Cholinergic Urticaria

How Do I Stop Cholinergic Urticaria from Happening?

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How do I stop cholinergic urticaria from happening?!

I’m 17 years old male, and I never had any health problems in my life. However, just recently I’ve started having these bumps on my skin whenever I’m in a public place or exercising, and after months of Googling, I finally found out its caused by heat and my body temperature increasing.

I still don’t understand this, as I live in a tropical country and never had this problem before.

I tried my best to search for a permanent cure, but I wasn’t successful. So, now my question is how do I stop this type of hives from happening? Please don’t tell me to avoid hot weather, since that can’t be done (I live in a tropical country).

These bumps are affecting my life, and I’m scared that people will start thinking of these to be STDs and stop interacting with me ….

-Mohit

Comments

  1. Hello, Mohit.

    I’m very sorry that you’re suffering with this and that it’s causing you so much grief. You’re definitely not alone in your struggles, and I’ve been through what you’re going through.

    You didn’t mention what (if anything) you’ve tried in an attempt to manage your hives. This website has a lot of great tips on how to manage this condition. Have you tried anything thus far? If so, what? Have you been to a doctor?

    My advice would be to work with a doctor and begin trying various treatments mentioned on this site. I’ve written some here of what helped my hives, and I’ve also written a book about it.

    Be proactive and don’t let the hives win.

    God bless.

  2. Hi Mohit,

    Things I’ve done to manage the hives is watch what triggers it. You mentioned exercise. What about exercise triggers it?

    For me, I’ve noticed dry/windy places like air conditioned gyms or fitness centres, or even just Running outside in these conditions trigger my hives. You mentioned you’re in a tropical place though so that last suggestion might not apply to you. Consider if your skin’s dry or if you’re underhydrated. Putting a cool lotion on the hives helps relieve them and has a nice relaxing feel to help calm you down.

    Have you noticed the hives come on when you’re going at exercising right from the get go but then stop as soon as the hives come out? Sometimes making myself sweat despite the hives help reduce recovery time.

    Also, consider what’s different around you. Are you more stressed out? Do you get irritated easily? What triggers that? I know for me when I get really embarrassed, angry, or stressed, my hives can come on. Not saying this happens all the time though. Also consider other allergens like dust or pollen.

    Quite honestly, a lot of it’s been trial and error for me. I’ve noticed hot humid temperatures actually help relieve my hives but that’s pretty unrealistic in the prairies of Canada.

    Try to allow your body time to gradually get used to temperature changes too. It’s definitely not easy but in terms of showers, I’ve noticed starting at warm-hot and gradually getting hotter helps prevent the hives. This might not apply to you, so again, trial and error.

    Avoid restrictive clothing like wools and polyesters. When I have hives come on, I sometimes like to just lay on cool sheets or covers. The fabric is usually just cotton, nothing velvety.

    In terms of not freaking the people around you, tell them what’s happening. So far as I know, it’s not contagious. Know that it goes away. For me, this helps calm me down. My classmates growing up have been pretty understanding about it. They don’t exclude me or anything. Most of my friends these days already know about it and don’t seem to care much.

    This advice isn’t the best but hopefully you have an idea of what some triggers are. A big part of my experience adjusting was figuring out the triggers and hopefully you can figure out yours.