Cholinergic Urticaria

Cholinergic Urticaria Cured Thanks to a Dietitian

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Hi everyone,

My name is Bobby and I actually have just recently gotten rid of my hives. I have to tell you that it was a hard journey, but I couldn’t be any happier. Let me tell you my story about what happened:

Around Thanksgiving of 2014 I was participating in an annual 5 mile run held here in Austin every Turkey Day. The first couple minutes when I started running, I felt some itching and it was more excruciating than usual. After about 2 minutes it started to go away. Little did I know that this was only the beginning.

I noticed it more when I started to move some furniture into my wife and I’s new home. When I moved our couch, I started to break out and I had to stand next to a fan in order for it to go away. After that I noticed it and felt it whenever I would go outside (no more than a couple minutes), when I slept, when I laughed, even when I tried to exercise. This went on for a while and I was searching for answers.

I first went to my primary care doctor, who then referred me to a dermatologist. The dermatologist asked about what I was experiencing. He ended up telling me that I had urticaria but didn’t officially diagnose me. He also ended up telling me to take 4 Zyrtec (which obviously did not work). Seriously, it was a total waste of my time and I could have gone to anyone for that.

I then went to an allergist. He also didn’t officially diagnose me but did indicate I had cholinergic urticaria. He had me take Hydroxyzine (a more potent Benadryl) for a few weeks and obviously did not work. I then took an allergy test (both pollen and food). Both came out negative.

He then asked me if I wanted to take what was called Xolair, which is a protein to treat persistent hives. Needless to say I declined to do that for two reasons: (1) I did not want to put something I did not know much about and (2) my research regarding the success rate of Xolair had mixed results at best. Sorry, mixed results are not good enough for me.

Finally, I went to a registered dietitian. I can’t even begin to tell you how much of a life saver that was for me. She had me go on a purification diet. Similar to a paleo diet. I wasn’t allowed at first to have dairy, gluten, eggs, nuts, corn (the normal food allergens). She said to have everything as close to organic/natural as possible. I also was taking some supplements to clear any toxins in my liver.

This went on for three weeks. I still didn’t have any improvement but I definitely started to feel better and feel a difference in my body. After three weeks, she gave me some more supplements for my toxic liver, supplements for the immune system, and a B12 cream (you read that right-a cream to put on your wrists to boost the immune system). And no more than 3 days after I did all that…BAM! Cured!

I had to go outside in the sun to do a test, which happen to be mowing the lawn. Sure enough I started to sweat again! For the first few days after that I took my team and started to do this methodically but it has now been a more consistent sweat! I even started going back to the gym again to lift some weights.

This has truly been a miracle and I never would have imagined being cured. I guess my point in all of this is that you DO NOT need pills/medicine to cure this. It simply is just watching what you eat. Please, please, please go to your dietitian. I promise that they will help you figure this out.

My dietitian and the support of my wife were a huge help in all of this. If someone tells you that you’re crazy for doing this, then they just don’t understand. Please…I advise you to maintain your health and start going to your dietitian. Also please let me know if you have any other questions. I promise I will answer anything regarding this.

-Bobby

Comments

  1. Bobby,
    Thanks so much for taking the time to share your experience. I’m so glad that you’ve found relief through diet experimentation. Diet is also what cured me. Several others have benefited from diet modification as well.

    I hope you continue to do well with your new diet. Thanks again for sharing this with the community of sufferers.
    God bless!

    • No problem! God bless you as well! Thanks for allowing me to share this with everyone!

  2. That’s great! I tried Xolair for 11 months, and it didn’t work for me. I know many people it has worked for, but I can understand why you didn’t want to try it. I was just so desperate. I think a lot of it is about diet. I completed a Whole 30 recently (no sugar, gluten, dairy, soy, processed foods). I still had breakouts, so next on my list of things to try is a low histamine diet. Thanks for sharing!

    • No problem Holly! Actually my wife and I have done a Whole 30 try as well and we definitely like it! Histamines is one of the things that my dietitian shared with me. She slowly started to incorporate foods back into my diet one at a time. One of the things she did mention is to stay away from foods that have any histamines. It’ll significantly increase your chances of getting rid of it. I am not an expert obviously but I would check with your dietitian if you are searching for answers.

  3. Hi Bobby!

    Wow! Amazing! I’m so glad that you’re cured, and thank you so much for sharing this! I do have a question…were you able to reintroduce the dairy etc back into your diet afterwords or do you stay away from them completely now?? Thanks!

    Jennifer

    • Hi Jennifer!
      Unfortunately the dairy was not re-introduced back into the diet. I have to stay away from it completely…for now at least. I use coconut milk (which I like better) and almond milk in my foods now. That along with the gluten related items, are what I have to stay away from for the time being. I was able to slowly incorporate these foods back into the diet: eggs, nuts (no peanuts), pork, and corn. I am sure I forgot one or two items but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Please feel free to reply back to me with any more questions!

  4. Hi Boby that’s great that you are no longer suffering. Just a couple questions. How long did you use the cream for and and high many times a day? I am also on a paleo type diet no eating any grains and legumes. Are you able to eat grains or not yet? Will u be able to reintroduce these foods into your diet in the future?

    • Hey Mark,
      I’m still using the cream as we speak. I use it twice a day (one in the morning, one in the evening). As far as eating grains, no grains for me. I am staying away from any gluten items till I hear otherwise. For legumes, the only item that’s been entered back is beans (any and all types). I’m not sure if I will be adding back grains at any point but I’ll know once I see my dietitian again. Hope that helps!

      • Hi Bobby,
        Thank you so much for your reply. Your information has given me a ray of hope. I have been suffering for 18 months and only now am I starting to feel hope. I have been eating very clean for the past 2 weeks and this cream sounds interesting. it would be devestating if I couldn’t eat grains again. Do you know how long you will need the cream for? I have been feeling like this diet is helping as I was diagnosed as having dysbiosis (unbalance gut flora) and leaky gut. Would you so kindly keep us updated on your condition. I think you could help many many people.

        Thanks

        Mark

        • I cant say how long you will need the cream for because everyone is different. For me it was 3 days, it might be different for you. I dont want to mislead you, but just check with a dietitian to make sure you are along the right path. If you dont end up eating grains, I dont think thats necessarily a bad thing. This is just a way to figure out what food is causing your issue. But don’t ever give up hope. I almost did, but my wife encouraged me to stay positive because 1) it wasnt life threatening and 2) to be patient in this whole process. I prayed about this every day. I know that you will be able to get through this Mark. I know its easier said than done but you’ll be able to feel like you did before you didnt feel well. Please feel free to write again if need be. I will definitely keep everyone up to date on my condition.

    • Sure. It was from Standard Process. In particular it was Antronex which is to clean your toxins in your liver faster and Cataplex which is to help your immune system. You can look on their website for those.

  6. Hey Bobby,

    I’m glad to hear that you’re all cured. I’m five years in with no hope. I wonder if maybe the degree of urticaria you had wasn’t super severe so diet would have helped? I haven’t found diet to do much, but mine is super severe/can be anaphylactic so my doctor thinks it’s antibodies in my bloodstream, not just histamine.

    You’ve made me curious enough to try a diet again. I can’t afford a dietitian (not covered), so do you have any advice for the layperson?

    • Sure! The diet I followed at first was on the Standard Process website. Look under the Resources link for Purification Program. There should be a brochure or some type of guidance on what to do as far as what types of food you have been exposed to/need to eliminate to try this diet. It has some pretty good recipes. I wont lie to you, the first three days were probably the hardest because of how new this was. As I mentioned in my post, I am on three things: the B12 cream I mentioned (which if you do a google search for that is under neuro immune stabilizer I believe), supplements for cleaning out toxins in my liver and supplements for the immune system. I believe it was called cataplex and antronex. I have also read that it’s also possible that there is a vitamin deficiency that you might not be aware of. That is usually the cause of most autoimmune conditions. I would try those three items since thats what I did. Add these to your diet as your starting this. I hope that I helped answer your question!