Cholinergic Urticaria

Constant itching: Do I have cholinergic urticaria?

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My back, and sometimes other places, itches nearly always. I don’t have a rash unless I scratch it. I’ve had several rounds of allergy testing, and I’m not allergic to anything.

I do, however have AERD, which in a nutshell is overproduction of leukotrienes. I don’t notice a difference with heat, but I think stress really aggravates the itching.

So far, doctors have not given me good answers, and Allegra, which used to keep it at bay, is not helping anymore.

Please Help!

Jamie

Comments

  1. I’m sorry to hear of your itching, Jamie. Cholinergic urticaria doesn’t typically itch constantly, but rather, when someone is exposed to a heat stimulus they begin to itch. Another allergist or dermatologist might be able to give you a diagnosis.

    If Allegra isn’t working anymore, you might want to talk to your doctor about switching to Zyrtec or another antihistamine. Some people rotate antihistamines every so often so they don’t lose their effectiveness.

    I hope you feel better soon.

  2. I’m sorry, but I don’t think going to another allergist has anything to do with what is going on with you. You need a complete blood work up which must include a complete liver profile. Insist on fungal stool tests for candida as well, Liver disease can cause overall itching and especially the hands and feet. Also excessive calcium in your soft tissues instead of your bones is another one. CU has specific symptoms that usually follow the same onsets and patterns.

  3. I’ve had chronic hives for three years. I’ve only seen a doctor once (white coat syndrome) and expectantly he basically said he could give me Prednisone (wouldn’t go near it – I watched my mother blow up like a balloon on it and also had a terrible time trying to wean herself off it – for asthma though). He said Allegra would do it as a antihistamine. Yes they do work but I’m basically immune to them now and don’t like fake chemicals in my body so have tried all sorts of natural remedies. IHerb is a good place to go for those. But some work, some don’t. And you can burn a lot of money experimenting.

    Like any one with chronic hives, I’ve given up, singularly, everything for a few weeks at least to try and isolate it. Two things have had a major effect. A few months ago I gave up anything with grain in it. So that’s obviously any bread related food but also rice pasta etc. That,over a few weeks dramatically took the heat out of them. But then I gave up ginger. This was hard for me as for the last ten to twelve years I’ve started the day with a hot cup of grated ginger root made into a tea. I’ve become fairly addicted to it but it’s also had a side benefit in that i haven’t had a day in bed in all that time – in fact I’ve never even had a single cold. Anyway, I found that it was related to the deadly nightshade family – ah forgot to say that I’ve given up everything in that family too – potatoes are top of that followed by tomatoes.
    Now I should say here that I haven’t completely given up these things. If I’m in town and hungry well down goes a pizza but instead of all those things being part of my daily diet, they’re now maybe once a week at most. Instead it’s vegetables, salads and meat. So it’s helped the hives for sure (still there daily but not nearly as intense and I believe I’ll see the back of them within a couple of months at most). But also I feel miles healthier.
    In the meantime I discovered the best and cheapest remedy of all. I bought a couple of cold packs that I keep in the freezer. So, when I get a hive outbreak I just hold a cold pack hard down on them for about 30 to 60 seconds. After that. They’ve gone! When I go out I wrap a pack in newspaper and keep it in the car with me. Doesn’t last that long – maybe a couple of hours before it’s lost its effectiveness because it’s started to thaw but it’s truly a great way to get rid of them. Here’s a link https://amzn.to/2F8N3O5