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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I hate Cholinergic Urticaria! I can’t help but feel robbed sometimes of a normal life. I especially felt like this yesterday.

It was a beautiful day yesterday. The skies were crystal clear blue. The temperature was very cool and comfortable. It was nice. So my wife and I decided to go to the grocery store and run a few errands. We went to Walmart first, and got our groceries. Everything went fine, and no cholinergic urticaria outbreaks. Unfortunately, they were sold out of the chicken we usually buy. So we decided to stop by another Walmart later in the day to pick up the chicken (since there is a Walmart virtually everywhere now).

Heat Hives Attack Awaits Me at Walmart # 2

So we continued to run errands. Finally, it came time to stop by the other Walmart to pick up the chicken that the other Walmart didn’t have. Unfortunately, it was a nightmare, and reminds me why I hate the winter months with cholinergic urticaria heat hives. I had been feeling pretty good all day. No hint of itching. I have been on this diet now for a month (100% gluten and milk/dairy free). I didn’t even suspect I would break out in hives.

So I got out of the car to get the chicken. Since I was only going to grab some chicken, my wife decided she would just stay in the car. It felt great outside. It was slightly breezy, and the temperature was perfect (although a little cool for most people). I walked in Wally World (that is a nickname for Walmart) feeling great!

But then, as soon as I got about 20 feet inside of the building, I noticed something….HEAT. This is the thing that makes winter unbearable for me. It feels so great outside, but when I go into a building that is extremely dry and heated, my body simply cannot adjust quickly enough. My internal “sweat” thermostat just doesn’t work right.

I started to feel an attack coming on quickly. I said to myself, “It is okay, I am going to the frozen section and hopefully it will be cooler there.” I have used this strategy before whenever I get hot in stores. So I started to hurry a little more to make it to the freezer sections so I could get the chicken.

Tingle tingle, itch itch, sting sting. It started getting worse. I started trying to get there faster. I had to start scratching a little to try and comfort the itching sensation (even though we all know the scratching doesn’t solve the itch, but we can’t help but scratch anyways). Finally I arrived in the freezer section.

At this point, I was starting to get a little worried. Here I am in the middle of the always crowded Walmart, and I am getting the most unbearable sensation all over my body (even my thighs were burning and prickling-which is unusual because it is usually my upper torso and face). So I am doing everything I can to get cool without being obvious to the crowd of people all around.

I scratch occasionally and try to make it look like I might have a simple itch (although I really want to rip off my shirt and just scratch like crazy!!). I am opening freezer doors pretending to look at food so I could try to cool off. It was bad. I get the chicken, and head to another freezer section hoping to get cooled off and stop the outbreak so I could checkout without the pain and itching.

Unfortunately, I could not get my body to cool down! I swear, the heat was being blown down from the heaters they had on, and I could not get cool air from the freezers to hit my body well enough to stop the attack. The heater just kept on blowing heat on me from above. So at this point I know I am in trouble. I can’t get cool, and I have no way of stopping this thing.

I start walking as quickly as I can to the front registers with the chicken in my hands. Of course, walking quickly is a physical activity and my body begins heating up EVEN MORE! Add that to the fact that I am already getting stressed because I am in the middle of a crowded store and I know a bad and painful reaction is coming. Plus I always feel as if I am turning red or something because my skin is burning. I always feel as if everyone will look at me and see me for some kind of freak or something (even though it probably isn’t near as noticeable as I imagine).

So I am battling the itching and prickling, and trying to look normal at the same time. I am walking in a brisk walk to the cash registers.  Thankfully, this Walmart had a self checkout section (which is cool because I love self checkouts). I used to be a cashier at a few retail stores (I even worked at Walmart for a few months several years ago). So I am a pro at the self checkouts.

So I get to the self checkout register, and thankfully there isn’t a line. So I toss the chicken on the belt, hit the “start” button, and proceed to scan the chicken and bag it, while I try to occasionally scratch the bad itching sensation in between scanning and bagging (without looking like a complete idiot to anyone that may be watching me).

I pay for the chicken, grab my receipt, and head for the door. At this point, I am experiencing unbearable pain and itching. It is a full blown reaction, and it hurts and itches. I am going to that door as fast as I can. I get outside, and it is a little cooler, but the hives have gone full force, and there is no stopping them at this point. I am itching all the way to the car.

I jump in the car, start scratching like a mad man, and blast the air conditioner on FULL BLAST. My wife completely understands and feels sorry for me. I sit there and scratch for like 5 minutes straight until the car finally starts to get cold.

In the meanwhile, my skin gets the “chill bump” look, and then the little red bumps start popping up all over my arms and chest. I raised my shirt, and I was really red and flushed on my stomach and chest.

Soon, the reaction slows down, after the car has cooled down sufficiently. WOW! I felt absolutely exhausted (like I usually do after a massive hives attack). I also get extremely depressed for the rest of the night. I can’t help but think thoughts like, “Man if I have this for the rest of my life, my life is going to really suck. What is wrong with me? Why do I have to have this condition? Why? Why? Why? Will this ever go away?”

I also developed a bad headache about an hour after the attack. So needless to say, living with cholinergic urticaria (or any kind of  hives) is HARD! I wouldn’t want my worst enemy to go through what I have to go through with these hives, and what the others that have CU have to deal with as well.

I Miss the Good Old Sweat Days

Sometimes I think about how lucky I used to be before cholinergic urticaria came into my life. I could run outside, and just sweat as soon as I got hot. I could laugh and play and jump around. Nothing. No itching, no prickling, no stinging. Just a normal life. Never a worry about my body going crazy on me. Boy has that changed!

I just wish I could sweat like a normal person sweats. I remember that in high school, my armpits and palms would always get sweaty.  My shirts would be wet around the armpit section sometimes, from where I would sweat all the time. I distinctly remember wishing to myself that I would just stop sweating like that all the time. It was kind of embarrassing sometimes, but I guess it isn’t that strange since I am a guy.

Well, I can tell you that I would give anything to sweat like that again! It just reminds me of that old saying, “Be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it.” I wished I would stop sweating like that, and now, I would give anything to sweat like normal. Now, I wish I could just have the health I used to have in high school, before this nightmare and life changing chronic hives took over my body. I would gladly welcome some moist armpits or sweaty anything!

Sometimes I feel as if my body has been overtaken by some super alien slime. Just like the Spider-man movie where the slime alien took over Spider-man and turned him into the “Venom” character. Since I first got this, I just feel like something inside me changed. I feel as if my entire life is being controlled by this condition. I fear going in places, because I think “What if I have a break out?” I don’t even consider doing 90% of the things I used to do. I don’t even look forward to things anymore either. Vacations aren’t fun, because I know the hives will be right there with me. Who can have fun at the beach when your body goes crazy when it gets hot?

I am lucky that I have an understanding wife. I told her yesterday that she may be doing the grocery shopping alone for the rest of the winter season if my hives don’t go away soon. She was completely understanding, and has been so helpful anyways in doing things for me when I feel I might have an attack. So one thing I can recommend to anyone that has this is find a person (a spouse is best) that can offer not only support and love, but also help you do the things for you that would cause an attack if you did it.

I know they say cholinergic urticaria goes away in most people after a few years (usually ranges from 7-30 years), but sometimes I feel as if I am doomed until the day I die. The only thing that makes me more positive, is the fact that I did go into remission for about 2 years before, and the hope that maybe this diet will work, or maybe when I get a house I can get outside and sweat everyday and be cured, or maybe (just maybe), and I can finally get this thing cured or find out what is causing it. I don’t know.

Plus I try to focus on the positive. At least I am not dying right now. At least I don’t have a worse condition (although this one is pretty bad). At least I have a loving wife. At least this may go away someday…maybe.

Update on the Diet Situation:

I am still going strong on the gluten and milk free diet. Although after the attack yesterday it is a little disappointing and discouraging. I have been extremely strict, and have not had 1 instance of milk or gluten in a month now. Everything I eat is either a vegetable that I know doesn’t have any gluten or milk, or the label clearly says “gluten free.” I am continuing on the diet for another month or so for sure, just to see what happens (if anything).

I don’t know if it is diet related or not. But after yesterday I felt like the diet wasn’t helping much. It is still worth it to keep it up for another month or two, because then I will at least know for sure, and I can completely rule out the diet thing for the rest of my life if it doesn’t help, and I can also let everyone that stops by this site know what has and hasn’t worked for me personally.

Anyways, I hope your hives don’t give you a hard time this winter. Hopefully, we can all get through this and come out okay. Hopefully, we can all one day look back at this in old age and think, “I remember for a few years when I was younger I got really itchy, but then it went away for the rest of my life.”

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