Let us start with a quick introduction. I am a 23-year-old college student attending CSULB full-time and I work about 25-35 hours weekly. I understand the pains and frustrations of dealing with cholinergic urticaria very well. I have dealt with it for about 8 years, on and off. Throughout the years, I have thought about hypothetical remedies on a daily basis. The majority of these “experiments” have failed and I have given up all hope on medication.
During high-school was when the pain was at its highest. I had no idea what was going on with me and I came quickly to the conclusion that it is because of anxiety. Nervousness tended to begin the crazy burning itch and which only the AC seemed to give me relief. My father introduced me to a neurologist and I was given beta-blockers to help me with anxiety. Nope, didn’t work. Neither did the anti-histamines.
Anxiety is something we all have. Additionally fear and nervousness are essential emotions that we deal with on a daily basis. In other words, it is normal. Furthermore, we who deal with cholinergic urticaria have other factors such as weather and temperature levels, stress levels, and the fear of pain we must deal with. Let us be honest, the fear is the absolute worst.
Now this is an effective trick I have tested and continuously use daily. This requires no medication but takes effort. Effort is essential to the path of well-being and most importantly your health. I’ll start with the obvious. As many posts repetitively mention, simply eat healthier. Avoid fast foods and high-sodium foods. Skip the soda etc.
My cholinergic urticaria has been back since February of 2013 and I’ve suffered dearly until March of 2014. In March, I realized that sweating makes me feel a ton better. So for the next step, take out your wallet and sign up for a gym membership. Many gyms come with a dry sauna where one begins to sweat anywhere from 2-7 minutes. Sweating is extremely beneficial to heart and to the mind. Yes, it is painful to bear because of the intense prickling but anywhere from 2-4 minutes, it will be over. From experience, getting a full sweat will improve your day anywhere from 50-90%. I have done this constantly, every morning before school and work. I wake up 2 hours before class or work to sweat! So wake up, sack up, and BEAR WITH THE PAIN. Pain is a reminder that you are alive.
Don’t forget to exercise. I do not struggle with weight issues for I am 5’9 and 138 pounds, however no matter your weight, it is important to exercise. Make full use of the weights and youtube tutorials to fight cholinergic urticaria. Be brave and fight it head on. I personally use the dry sauna before a work out to lessen the severity of prickly sensations.
Get rid of your anxieties. This is easier said then done. Put yourself in situations in the outside world. If you have more free time, spend it outdoors. SPEND MONEY, hang out with a friend, SOCIALIZE. I personally am an introvert and I absolutely force myself to socialize. For those of you working 9-5 shifts, I urge you to think good thoughts. Money is only money and happiness comes from within. Love yourself, your family, and contribute to your community. To those of you who are religious, participate more.
TL;DR? http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tl%3Bdr
1.) EAT HEALTHIER. AVOID SODIUM
2.) GYM MEMBERSHIP ($$$)
****USE THE DRY SAUNA DAILY (I use it morning and night) VERY IMPORTANT****
EXERCISE. HIT THE WEIGHTS. FIGHT THE PRICKLY PAIN.
3.) DEAL WITH YOUR ANXIETIES. FREE YOURSELF. LOVE.
Readers, please, please use the dry sauna.
I cannot stress the importance of the effects of the dry sauna anymore than I have done.
Contact me at perhapsys@gmail.com for questions.
You are loved. You are not alone.
-Yushin
This post was submitted by a reader. Always talk to a doctor before beginning or ceasing an exercise program or other treatment.
Hivesguy says
Yushin,
Thanks for taking the time to type that out and share it with the community. I’m very glad that the sweat/exercise therapy is helping you. A lot of people use that to lessen symptoms and make life bearable. I hope you continue to do well.
Ali says
I am a college student just like you. I also use the sauna treatment and wake up 2 hours before class so that I can use the sauna. (I actually bought a sauna in my apartment).. In the weekend I go to the student rec center and they do have a sauna over there (and it’s much hotter then the one I have) so I use it and then I play soccer and I feel a tremendous amount of relief when I play soccer because I actually sweat a lot! It really does feel great. As for food I don’t feel that it has anything to do with my CU. As for anxiety well I do have things in my personal life that I am worried about and constantly thinking about but I really can’t do anything about it. What triggered CU mostly for me is the awkward social situations but as long as I go to the sauna I’ll be fine. Although I really hate waking up 2 hours earlier because I want to sleep as much as I can, but if that’s what it takes to not get a CU attack then I am willing to do it everyday.
Ali
yushin cho says
I agree with your case of the awkward situations. The prickles jump at me! Two years ago, I cut out all soda and fast food, hit the weights 4 times a week and my CU was gone! I stopped for about a year and it came back so I really do feel a healthy life style/diet is beneficial to the cure!
josh says
I beleive it is maybe more than one factor that made the hives clear up for me. I also have had this condition for probally from age 17 till a few years ago. First I had started to notice when I stopped using bar soaps, I seemed to have less hives even in winter. Winter seasons were the worse every year. Id get the hives as soon as I heated up sometimes and even my pulse would feel different. I would have to strip down sometimes to cool off and get the large welps to clear. It would start with those little bumps then get larger like swollen pores! I almost forgot i even got those rashes anymore. All i do is excersice (Sweat once in a while) and I definetely do not use bar soaps. I use all kinds of liquid soaps, and the hives have totally cleared for me. If anyone else combines these two things together, and it starts to clear up for you, please share with others, Again, #1-sweat(play basketball, run on Thredmill, walk in woods, jog, play tennis, just make sure you get physical) exercise and #2 Change to body wash soapIm almost 95% sure this is what has been working for me. And by Gods mercy I dont let these hives come back.
yushin says
I agree that causes must be multiple. That’s exactly the reason why it’s difficult the find the exact source. I’m very envious of how athletic you seem to be! I cannot do cardio for my life so I stay with weight training. Good luck to you! I will take your advise for the usage of liquid soap.
,
sasa says
Hi, it seems true that regular exercise can reduce sympthoms, but my question is: why this desease arise at a certain moment in the life. I did sport regularly and eat healthy.
yushin says
Sasa, I feel like the symptoms arise/comeback when you are under a lot of stress. Every time I’ve dealt with circumstances that I felt an extreme amount of stress under, the symptoms seem to come back. I’m sure when stressful situations occur, one may tend to eat food that is less healthy, smoke cigarettes, and do all kinds of things that are not beneficial to your health. These things destroy your immune system leaving you vulnerable. ps. This is just my opinion on the matter.
Anonymous says
I’m a 24 year old male, in relatively good health. I have had an issue with CU for the past 4-5 years. My outbreaks never have a noticeable rash/hives or anything, so when explaining it to people they look at me crazy. My first thought was dry skin caused by the dry conditions where I was going to school at the time in West Texas (very dry wind). A family doctor prescribed me anti histamines (zyrtec) which only suppressed the symptoms but did not eliminate them. He also recommend I use vaseline on my skin to keep it hydrated (wanted me to be a living grease ball i guess). I graduated recently and now live in Dallas, Texas. Hoping my symptoms would alleviate themselves with the nicer weather conditions.. it did not. This is a seasonal thing.. and tends to happen sometime in October and lasts till March. I am typically a very active person so CU has made me resort to laziness as I do not want to experience the overwhelming itching sensation this disease causes. My breakouts only happen as my body heats up, leaving me no option to exercise, work in the yard, move furniture.. anything. It wasn’t happening. I had to figure out the issue. I diagnosed myself with CU shortly after reading many of these posts and others on google.. many people have similar issues with heat induced itching. I woke up this morning, feeling like a total fat ass as I have refused to put myself in a situation in which I would sweat. Reading this blog and others, many have found Sweat Therapy to be a solution. I went to the gym this morning, signed up for a 3 day pass to test this out. (I was itching when I walked in and signed up as the heat in the room brought on the symptom). As I walked into the sauna, I mentally prepared for battle, knowing this could be very overwhelming. I closed my eyes and went into a meditating state. The itching actually was not bad compared to ones I would get while exercising.. apparently elevating your temperature as rapidly as possible to break through this barrier is the best thing to do. As to exercise is gradual and therefore an elongated overwhelming itch will happen. The itch lasted no longer than 5 minutes and I was finally sweating. I sat in the sauna for 15 more minutes.. in complete joy that I could see my own perspiration again without an itch. I then went to workout and the itch remained absent. I will continue sweat therapy as I hope to see continued progression.
Another thing I was reading that could be a catalyst for CU was diet. I have been eating very poorly…. fast food, soda multiple times a day. My sodium and sugar intake (if i had to guess) would be through the roof. I am going to start eating healthier, omitting soda and other fast food items in my diet. It makes sense
Kris says
I find it interesting that sweating, a known cause of cholinergic urticaria, is helping you folks. I too used to be very active in sports until I got a nasty virus several years a go, which brought on the hives ever since. I’m afraid to exercise because when I do, my hives are awful. I’m also battling constant fatigue and muscle and joint pain.