Hi all. I’m new here, and I apologise if my question has been asked and answered. There are so many questions/stories on here!
I completed Oxfam Trailwalker (100km walk/run for those who are not familiar) on Saturday morning after 25 hours on the trail. When I got undressed to have a shower, I had a rash– more like flushing–across my chest. It gradually spread up my neck, to my face, and down my back. It became itchy over the next 24 hours, and now, another 48 hours down the track it has started to settle. There is still some itching, but not enough to take anything for it. The redness has also mostly gone.
I have had this type of reaction following long (20km+) runs in the past, but this has been the worst in terms of the itching. Other info – I don’t experience any symptoms during the period of exertion. I am also quite prone to viral rashes, and I do not sweat heavily.
My doctor believes I have cholinergic urticaria. I think it’s the most likely explanation, but I would like to know if others have the same symptoms, as I keep reading that the reaction usually subsides quite quickly. I am particularly interested in hearing from people who participate in endurance events, and how you manage it, as I don’t intend to stop running!
-Melissa
Hivesguy says
Hello, Melissa.
Sorry to hear about your reaction after your run. In most cases of cholinergic urticaria, symptoms come on quickly and usually disappear once the heat stimulus is removed.
However, some people do experience prolonged physical symptoms, and their visible symptoms may last up to a day or so. Also, some people with CU may also have other types of physical hives or allergy issues on top of the CU, so they can have other unusual symptoms.
It does make me question it a bit that the itching and so forth doesn’t stop after you’ve cooled down, and that you don’t feel anything during the exertion period, which does make me question whether this is really a case of CU. Do you get prickly/itchy anytime you do physical activity or get hot? Or is it only on very long runs?
Jesse Gordon says
I routinely run endurance races (triathlons, mostly) and if it’s a chilly morning, I take an antihistamine before the race, and then I’m fine. I prefer Claritin because it’s available everywhere. I only get itchy hives if it’s chilly (like below 50F or 10C) and when I’m running (never on the bike, and rarely when swimming, but I don’t swim if it’s below 50F!). It generally takes about 5 minutes to start itching and then gets worse until I stop. My itchiness always stops 5 minutes after I stop the exerting parts (i.e. after the cool-down after the race, it’s gone). This is regular enough that I know, if it’s a chilly day, to take an anithistamine 20 minutes before running, or I have to stop after 5 minutes.
The only time I’ve had symptoms like yours are when I run at high altitude. I got a flushing that spread from my chest to all over, after running in the mountains outside Salt Lake City. Maybe it’s because the air was so dry there — not necessarily the altitude. After it lasted several hours, I rushed to the pharmacy to ask what to do, and that was the first time I took Claritin, at the pharmacist’s recommendation. It worked — the rash faded and it never got to the itchy stage. It was a different mode of expression — it’s happened a couple of other times too — but the antihistamine worked just as well as for the more common itchy rash.