I first noticed my symptoms when I was a freshman in high school. I was a martial artist, and noticed when I started to work out, I would develop these itchy red blotches on my torso. I never told anyone about my symptoms at first. Once I was a junior in high school, I noticed that when my body warmed up (either by exercising, eating spicy foods, or the weather), I would develop those itchy red blotches on my torso and back.
When I became a senior in high school, the itchy red blotches started progressing down my legs and up my neck onto my face. It was extremely embarrassing, and I was embarrassed just to go to gym class. I never told my parents for some odd reason, I just decided to deal with it on my own.
Whenever these blotches would start, I would try to rapidly cool myself by either taking a cold shower or drink ice-cold water. Also, if these blotches happened in public, I would make any excuse I could to separate myself from people and hide until the blotches subsided. It was terrible and was ruining my life.
But it got worse.
Freshman year in college, I decided to join my local ambulance service and became a basic EMT (about a 6 month course). I now noticed that stressful situations triggered an attack. Junior year in college I became a Paramedic and also the recruitment officer for my department. I now noticed that just public speaking triggered an attack. This is when I started to search for help.
I never talked to any doctors. Nobody knew about my condition (They obviously knew there was something wrong, because at this time, 50% of the time they saw me I had red blotches all over my face and down my neck). I was sick of suffering, and I wanted to continue my career of public service; specifically a police officer.
I then stumbled upon this forum, specifically an article titled “How I cured my Cholinergic Urticaria (From a Pharmacy Student)“. I read that article a couple of times, and took a screenshot of the medications that she took that cured her cholinergic urticaria. I then kind of forgot about it until senior year of college.
At this time, I applied to the local Police Academy and got accepted. I was super excited, but also terrified because you work-out A LOT, and I didn’t know if my body could take it physically because of my cholinergic urticaria. That’s when I bounced back to that article.
About a week before the academy started, I went to my store and bought all the medications she suggested, but switched Clariton with Zyrtec (all other medications listed at the bottom, as well as dosages). I started taking them religiously for a week. After about a week, 95% of my symptoms disappeared. It was amazing. The only symptoms I am noticing are small red dots on my hands and arms (you really have to look to notice them, but they are there). No itching. No blotches. No redness on my face or neck.
I honestly cannot believe how well this worked for me. I am about halfway through my Police Academy and I feel better than ever with barely any symptoms of CU, and I think I had one of the worst cases around.
Please take in consideration that I am not a doctor. Please consult your doctor before trying any of the medications that I suggested.
- Quercetin – 1000mg
- Famotidine (Pepcid AC) – 20mg
- Cetirizine (Zyrtec) – 10mg
Thanks for reading,
-Scott
Lisa says
So happy for you, Scott!!!
Michael Miller says
How long did you take it before your symptoms went away?
andrew says
im going to try this, I have this issue for over 3 years now. Ill try anything.