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

The DollyWood Trip:

This past Sunday my wife & I took our 2nd DollyWood trip of the season. It was a blast, and perhaps even more fun than the first trip we took a while back.

We rode tons of rides (Daredevil Falls being my favorite), and really enjoyed ourselves. The great news is that I did not have 1 single Cholinergic Urticaria attack, which was really nice. I did get the sensation like I may have an attack, but it never happened.

Update on My Diet: I Have Been Eating Everything!

My digestion and stomach issues have been 100% gone. I have eaten my 2nd pizza now (which is the best pizza in the world), and I had no stomach issues at all. I also recently tried my hand at some Krispy Kreme donuts.

Krispy Kreme

The powdered blueberry are my favorite, and I also love the plain glazed. Sorry if that pic makes you hungry, but Krispy Kreme makes the best donuts ever!! Far better than any other donut company. I have missed them, and it has been several months since I last had some of those.

Anyway, my stomach has been able to take on anything and everything I have thrown at it. I am still taking my Digestive Advantage, and that is like  a miracle for me.

So I am really happy that my digestion and stomach issues are better, and I suppose the whole thing was related to not having enough enzymes/probiotics. Funny how much difference it can make.

Update on Cholinergic Uritcaria & Sun Exposure

I have been getting regular sun exposure, which has felt great. I couldn’t get sun for the past 2 days due to cloudiness (although I did go outside for a few minutes). But overall, I think the sun has really helped the hives, and made me feel better.

I am going to get some more sun today. Again, I am being very cautious to avoid a sunburn or anything like that. The idea is to just soak up some natural rays without over-exposing myself.

As far as the hives, they are still the best they have been in months. I have sweat a few times, and I have not had a bad attack in a while now. Don’t get me wrong, I know they aren’t permanently gone at this point, but I am SUPER OPTIMISTIC about the potential for them to go away. For the first time in a long time I have serious hope that I can get them under control and I will over-come these hives in the next year.

I honestly think regular sun exposure, sweating, and keeping my digestion in line will eventually cut the hives out of the picture. This isn’t going to happen over-night, but I think over the course of a few months, they will be as good as gone.

There have been tons of posts on the cholinergic urticaria forum with people indicating their hives are much better, and even completely gone after being outside more and sweating frequently during this recent summer.

Even if the hives only went away for the 5-6 month hot season and returned in the winter, I could definitely manage that. I just want to be normal and sweat as much as I possibly can, and I think I will be able to do that (if only during the hot months).

I still look forward to when I will get a house over the next few months, because then I will really be able to ensure I not only get sun exposure daily, but I will also be able to exercise and sweat daily.

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Whew, my wife & I went to DollyWood yesterday with my nephew & his girlfriend. I had purchased my wife season tickets as a part of her graduation gift, and we finally had a chance to go for the first time this year.

It was an absolute BLAST! I love that place. They have so many fun rides, neat shops (although a little pricey), and great food.

We rode so many rides: Daredevil Falls (probably like 7 times), Blazing Fury, the Scrambler, Dizzy Disk, River Rampage, Sidewinder, and more. My wife actually rode the Tennessee Tornado, which is a fast roller coaster (the ride only lasts like 30 seconds). I don’t really like roller coasters because they tend to give me a splitting headache afterward, so I sat that one out & she went with my nephew.

Overall, the trip was a blast. It was really so much fun, and if anyone ever has a chance to visit DollyWood, I would definitely recommend it. Especially if you live close to it.

How Did the Cholinergic Urticaria Hives Hold Up at DollyWood?

This past weekend I tried a basic Zyrtec for the first time as an experiment. I have taken Zyrtec D before, and it does help some. It isn’t a 100% way to stop the hives, but I would say it helps at least 20-50%. But I had never taken a plain Zyrtec that I can recall.

But anyway, the basic Zyrtec made me really drowsy for some reason. I was tired all night, and a little the next day. So I decided I liked the Zyrtec D much better (it doesn’t make me drowsy at all), and my wife & I ran out to the store the night before DollyWood so I can manage my Cholinergic Urticaria easier without being so drowsy.

I  made sure to take a Zyrtec-D before leaving in the morning, and also packed a couple just in case anyone else had an attack of allergies. Overall, I would say it did help quite a bit. I was actually lucky, and it was cloudy most of the time. It was forecast to rain most of the day, but we were once again lucky and avoided most of the rain as well. So the clouds helped a lot with the temperatures.

The first time I got hot was when the sun was peeking through, and I got a little prickly, but avoided a major attack. At one point (about mid-afternoon), the sun came out for about an hour, and I had to walk from one end of the park to another to get food.

This was the one time I had a full blown attack. My nephew & his girlfriend were eating at one of the shops, and they didn’t have any food I could eat (the food there would have upset my stomach). So my wife & I had to walk to this Hickory Barbecue place. The only problem is it is about 7 minutes to walk there, and another 7 to walk back. Not to mention waiting in line in front of hot ovens for your food to be done.

So my wife & I ordered some chicken & fries. I got the tray, and my body was already a getting really hot. We started our walk back, and between the sun, the hot grills everywhere cooking food, and the fact that I was already a bit hot, I started getting prickly & itchy.

I was thinking to myself, “Okay great, I am walking holding a tray of food and I am going to have an attack.” I hate having public attacks anyway, because I always want to scratch all over, but I am afraid people will think I am crazy (perhaps I am?).

So I knew it was going to come full force at this point, and it sure did. I tried my best to take my mind off the pain from the stinging & itching. I just continued to walk and I tried to keep saying in my mind, “You can take the pain, you can do this.”

Finally we got back to the place where my nephew was eating, and I sat down in the shade. My hives were still going, and I scratched for a second. I tried to start eating to take my mind off of the itching and pain.

My nephew’s girlfriend was like, “Are you okay?” I said, “Yeah, I have this allergic hives thing where I get really itchy when I get hot. It is really hard for my body to sweat, and instead of sweat I get itchy.” She was like, “Wow, I am sorry.”

After a few minutes it went away, and I was so glad. I looked down at my arms, and they were covered in tiny red pinpoint hives everywhere. That was probably the most hives I have ever seen after a reaction. There were probably hundred of small red hives on my arms. Mine are usually small, and don’t come out every time (usually just after really bad attacks). It looked like someone took a red ball-point pen and made dots all over me. Of course, after about 10-15 minutes they all disappeared leaving no trace of the terror they inflicted on my body for that short time.

So that was the worst of the hives. I did have a couple of moments later where I got a little itchy again, but nothing like the first time. Also, I never did sweat at all. I would cool off on the wet rides as much as possible, and occasionally I would walk under some mist of water, or intentionally get wet to help cool off & stop any prickling I had. I did get soaked on a few rides (p.s.-never sit in the front on Daredevil Falls unless you want to get totally drenched at the part when the ride finally gets to the top of the hill).

Overall, the trip was a blast. I am glad I didn’t let the hives ruin it. I did have to suffer for a moment, but it wasn’t that bad in the grand scheme of things. I am determined to have a great summer, and a great life, whether I have hives or not.

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