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

In my last post, I talked about how I suspect my hard water supply is really having an impact on my Cholinergic Urticaria (or may even be the cause).  Hard water is water that has a high amount of dissolved minerals in it (usually calcium and magnesium).

Hard water does not allow soap to lather well, leaves an incredibly sticky soap scum residue and minerals on your skin and tub (which is nearly impossible to clean), and much more.

Not only that, but a scientific study is underway to see how the hard water can cause or worsen skin disorders. This eczema story right here was a part of the study, and it is incredible how much it changed this poor boy (Dylan). Check out that link to see how bad his skin was, and to read the about the study.

What Does Hard Water Look Like? Here Are My Shower Pics

I have 2 exhibits from my apartment to share with you. First, just let me say that I clean my shower regularly (about 1-2 times per month). The water is so hard here, that I  have to scrub and scrub after letting bleach and other chemicals soak for like an hour. It is truly ridiculous. Especially considering that my wife and I never really get “dirty.” It isn’t like I am a mechanic or construction worker!

Anyway, in this first picture, I merely ran my finger up the side of my shower. Only water touches this area (no soap or shampoo), and this is what kind of a residue it leaves behind:

hard water

As you can see, it looks like a chalky mess. This residue has dissolved solid minerals in it such as calcium, magnesium, and possibly iron and others. This is excessive, and way harder than what a water supply should have!

For my next specimen, I would like to present a mini-shampoo bottle that has been in our shower for a month or two. Look at the film of YUCK that has grown on this bottle, merely from letting this crazy water touch it:

Shower bottle

Again, keep in mind that you are not looking at soap or shampoo residue, that is just the water residue that has built up over time after the water dries. I am not joking, this water is crazy. I now realize why my hives went wild after I moved into this place.

Why I Can’t Wait To Get a Water Softener

As soon as I get a house (hopefully within 1-3 months), I am getting a water softener ASAP. I will post the complete results, and probably some installation pics and a “How to” tutorial just in case it works an anyone else wants to see how to hook it up. That would be so awesome if this did help with my hives.

Water softeners use an ion exchange to remove the calcium and magnesium minerals in the water, making the water much more pure. This allows the soap to lather better, and completely rinse the soap off of your skin. It also ensures that the calcium and magnesium won’t damage your skin or irritate it. It leaves your skin feeling supple and smooth and is the way it should be naturally (rain water is soft water).

How to Tell If You Have Hard Water

Hard water and soft water will look almost exactly the same when you just pour it in a glass. However, you can quickly tell if you have hard or soft water by running some simple tests.

First, if you have a build up of white soap scum, you probably have hard water. You can buy tests at your local hardware store to test water content or to see exactly how hard it is. You can also contact your local water supplier and they may be able to tell you if you have hard water.

Some other signs and tests you can do:

• Does your soap lather easily, or does it take a lot of soap/detergent to lather?
• Are your clothes stiff after washing them?
• Do your white clothing and towels turn white, or get a yellowish tint?
• Does your skin feel dry and itchy after a shower?

If your soap doesn’t lather easily, your clothes are stiff, and a yellowish tint gets on your whites, you probably have hard water. You can also slightly wet your fingers under water, and then try and snap them. If you can snap your fingers a little, you probably have hard water.

Soft water has a very ”slimy” feel to it, because there are no harsh minerals sticking to you. It also is slimy because it completely rinses away the soap leaving your skin much cleaner and softer.

Here is a video demonstration showing the lather difference between hard water and soft water below.

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It has been a lot cooler recently (with some very cool nights reaching into the 40′s and 50′s), and I have already noticed a decrease in the humidity. The lower humidity has made my skin noticeably drier after a shower.

Today, after I took a shower, I had a lot of dry looking skin on my nose, back, arms, and my skin felt very tight and dry. It was so dry and uncomfortable feeling, that I decided to apply some extra virgin olive oil to help moisturize my skin (which I generally only do during the winter months). That made it feel a lot better, but it reminded me of another down side of the coming winter season: Dryer skin, and less humidity.

It is bad enough breaking out in Cholinergic Urticaria heat rash when you are in a humid atmosphere! But when you add a totally dry atmosphere with dry skin in the mix, it somehow seems to make it worse-at least in my own experience.

But another reason that my skin gets dry is not only the dry season, but the incredibly hard water I have in my apartment. This is the hardest water I have ever experienced in my life! Even my wife gets dry skin from it, and she uses lotion almost daily!

It is so bad, that the shampoo bottles in my apartment literally turn scaly whitish with a film on them. As a matter of fact, now that I am thinking of it, my cholinergic urticaria came back after moving into this apartment! I wonder if the water has anything to do with it?? I am not suggesting dry skin or hard water is the cause of cholinergic urticaria (after all, my wife doesn’t have it). But I do know from personal experience that dry skin does make my cholinergic urticaria much worse. But this brings up an interesting question:

Could A Water Softener Help Cholinergic Urticaria?

What is a water softener? Well, first let me explain what “hard water” means. Hard water is simply water with a very high mineral content. The minerals can vary, but often it is minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and other chemicals. I must have a lot of calcium in my water, because it leaves a thick white film on everything.

Hard water is known for drying out the skin, and causing a build-up of “soap scum” and other things in the bathtub. Also, soap does not lather very well at all (and I can vouch for that as well).

How a Water Softener Works:

A water softener is a small machine that looks similar to a water heater (although it is usually much smaller).  You have to add salt to it, and it uses an ion exchange to combine hard water minerals and molecules to soften water chemicals. The result is much softer water that lathers well with soap, leaves a slick and smooth feeling on the skin, and reduces soap scum and mineral build-up on your shower tub.

My wife’s grandparents used to have a water softener because they had an outdoor well for their water souce. She said when she would wash her hands at their house, it would feel so much different than at our apartment. She said they felt so much cleaner and the soap lathered up so much more.

If I still have cholinergic urticaria after I finally get a house (hopefully within this next year or so), then I plan on trying to get a water softener for the bathroom water as soon as possible. As a matter of fact, I may get one anyways just for the smoother skin. You have to add it to the water line in your house, and that means altering stuff (which is prohibited in an apartment). So I definitely have to wait until I get a house. But I just wonder if this would make cholinergic urticaria less intense by leaving our skin more moisturized and soft?

On top of the water softener, I will probably also get some kind of filtration as well. I want the water to be as clean and chemical free as possible to see if it helps the hives at all.

The only “downside” to water softeners is that they add more salt to your drinking water. This is not good since excess sodium can be linked to heart disease. But if/when I get a water softener, I will find a way to only hook it to the water going to my shower, and will leave the “hard water” for the kitchen.

Gluten Free/Milk Free Diet Update:

The diet is going very well! I have now been on it for a little over 2 weeks strait (with no gluten or milk whatsoever). I am not even craving “bad” foods because I have learned to find a lot of “filler” foods that make me feel full (like banana nut bread). I have basically been eating banana nut bread (gluten and milk free), and lots of veggies and lean meat.

The hives have not yet made a big change, but at least they aren’t getting worse. I have been exercising much more as well, and I have to take breaks once I start getting all itchy. But I know that if this diet is the cause, it will take as long as months anyways to see the 100% results. But I am continuing well on the diet, and plan to stay on it for the next few months to see if there are any results.

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