Cholinergic Urticaria and Period Pain?

Good day fellow sufferers of cholinergic urticaria. My name is Andrew. I am between the ages of 15 and 18 and am currently schooling in England (my native county) and have been living with a diagnosis of cholinergic urticaria for over year as of this posting.

I experience attacks daily, often minor; however, I do also have rather strong attack, the itching from which is so painful that I struggle to move properly. I have been given permission to leave classes to go and cool down whenever I need to, and I have been granted special examination privileges where I am placed in a room with climate control instead of joining my schoolmates in the hall or gym.

I imagine the title of this post may have spiked the interest of a few readers as the nominative appears to be disparate from the accusative. I shall elaborate. A month or so go I was conversing with some of my friends and during the conversation my cholinergic urticaria arose as a subject of interest. I expressed my feelings of dread and pain experienced whenever an attack occurs, and how I have never endured pain worse than the rashes and hives.

As there were females in the group they began to convey the pain they feeling during their periods. The majority of my friends my age are female, as a lot of fellow schoolboys are far too boisterous for me to find social interesting. I am well aware of how awful periods are for women, and I would never dare to pretend to understand the sensation; however during the conversation I proposed that I might have been willing to trade my daily experienced of cholinergic urticaria-induced pain for that of pain experienced months, even if that pain is far worse.

I was immediately met with sharp opposition against the very idea that I would even consider the notion of trading the pain of urticaria with period pain. Even though I was merely hypothesizing, I probably deserved this. Nevertheless, none of my friends have or have ever experienced any form of urticaria.

I have had broken bones before as well as many other injuries and undergone painful medical procedures, which I image would be far worse for me as I also suffer from hyperactive sensitivity. (A pat of the back can hurt if I am not expected it). I would gladly swap the itchiness of the urticaria in exchange for the malaise of a broken bone.

Unfortunately, the conversation I had with them has provoked a general attitude that I am over complaining about an issue that is not that prevalent. This is not true, and I prefer to make as little fuss when possible, as I dislike drawing attention to my condition – I dread having to walk out of classing midway through.

But obviously – due to my biology – I have never experienced period pain first hand. I do not dare to conclude which is worse – hives and itching or period pain – as it is not my place and it would be insensitive and indecent for me to do so. However, I do not know any women who suffer from cholinergic urticaria as I do, so I have none to go to for enlightenment. That is my motive for creating this post.

So to conclude, I am asking if there are any females who suffer from cholinergic urticaria who would not mind divulging their views on the comparison. If in reality having period pain is to be dreading more than daily cholinergic attacks, do you have any advice on how I could confer with my friends the actuality of the effects of urticaria with intent to dispel the falsehood that I am over exaggerating the issue?

Lastly, I would like to apologize to any who may hold the opinion that it is inappropriate for me to wish to converse about what is solely a women’s issue; I completely understand.

Thank you kindly for reading this post and any information you may provide.

Yours faithfully,
Andrew