Hello everyone!
Today my wife & I went to a park, and the store for a few groceries. It was a fairly hot day, and we walked around in the park & threw a frisbee for a few minutes. My skin started to sting and itch when I get hot, but I did NOT have a bad outbreak, and the prickly sensation was not near as intense as it has been (if you remember a couple of weeks back I was breaking out in hives just sitting in my apartment at around 74 degrees, and in my sleep, and as soon as I walked outside. Now, it could be because of the natural fluctuations that people with our hives sometimes have (it can come & go in terms of intensity). But I believe that the results are due to the diet.
So it is making me feel positive, and I hope it is because of the gluten-free/milk-free diet. Again, it is way to early to say for sure if the diet is helping, or if I will see even better results. So I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up (especially mine), but I have noticed a drastic decrease with my hives reactions (and the intensity). But I am not going to get too excited until the hives are completely gone (hopefully) consistently for at least a month or two.
I know that this diet is going to take at least 2 months before I have my answer for sure. But I am looking forward to it. So far, here is a quick recap of the hives situation before/after the experimental diet thus far:
My Cholinergic Urticaria Hives (before the diet):
- My skin was itchy (not hives), but just generally uncomfortable feeling. It was kind of like I could always “sense” my skin in an uncomfortable way. This used to bug me & I felt like I always needed a shower (even though I take one usually daily).
- My skin had a couple of small red/itchy rash-like parts, especially on the inside of my finger as I showed in a picture. This didn’t appear until I was eating more milk & wheat.
- My nose was always stuffy. Literally, I could not hardly smell anything. My sense of smell has been like that for probably a few years now.
- My hives were extremely intense. Like I mentioned above, I started breaking out in my apartment at about 74 degrees (not very hot). If I walked outside or got in the hot car, a bad breakout would happen. If I did any kind of exercise, I would break out almost immediately. Also, if I ate anything hot or spicy or acidic (such as vinegar dressing), I would get prickly in a few spots (usually my scalp/neck/forehead). This all came after an increase in milk/wheat in my diet.
- Occasional stomach upsets/cramps
My Cholinergic Urticaria Hives AFTER Being on the Diet a Couple of Weeks:
- My skin feels so much more comfortable, and even less dry. This has been great, and seems like I can even sleep better at nights because of it.
- The small red rash that had popped up on the inside of my finger (has been there before also), COMPLETELY gone now. My skin in general just looks more clear, and feels softer.
- Hives are way LESS reactive. This has been great. I can work out, and barely get prickly. I was outside even today, had a few prickleys/itchies, but nothing like a couple of weeks ago. Even my wife is pretty surprised by the difference & suspects the diet may actually be working.
- Guess what, when I eat vinegar or even hot spicy foods (such as pepperoni that I just munched on before typing this post)-NOTHING. Not even a slight prick. Which tells me for sure I am less reactive than before when I would eat a bite of vinegar dressing on my salad & get itchy a bit.
- Sense of smell, seems to even be coming back-which is a bit strange. It is still kind of stuffy through some parts of the day, but others it will be so clear & I will get random scents of things I haven’t smelled in a long time. Like today I was outside & I could smell the bark on the trees, and the grass very vividly. So that would be cool if I could smell things clearly again.
- I even feel a little sweaty at times. For example, when sitting in bed this morning with the covers still on me, I noticed my legs felt a little sweaty. This was kinda unusual because I normally wouldn’t sweat unless the sweat was forced out during a hot day (like when I was working outside in 90 degree weather a couple of months ago.
- Stomach has been way better. It is flat now, and I rarely if ever get bloated. We ate some beans & I had a little gas in my stomach (beans beans, good for your heart, the more you eat them…), but nothing compared to last time. I think that was just due to the beans though. No bad stomach cramps, no bad bloating in my tummy, and I feel much better with that as well. It has been like this now for a couple of weeks.
So I am noticing some differences. I hope & pray that this will help. But here is the good news. The last time I cut gluten & milk out of my diet, I gave up after only 3 weeks or so due to a massive craving for junk food & pizza. The temptation was too strong, and even though I was seeing some positive results (similar results like I posted above), I talked myself into giving up on the diet (which I feel was a little too soon in hindsight).
I was still a little prickly, so I convinced myself it probably wasn’t working so I could eat junk. But as I mentioned before in other posts, many people that have these types of allergies & other hives, didn’t see results until after a month or two of following the diet STRICTLY. So I definitely feel that I owe it to myself to do this again to completely rule it out.
But this time, this diet is so easy to follow. Here is why: I am not being as hard on myself as I was before. Before I was only eating raw fruits & veggies, and lean meat. That is basically it! Now, I have expanded my diet to include items that are for sure gluten & milk free, and at the same time delicious. For example, today I had (get this) gluten & milk free ice cream! I know it sounds crazy, but there is actually several brands of milk free/dairy free/gluten free ice cream on the market. It tastes just like the real thing–Even I was surprised! It was by a company called Purely Decadent, and the ice cream was peanut butter zig zag flavor. Yum!
Tomorrow, my wife is going to try a stab at a pepperoni/cheese pizza that is completely gluten free & milk free. The crust is made from a special mix of other flours (such as rice flour, etc.). The cheese is actually a vegan cheese, made from various soy/rice ingredients. The cheese didn’t exactly taste like the real thing when we sampled it, but it is supposed to melt just like real cheese–and it will be close enough. I will try to take a picture of the finished product & post it tomorrow. The sauce, pepperoni, are all naturally gluten/milk free from the companies that make them (Hormel makes great pepperoni).
I have also been snacking on cashews, Lays Staxx chips, cereal (cocoa/fruity pebbles with rice milk), and other great meals/snack foods. So to me it doesn’t even feel like I am on the diet which is a big plus. It did take a little thinking & planning to make the switch, but now it is a breeze & I know exactly what to buy!
As a side note, if this diet does cure me, then I will stay on it for life. I will also be posting recipes & food lists so anyone else can try it to see if it helps them. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself here. I know there is still a very real possibility that the hives may not be related to the diet. But time will tell. That is the great thing about the blog, you can view my results without trying the diet yourself. Although if anyone tries the diet & sees any positive or negative benefits after a few weeks, feel free to let us know in the cholinergic urticaria forum.
Sponsored Links
Posted under Diet
