Attending School or College (university) with Cholinergic Urticaria Hives. Online degrees a good option for cholinergic urticaria sufferers?
Post by: MoshiMoshi on October 18, 2010, 10:47:00 AM
I have recently applied to university and so potential interviews could take place in only a few months time.
I honestly expect my Cholinergic Urticaria to kick in as the interview puts a lot of pressure on you, and the nerves dont exactly help either.
If I get a Cholinergic Urticaria breakout in the middle of my interviews i am screwed, they will reject me because I’m likely to be ‘unfit to study’.
I have booked another appointment with a dermatologist. I seriously hope they solve the symptoms this time round, as these next few months could decide the outcome of my life 🙁
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Title: Re: University and Cholinergic Urticaria
Post by: HivesGuy on October 20, 2010, 04:25:08 AM
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Good luck with the interviews Moshi.
About them rejecting you–that would be discrimination based on an illness or disability, which is generally illegal. So if they did actually try to be so cruel as to reject you based on your hives, you should sue the pants off of them ;D. But I suspect you will do fine. Good luck to you!
Also, this actually brings up a good thing for some people with Cholienrgic urticaria to consider: Online degrees. There are a lot of legitimate universities and school that offer most (or even all) of the classes online.
I think taking online classes or getting an online degree would be a great option for those suffering with severe cholinergic urticaria.
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Title: Re: University and Cholinergic Urticaria
Post by: willdev on October 20, 2010, 12:41:09 PM
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I am also about to have this problem, I’m going to feel so under pressure that they are just looking at my completely red face.
Im also worried about housemates cooking things that I react to which would cause me to have an asthma attack >:(
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Title: Re: University and Cholinergic Urticaria
Post by: MoshiMoshi on October 20, 2010, 12:57:07 PM
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Quote from: HivesGuy on October 20, 2010, 04:25:08 AM
Good luck with the interviews Moshi.
About them rejecting you–that would be discrimination based on an illness or disability, which is generally illegal. So if they did actually try to be so cruel as to reject you based on your hives, you should sue the pants off of them ;D. But I suspect you will do fine. Good luck to you!
Thank you.
But at the time of sending off my application I was hives free, and so i omitted it from my application as my doctor said it is unlikely to return. Also for my course (dentistry), universities are allowed to reject you if they don’t think you’re not medically fit.
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Title: My Hives Story…
Post by: HateHives on August 04, 2011, 08:50:42 PM
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Well it all started last summer when I was exercising, I felt a prickly feeling and it started to itch .All that summer I had it, but when school started it went away. Then, around may of this year it came back, but this time even worse that i couldnt even go outside, luckily i graduated from high school before it got as intense. Im 18 and soon to be going to college (HOPEFULLY!!!) and i dont want to deal with this because for the last 2 months i have been doing nothing and now school is about to start and if it doesnt get any better i am going to have to drop-out :(….its good to know I’m not the only one with this condition,but at the same time, I’m sad this crap even exists. I have been trying many things to see if I can get rid of it or should I say “control” it.
1. Benadryl at night, Zyrtec twice daily-didnt do anything
2. 2 Zyrtec’s twice daily, Doxepin at night, Pepcid twice daily-helped like 10%
3. Now I am taking Hydroxyzine and it doesn’t seem to be working although I only have 2 days with it.
I’ll keep you updated on how it goes, hopefully it works…also has anyone tried allegra because it seems to work a lot for some people.
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Title: Attending School or College (university) with Cholinergic Urticaria Hives
Post by: HateHives on August 12, 2011, 08:03:53 PM
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Well my hives are still very intense and i get them by just going outside. My classes are going to be far so im going to most likely get them. Should i drop out of high school and come back next year? any ideas on what to do? also i have tried zyrtec, pepcid, doxepin, claritin, hydroxyzine, singulair, allegra, and none of them have worked….please help me 😮
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Title: Re: School is about to start in 5 days
Post by: HivesForDayz on August 14, 2011, 11:12:18 PM
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Hey man I know what it’s like to go through school and having to deal with hives. If you classes are nice and air conditioned you should push through it. That’s a year of your life your going to have to catch up on if you don’t. In my situation four months in i took a leave of absence because i couldn’t concentrate with the constant hives it was really distracting in my class rooms. That being said I went to school for audio engineering. They were small classrooms which got hot really easily. Sometimes I had to lear in un-airconditions rooms or labs and often i was distracted with the pain.
The program was really expansive and I felt I wasn’t learning as efficiently as I could with the constant hives so I took it off. Never went back though and now I do home recording and stuff to make money and producing music. I feel you should weigh you options out first and don’t let hives try to take a hold of your life. I know what it’s like though and if they are really distracting from your learning it wouldn’t be a bad idea either. Good luck man.
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Title: Re: School is about to start in 5 days
Post by: HivesGuy on August 15, 2011, 03:42:09 AM
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@Hatehives,
Ah, If you have already tried all of those (and even combinations of H1 and H2), then my advice is to start being scientific about your diet and environment. By reducing things like dust mites (or other allergens), food allergies, etc–your hives may improve.
Just about 4-5 months ago–I couldn’t even walk into a grocery store, mow my yard or barely move. Now I go into my workout room when it is 80 degrees in my house and lift heavy weights with no problems. I mow my yard, weedeat, and so forth.
By far the biggest thing that helped me was getting in shape, removing all sources of inflammation, and going on an allergy elimination diet (at which I am still working on). Of course, talk to a doctor to be safe. But this has changed my life in more ways than I can even communicate.
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Title: Re: School is about to start in 5 days
Post by: HateHives on August 15, 2011, 10:52:26 AM
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@HivesForDayz
thanks, i have decided to go to school and see how it goes, even though its going to be excruciating :-[
@HivesGuy
I will definitely take that into a possibility.
There seems to be many people on this forum that get relief when they exercise. There was a time when i worked out for a week and a half, but it was horrible and painful that i just gave up because i felt useless :P. Although i think i want to give it one more try ;D
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Title: Re: School is about to start in 5 days
Post by: HateHives on August 15, 2011, 07:51:04 PM
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Well, I just found out I’m one of those people who cant work out because i only did 4 push-ups and was already feeling excruciating pain. These past few weeks have been really depressing since i have just been at home . I feel like I have no life since all I do is walk around the house and try new anti-histamines , but none seem to work. If anyone can suggest anything please comment, I need your help since doctors and dermatologists cant do anything
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Title: Re: School is about to start in 5 days
Post by: HivesGuy on August 16, 2011, 12:29:31 AM
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Well, I was exactly where you are now. I cut out a ton of food, and you can read my blog about my exercise experiments. Right now I eat white rice (and occasionally quinoa), maple syrup, chicken, salmon, brocolli, carrots, bananas, strawberries, and blueberries (and take a calcium supplement and multivitamin). I’m not saying that is necessarily nutritionally sound long term, but I am doing it because I am on an elimination diet and I have been removing and trying foods over time.
If antihistamines don’t work, and nothing else works, you may want to try it. If that doesn’t work, perhaps try something else. Be proactive, work with a doc for safety.
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Title: My log of Cholinergic Urticaria
Post by: MoshiMoshi on August 26, 2011, 04:01:29 PM
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Okay I’m back from a very very very long break from this site lol.
A summary of my Cholinergic Urticaria; it used to come during the cold months (November) and leave during the warmer months (May).
But this time it came during November 2010 and the symptoms cleared up by FEBRUARY 2011. My doctor prescribed me an oatmeal bath during this period, but I am skeptical whether this made any difference at all.
The difference this year was that I took up strenuous activities before my Cholinergic Urticaria symptoms cleared up, and this seemed to help speed up the recovery process.
I am heading off to dental school this autumn, and hope that the symptoms of Cholinergic Urticaria will stay at bay if I continue playing sports and doing excercises.
I will keep this thread updated from time to time.
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Title: Re: School is about to start in 5 days
Post by: baseball1288 on October 07, 2011, 07:01:59 PM
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Yea man your hives should go away in about 30 minutes or so I know what its like. Have to stop working out or even avoid public interactions because you feel like a freak. One of the best things Ive found to work for me is confidence and being in shape. Try working out a lot and get into really good shape. Every time I get out of shape or have to worry about finances I only have problems with breakouts. I think you should try fitness, workout a lot.
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Title: Re: My Hives Story…
Post by: Blazing Leaf on October 13, 2011, 10:33:43 PM
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Bro,please dont drop out cuz of this crap. I had thishives when i was in 9th and endured it all thru high school. on my sophmore year i skipepd like 2 months cuz of my depression but then i decided that i had to get a good future even tho this hives preventing me. so one day i decided to push past it. My advice
Sweat everyday. Thats all there is to it. After yo usweat,the pain goes away or lessens alottt so you barely feel the pain.Im currently in freshmen in college and live normally cuz i sweat everyday or every other day. This is hard though because the process of sweating will be very painful.But after you sweat,it goes away. 7 minutes of pain for a whole day of freedom?Good deal for me. You can do it bro.
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Title: Re: My Hives Story…
Post by: LuckyHives on October 16, 2011, 09:04:58 PM
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Mos Definitely sweat it out. If you can get a gym membership at a 24 hour fitness center. GO to the gym early morning before class and run the treadmill. Then when your in class your symptoms will be a lot more manageable or maybe even diminish for the day. This is exactly what I do and it works I run the treadmill like crazy everyday just pouring sweat.
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Title: Re: My Hives Story…
Post by: Numbers on November 04, 2011, 12:45:55 PM
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I’m glad to hear, sweating from exercise can help this condition, gives me more motivation to get my butt back into training!
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Title: Re: My Hives Story…
Post by: Hvs85 on November 08, 2011, 09:57:35 AM
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I agree, if you can – don’t drop out of your classes. Have you taken a look at what you’ve been eating? I’m not saying that it’s a food allergy, but there are plenty of foods that can aggravate cholinergic urticaria. Also remember that stress plays a huge factor in any form of hives, and it’s important to keep yourself at peace if possible. I’m rooting for ya!
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Title: 18 years old and my story is,
Post by: Tea4One on November 28, 2011, 09:51:28 AM
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I’ve had Cholinergic Urticaria for 2+ years now. The only reason for the “+” is due to the fact I’ve known what it has been called for two years now. I’m on anti-histamines that only help slightly but im still in great pain.
So my story is, I think it started in year 10 in High school, at this point for some odd reason only the top of my head furiously itched. It was painful but bearable. I still have no idea if this is connected or if its just something else, It disappeared during year 11. In the first year of 6th form (year 12) I started to get what I’ve now known to be Cholinergic Urticaria. Of course I had no idea what it was so I soldiered on, getting on with it in great pain but it was taking its toll. It kept getting worse throughout the year, I slowly started to go out less and I couldn’t have hot showers nor hot food.
So this continued and kept getting worse throughout year 13. At this point I threw in the cards and decided to go the doctors who had no idea what I had, he sent me away to take one anti-histamine a day. This had no effect, I was slowly starting to get depressed and it was at its worse, I couldn’t live the house at all. It stopped my from having a social life (with that I lost a huge amount of friends) and I couldn’t go to school so my grades suffered (I ended with 3 Ds). Over the summer holidays I sat in doing nothing, I couldn’t do anything in fact. I laughed it happened, I got angry it happened, it was bad. It even stopped my from going to see my favourite band Iron Maiden on my 18th birthday. It’s slowly destroyed everything, education, social life and my change to have any kind of fun.
Now this is where I am now, at university. Still with it and last month I went to the Dermatologist who said continue with the anti-histamines but take 4 a day. Thankfully this is helping slightly but my life is still hell. It hurts most of the time still, I can’t take a hot shower still or walk out with a good pace in mild weather. Its made me depressed entirely and I slump about day to day too ashamed to actually tell my parents that its effecting me more than I let on. This is due to the fact I don’t think my Dad understands the pain and I don’t want to worry my Mum. Its the second biggest reason why I plan on leaving university, as it hurts every time I go in, I have to hide in the toilets every time I get there. None of my lecturers really understand so I think they’ll kick me out due to my low attendance thanks to my condition. It ruined 6th form and now its going to ruin university for me.
I just don’t know what to do. Im lost with it. Its ruined my social life, i’ve only been out once in the last three months for social reasons. Its ruined and ruining my education. Its destroying my life, I can’t think I can cope with it any more. The fact I get stressed over it causing it to attack means its a vicious cycle. I’ve tried to be optimistic, I’ve tried everything, nothing is working. It pains me to no end, emotionally and physically really. I don’t know, I just felt if I told people here who have it I wouldn’t feel so isolated about it.
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Title: Re: 18 years old and my story is,
Post by: HivesGuy on November 29, 2011, 04:44:20 AM
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Hey Tea4one,
Great post and welcome to the forum. It was very interesting reading your feelings and experiences, and I can relate to much of what you wrote.
The only thing I would like to say is you can’t give up too easy. If you are letting Cholinergic Urticaria make you feel as if your life is over and you can’t do anything you want, it’s time to really focus on how you can beat this thing.
I’ve been exactly where you are, with my hives being so bad that I let it interfere with nearly every part of my life. But I made a firm decision that I was going to do everything I could to beat this, and it is working.
First and foremost, there are many different antihistamines and if the one you are on now isn’t working well (even after taking 4), then it may be time to move on and try the next one. Also, you can consider taking a combination of H1 and H2 (such as Zyrtec and Pepcid), but as always, talk to your doctor first to make sure this would be safe.
The important thing to keep in mind is that everyone reacts differently to different antihistamines. So if you are taking on that is nearly worthless, there are others which may help you more.
Additionally, I’ve noticed that certain foods in my diet can flare my symptoms tremendously, and you may want to look at some of my diet experiments on my blog and consider taking a hard look an experimenting with your diet as well.
Also, I recommend spending some time on this forum, and reading what has helped others as well. So many people here have dealt with this, and felt utterly hopeless and lost. But they have persevered and found ways to manage this and live a happy life at the same time. I feel you can do the same.
Thanks again for sharing, and welcome!
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Title: My Update (Things are getting better!)
Post by: Nathaaan on April 24, 2012, 05:46:50 PM
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Hi, it’s been I think a few months since I last updated you all with my progress. For the past two weeks everything seems to have gotten better. I was able to walk home from college with only slight itching, and today I walked about a bit and was fine! An attack did occur today, though, when I was lifting and carrying things in the hot sun, but surprisingly, the attack only lasted about 3 minutes! I was then free for the whole day! I felt so pleased, happy and i’m glad that things are starting to get better!
I haven’t done many changes to my lifestyle to help ease the attacks down so there’s not much tips I could give you. I haven’t been exercising at all really and i’m still eating the same, which I personally wouldn’t say is greatly healthy. The only reasons I believe it’s calming down is because summer is coming (i’m able to sweat easier) and the weather is getting warmer, and i’ve also noticed that since i’ve been using a different shower gel the improvments began.
I have been experimenting with different shower gels actually as I noticed that one shower gel made the attacks VERY strong, some medium and the one i’m currently using very low. The shower gel I use is called Lynx Excite and I have no idea why this works better than others (maybe someone could look into it). You could also try another self discovered tip which i’ve been using for many months which is to NEVER spray deodorant on your skin. This caused my attacks to be horrible so I am now just spraying a bit over my clothes, which allows me to smell nice and not have to cope with bad attacks.
Maybe some of you could try this tip and possibly try using the same shower gel and see if it works for you. Thanks for your time reading and let me know how you’re all coping! 🙂