I’ve had cholinergic urticaria for a few months now, and I really think I’m having an allergic reaction to something I’m eating.
I’ve been keeping a food journal and trying to figure out what could be causing the problem. Should I get an allergy test? Have any of y’all had success going that route?
-Mateeah
Hivesguy says
I’ve never had one, but they can be helpful. They don’t always catch everything, and sometimes they can give false positives or negatives. For example, you may be intolerant to something and not necessarily allergic. Nevertheless, it could be helpful to have one.
Hopefully someone else can comment about their experience with a test.
John says
If you follow the advice on the video you can save time, money and maybe years of suffering. I had a few allergy tests over the years, and some types may help reinforce what you will observe in your elimination diet test. Getting rid of wheat and dairy are a good first step, but follow Ben’s advice 100 percent and you will almost certainly get results with the diet change. The food diary is a VERY smart move…hold on to it as over time you will forget and cravings will pull at you. BUT there are always plenty of good things to eat that are healthy and won’t cause problems. Whole plant foods including fruits, vegetables and starches can provide all your nutritional needs and keep you among the most healthy and happy people in the world, and if you feel the need for animal products Ben’s conclusion is a good one. He uses turkey breast…just be sure there are no weird things injected into the meat like butter, oils, salt MSG etc….just 100 percent pure whatever your choice may be. Grass fed or organic might be the best too. You will do fine and are taking the right steps. Let us all know how you are doing. 🙂
John says
PS..yes, have had some false positives I believe and that would eliminate what could be a good food for you. Some types of allergy test are so inaccurate that you are better off with none..especially the “scratch” tests done by allergists.
Hivesguy says
Good point.
Christie says
I’ve had CU for a long time now and it’s horrible. My main issue is the constant hives. When I get too hot I also faint. My allergist is really good and he has tried to help me for several years. I have had several allergy tests and unfortunately I didn’t get any results that were useful. I had the scratch test (entire back and both arms) last year. My entire body was covered in hives and my face was so flushed that the nurse panicked and wanted to give me a shot of Benadryl. They said I had a reaction to everything including the negative control so my results were inconclusive. Exact same thing happened on the second test a week later. They said that I also had dermatographic urticaria so the scratch test wouldn’t work for me.
I do have a seafood allergy so they had me come back and they were going to do a food challenge but I had hives before they started the test so the dr said they couldn’t do it. They did the blood test and found I was allergic to several grasses and dust but nothing too bad. They are so perplexed by my reactions and have tried so many treatments. They even helped with dietary suggestions. So, for now, I take the allergy meds they prescribed and hope I don’t faint or get giant hives on my face and neck at work.
The allergy test can help some people but doesn’t work for everyone. If you do have testing done I hope you get the answers you need. Good luck!
Anonymous says
I heard of someone who displayed allergies for literally everything in a scratch test, then the doctor realised that they were just allergic to the metal that was scratching them. You could consider wearing clothes with no metal contacting your skin, I know this helped my aunt who had skin reactions to nickel.
mateeah says
Thank you for your comments everyone! Very helpful. I ended up going to the naturopath and did a blood test. My hives are worse than they have ever been so I’m pretty desperate for anything. Luckily it cost only $140 – worth it to me – so I’ll find out in a month. In the meantime, my doctor wants me to go on a low histamine, low salicylate acid diet. Have any of you tried this specifically before? It sounds like the diet Ben recommends is pretty similar. I’m grateful for this forum!
mateeah says
Oh, and he also suggested that I take a multivitamin, B vitamins, and 3 units of fish oil. Have you guys experimented with supplements and noticed any improvements, hives wise?
Hivesguy says
There have been some people report some improvement with B vitamins and fish oil. If you search this site, you may be able to locate the forum thread. However, these vitamins didn’t “cure” their hives. If memory serves me right, I think they just reported that it helped a bit.