Can Exercise and Workouts can Help Cholinergic Urticaria Hives? Post by: LiSaV on March 15, 2009, 10:23:07 PM
Here’s my story: First of all, I am in awe that this forum even exists! I thought my condition was mostly unheard of. I first noticed my heat hives when I moved to Northern California from Southern California. At first I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I went to a dermatologist (and brought pictures of my skin with me), who confirmed my self-diagnosis of hives, and suggested that it was caused by heat.
I then noticed that I only get the hives after a hot shower, exercising, or jumping in a hot tub, etc. He prescribed Claritin, which worked for a while (no hives at all!), then faded in its effect. I no longer take anything since I’m not a big fan of drugs, anyway. At first I only noticed the hives on my stomach. Over time, I noticed them additionally on my chest and back.
They go away after about half an hour of exposure to heat. They’re not terribly disabling, and I’ve learned to ignore them when I look in the mirror. Other tidbits: I often have cold extremities (Raynaud’s phenomenon), and migraines on a regular basis. I don’t sweat very easily, which is something I’ve always noticed about myself and wondered if it could be related to the hives. I also had terrible acne when I was younger, which has cleared up more recently. Not sure if any of that relates, but I thought I’d mention all of the above. It’s going to take me some time to read through the threads here, but I know I’ll enjoy hearing other’s stories and suggestions knowing I’m not alone in this condition.
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Title: Re: My Story: Shower and Exercise Post by: mik on March 16, 2009, 03:21:10 AM
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hi LiSaV, your story has some similaries with hime. i get the hives after a hot shower, while exercising. i also get it when i get mentally nervous, exited…..i have been prescribed BENADRYL which worked for a short while, but then, its effect faded. i then tried Mizolen Mizolastine, which stopped the Cholinergic Urticaria coming after a bath, but did not work for exercise. once again, this soon faded. my hives appear everywhere and they last for about an hour on my – arms, chest, back, legs…..but no on the face, fingers, feet. i too, am not a fan of drugs, and have stopped taking anything. i also thought i was quite alone with this condition, and when i found this forum, i was really amazed and exited that maybe someone here has found something which works. i’m in London – so the climate is very different to CA, so i doubt it is a climatic thing. take care mik
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Title: Re: My Story: Shower and Exercise Post by: HivesGuy on March 16, 2009, 07:20:43 AM
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Hello LiSaV, Excellent Post & welcome to the forum! I am glad you found the site so you can know that you definitely are NOT alone in this. I too can relate with your story in a lot of ways. I had no idea what was going on when I first got Cholinergic Urticaria. I just all of a sudden got this crazy prickly/stinging/itchy sensation all over my body and I was like, “Whoa, what is this?” I also agree about the antihistamines not being that effective. I have taken claritin which helps maybe 5%, but I still get attacks. So basically I don’t even take any antihistamines at all anymore. The reason is because they really don’t stop the attacks, and they usually leave me feeling drowsy for the whole day (sometimes even the next day too). However, I will point out that some people with Cholinergic Urticaria do get quite a bit of relief (to the point some even live a semi-normal life). But others (like me), they don’t help much at all. I agree with what mik said, and so far it doesn’t seem as if there is a climate thing causing it, since we have people on here from TN, Cali, the UK, New Zealand, and everywhere in between. The only difference I see is that many (not all) don’t get a lot of sun exposure, but that is still a theory I am experimenting with (and hope to know the results by this summer). Many of us also seem to have Keratosis Pilaris, which is a skin condition that makes “bumpy” looking skin on the back of the arms, etc. There also seem to be some similarities/connections with potential food & envirnomental allergies (dust mites), although it is still unclear at this point whether these are actually causing the Cholinergic Urticaria, or if they are just a coincidence. I am sorry you also suffer from migranes, and Raynauds. I haven’t heard anyone else on the forum mention those, so they may or may not be related to the Cholinergic Urticaria. I myself rarely get a headache, and when I do, it is usually caused by stress or if I don’t eat for a few hours. Anyways, thanks again for the great post, and welcome to the forum!
Update: after going through extensive dieting, I was able to get my hives to level where I could experiment with exercise. Here is a post on how to exercise with cholinergic urticaria.
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Title: Re: My Story: Shower and Exercise Post by: dice on March 16, 2009, 10:46:03 AM
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@ mik – you should have gone out today, it was very sunny π Whilst also not the biggest fan of drugs, I’ve been taking “Loratadine” for the past two months and have to say that it’s done wonders for me compared with the winter periods in particular when I went without. Back then I’d get a reaction about a dozen times a day, each one lasting for at least 10 minutes but since taking the medicine its become a rarity. At first I assumed like the other drugs I’ve taken that it wasn’t working as it didn’t seem to have much of an effect on my itching but after choosing to persist with the drug into my second month a hives attack would become a rarity in comparison. Don’t get me wrong it still happens at a regular rate but I now get days where it doesn’t happen at all. I generally still avoid any exercise etc. (which I miss alot :() but attacks are limited to when I go outside (before I was guaranteed to have multiple attacks from just walking outside for more than 5 minutes – but now it may happen just the once if not at all). In the past 3 days I’ve only had 3 reactions, once on each night waking me up from my sleep (very irritaing) and once today whilst visiting the postal office which was pretty stuffy. I still get frequent “sensation” that my hives will break out but it doesn’t often come into fruition.
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Title: Re: My Story: Shower and Exercise Post by: mik on March 16, 2009, 03:42:11 PM
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hi all hiveguy – hi once again, intrigued what u said about ‘keratosis Pilaris’ – cause i sometimes, more often now, get this bumpy texture on my skin. this is usually after climbing up a steep hill and then going inside immediaterly. and also, as my hands tend to stay cool, i put them on my arms and body/chest to try and cool it down. i think this may also contribute to the bumpy feeling. dice- hi, yh i did go out lol – really hot (wel for london in march)! v sunny as well, and i didn’t get Cholinergic Urticaria appearing too much when i walked up ‘that’ hill i have to walk up everyday. this could be, and is most likely to be because i did not bring my rucksak which sheds a lot of weight off the climb. hmm…thats intresting, casue i tend to have at least 1 major attack a day, then maybe a few small ones which don’t form into a bumpy texture or red skin but just itch. and i also did used to get it an night. and it would be hard to get asleep. cause i would feel all itchy and things. the best thing about any drug i took, is was it did stop the attack happening at night. however, after a while i got fed up, and had about a week or so of rough nights with no drugs, and i managed to get a decent nights sleep – a poosible phycological thing then maybe? this relates to some post i saw on cholinergicurticaria.net – about the brain and hypothalamus. anyway, hope you all are good!
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Title: Re: My Story: Shower and Exercise Post by: HivesGuy on March 17, 2009, 09:53:59 AM
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Quote from: mik on March 16, 2009, 03:42:11 PM
hi all hiveguy – hi once again, intrigued what u said about ‘keratosis Pilaris’ – cause i sometimes, more often now, get this bumpy texture on my skin. this is usually after climbing up a steep hill and then going inside immediaterly. and also, as my hands tend to stay cool, i put them on my arms and body/chest to try and cool it down. i think this may also contribute to the bumpy feeling. Helly mik, Yes, it does seem many of us that are suffering from Cholinergic Urticaria also have the Keratosis Pilaris thing as well. I am still not sure what is going on and why we all have it, but I definitely think they are connected in some way. I also agree that there is somewhat of a psychological thing that goes along with this. I am not sure if something is happening in our brains or what at this point. Hopefully we will someday solve this puzzle of cholinergic urticaria, and once again live a normal life!
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Title: Re: My Story: Shower and Exercise Post by: billysielu on March 17, 2009, 11:18:31 AM
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It’s funny you mentioned extremeties. I often have purple hands/feet. Not sure if that’s related or not?
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Title: Re: My Story: Shower and Exercise Post by: HivesGuy on March 17, 2009, 11:36:24 AM
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Quote from: billysielu on March 17, 2009, 11:18:31 AM
It’s funny you mentioned extremeties. I often have purple hands/feet. Not sure if that’s related or not? Come to think of it, my fingernails (the lower part) are usually bluish in color. My hands and feet are cold a lot of times too. I am not sure if that is related or not??
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Title: Re: My Story: Shower and Exercise Post by: mik on March 28, 2009, 03:05:39 PM
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hmm…the above few posts have mentioned details about hand/feet temps. i’ve just realised, never thought it would have anything to do with Cholinergic Urticaria, but I also have cold hands, and very cold feet. my hands tend to get quite clamy sumtimes if i am around people, but my feet are like permeneterly cold.
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Title: Re: My Story: Shower and Exercise Post by: HivesGuy on March 29, 2009, 04:45:33 AM
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That is interesting, but I still don’t know if this is related to Cholinergic Urticaria, or just a common thing. For example, my mom has never had Cholinergic Urticaria, but she always complains of being cold, her feet being cold, etc. So I am not sure if this is related to Cholinergic Urticaria, or just a coincidence???
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Title: Can Exercise and Workouts can Help Cholinergic Urticaria Hives? Post by: jga on May 04, 2009, 07:36:49 PM
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I’ve been lifting weights at least 3 times a week for the last 6 years. I always did get hives during workouts but not until I reached a certain strenuous point and the hives only itched mildly and that’s if they ever did itch. Well I haven’t lifted weights for a little more than a week due to a sprain wrist and I noticed I breakout from simple things like just wearing a sweater or jacket and the itch is much more intense. I really need to get back to lifting to see if it gets better. Either there is a correlation with less intense hives and exercising or it’s just a coincidence that my hives got worse when I stopped working out.
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Title: Re: regular exercise really makes a difference Post by: dice on May 05, 2009, 09:58:57 AM
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I’d have to agree, after consulting with my dermatologist he recommended exercising on a regular basis (along with the meds I’ve been taken). As mentioned in one of my earlier threads, he said that the histamines (what cause the itching sensation when released) build up over time and when not released, are stored and therefore grow in quantity. This means stronger sensations more frequently (especially when not released intentionally). I’ve been going on my exercise bike daily (for half an hour) for the last week and a bit and I can honestly say that I feel better than I have done the whole year. I took about 4 days off and after that started to notice an increase in strength of sensation/reaction so I’ve gone back on the bike again lol. Generally speaking, anything that will work up a sweat is very likely to help (e.g. walking for longer periods). Having said that, I find it hard to say for certain whether I’m only able to exercise due to the weather getting hotter.
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Title: Re: regular exercise really makes a difference Post by: HivesGuy on May 06, 2009, 05:04:02 AM
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That does make some sense about the histamine/exercise thing. I plan on getting really fit & in shape when I get a house later this year, and I can’t wait to see if it helps.
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Title: Re: regular exercise really makes a difference Post by: StrongerThanHives on May 13, 2009, 04:34:18 PM
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Yeah I’ve noticed the exact same thing. Definitely a correlation there.
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Title: So, can I exercise with Cholinergic Urticaria…? Post by: coscass on May 29, 2009, 09:58:28 AM
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I’ve only had an outbreak once or twice when it was a really hot day, but I didn’t understand why. Is it safe to exercise with UT? Because I really need to, lol. But I don’t want to like, die or anything. Okay maybe I’m being a little overdramatic (hypochondriac lol), but yeah. If I take my cetirizine, will that keep an outbreak away? Or will it come anyway? And should I be in the AC, or a cool room, and not push myself too hard?
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Title: Re: So, can I exercise…? Post by: HivesGuy on May 29, 2009, 12:40:27 PM
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Well some people with cholinergic urticaria can get edema or “swelling” when they start having a reaction. That is very dangerous and people can die if their throat swells shut. But I would say the majority of Cholinergic Urticaria people don’t get it (I don’t). As far as exercise, I usually turn on a fan, the AC, and just try to pace myself to prevent an attack. You can also get a squirt bottle & spray yourself to cool down (if the water itself wont cause an attack). But basically that is what I do, I workout until I start to get itchy, then I calm it down a bit and just pace myself and take breaks. It is kinda annoying, but I guess we need exercise.
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Title: Re: So, can I exercise…? Post by: jga on May 29, 2009, 08:59:00 PM
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I lift weights regularly, I’ve never experienced anything that resembled anything fatal, just the annoying hives is all. Do keep hydrated though.
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Title: Re: So, can I exercise…? Post by: Monkey on May 31, 2009, 11:02:30 AM
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Only exercise after you know if outbreaks affect your breathing or other life-sustaining systems. Try exercising at a minor pace (to not really “work-out”, but to trigger the hives), and, upon getting prickly or itchy, see if these come with any sort of breathing problems or abnormally high heart rate. And, as always, consult your doctor’s opinion before doing any strenuous exercise with Cholinergic Urticaria. He/she would know better than anyone on these forums, since he/she knows more about you than we do. As HivesGuy said, most people, at least on these forums (including me) haven’t ever really experienced anything even remotely near fatal with this – just, as always, those annoying, annoying itchy hives π . Cheers! -Monkey
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Title: Re: So, can I exercise…? Post by: billysielu on June 01, 2009, 01:31:22 PM
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Start with walking, preferably in the sun. Try to take regular deep breaths, concentrate on breathing. Stop if you think you have to, of course. I often feel better if I don’t let the prickly feeling stop me, I carry on anyway, and it hurts, but then it passes and I get more tolerant of it. Always keep very well hydrated. Sweat clears your pores, you can’t sweat without water.
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Title: Re: regular exercise really makes a difference Post by: pinkleopard on June 08, 2009, 09:45:10 AM
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i agree. if you can bear it, i find that working out and “letting your hives out” as i like to think of it, is super helpful. i work out, then ice my face down right after. i tend to get swollen around the eyes too, but if i ice myself, take a cool shower (picture yourself in a waterfall!) and don’t over do it, i will feel much better!
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Title: Can Exercise and Workouts can Help Cholinergic Urticaria Hives? Post by: adityadennis on October 05, 2009, 11:08:19 AM
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I used to go to the gym a lot, but now I’m avoiding it because it always gives me a reaction. I’m afraid going to the gym will make my Cholinergic Urticaria worse, so I’ve been avoiding it? Do you guys think exercise has made your Cholinergic Urticaria worse, or is it unaffected? James
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Title: Re: Does exercise make Cholinergic Urticaria worse? Post by: HRC on October 07, 2009, 09:55:38 AM
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Hey I feel exercise makes Cholinergic Urticaria better! initially the reaction will appear but after 10-15mins of exercise the Cholinergic Urticaria will get less and eventually disappear and you should be able to sweat. The more regular you exercise the less the Cholinergic Urticaria will get, thats why I use the treadmill everyday for 10-15mins and my Cholinergic Urticaria gets less. However if I go a few days without any exercise the Cholinergic Urticaria comes about very quickly! Let me know how u get on……………..
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Title: Re: Does exercise make Cholinergic Urticaria worse? Post by: adityadennis on October 07, 2009, 12:16:01 PM
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Quote from: HRC on October 07, 2009, 09:55:38 AM
Hey I feel exercise makes Cholinergic Urticaria better! initially the reaction will appear but after 10-15mins of exercise the Cholinergic Urticaria will get less and eventually disappear and you should be able to sweat. The more regular you exercise the less the Cholinergic Urticaria will get, thats why I use the treadmill everyday for 10-15mins and my Cholinergic Urticaria gets less. However if I go a few days without any exercise the Cholinergic Urticaria comes about very quickly! Let me know how u get on…………….. Ok, cool, I’ll keep exercising then! Hopefully I can look forward to a few Cholinergic Urticaria-free months soon. ——————————————————————————–
Title: Found a day-long fix for Cholinergic Urticaria! (for me anyway) Burn out Post by: robinsonirwin on October 17, 2009, 10:35:53 AM
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Hey, I thought I would pass along a tip. Let me know if it works for you, I was really excited when I finally just went ahead and bravely did this. Granted, the hives hit hardest for me in the winter so that’s when I decided to do this because I couldn’t stand it anymore. In the summer, my hives only barely come out… Okay, so When I know it’s going to be a warm-ish day, I have a routine in the morning that fixes me for the rest of the day and a little bit into the next day!! First, walk around outside or get yourself a little hot just to get the hives starting to come out but you don’t need to let them come full force (too painful)…For me, I walk my dogs around the block (in and out of the shade and works perfectly because I can get a little warm in the sun and then walk in the shade to get cool-ish again). Once they kind of have made themselves known so it’s just sort of lightly constant/uncomfortable…go in the sun, sit down so you don’t get too fidgety and just BURN…at this point, the pain shouldn’t be quite as bad since you’ve already had the hives come in and out for a while so stick through the pain and you might be surprised about how quickly the pain fades away and the itchy tingling starts to fizzle out. When that happens…you’re basically home free for the day. After I finally bit the bullet and just sat through a “burning out”…it was amazing the rest of the day. I could go out in the sun, get in my hot car…no hives!! It felt like a miracle!! Please let me know if any of you are willing to try this and if it works for you!!
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Title: Re: Found a day-long fix! (for me anyway) Burn out Post by: dice on October 17, 2009, 05:24:04 PM
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I actually do something similar and so far it’s been working well for me. My method is a bit more direct and involves pure exercise. Getting your body to sweat is the aim (and by this I don’t mean to the extent that it’s dripping off your body). I know it’s easier said than done but it really does seems to be the answer. Any wet patches around your body is a good indication that you’re on your way – you’ll want that to occur all over your body (or most of it at the very least if you want to have a good chance of maximising the effect). I find that I’m better able to go through the pain and continue exercising when doing jumping jacks, burpees and jumping squats (look em up if you want to know what they are). Using weights or an exercise bike (for example) I find are either too dangerous whilst having hive “attacks” or difficult to maintain the correct position (bike) for maximum effect (in getting that blood pumping and therefore speeding the sweat process).
Running is probably the best exercise although the others I’ve already mentioned are ideal if you’re stuck at home. You’ll also have to consider that going outside will mean you being in colder conditions (for those who mainly suffer during the winter). To be more specific I generally aim to do 30 jumping jacks, followed by at least 5 burpees (or jumping squats, although they really give your legs a good workout so I wouldn’t recommend performing it on a daily basis) before having a rest period of 30 seconds. If you get that itchy sensation feel free to take a longer timeout but you must NOT cool yourself down (e.g. using a fan or cold water). You’d simply be slowing the sweating process. You’ll be amazed at how fast your heart is beating after doing this just twice. Usually after doing this on three occasions I start to feel some sweat around my neck and back. By this point the itchy sensation lessens and I find it easier to continue exercising until I feel an adequate amount of sweat on my body. Always remember that the beginning is always the hardest part, but it’s well worth it IMO if it means going through the rest of the day with little – no hassle from the Cholinergic Urticaria. I also look at this as a good motivator for keeping fit :p. Two days ago I decided NOT to exercise and that night was the most uncomfortable I’d been since February (the last winter period). It wasn’t the worst feeling I’d had but it was a big hint at how effective my exercising was. I’d also be interested in finding out how other people get on using this method. *edit – Some extra things to consider from my post: – I only began doing this method on a daily basis since last week when the hive attacks became stronger and more frequent. Prior to that I still exercised on a regular basis but not daily. – Because my have attakcs have only recently started, I would assume for those who’ve had hive attacks for a longer period of time (e.g. a few months) MAY find doing this much harder than someone like myself who’s only just gone into a season where the Cholinergic Urticaria becomes worse. –
It is also possible that my method will become less effective. As of now it only lasts for a day, maybe I’d have to do this twice per day by Christmas where the weather is less favorable than it is now… – I’m currently taking an antihistamine branded as “Telfast” (Fexofenadine Hydrochloride). After taking this in spring my hives began to reduce but it was also during the hotter season so I cannot say whether this alone has a great enough effect on lessoning the pain.
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Title: Re: Found a day-long fix! (for me anyway) Burn out Post by: HRC on October 18, 2009, 04:37:55 AM
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Quote from: dice on October 17, 2009, 05:24:04 PM
I actually do something similar and so far it’s been working well for me. My method is a bit more direct and involves pure exercise. Getting your body to sweat is the aim (and by this I don’t mean to the extent that it’s dripping off your body).
I know it’s easier said than done but it really does seems to be the answer. Any wet patches around your body is a good indication that you’re on your way – you’ll want that to occur all over your body (or most of it at the very least if you want to have a good chance of maximising the effect). I find that I’m better able to go through the pain and continue exercising when doing jumping jacks, burpees and jumping squats (look em up if you want to know what they are). Using weights or an exercise bike (for example) I find are either too dangerous whilst having hive “attacks” or difficult to maintain the correct position (bike) for maximum effect (in getting that blood pumping and therefore speeding the sweat process). Running is probably the best exercise although the others I’ve already mentioned are ideal if you’re stuck at home. You’ll also have to consider that going outside will mean you being in colder conditions (for those who mainly suffer during the winter).
To be more specific I generally aim to do 30 jumping jacks, followed by at least 5 burpees (or jumping squats, although they really give your legs a good workout so I wouldn’t recommend performing it on a daily basis) before having a rest period of 30 seconds. If you get that itchy sensation feel free to take a longer timeout but you must NOT cool yourself down (e.g. using a fan or cold water). You’d simply be slowing the sweating process. You’ll be amazed at how fast your heart is beating after doing this just twice. Usually after doing this on three occasions I start to feel some sweat around my neck and back. By this point the itchy sensation lessens and I find it easier to continue exercising until I feel an adequate amount of sweat on my body. Always remember that the beginning is always the hardest part, but it’s well worth it IMO if it means going through the rest of the day with little – no hassle from the Cholinergic Urticaria. I also look at this as a good motivator for keeping fit :p.
Two days ago I decided NOT to exercise and that night was the most uncomfortable I’d been since February (the last winter period). It wasn’t the worst feeling I’d had but it was a big hint at how effective my exercising was. I’d also be interested in finding out how other people get on using this method. *edit – Some extra things to consider from my post: – I only began doing this method on a daily basis since last week when the hive attacks became stronger and more frequent.
Prior to that I still exercised on a regular basis but not daily. – Because I only recently started doing this I would assume for those who’ve had hive attacks for a longer period of time (e.g. a few months) MAY find doing this much harder than someone like myself who’s only just gone into a season where the Cholinergic Urticaria becomes worse. – It is also possible that my method will become less effective. As of now it only lasts for a day, maybe I’d have to do this twice per day by Christmas where the weather is less favorable…
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Title: Re: Found a day-long fix! (for me anyway) Burn out Post by: HRC on October 18, 2009, 04:45:07 AM
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Hey! I use a similar exercise routine to you. I purchased a treadmill not so long and usually run on this for about 10-15mins. The beggining can be very difficult but if I carry on past the initial stage the Cholinergic Urticaria will get less intensive. In winter if I miss only 1 day then I feel uncomfortable during the day as i havent sweated. I quite agree with you, the aim of the exercise is to sweat.
At the moment I need to exercise everyday or the Cholinergic Urticaria comes back due to the curret cold climate in the UK. I also do situps and weights after the treadmill. A lot of the days I feel lazy and cant be bothered to do exercise because I am usually exhausted after work but I see the bright side of it, which is 10-15mins of running and I will be Cholinergic Urticaria free for the rest of the day, definately better than taking medication with side effects. Hope this helps…. HRC
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Title: Re: Does exercise make Cholinergic Urticaria worse? Post by: jamesmacin on November 01, 2009, 12:22:10 AM
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Quote from: HRC on October 07, 2009, 09:55:38 AM
I feel exercise makes Cholinergic Urticaria better! initially the reaction will appear but after 10-15mins of exercise the Cholinergic Urticaria will get less and eventually disappear and you should be able to sweat. Hi, Thanks for the interesting post with your personal experience, in my case if I walk gently even in the evening with no sun in the sky, the itch and mild redness kill me. A very gently walk is what I mean, no rigorous training at all. Thanks James
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Title: Re: Does exercise make Cholinergic Urticaria worse? Post by: jamesmacin on November 01, 2009, 12:25:56 AM
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Hi, I get this itch attack with redness of skin whenever I do any of the followings; 1. Lifting a small object with even a little weight 2. Pull of push something like a sofa or chair with even a little effort. 3. Go for walk in the sun. 4. Go for a walk in the evening with no sun in the sky. In short the itch is always there, no matter what I do or don’t. Thanks James
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Title: Re: Does exercise make Cholinergic Urticaria worse? Post by: Duper on December 05, 2009, 07:18:21 PM
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I lift weights four days a week, and do cardio twice a week. I usually leave the gym drenched. When I stop training, I break out a lot more easily and dramatically than when I am consistently exercising. So my contention is that you should all exercise, you’ll feel great and you’ll look pretty. π
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Title: Re: Does exercise make Cholinergic Urticaria worse? Post by: dice on December 10, 2009, 11:18:35 AM
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you should exercise, check my posts for more info as I’ve gone into detail on this already in multiple threads.
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Title: Re: Found a day-long fix! (for me anyway) Burn out Post by: TheJazz on January 05, 2010, 08:33:18 PM
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Wow, thanks for the ideas of some free low maininence workouts. It’s only about 10-15 degrees right now where I’m at, so running is out of the question. I’ll try these workouts and update with results.
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Title: Re: Found a day-long fix! (for me anyway) Burn out Post by: TheJazz on January 05, 2010, 09:20:13 PM
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just went for about 20 minutes, couldnt get a sweat going, perhaps i need more hydration, didn’t get too itchy though which is nice, i did sweat earlier today… I can tell thata the workouts will work in time, maybe increase my room temperature and drink more water throughout the day.
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Title: Re: Found a day-long fix! (for me anyway) Burn out Post by: dice on January 11, 2010, 08:10:27 PM
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Doing both is a good idea. If you’re out of breath (or your heat is pounding fast/hard) whilst in those conditions and you don’t sweat/have a reaction then I’m all out of ideas I’m afraid. But keep trying alternative exercises that may be more suited towards getting your heart pumping faster. (Don’t overdo it mind!!!)
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Title: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: kez0605 on February 04, 2010, 08:55:14 AM
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Hi How does everyone cope with exercise, I have had a baby and really want to do some exercise. Everytime I do anything vigorus ie get my heartrate going which really is the only way to try and loose weight, I break out. I cannot go to the gym as nearly always break out, I try to do dvd’s at home with a fan and windows open but again always end up having a breakout. I am so frustrated, has anyone got any tips or just carry on and keep having the break outs.
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Title: Re: So, can I exercise…? Post by: kez0605 on February 04, 2010, 09:47:32 AM
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I find that I struggle to do any kind of vigorous exercise but Cholinergic Urticaria can effect my breathing and has done on a number of occasions where I have had to call a doctor out. I just don’t know what to do.
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Title: Re: Exercise Post by: HivesGuy on February 04, 2010, 10:12:32 AM
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Exercise is very hard for me to, and let me just caution that some people with Cholinergic Urticaria (not all) can go into anaphylactic shock, so always beware of that. I never have, but some have reported doing that, so be careful. But what I usually do is I turn a big fan on me, and turn on the A/c to get it as cool as I can. I then workout, and when I feel itchy, I take a break for a minute. Some like to work through the attack. I can do this sometimes, but other times it is much too severe to even try. But that is how I do it. A cold squirt bottle of water can help too. What about everyone else? Do you do anything special? Good luck.
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Title: Re: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: thecheezit on February 25, 2010, 09:47:22 PM
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Only thing I can recommend is just keep trying to workout as much as possible. When I first got Cholinergic Urticaria 2 years ago I was not able to lift weights, I would quit every time because I just got so itchy/prickly and the rash on my face just got to me. I sucked it up and tried as hard as I could to fight through it and now I can finally lift weights without having any problems, took me about 4 months to build up a tolerance to be able to lift weights. I don’t know what changed but I guess maybe I am in better shape now and have learned to pace myself to get through a workout.
I can also run on an elliptical machine for 45 minutes fine without breaking out in a rash, maybe a mild one if that. But I still can not run, if I try to run outside I will break out in the worst rash and sometimes have a hard time breathing. It is really strange to me how I can run on an elliptical machine but cant run outside ??? ??? ???. So my recommendation is learn to pace yourself through your workouts, allow your body to cool down a little bit between sets or what ever your doing, and maybe try to run on an elliptical machine to see how you can handle that if running isn’t an option like me.
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Title: Exercising expierence.. Post by: hivesguy99 on April 13, 2010, 12:12:45 PM
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Alright well I researched a bit on treatments for C.U. because Iβve had just enough of it and seriously will do anything to get rid of it. During the winter I was seriously paranoid on anything that was warm, I would avoid EVERYTHING I mean everything that would make my body temperature increase in anyway. I was pretty much paranoid and would carry an ice bottle with me at all times. Now thatβs its summer time and I WANT to get back to my Thai Kick Boxing I told myself maybe I should try jogging, so I did.
At first I was scared and had really stupid thoughts like, βwhat if I get a really crazy attack and Iβm nowhere near home then what!β stuff like that. Anyways so I grew some balls and went out for a jog it was hot like around 8-9 degrees the sun was blazing so it felt even worse. I started running, 1 minute into it I felt itchy on my forearms and hands and on my legs, but I ignored and it and kept going. After like 2-3 minutes I got used to the itching and it wasnβt as bad so I kept going. Now I havenβt worked out in AWHILE so I was out of shape so I lasted like 7-9 minutes so I had to start walking.
The surprising thing was that there wasnβt a SINGLE drop of sweat on my forehead, neck, back only under my armpits and thatβs about it. This was really surprising to me because I thought I shouldβve been sweating by now. I checked my hands and forearm where thereβs usually noticeable hives and they were there, just didnβt hurt or feel anything. So I learned two things, first is that I canβt sweatβ¦ second is that after exercising you donβt feel any itching, prickly burning feeling. Also since I know that sweating is one of the main ways your body cools itself down my body was on FIRE my face was red as hell, well my entire body was red.
When I walked my way home I thought I shouldnβt manually cool myself down with water, so I waited a bit in the bathroom sitting there hoping my body would somehow cool itself down. Unfortunately nothing happened so I ended up manually putting cool water on my entire body so I could cool down. Well that was my experience and now today again itβs like 10 degrees with no wind and the sun is hot as ever. Iβm going to go run again after I finish typing this and hopefully sweat somehow. Iβve got a couple of questions for you guys; 1. What happens when your body doesnβt cool down after a good workout?
Does your body like fry itself or what happens, is it unsafe? 2. Why the hell can I not sweat!!! When I did my Thai kick boxing last summer I remember sweating buckets, the workouts were extreme!! 3. Is running outside the reason why I canβt sweat? Thanks for the help, by the way let me know what you guys tried and what didnβt work out for you guys and what did!
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Title: Re: Exercising expierence.. Post by: silvertones on April 13, 2010, 12:39:50 PM
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I’ve pretty much calmed the itching down. I like you though do not sweat at all. This is still the problem. I’ve never been athletic and I’m almost 60. I tried to do a minor job on my car in the sun at abt 85 D. After abt 5 minutes I was entering heat stroke stage. This is no fooling matter. It’s been disputed on this site however I feel I have miliaria, the inability to sweat. According to the site I visited sweating can be promoted by using PURE Anhydrous lanolin. My will be here Thursday. I’ll keep you all posted.
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Title: Re: Exercising expierence.. Post by: HivesGuy on April 13, 2010, 12:57:10 PM
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@hivesguy99-Sorry to hear about your experience. You sound like you are really frustrated, and I am sorry to hear. Sweating for me is a very random thing. On some days, I can sweat relatively easy. On other days, I can work for hours or do physical activity without sweating a drop. I have noticed that for me personally, there seems to be a small pattern: High heat/humidy=faster sweat. Low heat/low humidity=almost no sweat. In the winter, I could probably work for hours doing the most strenuous thing in the world and I probably wouldn’t break a sweat. In this higher heat, I can generally break a sweat after about an hour of work.
To answer your specific questions: 1. It is indeed unsafe to overheat your body. Sweat cools the body down. If you overheat you could have a heat stroke or heat exhaustion. So while working out is definitely something you can do to help sweat, use caution and cool your body down if the sweat doesn’t come quickly. 2. We don’t know why we can’t sweat. It could be poral occlusion, or a nervous system problem. We really don’t know at this point, although both points are worth considering. 3. Running should have no impact on the sweat. In fact, being outside on a hot and humid day would probably increase your odds of sweating (at least in my own personal experience). As I said, you have to be careful. I have been so hot before I almost passed out and felt dizzy. @ Silvertones–Miliaria may very well be connected to this, at least for some. I just don’t think it is the case at this point (at least for me). I have tried so many scrubs, lotions, and anti fungal creams that I don’t see how something could be blocking it.
It seems that something is wrong with the nervous system signal or something to me. But I could be wrong. I do hope the lotion works for you, and please let us know if it helps at all over time. Watch out for the placebo effect, which I have fallen victim to many times with my own experiments over the years..
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Title: Re: Exercising expierence.. Post by: hivesguy99 on April 13, 2010, 01:15:31 PM
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Just came back from my jog, not a drop of sweat other than from my armpits. How do I know I should be sweating? Well my heart was pounding, I could feel my face and head pulsing and could hear my own heartbeat. Yeah I’m going to look up Heat strokes and see what the symptoms are and things to do in order to avoid it. I also ended up cooling myself down with water since my body was on fire and it felt uncomfortable.
But anyways im not losing hope just yet, next thing im going to try is a sauna see if that works since it is high temperatures and high humidity. My parents also ordered some Homeopathic medicine or something see if that works (I’ll let you guys know the exact name of the medicine if it works). My dad had it aswell before when he was younger but said that it went away. I dont know how he dealt with it since he used to work as a construction worker in the deserts of Saudi Arabia… Im going to also see a doctor and get checked out to see if I have that disorder you guys are talking about not sweating.
I’ll also keep jogging everyday in hopes of sweating, maybe its a gradual thing since I haven’t sweat in awhile. Also I read somewhere that something in our life triggers Cholinergic Urticaria, well I am 16 almost 17.. maybe its something to do with puberty? Anyways I hate Cholinergic Urticaria, ALOT but whatever, I WONT let it ruin my life :D! …stupid hives >:( P.S. I feel dizzy and kinda tired, maybe Im having a heat stroke or something.. ganna go take a cool shower π And down a bottle of water EDIT: Oh Jeez I just looked up Heat strokes And the first sentence said something about the body not being able to cool down which may result in brain damage or damage to your organs!! BTW is this disorder a sex linked trait, do only males get it!?
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Title: My excercising experience Post by: Snuff on April 13, 2010, 07:21:01 PM
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So i went out and joged and walked for 40 mins and honestly the attack wasnt rlly painful then after a few minutes the hives stoped stinging me and i jogged and jogged and no sweat! the stinging returned when i stoped excercising tho. i cooled myself down with my swamp cooler in my wall. but it is kinda breezy here and not too warm so imma try it again when it gets more hot and humid when i move to Arkansas
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Title: Re: Exercising expierence.. Post by: Snuff on April 13, 2010, 07:26:17 PM
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The same thing happened to me today. i was like enuff is enuff! ive had it with these mother effin hives in my mother effin life! so i did the same thing and got more or less the same results. it was depressing. but i wont give up yet!
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Title: How I am able to workout Post by: fLaPjAk on April 15, 2010, 03:23:09 PM
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Hey guys and gals, I’ll keep it short… Since I discovered my Cholinergic Urticaria I went from being a nice size of 160lbs to about 220lbs. I said to myself I have to lose weight and get back in shape. After MULTIPLE EXPERIMENTS, my personal success story is as follows: 1) Wake up at 9:30AM 2) Take Shoppers Drug mart No-name Antihistamine 24 hour (medical ingredient: cetirizine hydrochloride, NOT the Lotradine one) on an EMPTY STOMACH 3) eat my breakfast at 1015 – 1030 4) workout at 12pm, etc. Basically, I get 0 hives. I sweat like a pig. I do HEAVY boxing afterwards. I push myself to the frackin’ limit. I see how hard I can push before I get that prickly feeling. It does not happen. On days I don’t workout, I don’t take the antihistamine.
If I get hot on those days or nervous, sweaty, etc., hives do appear. If I get hot in the night (my work shift ends at midnight) then I will get a few hives, nothing major. I think the key thing for me is taking it on an empty stomach. My body absorbs almost 100% of the darn thing. I hope this helps for anyone suffering from Cholinergic Urticaria out there.
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Title: Re: How I am able to workout Post by: HivesGuy on April 16, 2010, 03:24:27 AM
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Flapjak, That is excellent that you are able to manage your hives so well, and I REALLY appreciate you sharing those great tips. It is always nice to hear that someone is managing their hive well, and I am sure those tips will help a lot of people on here. Thanks again!
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Title: Re: How I am able to workout Post by: fLaPjAk on April 16, 2010, 09:58:22 AM
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I urge anyone to really take the time to try and sort out a manageable plan for yourself — for me it took 6 months — and everyone is different — what works for me might not work for you! But once u get in the groove never let go! Working so late I thought it would be just plain stupid to wake up so early every morning — and it is — by the time 3:30pm rolls around and its time for work, I am quite tired and exhausted (especially after a workout) — and by the time midnight hits, I can barely keep my eyes open……
BUT THIS IS THE SACRIFICE I MUST MAKE TO ENJOY WHAT I LIKE — WORKING OUT HIVE FREE It is 100% worth it — regardless of how many hours I am awake in the day.
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Title: Re: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: ladylindsey on June 14, 2010, 05:03:42 PM
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Hello all! This is my first post on this forum as I worked out for the first time in awhile today, had issues, and immediately googled the symptoms and voila! Here I am. I have always been very fit and exercise quite often. I’m a dancer and started running in middle and high school at cheerleading practice. Never had a problem. After I stopped running for a few years, I had problems when I tried to upstart running again for fitness. Well I really haven’t ran in about 10 yrs.
But I do remember the same thing happening after only 2 yrs away from running for fitness. If I’m jogging or running, inside or out, sweating or dry, hot or cold, after about 30 seconds, my thighs and butt are on FIRE. And not in a good way! I am trying to train for a 5K and I just don’t think I can. It’s awful to end your training session not even out of breath hardly but DYING. My thighs and butt itch so so so bad. I don’t have welts or anything, but the skin gets very splotchy and red, and yes, don’t ever scratch it or it’s bad! I want to run- I want to do this 5K- I’m fit enough to do it, but I don’t know if I can. It burns and itches so badly.
All the doctors I’ve talked to have no idea what it is and think it’s in my head. I can do absolutely ANY other exercise and it doesn’t happen, but if I start running, it itches and burns. Any other cases similar to mine find any relief? Should I fight through the breakouts or stop? I don’t know how dangerous it is. I literally almost started crying from the pain today on the treadmill.
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Title: Re: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: HivesGuy on June 15, 2010, 03:32:14 AM
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Hey ladylindsey, Excellent post and welcome to the forum! I am so sorry to hear about your itching when you run. I know a few people seem to get Cholinergic Urticaria on their legs, and it drives them crazy. I don’t usually get it in that area (it is mostly my upper body that goes crazy), but I know how you feel. As far as your question of trying to fight through or stop, it depends. Some people on this forum like to fight through the breakouts, and for them, sometimes they eventually stop and they sweat. Others have a very hard time fighting through the reaction, because the reactions can become very intense and long lasting. Rarely, some can even go into anaphylactic shock if they continue having the reaction, which is very serious and could lead to death. So it is hard to give you specific advice because it is hard to tell how your body could react. One thing I would recommend is talking to a dermatologist about some antishistamine combinations. You may be able to get enough relief to run your 5K, and you could perhaps take them only on days you run (since that is when the reaction typically presents itself). Good luck and thanks again for the great post!
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Title: Re: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: ladylindsey on June 15, 2010, 02:15:51 PM
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Thank you for your reply! It is very helpful! At first, I assumed since I carry most of the extra fat on my body,as most women do, on my butt and thighs, that it was just me burning off the fat(haha literally) or working that area more than usual. But that just can’t be what it is haha. My training for the 5K is walking for 90 seconds, jogging for 60 seconds for 20 minutes. I don’t have a problem at all when I walk, but after about 20 seconds of the 60 intervals, I’m itching and burning like crazy! Then when I walk again it goes away, only to return when I start the next jogging interval. It is quite frustrating! I run again tomorrow so I’ll see if it’s the same, better, or worse. Hopefully, it might get better over time as I run more often. If it gets worse I won’t be able to take it and will have to stop. I’ll see a dermatologist for sure though- thank you! I wasn’t quite sure which type of doctor would be best to consult. Most general practitioners have no clue when I mention it to them. I started a group of people doing this 5K training program, and I just can’t drop out haha. I would feel so bad! So we’ll see how it goes- I’ll keep everyone posted and hopefully, it gets better π Thank you! So glad I’m not crazy like the doctors think haha.
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Title: Exercise, vitamins, minerals no body lotion and a lot of water… Post by: mellyhoneybee on June 29, 2010, 10:54:21 PM
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Hey, my name is Melissa and I m from Germany. I m very glad that I found this board. Thanks a lot to the creator! I didn’t know about the lack of the ability to sweat before. When I read this 4 days ago I tried to go running and indeed – no sweat and it was hot outside and I was covered with red spots all over my body. So day 2 I ran again, still no sweat.. I told this theory my dad. He is a medical but not specialised on skin diseases. A year ago when my cholinergic urticaria appeared, he checked my blood. My cortisol – a stress hormone was way to high (like 4 times higher than usual) and I had a lot of emotional stress that time, I think that is why it appeared. We checked my blood again last month and the cortisol went down and there is no virus and nothing else. (I tried to be relaxed and not to think about problems a book from “Eckart Tolle – Now” helped me but I think there are other ways to be relaxed too. I think it’s important to manage your emotional stress to cure yourself..) And there was a time when I used very strong deodorant..maybe that influenced it as well..
My dad told me to get vitamins with mineral nutrients from the pharmacy. He adviced to take some from Hermes “topfitz” because they have a high dosis: Vitamins: A, E, C, K, B1, B2, B6, B12, D3 Minerals: Biotin, folic acid, pantothen acid (?), niacin, calcium and magnesium except calcium and magnesium everything is at least 100 % of the daily dosis. C and B vitamins even 200 % and my dad recommended me to take one in the morning and one in the evening. And I drank more than 2 l water yesterday. I ran very early that morning. Later I bought and took the vitamins and walked in the sund without having hives. (maybe because I already took vitamins, maybe because of the exercise in the morning) Well I tried the vitamin thing already another time but they didnt have a high dosis… maybe those were not strong enough So my point is. Today in the morning I went running again AND I didnt use any body lotion the day before.
So I went running without lotion nor deodorant. I just exercised for 20 min and walked in between. And my hives were less strong but way less!! AND I head a bit of sweat on my forehead and on my chest. After showering I didn’t use body lotion again and I bought a deodorant from the pharmacy which has no alumin salts (?) and no perfume for allergic people. It is the very first time that I exercised without strong hives. (I didn’t exercise since I had the Urticaria because I thought it would make it worse) I already bought a body lotion from the pharmacy too but I didn’t dare to use it. I’ll keep you updated. And I want to try the sun-thing too I think trying to sweat is really the best cure. Maybe body lotions and chemical deodorants make it worse in our case. Wish you (us) all the best π
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Title: Re: Exercise, vitamins, minerals no body lotion and a lot of water… Post by: HivesGuy on July 13, 2010, 04:09:53 AM
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Hey Mellyhoneybee, Sorry for the delay in posting. That was a great post you made, and welcome to the forum! That was very interesting that your cortisol was really high. It is also funny that you mentioned the strong deodorant thing. I tried a “stronger than average” deodorant once that I bought from the internet, and it seems my hives appeared within a year of doing that. I always wondered if that stuff messed up my body or not, and it is odd that you mention it too.
Although, I have mentioned that on the forum/blog and no one else seemed to have used strong deodorant. I have tried to go long periods of time without using deodorant, and even not showering for about a week, and it had no effect on the hives for me. Your experiments sound interesting though, and keep us posted. Thanks again for the great post, and welcome =).
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Title: HEAT! Post by: hivesguy99 on August 19, 2010, 01:24:51 PM
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Alright I know this might sound crazy to most of you guys here.. But for me anyway and maybe even for you guys, the cure to our Cholinergic Urticaria is heat :D! When my summer vacation started it was soo hot, after a couple days my hives died out and it felt great!! I also started to do P90X, for those of you who don’t know what that is its basically an extreme workout program that really exercises your body! I did it for a couple of weeks in July with no hives at all and then stopped thinking that my hives were gone for good. Its now August and recently I’ve started to feel the hives again most likely because I’ve stopped exercising, fortunately they’re not as bad as they were during the colder seasons. Furthermore, in June aftershool I regularily went out for a 10-15 minute jog outside, the first 2 minutes were painfull but as my body temperature increased the hives were completely gone.
As a result, maybe some of you have noticed this as well, but im preety sure after we’ve reached a certain increased body temperature the hives will dissapear. So while taking all our other medications and antihistamines (I take no medication) we should all exercise!!!!
This is just a random observation that I made yesterday, maybe you guys have also experienced… While helping my friend brick his driveway, before I get hives I get this sharp, painfull prickly sensation that travels around my body (mainly my back and arms) and then when I look, the hair on my arms are standing up and I have goosebumps… despite the fact that its hot outside… weird right.. shouldn’t be having my sweat glands constricting themselves when I need them most lol… BTW I think we should all move to a place where the sun always shines :D! Somewhere HOT always!
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Title: Re: Exercise, vitamins, minerals no body lotion and a lot of water… Post by: mellyhoneybee on September 19, 2010, 07:19:14 AM
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Well my hives came back quite fast in summer… I was in Greece for almost two month and there it was more or less easy to sewat. we had around 40 Β°Celsius every day and once I started to sweat I was cured for one or two days. But when I can’t sweat for several days I start to get really bad hives. So it can’t be the body lotion because I didn’t use it all the time and it can’t be the vitamines because I kept taking them.
Now back in cold Germany it’s worse, I try to do exercise and can’t sweat because it’s simply to cold outside. Today I tried something new. I wrapped wrappingfilm/ clingfilm around my arms and my belly and started exercising. I did sweat a lot on those areas. Everywhere else not at all. So I my body was very red and even in the areas where I sweat. BUT I did sweat there a bit.. I guess the body couldn’t still cool down because of the wrapping film but I keep trying it. I read about a sauna suit I’m going to order it, it is supposed to have the same effect as the wrapping film but it covers the whole body. What do you guys think about it?
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Title: Re: Exercise, vitamins, minerals no body lotion and a lot of water… Post by: HivesGuy on September 19, 2010, 08:31:36 AM
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Thanks for the update! Sorry to hear the hives are a little more aggressive now that you are back. It certainly is nice to have a break from them, and I know how frustrating it is when they come out aggressively. About the sauna suit–I think it could possibly help in the sense that it may help you to sweat from the excessive heat. This, in turn, may lower your hives intensity for the remaining day, or even a day or so. However, it definitely won’t cure the hives per se, just may help you manage them a bit better. Also, I would use caution with it, and don’t overheat or anything. If you start having a severe reaction, I would take it off immediately and get medical attention. Let us know if you do end up buying it, and if it helped at all.
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Title: Re: HEAT! Post by: Rogerq23 on September 28, 2010, 11:31:05 PM
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I am not sure about that, but I sure when we get to the heat we get those hives and the prickling feeling on our body. Once our body gets used to the heat it wont itch anymore, that is true…
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Title: Re: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: spiffyg on October 25, 2010, 10:22:33 PM
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I’ve had a break-out on practically every part of my body. Arms, wrists, hands, shoulders, back, chest, neck, face, thighs, calves, butt… What I’m going to try to do is after getting off work, go to the high school track near my house and run a few miles. By the time I get off work, it is usually dark so I won’t need to see anyone. That has been the biggest challenge – finding an exercise regimen that is challenging enough but that I can do completely by myself – not even any spectators.
I’ve noticed that recently, even doing small physical activities will heat up my body so much that I start to feel it coming on. For example, organizing a drawer full of makeup at the store I work at. All I was doing was squatting down, pulling out makeup, standing up once in a while… Not very much activity at all. That’s just pathetic. I’m thinking if I do run a few miles a few times a week, little things like that won’t get my skin to break out.
I remember the last time I ran I was with a good friend of mine. I ran a couple of miles and broke out so bad that I had bumps on my arms and practically every inch of my body was red. I just hope if I push through it and keep it up that it will reduce the frequency of my reactions.
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Title: Re: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: HivesGuy on October 26, 2010, 03:14:47 AM
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Yeah, I know what you mean spiffyg. The slightest thing right now will also set me off in a reaction. It truly is pathetic. Changing a lightbulb made me break out recently, because it was getting a little stuffy in the house, and the simple activity was enough to push me over board. I’ve also had the flu this week, and having a fever makes Cholinergic Urticaria a real pain in the rear! One minute I would be freezing, and then, when the tylenol kicked in, I would suddenly get really hot and break out in hives. I actually had to jump in an ice cold shower once. It wasn’t pleasant.
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Title: yep Post by: ed on November 05, 2010, 11:26:57 PM
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I’ve had this condition for maybe 8 years on and off. I’m about 25 now. The first time I had it I was taking a shower in the spring, and had this uncontrollable prickly itching. The more I reacted to it by frantically scratching the worse it got. I thought that was pretty messed up, but a few weeks or months later it went away. My dad said he had it for a few years, so I thought OK. Then a year or two later it came back, during the fall, and has come back pretty much every fall except once. Interestingly I think at that time I think I might have had a cold, or spring allergy… but as far as I know, I’m not officially allergic to anything, and have always been healthy. I learned early on that the best way of “getting rid of it” was to go all out hardcore running, or basketball, and when it gets the craziest turn into a masochist, and go even more all out. Eventually once it’s over it doesn’t come back even if I continue to play as hard as possible.
The only discrepancy I can see between my experiences and a lot of the experiences here is that heat itself while having a positive correlation with the attacks, doesn’t by itself cause them. In the summer I get no attacks whatsoever, not even a hint, while in the winter, if I feel a decent amount anxiety/stress/emotion, I can start to feel tingly even in cool rooms, and when I’m taking a shower it takes about 10 minutes to bring on the attack. I also get the same type of bumps on my arms and hands during the worst of these, which also recede within minutes of cooling down. My favourite thing to do nowadays is stand in the shower until it happens then test my will. Another thing I find interesting is that I’ve had a long history of depression (not currently).
Seeing that a lot of other people had their’s begin at a time of high stress, my theory is at some point my depression broke something in my brain regarding sweat responses, and boom goes lots of dynamites. I did also notice that I didn’t sweat much, but I always attributed that to the winter cold. Another note is that I only get the welt’s on my arms, and hands, not on my face, although I turn redder. Although… during the summer I can sweat buckets. For the genetic component my dad has said he had it, and currently has diabetes type 2, and a strange type of arthritis that seems to have gone away now. I wonder what it is about winter that causes this condition to flare up, but it’s not the same for everyone, so I find that interesting too. Somehow the symptoms are the same but the triggers can be slightly different regarding climate. It snows where I live could that be the difference? It could be that the coldness outside increases the heat my body generates to stay at whatever temperature, so the heat generation could be related? Anyway, glad I’m not alone.
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Title: Re: yep Post by: HivesGuy on November 06, 2010, 02:52:42 PM
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Hello Ed, Excellent post and welcome to the forum. It was very interesting hearing your story and experiences with this. I also found it interesting that your dad had this for a while. Do you know exactly how long he had it? I always like to ask to get some hope for myself that it will one day go away =). I also experienced a remission that lasted about a 2-3 years or so, only to have it come back longer and much worse. Right now it is very annoying and very aggressive. It is interesting to hear about your exercise routine, and yes any of us who go through it on purpose are definitely masochists hehe. But I think there is a general consensus among most of us that if you can exercise and tolerate the pain, it will probably increase sweating or decrease the severity attacks for a period of time (whether it be hours or days).
About the stress thing, I do think stress can be correlated for sure, but then again, sometimes I don’t think it is necessarily a direct cause. I was very stressed at times during my remission, and yet didn’t develop them at all. Also, very young children (even infants) can develop this. But I definitely think stress could cause it in some people, or at the very least, make it a bit worse. I too think it is odd that many people experience increased symptoms during the cooler months. Mine was pretty bad year round though this year. But it is interesting. Thanks again for the great post and welcome.
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Title: Re: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: itchygirl on November 08, 2010, 02:27:44 PM
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The same thing happens to me. The smallest little activity sets me off and I continue, it gets so bad to the point I get very dizzy and nearly pass out. I used to enjoy walking to work from the commuter rail station but I can’t do that anymore. I have to take the subway to my building so that I don’t breakout. I’m so out of shape it’s rediculous!
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Title: Re: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: Duper on November 13, 2010, 07:57:47 PM
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I’m a huge advocate of exercise. Yes it burns and stings like hell. Yes your face turns red and your body turns blotchy and you become self-conscious of everyone looking at you. But IT GETS BETTER. With every work out you sweat a little easier, and after a while, it becomes a minute problem. I attribute my semi-overcoming of Cholinergic Urticaria to daily strenuous exercise. Exercise is darn good for your cardiovascular health, your appearance, and your mental-clarity and attitude. You don’t know how long you’re going to be afflicted with Cholinergic Urticaria, so you might as well try to LIVE with it rather than have it debilitate you.
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Title: I really need some advices please!! Post by: shypshnius on January 01, 2011, 01:45:18 PM
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Hello everybody I`ve also had Cholinergic Urticaria for a year already and I almost hadn`t been doing any exercises in that time at all. I just tried it a couple times, whenever i had started doing some kind of exercise, usually after 2 minnutes my upper chest, neck and some other parts of my body had started getting redness and itching like hell so i just had to discontinue immediately and start running towards the shower… So i was really disappointed and after that i practically havn`t even tried to do any exercises at all. Well today i tried my first exercise after 6months break and what can i say… after 5 minutes of active jumping, running from one side of the room to another it started itching as hell… I wasn`t able to sustain that so i was just forced to immediately discontinue and run towards the shower without getting any sweat π So could anyone answer me a couple of questions please: 1) Should i keep exercising after taking a shower?
I tried that today but the same happened, i broke out pretty hard and ran to take a shower 1 more time ( no sweat though ). 2) Should i try to dress up with much clothes like winter`s jacket, heavy pants and try to exercise like that because i cant sustain that terrible itching to get sweat. 3) Should i try some kind of antihistamines like “Zyrtec” ? Btw, i`ve never tried to take them before. 4) Does sweat helps to reduce the ammount of histamine in my body? Is it really that important to sustain the pain before sweat appears? Couse it seems to be impossible for me. Thanks for your suggestions and answers in advance! I would really appreciate them, sorry for my terrible english though.
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Title: Re: I really need some advices please!! Post by: HivesGuy on January 01, 2011, 02:43:40 PM
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Hello shypshnius, Great posts and welcome to the forum. I am sorry to hear about your frustrating experiences, and I have felt the exact same thing. To answer your questions: 1. Many on this forum find it beneficial to exercise through the pain regularly. Over time, many seem to experience a lessening of the symptoms of Cholinergic Urticaria (at least for a day or so). However, I think that this may not help 100% of all people. Some people (such as myself, willdev, etc.) have such a severe case of it, that trying to push through the exercise is just impossible. In addition, a very small percentage of people on here have even experienced anaphylactic shock. So ultimately it is up to you to decide if it is worth it trying to exercise or push through the pain continually.
If you feel like your throat swells, or that the pain is simply too bad, then don’t try to kill yourself. 2. If you decide to attempt to exercise through the pain to the point of sweating, then I would recommend you have a person with you for safety reasons. Yes, some on here use a sauna suit, or really warm clothes to help accelerate the sweating process. Also, there is a thing called an epi-pen that you can get from a doctor that can help in the event you do go into shock. 3. Yes, I would recommend you try an antihistamine or several different kinds until you find the one that works the best with minimal symptoms.
They won’t cure your hives, but they may make life more liveable. This is especially true if your hives are affecting your daily life. You can try one like Zyrtec, or even an H2 antihistamine like Zantac or Pepcid. Sometimes, it may even be beneficial to take both types of antihistamine in a combination. However, I would recommend talking to a doctor first. A doctor can also prescribe antihistamines in larger doses, or prescribe multiple one’s to help you manage daily life. 4. Having an intense reaction and/or sweating through the pain is thought to induce a refratory period, in which your histamine stores in your skin are temporarily depleted for up to 24 hours or so. Sweating regularly won’t cure you, but may help keep the hives down enough so that they are much less intense.
I have used this technique in the past, but right now my hives are simply too strong to do it. However, I am an advocate of this method if you are able to safely go through it and the pain isn’t so severe that the benefit of a day or so without symptoms makes it unprofitable. Thanks again and welcome!
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Title: Re: I really need some advices please!! Post by: shypshnius on January 01, 2011, 04:08:27 PM
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4. Having an intense reaction and/or sweating through the pain is thought to induce a refratory period, in which your histamine stores in your skin are temporarily depleted for up to 24 hours or so. Sweating regularly won’t cure you, but may help keep the hives down enough so that they are much less intense. Allright lets say i take antihistamines but will i be able to store my histamines in a skin with them? Btw, have you tried prednisone two weeks course? I do know a few guys who had been cured by that. Hm…and how about swimming? You may also sweat by swimming you just wouldnt see the sweat couse of the water. Gonna try that soon.
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Title: Re: I really need some advices please!! Post by: HivesGuy on January 01, 2011, 04:15:48 PM
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No, antihistamines don’t prevent histamine from being in your body. They simply block the receptors which minimize the effects when the actual histamine is released. Like I said before, they won’t cure you. However, if you try a few and find the one that works best, then it may be profitable to take one (or a combination) if your hives are interfering with your daily life in any significant way. Prednisone basically kills your immune system, so it can have an effect on the hives.
However, you need to talk with your doctor about how long you would have to take it (and at what dosage) until you see a positive benefit. It is a dangerous drug, and it should only be used in severe cases or in a last resort scenario. I would definitely try antihistamines first and foremost. Some are able to find enough relief to make it worth their while (again, they won’t cure you though). As far as swimming, it may help you sweat if the water is hot. Some actually exercise in water, since it often keeps you cool and prevents attacks. But it is up to you if you want to try it or not.
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Title: Re: I really need some advices please!! Post by: shypshnius on January 01, 2011, 04:25:29 PM
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Thanks a lot for your replies, really appreciate. I just wonder if i would be able to sweat by swimming couse the water isnt hot, its more warm in a swimming pool i would go to.
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Title: Re: I really need some advices please!! Post by: HivesGuy on January 01, 2011, 04:38:04 PM
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You could possibly sweat if you work and swim hard enough, but it just depends.
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Title: Re: I really need some advices please!! Post by: shypshnius on January 02, 2011, 05:13:41 AM
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And how about uvb therapy? Is it effective? I`m planning to try it as well.
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Title: Re: I really need some advices please!! Post by: strapped1977 on January 02, 2011, 09:42:57 PM
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If you’re not sure or scared to sweat I’d go to an allergist to test it out. If something goes wrong they can help you. For me personally sweating helps a ton. Have you tried a steam room?
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Title: Re: I really need some advices please!! Post by: shypshnius on January 04, 2011, 03:41:41 PM
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Quote from: strapped1977 on January 02, 2011, 09:42:57 PM
If you’re not sure or scared to sweat I’d go to an allergist to test it out. If something goes wrong they can help you. For me personally sweating helps a ton. Have you tried a steam room? Nope, havn`t tried that. Could you explain it a little bit?
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Title: Re: I really need some advices please!! Post by: Abhishek on January 04, 2011, 06:59:02 PM
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i just found a week ago i had this.please i need advice.help me out here!
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Title: Exercise on Empty stomach???????? Post by: jessamine1 on January 06, 2011, 07:58:12 PM
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Hi there guys, I’m still in the process of a proper diagnosis and going back and forth to my allergist. He cant work out if i have Cholinergic Urticaria or Exercise induced Anaphyaxis (even though I don’t get to the stage of anaphylaxis). So my question to all of you is….. Has anyone tried exercising on an empty stomach? Say when you get up in the morning withough eating int he evening and exercising then? If so, did this help, were the hives present or a bit less??? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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Title: Re: Exercise on Empty stomach???????? Post by: HivesGuy on January 07, 2011, 05:40:02 AM
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Hey Jessamine, It always seems that perhaps I am not quite as reactive on an empty stomach, but I still can have a reaction either way. I hope that helps.
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Title: Re: Exercise on Empty stomach???????? Post by: jessamine1 on January 07, 2011, 08:20:28 PM
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Thanks HivesGuy. I will def try getting up and doing some aerobics at home on my veranda outside on an empty stomach to see how I go.
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Title: Re: Exercise on Empty stomach???????? Post by: HivesGuy on January 08, 2011, 05:25:34 AM
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Good luck, and I hope you don’t hive.
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Title: Re: Exercise on Empty stomach???????? Post by: Rogerq23 on January 09, 2011, 12:37:00 AM
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Im in my college most of the time and I get hungry (empty stomach) and I still get the rashes and stuff… BTW, exercising with an empty stomach will make you faint. You wont have energy and you vision will black out. EAT!
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Title: Re: Exercise on Empty stomach???????? Post by: aivory23 on January 13, 2011, 09:09:29 AM
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I have not tried to exercise with empty stomach, but for me when I exercise with full stomach the outbreak is more intensive, hives are a lot more and heart is also beating more rapidly.
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Title: Re: Exercise on Empty stomach???????? Post by: silvertones on January 15, 2011, 10:17:44 AM
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I’d pass out if I did that.
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Title: question for all Post by: robbie on January 22, 2011, 05:17:29 PM
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I’m wondering how many of you have given up fitness because of this and how many just keep exercising.
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Title: Re: question for all Post by: AdamM on January 22, 2011, 07:51:07 PM
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I tried to work through it and for a while I could but it got to the point where it was cripplingly painful. So I stopped I do have a Wii that I try to use every once in a while sometimes I can go for a while and not break out other times a round of boxing will put me on the ground. I consider myself fortunate though because I can do everyday things without a reaction I only get reactions when exercising or if i’m embarrassed which only makes a bad situation worse. Anger is weird too because even though embarrassment and exercise bring them on I can yell and fight with someone and a reaction will not occur. Ironically though I only generally get mad when people fail to understand whats going on with my skin after multiple explanations.
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Title: I can’t stand it… Post by: postcg on January 22, 2011, 10:33:38 PM
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Hello all. New to the forum, and I’d like to share my story to see if anyone else feels the same way. First off, I’ve have not been formally diagnosed with Cholinergic Urticaria, but my symptoms fit the mold EXACTLY.
I am 27 now, and I can remember it starting in high school. During gym class, when I started any type of physical activity, my scalp, back, and chest would start to itch. It seemed to only happen in the winter, but I have had occurances in the summer months, too. It will come back EVERY winter. As the years passed, I noticed that whenever I get nervous, angry, or embarrassed, it would come and make the situation that much more unbearable. Fast forward to now, in the middle of the winter, and it has become UNBEARABLE.
When the symptoms were mild, I would just grit and bear it. But now, it’s affecting my work. Moderate physical activity will trigger it. Even as moderate as climbing a flight of stairs or walking a short distance. If I take a hot shower for any longer than a few minutes, it comes. What I have found is that when this happens, no matter how cold the environment, I’d take off my jacket and it is like instant relief.
The problem is, when I’m in a situation where I can’t strip off anymore clothing, obviously I just have to deal with it. It feels like I want to scratch the skin right off my body. Another thing I’ve noticed is that when I do work up enough guts to work out, once I get a good sweat going, the itch goes away. I’m not sure if it’s completely gone, or I’m working out hard enought that I don’t notice it. But getting to that point is almost impossible because I can’t bear the time it takes to get to that point. It’s rediculous. No doctor has ever given me any medication or advise that has ever helped.
I’ve even heard that it’s all in my head. I feel like jabbing them with a thousand needles and pouring alcohol over them to show them how I feel. I digress. Anyway, my plan is to take a few pictures next time it gets bad and show them to the doctor. Maybe then I’ll get some good treatment. I’ve tried almost all of the suggested treatment, but to no avail. The only thing I have to look forward to is the end of the winter…Thanks for reading…
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Title: Re: question for all Post by: HivesGuy on January 23, 2011, 06:15:28 AM
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I have given up fitness for the time being. I occasionally use an exercise bike because I can go on it for a few minutes before the hives start. But other than that, I avoid it like the plague. I used to be able to simply get hot, get a little itcy, and then sweat and go about my day.
Now, not so. I was coughing yesterday because a piece of food went down my throat in a weird way. Needless to say, the effort from the cough had me running outside in my t-shirt so I could cool down. I was still covered in hives and my entire skin everywhere was blood red. It kinda scares me how mine keeps getting more and more intense. Oh well.
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Title: Re: I can’t stand it… Post by: HivesGuy on January 23, 2011, 06:45:27 AM
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Hey postcg, Excellent post and welcome to the forum. I can definitely relate to all of the stuff you talked about. When I was in college, I would dread going up the 3 flights of stairs. They always kept it so hot in this one building, and coming in from 20 degree weather, climbing a flight of stairs, and then having to stand in front of everyone while trying to hide the fact that I am being tortured on the inside was difficult (that is the understatement of the year).
I know exactly what you are going through. Just like you, I used to just push past it and exercise, and eventually I would sweat and I would get relief. Not so now. My entire body feels as if it was lit on fire. It now turns blood red, and I get thousands of tiny raised hives all over, and it never stops until I cool down. It is scary. And no, it is not in your head! Ha, the pouring alcohol on them and pricking them with needles comment was hilarious. When people say that, so many times I have just wanted to slap them across the face and then say, “Hey, that pain is just in your head.” Of course, I would never do that, but it is a funny thought to consider.
Yes, pictures could help with the doctor, and if you can’t find one familiar with this, you may want to ask or call around to find a dermatologist or doc that has treated this before. As far as the treatments, have you tried a lot of antihistamines? If so, have you tried combinations of them? Because there are a lot of people on this forum, that while not cured, do get some relief from a particular antihistamine or combination of them.
For example, Allegra or Zyrtec is probably the most common. Sometimes a doctor will tell you to take an H2 (such as zantac) along with it later. It doesn’t do a lot, but can take the edge off. Some even take as many as 3 different kinds at various points in the day. It isn’t ideal to do this for sure, but if it is affecting your work badly, you may consider talking to a doctor about some regimen like that. At least until summer gets here and hopefully you improve. Thanks again for your great post, and welcome!
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Title: Re: I can’t stand it… Post by: silvertones on January 23, 2011, 11:23:39 AM
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Quote from: postcg on January 22, 2011, 10:33:38 PM
Hello all. New to the forum, and I’d like to share my story to see if anyone else feels the same way. First off, I’ve have not been formally diagnosed with Cholinergic Urticaria, but my symptoms fit the mold EXACTLY. I am 27 now, and I can remember it starting in high school. During gym class, when I started any type of physical activity, my scalp, back, and chest would start to itch. It seemed to only happen in the winter, but I have had occurances in the summer months, too.
It will come back EVERY winter. As the years passed, I noticed that whenever I get nervous, angry, or embarrassed, it would come and make the situation that much more unbearable. Fast forward to now, in the middle of the winter, and it has become UNBEARABLE. When the symptoms were mild, I would just grit and bear it. But now, it’s affecting my work. Moderate physical activity will trigger it. Even as moderate as climbing a flight of stairs or walking a short distance. If I take a hot shower for any longer than a few minutes, it comes. What I have found is that when this happens, no matter how cold the environment, I’d take off my jacket and it is like instant relief.
The problem is, when I’m in a situation where I can’t strip off anymore clothing, obviously I just have to deal with it. It feels like I want to scratch the skin right off my body. Another thing I’ve noticed is that when I do work up enough guts to work out, once I get a good sweat going, the itch goes away. I’m not sure if it’s completely gone, or I’m working out hard enought that I don’t notice it. But getting to that point is almost impossible because I can’t bear the time it takes to get to that point. It’s rediculous. No doctor has ever given me any medication or advise that has ever helped.
I’ve even heard that it’s all in my head. I feel like jabbing them with a thousand needles and pouring alcohol over them to show them how I feel. I digress. Anyway, my plan is to take a few pictures next time it gets bad and show them to the doctor. Maybe then I’ll get some good treatment. I’ve tried almost all of the suggested treatment, but to no avail. The only thing I have to look forward to is the end of the winter…Thanks for reading… Yes identical.
Personally I do believe a lot of it is in our head. I’ve been preaching this for some time. I take a mild drug used for manic depression & it keeps my brain on a more even keel. It helps with the issue about 90%. I never get the attacks that turn into severe anxiety/panic attacks that make me feel like I’ll faint. I went off the drug for abt 2 weeks a few weeks back and it all came back big time. Back on the drugs. The summer I was completely free. This coming summer I’ll go off the drugs again.
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Title: Re: I can’t stand it… Post by: mody on January 25, 2011, 02:11:05 AM
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1st i know what you have been through, and i do fe same as you. i though winter winter is good for cholinergic urticaria, at least the weather is already cold but i do not know what i would do on next summer because i have learned increasing body temperature is the main stimulus for the attack. i have theis only for 2.5 months now so from experience it get worse with cold or with summer
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Title: Re: question for all Post by: Freed84 on January 25, 2011, 05:19:26 AM
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I started to feel like you all probably did but now I have got to a point where i think “screw this” and I just get on with it! I try not to worry about it and work out 5 days a week now. I cycle morning and night and go to the gym in the day. Sometimes I find that during the middle to end of the week I dont react as bad so now I’m gonna step up my training and push myself to get even fitter in the hope that I may be able to cure myself.
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Title: Re: question for all Post by: silvertones on January 25, 2011, 07:06:13 AM
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Well I hate fitness however I’m one of those that gets relief from heavy sweating so I do it in the summer in the extreme heat and all is well.
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Title: Re: question for all Post by: Brazen on February 02, 2011, 02:23:11 AM
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I find that the exercise I do (mainly football i.e. soccer) doesn’t really cause a reaction, or if it does it’s just for a few minutes then it goes away. It’s probably best to exercise because as you will no doubt read from many members of this site, after exercise the reaction is less intense. Typically a good sweat every 2-3 days will ease the pain a little.
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Title: Re: question for all Post by: LookMaNoHives on February 02, 2011, 10:35:24 PM
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I have given up fitness to an extent. I don’t do ANYTHING cardio. It kills me, but as a college student I don’t have time to exercise intense every day so if I do any cardio its a severe reaction every time. What I have been doing lately that isn’t giving me hives is doing small floor exercises. My antihistamine has made me gain some weight so I’m feeling really insecure about my body. I do a sit-up routine that I used to be able to do before this happened.
I do 20 situps regular, 20 table top, 20 legs straight up, 20 table top, 20 regular, 20 one side, 20 regular, 20 the other side, and 20 regular. It seems like a lot but it helps build muscle and the low intensity of it has actually made me able to sweat a wee bit without hives! Then I usually turn over and do 2 sets of 20 of backwards situps. My condition has gotten a lot worse, so if I try to do any type of cardio, I have an asthma attack.
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Title: Re: question for all Post by: Gunther on February 15, 2011, 05:41:25 PM
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I had to give it up just because it got to the point where it wasn’t the push-ups that left me aching, it was the attacks. I couldn’t do a set of 15 push-ups without spiraling into another painful attack. I’ve just started medication prescribed by my doctor (an antihistamine and a tricyclic antidepressant) and have been exercising regularly (though not to the same extent as I was due to losing a lot of my fitness, sadly). I still suffer some attacks from the work out, but it is definitely more manageable than at the start.
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Title: Re: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: ken8lk on April 03, 2011, 09:53:14 PM
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Yo Duper, how long does the effects of sweat therapy last? For example, if I exercise for one month, am I reaction-free for that one month? Thankfully, I don’t get any visible symptoms, so embarrassment is not a problem.
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Title: Re: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: Duper on April 04, 2011, 11:05:44 AM
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Well, I am currently essentially Cholinergic Urticaria free. I get a few hives here and there, but I am very happy to say I’m 95%+ cured. However, I cannot attribute it to exercise. My ultimate Cholinergic Urticaria cure was simply not allowing my body to come into contact with dust mites. I still maintain a very strict exercise regimen, lifting weights for at least 90 minutes everyday, but I’ve had this routine for many years now and it only temporarily kept the Cholinergic Urticaria away. When my Cholinergic Urticaria was very bad, I exercised once in the morning, running/walking 3.5 miles in 30 minutes and that would be good enough to break a great sweat and I wouldn’t have any attacks for the rest of the day. With that said however, if I missed exercise even one morning, my body would still break out even to the slightest increase in temperature. Exercise allowed me to cope with my condition and live a somewhat normal life. Other allergies, people can just pop an antihistamine; for Cholinergic Urticaria, a morning run is my pill.
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Title: Re: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: ken8lk on April 12, 2011, 06:19:19 PM
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I’ve started to notice that my attacks are a LOT worse when I sit on my couch…I’m going to look into that. It might be a coincidence, but I don’t know, I haven’t been tested for allergies. I don’t get any visible symptoms either, which is weird… Anyway, when you were exercising, how bad were the attacks when you were about to sweat? Was it tolerable, or did you have to scratch it? In my experience even if I did sweat a lot for a few hours, when I cool down and start exercising again the attacks will be of the same intensity.
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Title: Re: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: Duper on April 18, 2011, 05:43:44 AM
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Definitely look into the possibility of dust mite allergy. My Cholinergic Urticaria actually started a few months after my family got a couch from one of our relatives; one day, I had an extremely severe allergic, throat closed up, had extreme difficulty breathing etc. A few months later, I had my first Cholinergic Urticaria attack. When I first got Cholinergic Urticaria (age 15), I went from exercising everyday to basically doing nothing. That “nothing” lasted about 9 months; I couldn’t tough it out and just deal with the itchiness. But I couldn’t live like that for very long; getting out of shape sucks. Right now, I think it’s much easier for me to break a sweat just because I’ve gotten into decent shape: it’s hard not breaking a sweat when you do sets of 20 pull ups in a row, and run on a treadmill every morning.
I think this is largely the reason my Cholinergic Urticaria gets better over time, when you really exert yourself, [generally speaking] your body has no choice but to sweat in order to avoid overheating. My Cholinergic Urticaria attacks were/are bad (last week, I stayed at a hotel without my dust mite-proof sheets and I had a very bad reaction the next day). But as I understand it, you can deplete your histamine levels temporarily (completely nonscientific analysis, don’t quote me on this) by forcing an attack. How much “hives free” time would you estimate you have after an exercise session?
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Title: Re: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: Darkhorse on April 18, 2011, 09:32:42 AM
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Work out at a high intensity until you get a sweat going Wear a jumper if the temperature is cold to speed up and force your body to sweat quicker
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Title: Re: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: pathfinder on May 10, 2011, 10:45:16 PM
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I have been very very very very nervous of exercise since this condition has essentially taken over my life. It is pure hell to move heavy objects, let alone run, especially in the sun. However, I have noticed that if I can get a big reaction I am essentially hives free for the rest of the day. It just hurts like nothing else. Besides the pain, a big reason I haven’t started exercising is because most websites and doctors say to avoid the triggers of hives. I have begun to question this advice. But hearing everyone’s stories in this thread about pushing through the exercise is pretty motivational.
One major lifestyle change I’ve had in the past year is that I’ve stopped exercising regularly due to schoolwork and laziness. I’ve told myself that once my hives are gone, I’ll definitely get in shape again. However, it is looking more and more likely that this is something I’m going to have to live with indefinitely. I am jealous when I see movies with people running in them. When I watch people do something strenuous, there is something in me that badly desires that kind of movement. So it’s decided for me. I am going to exercise.
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Title: Re: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: Slick1020 on May 11, 2011, 12:25:41 PM
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I run at least 3 hours before the sun rises or you can run once the sun sets. Once you start working out you can go hang out or workout in the sun. All you are doing is teaching your body to sweat, then the body will not view your sweat as a foreign invader anymore. After the first two workouts you should become less sensitive.
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Title: Re: How to Cope with Exercise With Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: Slick1020 on May 11, 2011, 12:40:10 PM
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How about trying to swim? It will keep you cool and maybe the body can work off the sensations through swimming.
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Title: One Week & Cholinergic Urticaria Gone Post by: Slick1020 on May 17, 2011, 12:15:52 PM
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I have been working out for about a week and 2 days now. Ran in the sun today without any problems and I have stopped taking the 180mg of allegra tablets prescribed twice a day for me. Once you start exercising ween yourself off the allegra or just stop taking the medicine all together. If you guys/gals can workout at least 5 times a week the attacks will go away.
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Title: Excerise with anti-histamine or no anti-histamine for improvements to condition? Post by: jsam92 on June 04, 2011, 10:05:08 PM
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hey like to ask you guys a question if you excercise under the influence of an anti-histamine zyrtec does that somehow diminish improvements in your urticaria because I am currently on one pill of zyrtec a day and it works well for me and it would be much easier to excercise on zyrtec with no hives outbreak or should you excercise on no anti-histamine and just let the hives out of your system? I mean you can definitely work out and push yourself for a sweat longer if the anti-histamine does its jobs on the urticaria
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Title: Re: Excerise with anti-histamine or no anti-histamine for improvements to condition? Post by: HivesGuy on June 05, 2011, 10:55:30 AM
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Hello, If antihistamines help you manage it, and your doctor says its okay, then I would probably take them as long as you need them. If you found that your Cholinergic Urticaria symptoms diminish over time, perhaps you could ween yourself off of them. I don’t see how they would really have any effect on the hives going away or not long-term, other than the obvious short-term reduction in symptoms while you had it in your system. So I don’t think it would matter either way in my opinion.
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Title: Getting use to it..sort of Post by: niceygal on July 16, 2011, 08:37:22 AM
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I think my first itching outburst was in my pre-teens. I walked a couple of blocks and had to stop because I was itching like crazy. It’s like an itch of ants biting at one’s skin. I just thought I had really dry skin (even lotion or cocoa butter couldn’t help me). Teen years…could barely finish trying out for the track team. The itching won. Flash forward, age 28. No change. I go for a walk, and next thing I know, I am itching at my legs, thighs…itching all over.
It is not a great feeling to be trying to lose weight on a beautiful Saturday morning at the park and being forced to stop because of serious itching. One time, it was so bad, I took my cold bottle of water and just poured it all over my legs and thighs. Then, I told my walking partner, “I’m done. We got to head back.” (it hasn’t even been 10 minutes) Of course, the agony of having to walk back was painful. Just took a lot of breaks and looked forward to ending the walk. So, I itch. and itch. and itch. Scratching doesn’t help. Just a nice cool off period of not doing anything. How do I get used to it? I work out at the gym (a costly measure that can’t beat the free experience of the park). If there’s a cure, I hope I find out what it is. I would like to walk in a marathon someday….when I no longer have the need to scratch the itching.
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Title: Re: Getting use to it..sort of Post by: HivesGuy on July 16, 2011, 02:57:03 PM
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Hello Niceygal, Great post and welcome to the forum! Yes, I know exactly what you mean about having to stop in the middle of doing something to relieve your Cholinergic Urticaria. It has happened to me all-to-many times. I know it is very frustrating, but hang in there. I believe you can definitely walk in a marathon some day. I’m having a lot of success right now by really being selective on my diet and removing a lot of foods that are causing a delayed intolerance reaction. I have also been exercising regularly and these two things combined have stopped my hives. Have you tried any antihistamine like Allegra or Zyrtec? It isn’t an ideal solution, but if this is bothering you badly it may be something to think about for days when you really need to avoid a reaction.
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Title: My long journey with hives…please read.. Post by: MO2003 on January 04, 2012, 10:02:25 PM
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Hi all, I’ve been reading this website off and on for a couple years now, so I figured it was time to tell me story. I am 19 now and I have had hives for 4 years, and man, has it been a journey. They first started in spring of 2008 (I can still remember exact time and place that this all started). I’ve been lucky to only get hives in the colder months. But when they come, they come hard. Every Winter/Spring for the past 3 plus years has been awful. When they first started happening, I was naive, thinking that a simple pill or shot would cure this. I made many trips to the dermatologist and had multiple tests done. I was told to do the same thing that it seems like everyone is told to do, take antihistamines.
So I did that for a while, they helped some I think (not any significant improvement) , I don’t really remember, I stopped taking them because I hated being so tired all of the time. By my junior year of high school, 2 years after it started, they started to get really bad. As many of you know, hives not only are physically awful to deal with, but they can be mental torture.
Sitting in class, trying not to think about them, but just can’t get your mind off of how bad having an attack would be right now, which of course leads to an attack. Having an attack in a public setting is beyond awful. You feel alone, nobody could possibly understand what you are going through. My parents have tried to help but there really isnt anything they can do. Hives has, at times, taken me into very dark places. During the winter months, I become depressed and alienate myself from everyone. Feeling like you’re being stung all over your body for minutes on end can sometimes feel unbearable. Mentally it is just hard to take.
Throughout the 3 plus years that I’ve been experiencing hives, I have only found 1 thing that helps me, without fail. Running. There comes a point when you realize that everything you are going through is bullshit, and that its my body and my life and I’m not going to let a bunch of stupid red wheels ruin both. Working out during the colder months, is physically and mentally the most challenging thing that I have ever done.
The idea that you are throwing yourself into the fire is scary. But when I run, the hives happen on my own terms, and they don’t come back for the rest of the day. And the more I do it the more I get used to and the less severe the hives become. Now this isn’t really a success story, because I still have them after all this time. Even after weeks of intense exercise they never go away completely during the winter. And sometimes I get lazy and miss a day, then the next day I get nervous because I know that because of that this next attack will be bad. Some days I am just not mentally brave enough to face that, and then I wind up having 1 or 2 bad attacks throughout the day. And that’s when they are the worse, when they are forced upon you, when they don’t happen on you’re own terms. I decided that I’m not going to let hives hinder my life.
In some ways, as crazy as it sounds, I have learned embrace them. They make me a stronger, tougher person. Thank you for reading my story. I just kind of decided tonight that I would write this and really just rambled the whole time. I encourage anyone who has hives, and that is physically able, to try intense working out. It will suck (really suck) for a while, but hopefully if you’re like me, they go away after a while and you can feel free afterwards. But I understand that this is not possible for everyone, and I sincerely wish that each and every person who suffers from this awful condition finds something that works for them. Stay strong.
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Title: Re: My long journey with hives…please read.. Post by: Nathaaan on January 05, 2012, 09:14:36 AM
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This is a great post and is good to know working out works for you. I know this is HivesGuy’s job but, welcome to the forum! π I’m a lazy person I must admit, so I never excerise much at all. But, when i’m walking anywhere, I go through pain for about 15 minutes then it calms down and I feel so free and calm for the rest of the day. I need to think about visiting the gym often and walking a lot more. 15 minutes of pain a day isn’t so bad, right?
I also remember where my first experience was, too. I was walking to home from college in the winter and after 5 minutes I started to have an attack. Months went by until I found out what it was aswell as this wonderful site. I’ve had it for just over a year now so i’ve gotten used to it and have learn’t to ignore it whenever it happens. I think my life would be easier if I excerised more, so i’ll try to work on that. Best of luck! π
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Title: Re: My long journey with hives…please read.. Post by: Sebastian on January 05, 2012, 09:58:59 AM
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I want to do the same, I loved running, but I’m not sure if I can sweat and I know trying to sweat ( if unable to) can overheat my body and kill me. Good for you, and as you said attacks are less painful if you work out daily, so find motivation in that to sweat as least 15 minutes even if you are really tired, anyway, that’s what I would do. So you’ve been having this your whole teen years, I guess it’s been really hard. Mine started like 8 months ago and I was 20 and I’m already frustrated
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Title: Re: My long journey with hives…please read.. Post by: HivesGuy on January 05, 2012, 11:36:53 AM
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Hey Mo2003, Thanks for the great post and welcome! I appreciate you taking the time to write all that out. It was an interesting read. I’m glad the running helps you. I never was much of a runner myself (makes me feel sick and I always get those side cramps), but I do enjoy working out quite a bit. I’ve found that working out regularly, strict diet, and taking extra steps to keep my skin moisturized in the winter has been a winning combo for me as well. I can totally relate with you about the hives taking you to a dark and depressed state. I have never felt so entirely worthless, depressed, and helpless as when my Cholinergic Urticaria was full blown (and other things in my life weren’t going well either).
It’s not a fun place to be, but thankfully I am out of there now. But hopefully those still struggling with that same depression and hives battle can find some inspiration and hope in those of us who have managed to pull through it and find a treatment or routine that helps us manage it. Thanks again for posting, and I hope you stay on top of the hives.
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Title: Re: My long journey with hives…please read.. Post by: anjelwings on January 05, 2012, 02:28:15 PM
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Running is great, ran all the time bf hives…now I can’t sweat so running is kind of scary for me but if it works for you GREAT!!! Mine started when I turned 18, and have been around since…I still feel like everybody is looking at me wondering if it is contagious, I don’t think that feeling will every truly go away. In the end I am a speckled trout and that is how I deal with it. PS: living in Louisiana & Florida doesn’t help either LOL
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Title: Re: My long journey with hives…please read.. Post by: MO2003 on January 05, 2012, 09:17:00 PM
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Quote from: Nathaaan on January 05, 2012, 09:14:36 AM
This is a great post and is good to know working out works for you. I know this is HivesGuy’s job but, welcome to the forum! π I’m a lazy person I must admit, so I never excerise much at all. But, when i’m walking anywhere, I go through pain for about 15 minutes then it calms down and I feel so free and calm for the rest of the day. I need to think about visiting the gym often and walking a lot more. 15 minutes of pain a day isn’t so bad, right? I also remember where my first experience was, too.
I was walking to home from college in the winter and after 5 minutes I started to have an attack. Months went by until I found out what it was aswell as this wonderful site. I’ve had it for just over a year now so i’ve gotten used to it and have learn’t to ignore it whenever it happens. I think my life would be easier if I excerised more, so i’ll try to work on that. Best of luck! π You’re absolutely right. I always tell myself that its better to withstand 10 to 15 minutes of intense pain and feel free the rest of the day than to feel discomfort all day. Thanks for responding to my post and sharing your own story. I know how difficult and unbearable these darn hives can be, but keep pushing through the pain! It is definitely worth it.
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Title: Re: My long journey with hives…please read.. Post by: MO2003 on January 05, 2012, 09:22:17 PM
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Quote from: Sebastian on January 05, 2012, 09:58:59 AM
I want to do the same, I loved running, but I’m not sure if I can sweat and I know trying to sweat ( if unable to) can overheat my body and kill me. Good for you, and as you said attacks are less painful if you work out daily, so find motivation in that to sweat as least 15 minutes even if you are really tired, anyway, that’s what I would do. So you’ve been having this your whole teen years, I guess it’s been really hard. Mine started like 8 months ago and I was 20 and I’m already frustrated Yeah definitely be careful with overheating.
I hope you can get the sweat thing figured out, im sure that is extremely frustrating. And yes, I cant tell you how hard and frustrating it has been. I let the hives take a lot away from my teenage years. I’ve experienced many of the ups and downs that this condition has to offer. And there really is no choice but to take it with a positive attitude and be determined to not let the hives take over your life. Best of luck.
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Title: Re: My long journey with hives…please read.. Post by: MO2003 on January 05, 2012, 09:26:54 PM
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Quote from: HivesGuy on January 05, 2012, 11:36:53 AM
Hey Mo2003, Thanks for the great post and welcome! I appreciate you taking the time to write all that out. It was an interesting read. I’m glad the running helps you. I never was much of a runner myself (makes me feel sick and I always get those side cramps), but I do enjoy working out quite a bit. I’ve found that working out regularly, strict diet, and taking extra steps to keep my skin moisturized in the winter has been a winning combo for me as well. I can totally relate with you about the hives taking you to a dark and depressed state.
I have never felt so entirely worthless, depressed, and helpless as when my Cholinergic Urticaria was full blown (and other things in my life weren’t going well either). It’s not a fun place to be, but thankfully I am out of there now. But hopefully those still struggling with that same depression and hives battle can find some inspiration and hope in those of us who have managed to pull through it and find a treatment or routine that helps us manage it. Thanks again for posting, and I hope you stay on top of the hives.
Hivesguy, First off, I cannot thank you enough for creating this site. I seriously felt alone until I found it. The amount of encouragement and inspiration this site has given me cannot be expressed in words. Second, I think that making sure your skin is moisturized is very key. I get really dry in the winter months and that just adds to the discomfort. I hope everything continues to go well with you, and again, awesome job on the website! Keep it up!
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Title: Re: My long journey with hives…please read.. Post by: MO2003 on January 05, 2012, 09:33:09 PM
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Quote from: anjelwings on January 05, 2012, 02:28:15 PM
Running is great, ran all the time bf hives…now I can’t sweat so running is kind of scary for me but if it works for you GREAT!!! Mine started when I turned 18, and have been around since…I still feel like everybody is looking at me wondering if it is contagious, I don’t think that feeling will every truly go away. In the end I am a speckled trout and that is how I deal with it.
PS: living in Louisiana & Florida doesn’t help either LOL anjelwings, Thanks for your response. Not being able to sweat is very tough, and you definitely need to be careful with that when you work out so you don’t get overheated (im sure you already knew that though haha). I know how you feel about being self-conscience. I wear long-sleeves so it isnt really noticeable except for my neck.
If you’re able to induce an attack when you are alone, and do it on your own terms, it makes all the difference. At least for me. If you are able to, I encourage you to do that. But I know how scary that can be. I hope you are able to figure out a way to successfully manage your hives. Remember that it’s your life and stupid hives have no right to take over it!
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Title: Re: My long journey with hives…please read.. Post by: Nathaaan on January 06, 2012, 08:43:09 PM
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Quote from: MO2003 on January 05, 2012, 09:17:00 PM
You’re absolutely right. I always tell myself that its better to withstand 10 to 15 minutes of intense pain and feel free the rest of the day than to feel discomfort all day. Thanks for responding to my post and sharing your own story. I know how difficult and unbearable these darn hives can be, but keep pushing through the pain!
It is definitely worth it. When I went out to town today I went through about 20 minutes of stinging and itching, it was a horrible feeling but I was able to ignore it and talking to my friend took my mind off it. Then I instantly walked into a warm room (one which has a heater blasting down next to the door entrance) and it killed! But the strong pain only lasted about 5 minutes, then I was free all day! I’m trying my best to stay strong and ignore this, I can’t let it control my life. π
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Title: Exercise Post by: kLPantera on January 09, 2012, 10:29:30 AM
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Hey All, I love working out because when I started I guess my Cholinergic Urticaria decided to take a vacation. This was during the beginning of May last year, however now it came back from vacation and every time I work out; it comes back. Does anyone have any ideas/tips on how to counter this?
I don’t want to be seen scratching my arms/legs/behind/chest while in the gym. I’ll look like a freaking monkey. I can deal with it when it comes from anxiety and heat but in the gym it’s so annoying.
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Title: Re: Exercise Post by: Nathaaan on January 09, 2012, 07:08:02 PM
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Hello, you could try having an attack before you go to the gym? If you drive there perhaps have the heater on full or you could have ther fire/heater on at home and have an attack. After you have an attack the itching/stinging wont occur for hours/all day. Hope this helped. If not, there are plenty of tips on the forum. Good luck! π
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Title: Re: Exercise Post by: kLPantera on January 09, 2012, 10:05:43 PM
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That’s definitely a solution, but I would rather go around getting an attack.
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Title: Re: My long journey with hives…please read.. Post by: Daria on January 17, 2012, 09:32:32 AM
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it was really great to read your story..i feel lucky to say that after 5 years of hives I am doing so much better except for the fact that i cannot exercise in the cold months, well fall thru most of spring actually..i am so sick of dealing with them that i choose any way to prevent them if possible & for me thats exercising..i have been to several doctors & have had so much blood taken & tests done etc..i am sure you & many others on here are familiar with that..& surprisingly i am currently only on 1 zyrtec daily..which works..
i do want to try exercising again..the latest my doctor recommends is taking childrens liq zyrtec before running or exercise..so i will try that before i go running..its ridiculous to say but since i cannot workout i end up going on an extreme diet for a few weeks to take of the pounds that i have gained from not being able to exercise..i wish you the best..thanks for your story Daria
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Title: Hives hours after exercise Post by: lholden on January 20, 2012, 09:07:59 AM
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Hi there, I have been getting hives at night for the past month and the only thing that has changed in my life is that I started excersising everyday. The strange part, is that I do not get the hives until later at night, hours after the excersise, and they seem to come out when I take a hot shower, or have a glass of wine. Is it possible that the excersise hours prior can have an affect on me later when combined with a trigger? Before I started excersising, taking a hot shower or having a glass on wine did not trigger any sort of hive. Thank you!
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Title: Re: Hives hours after exercise Post by: nowash on January 21, 2012, 05:46:22 AM
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There is one thing I can think of that could cause a delayed reaction, and that would be the late phase reaction of anaphylaxis. There are two problem phases when you have an allergic reaction; one is the immediate phase which is mainly caused by histamine, and the other is the late phase which is mainly mediated by leukotrienes. The leukotrienes are not stored in the mast cell prior to when it degranulates, unlike histamine, but rather are synthesized as soon as the allergic response takes place, so it takes a while for their effect to take place. Doctors usually give steroid injections to anaphylaxis patients to prevent the late phase reaction, along with the usual antihistamine and epinephrine to normalize blood pressure. It’s weird though that you don’t get an initial reaction.
You could try singulair, which blocks the leukotrienes, if you find antihistamines not working. There’s also a disease called delayed-pressure urticaria which also has people developing hives long after the stimulus, if you want to look into that. Come to think of it, you could have exercise-induced anaphylaxis as well. What an interesting case. Welcome to the forums!
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Title: My story and success with hives Post by: Samlapite on January 23, 2012, 04:32:31 PM
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Hi I’m from the uk, I’m male and a very keen athlete. My hives first came on after I left school(aged 16) in the winter of that year(2008) I’d had no previous symptoms of this until this time. Before it flared up I’d spent 2 months in the south of Spain training and exercising with no problems, when I got back I started a football coaching job in London which sometimes had me out on extremely cold conditions. It was just after Christmas that I started to show symptoms of it when I got caught in an embarrassing situation I had a hot flush and instantly my arms, chest, back and stomach all flared up with little red bumps and itched like mad. I had no idea what this was and did some research on what it could be. I tried various different branded antihistamines that had no effect, I did however find that if I exercised to the point of reaction and then carried on through the pain it would eventually die down and I would begin to sweat but this was only for the duration of the run after that I’d be back to square one.
I struggled until April with stressful or hot situations. Now for the breakthrough.. My gp prescribed me some fexofenadine a strong antihistamine, at the same time of also booked a month off work and went back to Spain to put myself in the hot climate and force my body to react. With a combination of the antihistamine and exercise everyday in intense heat I managed to reduce the effects of reaction, it was hard to motivate myself at times as it seemed as thoug as much as I pushed myself the hives came back. I did this for one month straight but had managed to extremely reduce my symptoms. Beforehand I hadn’t been able to sweat yet I was now in a situation where I would itch for maybe 2 or 3 mins but would break out into a sweat. Im not very good at writing stuff so If you can piece together what I’ve been saying then you may get it.
Now I do not declare to be cured, what I can say is that with how I went about trying to get rid of it I have managed to gain control of it and it’s now a case of keeping on top of it, in the summer i barely have to do anything as the hot climate keeps me warm 24/7 so i sweat with ease, I play football through winter every weekend which usually is enough to keep on top of it but I usually throw in a training session midweek to make sure. I know not everyone will be in a position to just up and move away to a hot country but that’s not necessary, just get yourself down to the gym, go for a run do anything to provoke a reaction and battle through it. I know this wont help those that aren’t physically active but those that are should really give it a shot, just go for one run if you break through and it dies down during a run then keep at it. I hope this has been help to some of you.
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Title: Re: My story and success with hives Post by: Struikgewas on January 24, 2012, 04:08:42 AM
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Great story, It has to be such an experience to move for one moth to another hot country. Your situation looks actually pretty the same as mine. I’m 19 years old, played football all my life, have been in great shape for all my live and live in the same type of country and climate (Holland). I usually try to break though the pain as you do. They say sweating is a learning process: How more often you sweat how earlier your body is going to sweat. Currently I’m doing Hiveguys’ diet (see blog) to see if I’m allergic for any foods. Keep up the sweat mate
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Title: Marathon training and hives? Post by: Marathon Gal on January 25, 2012, 11:31:43 AM
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Hi All, I recently had my London Marathon place confirmed and started my training in the beginning of January. Before this I exercised reguarly, at least 3 times a week however not always running. My training plan has now upped my running and I am doing longer and more often. I am training 5-6 times a week with distances varying between 4.5 to 13 miles at the moment. I have previously had mild hives straight after exercising but these are usually minor around my belly and neck.
These do not cause me any distress as they are only a few in each place, more irritating then anything. However last night I went for a 9 mile run and within 30 seconds of me coming into my warm house, my entire body was on fire. I have never taken my clothes of so quickly and within 5 minutes my entire body was covered in hives and my ears swollen? I am not one to fear pain or certainly express emotions like pain however the feeling that swept my body was completely out of this world. If I could have ripped my skin off I would have. My body continued to burn and the welts on my neck and backs of knees started to get really bad so I got in a cold bath to try to cool my body. After 25 mins in the bath (I was freezing although my body burning) I dried down and then applied a wet cloth to the most painful areas.
After 15 minutes of this, the burning ceased and then it was just the itching that remained. I knew at this point that this was just a more severe attack of my previous hives. Within 2 hours my skin felt absolutely fine – I had taken an antihistamine an hour after the start of the episode. Now that I know what was happening to my body, I feel much better about the situation. The only concern I have is that I had no idea that it was coming. I did a longer quicker run on Saturday and no reaction at all. The only difference about yesterdays run was that it was at night. I was very lucky that I was at home when this happened, however I run mostly at work on a lunch break and then work in a warm office. Although I have only ever had minor hives in the office, I am concerned it that an outbreak last night could happen there too. If anyone could offer any advice or share similar experiences that would be fab! Thanks
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Title: Re: Marathon training and hives? Post by: nshiell on January 25, 2012, 06:34:23 PM
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Cool for signing up for the marathon BTW My bro gets really bad hay fever (and hes a gardener) and our GP suggested he start regularly taking antihistamines before high summer, Urticaria is kinda a chain reaction – antihistamines can suppress it from happening, best to take before a potential flare up.
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Title: Re: My long journey with hives…please read.. Post by: shaneelrod on February 01, 2012, 03:18:54 AM
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what is your formula to an intense workout , I would try anything even steroids to help . I get these things all over i literally look as if I have crabs it starts around My underwear area then goes on from there . Mine look like wasp stings much larger that any picture Ive seen .
trust me I know everyone thinks theirs are worse but I am a million percent I was exposed to a chemical that gives me hives and I would love to sweat this crap out
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Title: Re: My story and success with hives Post by: HivesGuy on February 11, 2012, 07:53:07 AM
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Thanks for the great post Samlapite. I’m really glad that you’ve managed to stay on top of it, and you have it under control so much. I hope you continue to have success with this strategy. Keep us updated, and best of luck to you.
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Title: Can Exercise and Workouts can Help Cholinergic Urticaria Hives? Post by: Sebastian on February 13, 2012, 05:07:47 AM
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Start exercising, it’s probably going to help you a lot, unless you start feeling really dizzy, have strong headaches, vomit, can’t breath, get swelling, anaphylaxis or something dangerous, if it’s only that really annoying and painful itch then go on. Also do it gradually and make sure you don’t have a fever or get really hot skin the first days.
I have had this for about 7-9 months, I decided to start exercising again on February 1, the first day the only parts that sweated were my forehead and my armpits, the second day my neck wanted to sweat and the third day it sweated. So my armpits, forehead and neck kept sweating and also the tip of my nose, then the back of my neck, my whole neck, nothing new until yesterday, my shoulders started to sweat and today they keep sweating, my shirt is still wet on the upper side right now. In less than two weeks I actually seem to sweat like a normal person at least on my upper body, compared to only sweating on my armpits before. I have the feeling that the next part that is going to sweat is my chest, I hope. Of course the only time I sweat is when I exercise, but now I know that I can sweat if I really want/need to.
I used a treadmill, the first week I ran 40 minutes, then 45 minutes and yesterday and today 60 minutes. The pain and itch usually lasts less as days go by, I started to get hives on my arms like two months ago, and the second day I exercised the hives only appeared on my wrists, today no hives at all, only the itch. I’m not expecting to get cured but the symptoms are really lessening which is better than nothing. Also keep in mind that I exercise everyday, I’m not really sure what would happen If I miss a day and don’t want to take the risk of losing some sweat. Notice how I abused the word sweat, I’m just happy that I’m starting to sweat again, I really hope this helps someone, I know there’s a lot of people that already posted how exercise helped them, so I wanted to reinforce that, I actually started exercising again from experiences that other guys wrote here about exercise and the more people said it the more I got convinced and anyway it really worked for me. Good luck everyone, I hope we all get cured in less than 4 years ( being realistic π ) or whatever. π
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Title: Re: Exercise helps A LOT, nothing new actually Post by: anjelwings on February 13, 2012, 01:03:04 PM
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π LMAO – I started exercising as well and BAM sweat!! Like you it is taking time to produce sweat in specific areas but hey it’s better than it was before! Still no sweat on my face like “normal people”, but hey I can live with that LOL
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Title: Good way to keep in shape with hives – swimming regularly (and a few questions) Post by: uri on March 04, 2012, 12:58:23 PM
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Hello, my name is Uri and this is the first time I post in this forum. I have to say that finding this forum helped me coop with my condition. Knowing that other people are also going through this horrible disease is somewhat comforting (even though I won’t wish it for my worst enemies).
I would also like to thank HivesGuy for putting so much effort into the forum, I’m sure it’s helping a lot of people. Well my hives started about 2 years ago, when I was about 15. At first I didn’t realize what it was, but eventually I figured out that the itching and the pain are caused by heat, so I avoided it as much as I could. That was a tough mission since I’m living in a country with relatively hot climate. I stayed indoors, stopped showering with hot water (something I really enjoyed before) and basically stopped being physically active – to avoid getting hot. Naturally, It made me feel much much weaker.
Fortunately, when I was about 5 years old, my mother signed me to swimming classes, so I started getting serious and going more and more to the pool, and started increasing the level of each workout (2-3 times a week, 50-60 25 meter swimming rounds each workout). Swimming is a perfect activity for people who suffer from Cholinergic Urticaria because the water is instantly cooling down the body, even when we invest all our powers into it (an action that would otherwise warm the body up quickly and cause an immediate hive break out). It helped me to stay in shape and to stay healthy, because otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten any physical activity at all which would have eventually lead to very, very bad results. I do so until this day and try to miss as few workouts as possible. So I just thought I’d share the information, in hope to help other people maintain their general health status. — Also I wanted to ask a few questions. First question – I took a blood test recently and the results showed that I have major Vitamin D deficiency.
I researched the forum and the blog a little bit and found out that many people who suffer from Cholinergic Urticaria also suffer from Vitamin D deficiency, as they (we) don’t get much sunlight. The question is – do you think that taking Vitamin D supplements would help my condition, or at least improve it? (I’m currently taking 1x Mizolastine per day, which is making the hives more controllable. If I don’t take those anti-histamines, hell brakes loose). —
The second question – Is it possible for the hives to just disappear for NO reason at all? I mean, is it possible to maintain a routine and not change anything about the current life style, and still get rid of the hives? Just like that, out of the blue? Because I saw that some people were cured when they started working out an regular bases, or change thier diet and so on… I wanted to know, are there people that were just mysteriously cured? woke up and suddenly, no itching? — Finally the last question – I mentioned in the previous question that I saw that some people work out on regular bases with the Urticaria to make it more manageable. I wanted to ask – how is it possible to work out when the second the body gets warmer, an instant, unbearable pain appears…?
I tried doing some push ups and lifting weights but the second I started to put real efforts into it, the itching began…. — I’m not sure whether it’s the right forum to ask those questions, but since I already opened the thread for the swimming tip, I thought I’d take advantage and post them here as well. — I hope I could help, and I would really appreciate answers to my questions. ** Please excuse any grammar or spelling mistakes, English is not my native language.
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Title: Re: Good way to keep in shape with hives – swimming regularly (and a few questions) Post by: HivesGuy on March 04, 2012, 01:18:21 PM
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Hello Uri, Thanks for your post and welcome to the forum. Your English was very good by the way. Your story was interesting, and I am glad that you’ve found this site useful. Swimming can indeed be a good way to get in some exercise with Cholinergic Urticaria, especially in cooler waters. Once in the past I swam in a pool in a local university, and it was quite warm, and eventually my hives did come out.
However, as long as the water is cool, it will generally prevent the warming of the body for a quite a while. I’ll try to answer your questions below: 1. Vitamin D–Yes, a few people have been tested on this forum and have been found to be very deficient. Many have reported that it seemed to help their hives by adding a supplement, and a couple of times people have said it cured them. I myself take a vitamin d3 supplement daily (usually). I can’t say that it is the major factor in my hives going away, but I still take it for health (since I don’t get as much sun as I probably should). The majority of the population is probably deficient. As far as whether or not it will help your hives–it’s possible, but you’ll just have to try it. Since your doctor said you are deficient anyway, it’d be a great idea to take it (follow his or her advice on how much to take). It helps regulate many things in the body, and some evidence has linked it to autoimmune diseases (among other things).
2. Hives Going Away–Yes, it could be possible that hives improve or go into remission for no reason at all. However, I always try to encourage people to remain proactive about trying to improve diet, exercise, healthy weight, etc. That’s when my hives when from being unbearable, to 100% manageable. Many people on here have been helped from something proactive–whether it be taking antihistamines, probiotics, vitamins, exercise, diet changes, UV therapy, etc, etc. So my advice would be to keep a positive attitude, and try to make healthy lifestyle changes first and foremost. Not only could it help your hives, but it is good for long-term health.
3. Exercising with Cholinergic Urticaria–You’ll certainly want to be cautious and have an adult around, ask a doctor, and also maybe even keep an epipen just to be 100% safe. When I first started dieting and exercise, it was unbearable. So what I would do is workout right up until the point it started to get a bit itchy/prickly (I was doing cardio), and then I would stop for a few minutes. Then once my hives calmed down, I’d start again. I did this for weeks in an effort to get in better shape. After about 3 weeks or so of doing allergy elimination diet and exercise, I began to sweat. I made a really in-depth post about this on my blog if you’re interested.
Exercising and keeping the sweat coming is important for sure, but to me, an even more important factor was removing foods which caused my body and stomach to react in an inflammatory manner. Hope that helps and God bless you.
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Title: Thanks HivesGuy Post by: Ray on March 04, 2012, 11:14:43 PM
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First off I just want to say thanks to hives guy for creating this great forum, this forum has helped me get through a lot of days where there were no signs of hope, even suicidal thoughts. Just to communicate with others who’ve experienced and could relate to my symptoms and mental well-being was just a blessing. I developed Urticaria a few years ago, actually a few months after I graduated from High School.
As everyone on this forum could Imagine It was the most miserable time of my life, honestly I lived a very sedentary life just sitting around all day watching sportscenter, movies, browsing the Internet, and waiting for Bulls games to come on. I’m a diehard Bulls fan, just watching them every night kept my sanity Intact. Honestly I lived like this for over a year and a half straight, family members would come around and say wow you’ve gained a lot of weight, people would also laugh at me when I get symptoms and just scratch like I was crazy. No one understood or believed me, even my mom I was lost.
I was just tired of living liked this, I started doing research and that’s how I found this forum. I was relieved to find this forum, every day I came here to see new posts and to stay updated. Eventually I saw a post about working out, I said to myself how Is that even possible, then I saw more and more posts about working out and I said yeah I’m gonna try that.
At this point I didn’t really care about pain anymore; I didn’t even care about my life honestly. My pain threshold was very high because every day I was in pain. First day I worked out was very painful, I didn’t really care about the pain I just kept pushing through because it just felt good to workout again. I think I ran on the treadmill for a good 30 minutes and used the bike for 30 minutes my wind was terrible, It felt like my airway was closed I could barely breathe I thought I was going Into an anaphylactic shock. I used the sauna room as well that was also kind of painful at first, but eventually after the first 3 minutes I started to sweat buckets It was amazing to sweat that much for over a year I hadn’t sweated a drip. I ate the same thing every day Oatmeal and fruit, salad, baked chicken, I’m not going to lie I ate a lot of junk food as well.
I kept this regiment up for a couple weeks and eventually I noticed when working out I didn’t feel a thing. Wow this was an exhilarating feeling to be normal again. It was comparable to losing a limb and getting It back like hivesguy said. Although this condition was miserable It taught me some valuable lessons though not to take anything for granted and work hard for everything.
I appreciate just waking up everyday and being able to go into public without the fear of having an attack. I also never really worked out but now it has become a part of my life I can now easily run 4 miles or run on the treadmill for a minimum of 2 hours straight. Honestly I can say at least 80 percent of my condition is gone, I think if I ate completely healthy it would be completely gone I still have small attacks but theyβre not as severe as before. Although I am cured I still log on this forum everyday just to see what others are going through. This forum will forever be a part of my life, eventually I do believe there will be some kind of cure out there for everyone with this condition, I just wish it comes sooner than later
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Title: Re: Thanks HivesGuy Post by: MikeC on March 05, 2012, 07:42:58 PM
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Glad to hear that you were able to get of rid your hives through working out. I started working out like two days ago and I was wondering if: after you workout do you experience alot of little prinkling feelings?
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Title: Re: Thanks HivesGuy Post by: Ray on March 06, 2012, 11:46:20 PM
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No I don’t experience any breakouts after I workout, when I first started working out with Urticaria I did experience a lot of pain during and after my workouts.
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Title: Re: Thanks HivesGuy Post by: MikeC on March 07, 2012, 01:21:22 AM
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thanks for the reply! Yea I just started working out and its very painful when attack happens but it goes away throughout the workout. But after the workout it seems like the pain comes back like waves here and there for a few hours. Is that how you felt?
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Title: Re: Thanks HivesGuy Post by: Ray on March 07, 2012, 09:16:56 AM
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Yeah that was how I felt at the beginning, but yeah it’ll eventually go away. Are you eating healthy?
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Title: Re: Thanks HivesGuy Post by: yash on March 07, 2012, 01:53:29 PM
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So……. I guess fighting it thru the pain is the only way out this, isnt it? better prepare myselft mentally, cause imma start to workout too, wish me luck guys, cause imma need it too and I don’t want to give up cause of the pain π
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Title: Re: Thanks HivesGuy Post by: MikeC on March 07, 2012, 08:57:11 PM
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Glad to hear that the pain will lessen eventually. Yes Im trying my best to eat healthy right now! Can you give me some pointers? I dont know if Im allergic to any food currently. Were you taking any vitamines or supplements while you were exercising?
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Title: Re: Exercise helps A LOT, nothing new actually Post by: Sebastian on March 10, 2012, 05:44:50 PM
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Just coming here to update. I normally start sweating within 15 minutes, now I only get the itching on my back and it usually lasts less than 6 minutes, it’s not painful anymore but still really annoying, rarely I get some itching on my neck and on parts of my stomach. I seem to sweat normal and I even drench my shirt every time but the only parts that won’t sweat no matter what are my feet, and my stomach, my arms sweat but only a little. Today it’s been a month and 10 days since I started exercising so compared to not sweating at all and the burning from hell that I used to get almost in every part of my body I think I’m doing great, I hope I don’t jinx myself.
I also hope you are sweating more, anjelwings, since it seems like your condition also benefits from exercise. Anyone who is not exercising and haves no heart-related problems from it or anaphylaxis should do it on a daily basis, it’s doing wonders for me in so little time, good luck everyone.
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Title: Re: Exercise helps A LOT, nothing new actually Post by: HivesGuy on March 15, 2012, 08:11:13 AM
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Glad to know things are going well. Keep us posted if anything changes.
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Title: Re: Thanks HivesGuy Post by: HivesGuy on March 15, 2012, 08:13:33 AM
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Must have missed this post. Just wanted to briefly say thanks for your kind words Ray. How are you holding up?
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Title: Re: Thanks HivesGuy Post by: Ray on March 18, 2012, 11:39:53 AM
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I’ve been good, I started my EMT course a few months ago and I’ll be finished in another month and a half. It’s smoking outside here In Chicago today man, last year at this time I would’ve been dying. @Mike and yeah sorry man for not responding fast enough, but yeah I take multi vitamins everyday and I also started drinking tons of water, about 2 liters a day, maybe that was too much bit I think that also helped me.
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Title: Exercise/running Question Post by: rs91 on April 05, 2012, 10:09:28 PM
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I see some posts about exercising and running etc and was wondering do you exercise past the point where the itching and burning and just the ughh!! feeling comes..or stop when you start to feel it then go again and stop etc..?
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Title: Re: Exercise/running Question Post by: HivesGuy on April 06, 2012, 03:07:09 AM
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Some people do that, and it works for them. For others, it may not be safe or ideal. For me personally, I neve really liked doing that, because my hives were so severe, that it just wasn’t practical. What I did, was I would work out until the point of getting itchy. Then I’d stop until the itching stopped, and then I’d start again. But I was also tweaking my diet at the time, which accounted for the biggest reason my hives were going away.
Some people like to induce an attack, and afterwards they are able to sweat and their hives are much better. Some are able to maintain regular sweat so long as they workout regularly. I always like to warn people who are exercising through it for the first tiime to be safe, have an adult with you, and maybe talk to a doctor about it first. You may even want to have an epi-pen on hand if you have a severe case of Cholinergic Urticaria, and so forth. Best of luck to you.
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Title: Re: Thanks HivesGuy Post by: Struikgewas on April 12, 2012, 12:13:59 PM
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Started working out daily 6 days ago. Hives are 90% gone right now!! I really hope everyone tries it.
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Title: Re: Exercise helps A LOT, nothing new actually Post by: Sebastian on April 21, 2012, 07:22:42 PM
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Updating. I’m sweating a lot when I exercise but my feet and hands won’t sweat no matter what, my forehead sweats within a minute during the day whenever I agitate myself, the pain lasts less than 5 minutes, sometimes it doesn’t hurt that much and sometimes it feels like needles stabbing me, but just like 40 or 50 pinches and only in my back, of course is really annoying but overall I’m getting better. Summer isn’t here yet, it’s been warm but not that hot, so for now I’m not really sure what is going to happen on a day with everyone else sweating just by lying down because of the weather, if I don’t die I’ll make sure to tell if summer made my urticaria worse or better, yay optimistic me.
Anyway, exercise is definitely making my condition like 90% better than it was so I’m really thankful with everyone that took the time to share their positive experiences and made me decide to try it.