A bit of a breakthrough with my Cholinergic Urticaria!

For 5 years I’ve struggled with this annoying as condition. I used moisturizer and Allegra/fexofenadine to combat it under the guidance of my doctor, but of course this is only a band-aid fix for the real problem. Among CU, I’ve struggled with IBS, depression, anxiety, sinusitis and hay fever and chronic fatigue (where I need at least 1 or 2 coffees just to make it through a day of college).

I heard a TV presenter on a health show say he doesn’t have wheat or dairy as it gives him sinus congestion, and I was thinking…you know what? Let’s try going completely and strictly gluten free. For the first 3 days I felt really good, my sinuses cleared up and I was in a good mood, then for the next 6 weeks I went through major withdrawal from gluten (it’s an actual thing, look it up!) my hives got worse, and my sinuses clogged up terribly.

I felt like I was going to faint from lack of energy it was so bad, luckily this was during my holidays!! It’s week 7 of GF diet and I can happily report my IBS is gone, my depression and anxiety is a lot better, my sinuses are gradually clearing up (some days are worse than others, but it’s getting there I’m letting my body heal!)

And last but not least, today I went to the gym with only a bit of moisturizer and NO ANTIHISTAMINE I was expecting the worst, but honestly only a tiny sensation of pin prick pain and I was SWEATING!!! Any normal person would’ve thought I was crazy smiling as I was working out because I was covered in sweat, but honestly my CU has been so bad at times I’ve almost had a crying break down from the pain, my CU is 90% better and totally manageable, I hope it’s 100% gone in a few weeks.

I honestly believe CU is related to some sort of food intolerance as it’s no coincidence people on this forum have reported depression as well. Gluten is the most likely culprit (protein in wheat, barley, rye) in fact I was tested for Coeliac disease 5 years ago when my health started to go downhill because I had symptoms that would suggest it, but the blood test came back negative.. and I was sent on my way without diagnosis.

So it turns out I have NCGS (non-coeliac gluten sensitivity) which isn’t as serious as coeliac disease, but it still causes immense discomfort and annoying symptoms. The other possibility if going GF (gluten free) doesn’t work is eliminating casein (a protein found in all dairy products), I haven’t eliminated this as I’m still on this GF diet and have success with it. (basically if I eliminate casein/dairy products now I won’t really be able to tell if it’s the GF diet or casein free diet so I’m just GF for the moment)

Research these two intolerance as they are the most common ones. I love Italian food and giving up gluten has been REALLY hard, but I value my own health and wellbeing higher than the convenience of feeling like crap and being able to eat anything.

And lastly, yes I was immensely skeptical of the GF trend (I study biomedical science) but this has changed my life!! I’m never going back to gluten. For years I’ve thought I’d had candida or something weird and there’s so much misinformation on the internet. At last I’ve found my cure!

-Edward21