Hi everyone, I’m new here, and have LOTS of questions 🙂 I am a 30-year-old female, stay at home mom to two kiddos ages 1.5 & 3. I’m not really sure what is related to what, but I’ll go back to January 9 – I had my 4 wisdom teeth removed; 2 were impacted and surgically removed and 2 were just pulled out. I had just Novocaine (never had before) and was prescribed amoxicillin to prevent an infection. The surgery & recovery went great I had no issues at all. I have been a runner for 14 years never an issue at all.
I ran D2 xc/ track in college, have run one marathon and countless other races. So it was surprising when 13 days after the surgery I went for a run and broke out in hives. I ran 4 miles and the hives did not come on until about 15 minutes after my run. They started in my groin and armpits and spread from there to cover my trunk, legs and arms.
I took Benadryl and they started improving right away and they were gone within about 5 hours. My doctor advised me to try taking Claritin before working out again, so I did just that 2 days later. I ran 3 miles (30 mins) but started feeling a burning/ tingling in my feet at about 25 mins.
As soon as I stopped the treadmill the hives spread to the rest of my body, and I also had intense burning in my hands & feet and felt a strange sensation in my eyes & ears, like a tingling. My knees were extremely painful and my finger joints also swelled up so I had to take my wedding rings off (the tissue did not appear swollen, just the joints). I went to urgent care and they put me on a 5 day course of prednisone.
I also developed terrible malaise, fatigue, diarrhea and nausea in the following days which continued for 3 full weeks. My Dr ended up diagnosing me with a serum-like sickness reaction to amoxicillin and did not think I would have any further problems. She advised me not to run for a month. So a month later I started running again.
The first 4 runs went completely fine (15 mins, 20 mins, 25 mins and 30 mins). Run #5 (yesterday), I ran 30 minutes and again broke out into hives starting in my groin and armpits and spreading from there around 10-15 minutes after my run. I again took Benadryl and the hives subsided in about 3ish hours.
Today I started again with the nausea/ diarrhea but it’s not as bad as last time. My Dr now thinks I have cholinergic urticaria or possibly exercise induced anaphylaxis. She is prescribing me an epi pen, advised no exercise, and is having me see an allergist (I’m sure it will be a long wait).
Has anyone experienced cholinergic urticaria and had symptoms like mine? I thought I read that the hives usually come on within minutes of starting exercise, so why does mine not start until I’m done exercising (and only after workouts 25+ minutes long). I know no one can diagnose me here but I’m just wondering if anyone has experienced something similar or has any words of advice for me.
Thank you!
-Running Mama
John says
Sorry to hear of this development. I dread going to dentist because getting novacaine seems to reactivate my dormant hives. Not sure that is true, but it seems like it, and the fact is that my first episode of hives occurred after an IV use of that family of drugs. So I have also theorized that the injection caused a “serum sickness” or more accurately an autoimmune attack on normal bodily antigens similar to those particles int he drug that cause the euphoria…(i.e. endorphins etc.) This is all speculation, but have hope there are many possible causes and you will find hope and strategies to beat it.
Running mama says
Thank you! That is so interesting about your dental experience being related to hives. I actually got an allergy appt scheduled for next Wed so I will definitely mention the novocaine/ dental surgery.
Robin says
When I exercise, I never start itching until I stop exercising, and then the prickly feeling starts almost right away and develops into hives. However, if I just get hot from being in the sun or a warm room for more than a minute, the prickling and itching starts up immediately. I don’t know why I get this reprieve during exercise, I am sweating throughout my workout, but I don’t feel a thing until a few minutes after stopping.
Just sharing my experience since it sounds a little similar to yours. Good luck with your allergist appointment.
Running mama says
Thank you so much for your comment! Do you get any other symptoms besides the hives? I’ve been in bed all day today with stomach upset and diarrhea so my Dr is thinking this is more of an exercise induced anaphylaxis but she is waiting for the allergist to do testing / make a diagnosis.
Robin says
No, just itchy hives for me. However, I have noticed that shortly after being sick, my hives are way worse. I think because my immune system is down so I react worse to the hives. My allergist agreed that is possible. When I am healthy, my body (and an Allegra) can keep the hives small and they go away within a few hours. But after I’ve been sick is when I get a terrible breakout and need to go to urgent care for a shot and a prescription of Prednisone.
So perhaps you are sick and that’s why your hives broke through. Maybe your illness caused the hives, and not the other way around. But who knows, that’s just how it seems for me.
I hope you feel better soon!
Robin
Hivesguy says
Thanks for sharing your story, Running Mama. Since your issues seemed to start right after the surgery/antibiotics, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that it could have been a culprit. Our immune systems can behave in strange ways. I’ve had diarrhea in the past, mostly due to uknown food allergies/sensitivies that I developed out of nowhere. I don’t have a problem with it now.
I’ve written a lot (and created videos) about what helped me with diet and so forth. The only thing I’d suggest is that the antibiotics could have also messed up your intestinal flora. Most of your immune system is in your gut. You may want to talk to your doctor about trying some different probiotics such as Acidophilus, Culturelle, Digestive Advantage, etc.
I hope you get well soon!
Running mama says
Hi! I just wanted to update after my allergy appt today. I tested positive for a penicillin allergy and he agreed that my first bout of hives/ sickness was from a serum sickness like reaction to amoxicillin. I did not test positive for any of the foods he checked for (wheat, soy, sesame, peanut) or dust mites. He said I have mild dermatographism and exercise induced urticaria (basically a form of CU, right?) He thought the epi pen prescription was over the top and doesn’t think I’ll have serious issues (thank goodness, hopefully!). He couldn’t explain the GI problems. He said I may need to see a GI Dr if those problems persist. He advised me to take 2 allegra / day for a month, if that goes well then take 1 allegra/ day for a month, and if that goes well just take it before exercise and that may continue indefinitely or may go away eventually. My husband and I have already re vamped our kitchen to get rid of most processed foods. I’m already vegetarian and we will try to do as close to 100% plant based as possible. I do take some probiotics but I’m going to look into some others since I don’t think the current ones have been helping! I was thinking of going to the chiropractor too, has anyone tried that? I really think this is all stemming from the surgery and amoxicillin so I’m hoping with some intensive gut care and a little help from allegra I can get this under control!
Hivesguy says
Thanks for updating us! I don’t think the chiropractor would help, in my opinion. I hope the new diet/probiotics/allegra helps you!