Hello, I’m a 16-year-old girl who lives in California. It gets very hot where I live. Before I developed cholinergic urticaria, I used to take hot showers, and the only thing that happened was that my knees got very splotchy red, but I never thought about it.
Suddenly, after I had an allergic reaction with a fabric softener, CU began to creep up on my life. I’ve always been very fit, I always did sports out in the sun, like lifeguarding and track. This past year I haven’t been as on top of it. During the winter I noticed I would get these red splotches when I was running miles in school. I got itchy, but I just brushed it off.
I took a trip to my dermatologist for other skin problems, but I asked him, and he told me to go on anti-histamine pills. I used to be able to control it with a Zyrtec, one pill in the morning, and I was ready for the whole day. I believe my cholinergic urticaria is temperature related, since it was very easy to control in the winter when it was cold. It’s heated up, and suddenly the start of June my cholinergic urticaria got pretty bad, for me.
In no way is my CU unbearable. I don’t get welts. I only deal with lots of red splotches on my skin. They don’t itch, but they do sting very slightly. The main problem is visually – it’s all over my neck, arms, leg, stomach. Originally I noticed CU only on my stomach. Also my splotches used to be very widespread, but now they’ve formed in clusters, specially on my arms a lot more, huh.
Does anyone else get CU on their arms too? As I’ve let myself gain more fat, and lived a more sedentary lifestyle, it began to spread across more of my body, and worsen in terms of number of CU. Is this normal? Has anyone with CU dealt with this also?
I’ve read online that my cholinergic urticaria could be caused by weight gain and diet/hormonal changes? I’m not certain, but that’s just my conclusion. I’ve read only that it may be due to stomach fat [ sorry I forgot the term ], and I have gained allot more weight there, as opposed to a year ago.
Also, being 16 there’s a lot of hormonal aspects going on in my body. I’ve written this post to share my journey of CU, and if I can get rid of it. As I’m writing this, I’m thinking of my diet. I’m going to try calorie counting. Also I’ll be cutting all dairy and wheat, along with high amounts of sodium and sugar.
I will not be cutting out meats. I actually don’t eat red meat already, but I do enjoy a hamburger once or twice a year. I’m hopeful that this CU will go away. It used to never bother me, and I believe that I could very easily kick its butt. I’ve read online that many have it worse than me, and that is why I’m going to do my best to check and make sure it doesn’t ever get that bad.
I’m going to start an exercise routine that involves stretching, running, and home workouts. I’m also starting sports soon, so if my CU gets better I will update this! I’m very thankful for this forum, I thought I was the only person in the world with this condition. I thought I would die from it [I know, silly, I was 15].
Now reading many forums on this site has led me to be more hopeful, and without this forum I would never know where to start. Thanks for reading this, and if someone is also in the same situation as me then I hope you the best of luck in your journey as well!
-Abi
Anonymous says
Hi Abi,
I recently saw this information from a post from Alex, I really feel this could help you too!
Try sweat therapy (as long as you are given the okay by a physician so you do not harm yourself)
Experiment with your diet. There may be foods that are affecting you negatively
Drink more water. It helps calm you down during an attack.
See a counselor if you are starting to feel helpless.
Anonymous says
Yes I will try the sweat therapy, I am dealing with CU again, I cured it for about 3 weeks but then school started and I’ve been stressed, and not able to workout and diet properly. I’m going to try again cutting out foods, drinking water, and becoming more healthy. Thank you for your advice! Did you also break out with CU on your arms? I am curious.
melissa t says
the thing that helped me was switching to a deodorant that did not have the toxins in it. it had to be aluminum free, all natural deodorant and it was like almost over night i was able to sweat. i had this issue for years before i realized the UC was brought on by my body temp spiking up (being active) and not sweating, therefore breaking out in this itchy ugly hive head to toe. i am SO thankful i changed my deodorant, its literally changed my life.
Anonymous says
Okay, I am using degree deodorant now but I can try switching over. I actually was able to “cure” my rashes this summer because of my diet, and sweating regularly but I strayed from my rules for a week and now I’m back to square one, but it’s a little worse now. It’s really hard not to eat bad, so I’m trying to get them to go away again. I was at the point where I could do an entire dance routine, and go the whole day without an antihistamine but now my zrytec doesn’t cause them to go away. I will try your sweat therapy and deodorant idea! Have you changed soaps? I feel soap may also be an issue, not sure.
Anonymous says
Hi this is an update to my post, I’ve been able to lessen the severity of my rash with diet, by cutting out spicy foods, gluten and lactose. I’ve been able to walk around school in 95 degree weather and not break out! I get CU all over my arms, it looks as if my entire arm is red, but because of my diet i only get about half as many as I did before. It’s only been 2 weeks, but I’ve been able to help my symptoms of CU by dieting, and I am going to try sweat therapy, unfortunately I do not know of any saunas near me, nor any treadmill/exercising bike, however I will see how exercising daily by myself can help with my CU, and when I lose weight I will update to see if it’ll stop my CU symptoms completely! I want to get rid of CU in my life forever. I am hopeful it will go away someday 🙂 I also think irritants in laundry detergent, and soaps may have a part in my symptoms? I am going to an allergist sometime soon, and I am hoping to get a patch test done to see what I really am allergic to, it’ll be interesting!