Will a Shower Filter Help Cholinergic Urticaria Hives?
Post by: Motion on September 04, 2009, 10:47:23 PM
I read the article on hard water/contaminated water possibly being a cause of Cholinergic Urticaria. Anyway I decided to try a filter for my shower and some stuff called Super Iron Out that I bought at Ingles that’s for laundry machines to soften the water some. I bought a GE shower filter at Home Depot. I took a shower that night. The next day I went out to wash a car in the sun. I noticed some hives breaking out on me but it was mild and lasted about a minute or two. As I continued to wash the car in the heat I had no more problems with the hives no matter how much I sweated. The samething happened when I cut my grass Friday. Got some mild hives for about a minute. They went away and didn’t come back even as I sweated cutting my grass.
This leads me to believe that for me at least and maybe you that this heat urticaria my be related to something in the shower water. Like I said,I noticed an improvement the next day after using the filter and then washing the car in the sun the next day. I do feel itching in my hands sometimes but I think this is due more to me washing my hands with unfiltered water from my faucets. I really don’t mind itchy hands too much. Anyway,try using a shower filter and running a water softner like Super Iron Out through your laundry machine to see if you get any improvements.
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Title: Re: Shower Filter Helping
Post by: HivesGuy on September 07, 2009, 03:24:14 PM
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Hello Motion,
Thanks for the great post and welcome to the forum.
I agree that the water can have a big impact, or even cause Cholinergic Urticaria. The shower filters you can buy at home depot and lowes certainly can help remove sediments and chlorine. I did have one for a while, and it did help a bit, however, I eventually removed it when it quit working (you have to replace them every few months). I did not get another one just because of financial reasons.
The only problem with those is that they cannot soften the water, and remove the minerals like a water softener can (they usually do nothing to remove magnesium, calcium, metals, etc. A water softener binds to the minerals and metals with sodium ions, and that removes the minerals and soap scum and softens it dramatically. That is what I can’t wait to try (hopefully within 1 month or less from now).
I am going to set up a water softener, carbon activated filter, and possibly another whole house filter to see if that changes anything. This is going to be expensive, but I think it is worth it and I will document my experience.
After I get out of the shower, my skin just feels terrible. I have tried not bathing for a few days, but the problem is that the hard water remains on your skin even if you don’t shower. So a water softener seems to be the best thing, and that is what I am going to do.
Anyway, thanks again so much for your feedback and sharing your experience with the filter. Please keep us posted if anything changes. I will update everyone on the blog when I start to do the filtration.
Thanks again,
Hivesguy
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Title: Re: Shower Filter Helping
Post by: Motion on September 07, 2009, 06:20:05 PM
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If my filter isn’t filtering magnesium and calcium then I’am thinking my filter may be reducing some other contaminate or contaminates that may have been making my Cholinergic Urticaria bad. Like I said,I can still get a hives outbreak but it’s now more mild and lasts for about a minute then goes away even as I get hotter and start sweating. So my filter must be reducing something in my shower water that’s been affecting my skin.
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Title: Re: Shower Filter Helping
Post by: Prius on September 08, 2009, 11:15:09 AM
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I get Cholinergic Urticaria only on my head. I tried washing with spa mineral water, but that didn’t help. Maybe I have to try it for a longer period.
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Title: Re: Shower Filter Helping
Post by: HivesGuy on September 08, 2009, 12:19:52 PM
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Quote from: Motion on September 07, 2009, 06:20:05 PM
If my filter isn’t filtering magnesium and calcium then I’am thinking my filter may be reducing some other contaminate or contaminates that may have been making my Cholinergic Urticaria bad. Like I said,I can still get a hives outbreak but it’s now more mild and lasts for about a minute then goes away even as I get hotter and start sweating. So my filter must be reducing something in my shower water that’s been affecting my skin.
Thanks for the follow-up. Yes, it could be filtering anything such as the chlorine and perhaps that is why it is helping some. I had almost the exact same experience. It helped some, but I still did have the hives. That is why I said I think it could be the other minerals that are causing/aggravating the Cholinergic Urticaria.
The shower filter thing doesn’t get them all. The only way to remove minerals and hardness is either with a water softener or reverse osmosis system. The reverse osmosis is generally only used for drinking water, whereas the water softeners are used for the whole house.
I hope I can find out if it will help soon. These hives are driving me crazy. I had a terrible outbreak once again at walmart today. It is just plain painful and frustrating.
Quote from: Prius on September 08, 2009, 11:15:09 AM
I get Cholinergic Urticaria only on my head. I tried washing with spa mineral water, but that didn’t help. Maybe I have to try it for a longer period.
Thanks for the info Prius. That is odd how you only get Cholinergic Urticaria on your head. You may indeed want to try it for a bit longer to make sure. I will also document what filters I get, and my results of this as well as soon as I get moved in and get a filtration system set up.
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Title: Shower Filter
Post by: thecheezit on March 15, 2010, 08:11:38 PM
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I just bought a filter for my shower head that blocks out chemicals and other irritants, and first the first time in I dont know how long I didn’t break out in a rash. I don’t know why I waited so long to buy this, I have suspected this whole time that I was getting a rash from the shower because of all the chemicals in my water and I was right. I took like a 7 minute shower with hot water to really test it out and I was rash free, before I couldnt even take a shower for over a minute with out breaking out in a rash.
I don’t know how many people on here get rashes from their shower but if you do I highly recommend a shower head filter.
I’m so excited ;D ;D ;D now just need to test running a couple more times!!!
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Title: Re: My quest with Cholinergic Urticaria….
Post by: HivesGuy on March 16, 2010, 04:41:32 AM
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Yeah, those filters are pretty good, especially if your water supply has a lot of chlorine and bad chemicals.
I have used them in the past, and it helped a lot. It didn’t cure the hives, but made my skin way better to manage. Even now, since moving into my new house, my skin feels way better than before.
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Title: Re: My quest with Cholinergic Urticaria….
Post by: thecheezit on March 16, 2010, 12:55:33 PM
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Quote from: HivesGuy on March 16, 2010, 04:41:32 AM
Yeah, those filters are pretty good, especially if your water supply has a lot of chlorine and bad chemicals.
I have used them in the past, and it helped a lot. It didn’t cure the hives, but made my skin way better to manage. Even now, since moving into my new house, my skin feels way better than before.
Yea my water is horrible, no city water here, have well water so its heavily shocked with chlorine etc. I always thought that the water was bad for my skin, I definitely think it has contributed to how dry my skin is. Like before I would take a shower and break out in a bad rash and then once it cooled down my face would be all dried out and skin flaking off. Still can’t believe I didn’t buy this filter 2 years ago, oh well at least I think I solved the shower issue.
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Title: Re: My quest with Cholinergic Urticaria….
Post by: Chrissy on November 03, 2010, 11:47:31 AM
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what type of shower head filter do you use? just one that blocks chlorine? there are so many out there. thanks! 🙂