of 16 years old. Me, my wife, my mother-in-law, and the rest of the family are absolutely devastated & crushed. I have never seen my wife cry the way she did when I had to tell her, and it literally ripped my heart out as I cried & held her as she screamed in agony from the news.

This week has been very difficult, and I won’t be able to update the blog or forum for a few days, so I apologize, but I will be gone most of the day, and I am very upset myself. I need a few days to really mourn the death of her, and to be here for my wife as this was her one and only sister whom she loved very much. We keep thinking of so many memories and it just devastates us that she is gone forever.

All I can say is that life is fragile. It has its great moments, but it also rips your heart out from time to time. Kayla was a great kid, young, pretty, intelligent, and had a great life ahead of her. It is so sad when this happens, and I hope God Almighty takes care of her. The last 3 years were rough, she had a hard time fitting in, and had a lot of negative influences in her life leading her to do things she would have never have done.

I urge everyone here, please, love all of your family, and spend as much time as you can. You never know when they will leave this Earth.  Always show them love, and let them know you love them unconditionally.

Stay away from drugs. Drugs are poison. I know many people like to do recreational drugs or whatever, but please let me say this, they are poison and in my life I have seen too many friends & relatives’ lives get destroyed from them. My wife & I have always been committed to a 100% drug free lifestyle (no alcohol, cigarettes, etc.), and I beg you to please consider doing the same. They aren’t worth it. Even pot. I had a friend in high school who smoked some marijuana with some people, and it had something laced in it, and he was hospitalized and no longer has all of his brain functions (and isn’t the same person). Yes, no joke, something as simple as pot!

Never get too depressed. Life sucks, no doubt about it. But if you ever feel at the end of your rope, please, don’t end it. I will even personally talk with you, or help you get the help you need.  Suffer with us all until the end. We all die anyways whether we want to or not, and life is but a vapor that disappears into the wind. As long as we have this life, we might as well live it.

That is all I am going to say on this issue. It is very difficult to talk about, and I want to heal from this, help my wife heal, and move on. There is a verse in the bible I love, that says if we know love, we are in God, and God is in us. We also loved Kayla, and she will always be in us, and we will be in her. Our memories shall never die.

As always, I will update you on the hives stuff later this week or weekend. I will be taking a Zyrtec D again tomorrow, and hopefully I won’t have to deal with the sting of hives on top of the sting of loss. 

Take care, and God bless!

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