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

My Recent Sun Exposure Experiments & Results

Today I felt one of the most exhilarating feelings I have felt in a long time–SWEAT. It was incredible! I never  thought the feeling of wetness on my face and body could be so….WOW.

How did I finally sweat? Well I have been trying extremely hard to get some sun exposure this week. After reading up on more articles concerning Vitamin D & sun exposure benefits, I decided I was going to make a point to go out of my way to get some sun. For example, I have read how vitamin d is even being linked to providing huge benefits to IBS & Crohn’s Disease patients. Not only that, but I have written in my Cholinergic Urticaria blog countless times about my “sun theories.”

So I started a few days ago. I started to put my arms out of the window of my car for a while. I did this for about 30 minutes. The next day, I did this again, and switched arms (I was parked in my truck), and got a total of about 1 hour (about 30 minutes each). Then yesterday, I went outside and got some good exposure for about 40 minutes in very hot weather. And today, I got excellent exposure for about 50 minutes on various parts of my body.

It felt fantastic! On each day, I got less and less prickly. Today, I barely even got a sensation, and it quickly passed. I was laying on a sheet out in the sun, and suddenly I noticed something: My back was drenched! Then I felt something tickling my forehead–it was a bead of sweat!

So I stayed for a while and eventually I started to have a nice layer of sweat on my body. A breeze hit my skin, and it felt so good. I have missed sweating so much!

I plan to keep up with this sun exposure thing, because I am convinced it has  a HUGE role in cholinergic urticaria (if it isn’t the direct cause). I know from my experience that I NEVER get out in the sun, and that is BAD BAD BAD. Not to mention the only foods you can get Vitamin D from, I didn’t eat for the past year! Yikes. I would honestly hate to see my Vitamin D levels a week ago.

Anyway, I feel so much better. My hives have not been bothering me bad at all. I have been eating spicy food, getting hot, and more and the pricklies are rare and sometimes not at all.

I know I am not fully cured yet, but I feel there is hope on the horizon. If I can keep up the sun exposure thing on a daily/weekly basis, I think I just might say goodbye to Cholinergic Urticaria forever at some point.

Again, I am being very cautious in my approach. I am not wearing sunscreen. Instead, I go out until I feel as if I am getting enough sun. Then, I cover up a certain area, and allow another area to get sun. For example, I covered my head/face while my stomach got sun for about 15 minutes, then I turned and got my back. Then I put my shirt back on and let my face get some. Then I put a hat on, etc.

So I haven’t got burned, and I take skin cancer and burns very seriously. So be careful if you attempt to get sun yourself and be responsible. There is no need to get more than about 15-50 minutes of unprotected sun.

Update on My Digestion & Stomach Issues

As I mentioned in my last post, I had recently had a lot of stomach pain (similar to IBS symptoms). In fact, now I think I may have had Irritable Bowel Syndrome for a while. But luckily, I have some great news on about all of this.

I have tweaked a few things, and the results have been nothing short of miraculous. My strategy is this: Digestive Advantage Daily, Plus Beano or Gas X if I get gas. Presto, my stomach has been the best it has been in YEARS!!

I have used Digestive Advantage before, but I made a terrible mistake last time. You are supposed to take them daily to keep your intestinal flora filled with the bacteria that is found in the pill. In the past, however, I would only take them right before I ate something with milk, and then go days without taking them. This caused them to be ineffective on occasion, and so I eventually stopped taking them (and avoided all dairy).

I now realize the importance of taking them daily. Since taking this daily, not only have my stomach issues vanished, but I have eaten a cheesy pizza (no stomach issues whatsoever), Arby’s Roastbeef sandwiches (no stomach issues), Pizza Rolls (no stomach issues), and cookies (no issues).

I take a couple of extra when I eat a pizza or something with a lot of milk, but otherwise I take 1 daily. It is so good, I am actually going to dedicate a post to this product. That is literally how well it works for me. I also have found that if I eat something with beans or something that I know causes gas, I can take a Beano or Gas X pill and it will solve that issue. So bam, I have the digestion of a 10 year old again (and I am LOVIN’ it).

To be honest, I feel like my extra exposure to the sun may be slightly helping my digestion as well. It has been shown that Vitamin D helps the intestines absorb and process food (such as Calcium). So my digestion has been excellent, and my hives have improved significantly. I am a happy camper right now.

Conclusion: I’m Getting More Sun, and My Digestion is Great

In conclusion, my digestion is incredible and I am eating all of the foods I love (even Pizza). My hives are getting better (slowly). I am finally getting a slight tan and don’t look so pasty. I am naturally a good tanner anyway…(must be the little bit of Native American I have in me).

So I am getting much more positive about life again. I had been getting negative and depressed for a while, but now I am starting to really feel great. I am optimistic about the hives, I am ecstatic about my digestion, and hopefully I can get everything under control and live a full and healthy life again.

I will definitely keep everyone updated on all of this as it progresses.

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Hello Everyone!

My Cholinergic Urticaria  (Heat Hives) Has Gotten Worse

Once again, after a crappy diet of mine over the past 2-3 weeks, I am suffering with some new eczema rashes, and way more intense Cholinergic Urticaria symptoms. This all started about 2-3 weeks ago. As most of you know, I have been suffering from a lot of allergy symptoms over the past year. I have had red itchy bumps on my skin, random itchy patches of skin, and stomach issues on occasion. They all come & go, and my diet has been linked for sure to these rashes, bumps, etc.

I have repeatedly noticed during my many diet attempts over the past year that when I eat really organic & healthy, my hives get way better, all rashes clear up,  and my stomach/digestion problems are solved. The hives have never fully been cured by diet alone, but they have significantly improved while on the diet.  Then, just like clockwork, when I eat a lot of processed foods, and foods with any milk, wheat, oats, or other ingredients, it all comes back. I get itchy rashes, and the hives go through the roof in intensity.

I have eaten milk free foods still, but have allowed wheat on occasion, and even ate a few fast food meals over the past 2 weeks. This all came as a result of my wife’s graduation, and other events over the past month that has placed me in a difficult situation of eating foods that I know give me trouble. So I ate foods I know give me trouble with probiotics, hoping it would balance it out.

I have posted about this several times over the past year of this whole diet experience. I have also speculated in the past that they hives may go away on a prolonged diet of organic foods, and combining that with avoidance of known food allergies/intolerances. I have never been able to fully test this theory to a level I am satisfied with, as I have only made it as long as a month or two on the diet–and at that point I either had no will power left to eat healthy, or it was getting too expensive to eat organic. But I suspect it could really help, if not cure, cholinergic urticaria doing so for several months. I won’t lie, it takes an incredible amount of will power to eat only fruits, veggies, and lean meat for a long time.

But anyway, I plan to clean up my diet for a while again. I could barely sleep for the last 2 nights because my skin is so “icky” feeling. It is so sensitive right now, and when I feel the covers touch my skin it just gives me this really light sensation like I am getting chill bumps all over or something. Add that to the fact that I am practically breaking out in hives over the slightest thing, and that is reason enough for me to get the diet back on track for a while.

Allergy Tests Are Way Too Expensive…I’ll Pass For Now

I was talking to my mother on the phone about the allergy test she had about 2 years ago. She was reading me some of the results, and notably, she was allergic to dust mites, milk, citrus, peanuts, oats, onions, and more. I had a lot of known food issues that matched her known allergies. I suppose allergies probably have a genetic aspect to them, so I feel like her test would probably be somewhat similar in comparison, with many allergens over-lapping.

So I decided that so many people on the forum have had an allergy test, and it would be somewhat beneficial to know some of my allergens so I could avoid them for sure. So my mother called up the allergy place she went to a couple of years ago, and inquired about the cost of having a testing performed.

I literally could not believe how much they said…$2,000! Yep, that is right, two thousand bucks to prick your back & give a detailed test result. Holy Moly! I am getting medical insurance within the next month or two (my wife’s benefits finally kick in), but there is still a deductible with that ($500), plus I think we have to pay 20%. So that is still several hundred dollars…yikes!

So I have decided that i am just going to pass on that for now, and possibly forever. Instead, I am going to seek cheap/free ways of finding food allergies by carefully paying attention to my diet, skin, rashes, etc. I will eliminate known food allergies, and then work from there & monitor everything over the course of the next few weeks. I still can’t believe $2,000!! The medical field is robbing people blind these days apparently. Especially since all it does is suggest some things you may be allergic to. It doesn’t even cover every known allergy! Sheesh!

Update on Probiotics Supplements

I have stopped taking the probiotics for my digestion. It didn’t have any effect on the hives at all. It maybe helped my digestion a bit, but nothing major. So I will not continue to take them at this point (unless I eat something bad, which I plan to avoid at this point).

There are some reports that it does help some people with eczema or digestion issues, so it is worth a shot for anyone suffering from that. But it didn’t work that well for me.

Update on Wife’s Rash/Eczema/Dermatitis

I think I have figured out what was causing my wife’s rash. As I mentioned in my last post or two, she started getting these little red spots that were itchy on her back, arms, and upper chest.

So I was racking my brain trying to figure what caused this with her. I finally figured out that within the last month, she has switched from regular waffles to these waffles with cinnamon in them. She also started eating this applesauce with cinnamon in it as well over the past month.

So I pointed this out to her, and reminded her how she is allergic to cinnamon. Whenever she chews gum with cinnamon in it (like Big Red), or uses cinnamon toothpaste, she will get a big red area when the cinnamon product touches her skin (such as around her mouth).

So I think that is probably what is causing her rash, and hopefully it will clear up by the end of the week. It did give her an idea of what it feels like to suffer with itchiness (she normally has flawless skin). But a little itchy rash is still nothing compared to my Urticaria Cholinergic.

Conclusion: Cleaning Up the Diet for a While

So I just wanted to give a few updates on the allergy test thing, talk about the hives, etc. I will definitely clean up my diet majorly over the next week or two, and I suspect the rashes/hives will improve.

I still can’t wait to get a house within the next few months. Then, I can really eat organic, remove dust mites, filter the water, etc. I expect I will really be able to beat this hives thing!

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