Serving in Military/Army/Navy with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: oneshot on December 18, 2008, 02:33:33 PM
I don’t know where to start; so I will start to “scratch” the surface and see if these fragmented sentences come to be a full story. Set back grab a coffee “medium heat please” and listen to this! I can’t believe it has taken me this long to find something like this site.
Maybe it was denial, depression with a splach of ingnorance. I really can’t emphasize or put into terms the magnitude of my problem(s). This crap has come to be the alpha, and the omega in my life. I feel like singing Linkin Park “Crawling in my skin” “”These wounds they will not heal”. He goes on to say ”Something pulls at me beneath the surface”! C’mon maybe the lead has Cholinergic Urticaria and is singing about it? So here is the 411. They called me one-shot in the Marines (its all it took). On my waist I carry three tours in the Middle East, and shortly after my first I was playing B-ball with the platoon when my L arm just started swelling.
Yes these pickled terds sent me back into the midst of hell twice more. Rest assured I tried to prevent the extended stay in the sand box. What did I get; oh yeah baby you guessed it crapzolla sandwiches smothered in “suck it up”. I had the pleasure of spending a luxurious vaca in a “world class cruise liner” full of amenities and exquisite food on my 1st&2nd hacks at the New World Order… The dark and elusive Cholinergic Urticaria would pester and haunt my soul as I would eat on the mess decks with the temp hovering at a modest 130 in Djibouti Africa. I couldn’t walk without paying the price! The title of being a Marine took on a different meaning, so at some point you have to say forget it (I’m a human being and my life has value).
Therefore I started refusing orders and training. Lil did I know this fueled the fire at the base of my chain of command. So they reciprocated and put me on “light duty” what does this consist of in the Marines; need not say any more. I guess that a tour in Iraq for the initial assault on Baghdad in 03 is “light duty” and medicine for my condition. This is when I met my Aunt Angi-odema. I was filling sand bags for a bunker when my eye just swelled shut for the first time with no Cholinergic Urticaria symptoms. Talk about frustrating! This condition to me is life-threatening if things were to really heat up.
To put the icing on: my family situation put extra tension in my life. Nothing seems to be easy when your brother is locked up (40yrs) for killing a 18 month old baby charged with – 1st degree murder and plea bargained for 2nd; and mother (16yrs) charged with -negligence resulting in death and falsifying for her son. This happened at a day-care my mother ran. This happened right before my 2nd tour and the Marines rejected my request to go home because the found out my family was recieving death threat phone calls. I had the pleasure of reading the local news paper online while deployed to stay informed of my families dwindelling fate that lied in a judges hands.
My mother has been denied parole three times. Trust I can write a book on this subject alone. I’ll spare you but at least acknowledge that stress has huge role in Cholinergic Urticaria and Angi (that bad). Back in Iraq! My attitude was crap. So I decided to self medicate by taking 2 ounces of (high) caliber smoking goods. This was what got me through. I could feel your ear with that as well, but that would side track things. OK right quick I smoked some crap from the bolt of my M16 where the firing pin was supposed to operate freely. Kind of hard with resin all in the mix! HAH! Anyways! I was the popular guy. I consider it to be my way of developing coping skills. So at this point I was just ensuring the doc’s new my situation and making things well doreportented for compensation purposes.
I hold a rating with VA of 60% and feel this is inadequate. If that wasn’t enough to tickle you. Biking became a huge part of my life until Jan 27th 08. I was on nice road bike Fuji Roubaix ltd for those enthusiast. When a guy driving a unregistered golf cart on the road ways took my right of way away and I hit it at around 25 mph. Given I was coming down hill on a bike engineered for speed and him coming up. There was no turn or hand signal. BAM knocked unconscious, seizures, (ambulance ride) spinal injuries, the shoulder injury its feeling pretty dead at this point. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them boys over at Bell Sports. I Its almost a year into this and diagnosis is on going. I used to ride my bike having episodes of Cholinergic Urticaria and Aunt Angi but mentally blocked it because it was my oasis.
This has been stripped from my arsenal of coping skills. After my accident I was medically advised to step away from my profession of being a Chauffeur. I loved that Job. It really helped me integrate back into society; forcing me to be around people while dealing with horrific PTSD symptoms as well. So here I am now a disabled Vet struggling physically, emotionally, and financially with more then most can grasp. I carry a lot of Gulf War Illness symptoms and I have so much more to say but writing all this has drained me. I have one thing that keeps the blood flowing, and that’s remission on the horizon and my mother’s release. Thanks for listening.
I knew I wasn’t alone; however I do have some extraordinary conditions. This made me feel better: better then any group or one on one sess Ive ever wen’t to. P.S. Rise up! End the Wars and Globalization! Bring my brothers and sisters home safe and today for tomorrow isn’t guaranteed; especially in a place with no rules like Iraq and Afghan. If we were to speak in a my opic voice victory would be ours again “the peoples” again. Wake up thinking what you can do with your two hands together we could join them make a difference for the next generation Much love to those suffering. One-shot.
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Title: Serving in Military/Army/Navy with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: HivesGuy on December 19, 2008, 04:54:43 PM
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Great Post oneshot and welcome to the forum! I am sorry about all of the difficulties you have gone through, and I know having to deal with Cholinergic Urticaria during all of that didn’t make it any easier. I agree about the Lincoln Park crawling under my skin song, and I actually thought about my hives when I heard that the first time (funny how this stuff messes with our heads, huh). It sounds like Cholinergic Urticaria made your military service unbearable. I can’t imagine what that was like. I get aggravated all day long just doing things around the house, so I know having to serve in the military in extreme heat must have been absolute torture!
Especially with the dark colors and thick dress they make you wear most of the time. Not to mention the angiodema you have to deal with. Most people with Cholinergic Urticaria don’t experience the swelling (although at least one other person in the forum has mentioned they get this as well). But I know that must make the Cholinergic Urticaria 100 times worse, because you have to worry about anaphylactic shock and swelling as well. I am sorry to hear about the family trouble with your mother and brother, and I hope everything works out soon. I know family problems and struggles can be extremely stressful, and I still struggle with daily things going on with my family as well.
But I know that you must really miss them, and I hope that you can be united with them again soon. I agree that we should all be positive and try to keep hope in the back of our minds. Hopefully our hives will soon go into remission. Hopefully we can all live a normal life again, and everything will work out in the end with the other stuff in our lives as well. I want to thank you again for that great post, and for opening up and sharing your story with everyone. I am sure so many people will find comfort reading your post and will be able to relate in many ways. The important the we all need to remember is that even though Cholinergic Urticaria sucks, we aren’t alone, and one day we will (hopefully) beat this thing!
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Title: Serving in Military/Army/Navy with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: gigi on June 05, 2009, 02:46:46 AM
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Hi, first of all let me thank you for this site which can help us in many ways. I am 29 years old and I have heat hives from the age of 15. It appeared from nothing very fast and very violent at the middle of the summer. At first even I did not know what was triggering it but was very painful and psychological stressful because i did not know if I will have a brake out or not if I would start a specific activity. I went to my doctor but she did not believed me that is so strong until i ran few laps around the hospital. She gave me some antihistaminic medicine and told me to come in a month. Those medicines did not help me at all so she sent me to a specialist in pediatric dermatology.
This doctor gave me almost the same medicine plus some vitamins and told me to come in a couple of months back. I took for about a moth these medicines but did not have any effect at all so i stopped and i did not visit the specialist again, also the autumn came and i could manage the body heat more easily. Almost one year passed an in this time the condition was sometimes very bad – it appeared on my whole body, the red spots where swallowing, it vas very painful and it lasted at least half of hour after i stopped the activity, also i had them in the winter from the body heat and i saw that even i am not hot when the cold air in the winter touched me i would have brake out but not as violent as in the summer. In this time i got a lot of “grandmas help” from every one: “take showers more often”, “keep this diet”,” change your blood (make sex)” It was quite embarrassing for me and some people where afraid that they could take it from me…
After this start every summer for about 3 years i went to some doctor, took various antihistamine medicine but no results. I started to cope with it and i saw some methods to make it more bearable like after a violent brake out i would take a warm shower (never take a cold shower because you could damage your skin, blood vessel and your heart when you’re so hot) and roll in a fresh bed sheet until i get calm and the hives would go away. After those years without hope i went to a well known doctor in alergollogy which started to give me hidroxizine. This was the first medicine that proved a little beneficial – the brake out was slower to start, there no more swelling and the itching was not so strong as before, but the side effects of that medicine where too strong mostly the sleepiness which even made me to get bad grades at high school. So i went back to this doctor who told me that this is the only medicine i could get for the condition and adjusted the dosage.
Unfortunately for me the side effects where to strong and the gain where to week to continue for a long time so i stopped taking them after a couple of months. After that i stayed for few years without any medicine but cooping with the conditions. In 2000-2001 i went in the army (1 year compulsory at that time) the hives helped me to skip some duties and also they sent me to various doctors. At almost the end of the army they sent me to a very young and beautiful lady doctor which from the start understood me and put the diagnostic of “cholinergic urticaria”, even she knew what i had she runned some allergic test which proved to be negative with the exception of ice test which was inconclusive. She explained me for the first time what is this urticaria , how is actioning and also that i could have it for the rest of my life and is no known full remedy. She also told me that hidroxizine is the only known help but is very dangerous. She teached me to get used with warm and hot environments by gradually taking hot showers, sun bathing, exercise and eat less energetic and spicy food (less fat, chocolate, sugar, coffee alcohol). Also before i start using hidoroxizine again she told me we should try a new drug, a metabolite of hidroxizine the cetirizine (zirtek) which does not have so strong side effects but also may not be effective to me. I tried it and had a very good effect for me – i could do every thing i wanted with no more itching just some small red spots in the worst times. This was it for me. I staid with this treatment for one year and was happy with it.
It even get more easily available an the price got lesser them before. After one year of the start i tried to speak with this doctor again (concerning long them administration of this drug) but she moved from that hospital so from that time i did not seek any advice from a licensed medical professional (except from pharmacists). For a long time (about 8 years) i staid with this treatment and i almost never felt the hives again. In the last 2 and a half years i started to lower the dosage (because i am afraid of liver and kidney problems) and now i taking it only when i feel the hives or a lot of zits appear on me (because of the urticaria).
In the last 3 months the drug company that produced the medicine in Romania stopped production so i looked at drug stores for a foreign brand and also they told me that a even more refined product from the cetirizine appeared so as soon as i have the opportunity to consult a good doctor i will ask about it. PS What i learned in this years: Don’t give up, regularly seek the best advice but only from a licensed medical professional they may find a new effective drug for you Don’t listen to people that are mean to you because you have spots on you or you are scratching yourself Live a healthy and happy life with good amount of exercise, outdoor recreation, healthier food, lot of social interaction and take your mind of this problem because we should see the good part of our life’s. Thanks (sorry form my English)
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Title: Re: Hello from Romania Post by: HivesGuy on June 05, 2009, 03:39:14 PM
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Hello Gigi, Excellent post & welcome to the forum! I am sorry that you have lived with heat hives since the age of 15. I know that must be really frustrating. I can totally sympathize with your doctor visit, and my doctors were skeptical as well about the severity of the feeling. Your story is very interesting, and I thank you for sharing all of that. I am glad that you did eventually get the proper diagnosis of cholinergic urticaria, and you finally got a doctor that understood what you were going through. That is really interesting how the zyrtec (centrizine) helped your hives for all of those years.
It really makes me consider taking it more often, and trying to stick with it. I hope that you are able to see a doctor again soon, so that you can get back on the medicine (or get a better or stronger medicine). I also really appreciate those tips you included in the post. I agree with you 100%. I think everyone with cholinergic urticaria should see a doctor and try to find the antihistamine that works best. I also agree that we should ignore those who don’t understand our situation (or may poke fun at us). I also definitely think we should all try to live our lives to the fullest, and to be happy. We should never let the hives stop us from experiencing happiness or achieving our dreams. Thanks again for the great post, and welcome to the forum!
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Title: My Story and Some Questions? Post by: ItchingSux on January 05, 2010, 03:07:22 PM
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So I’ve had this condition for some years now its been so long I cant even remember when it started but I’m 19 now and like I said its been going on for some years. I never even knew the name of this condition or that other people had it till this weak, which was a relief and of course a dissapointment finding their is no cure. Basically my Cholinergic Urticaria is spontaneus and comes and goes when it wants, when I ever get nervous or stressed, go out into the sun, expereince quick temperature changes my body starts to itch badly and after I’ve cooled down it sunsides.
I’ve read some of what others think and I fully believe part of it has to do with your mind as a lot of times I’ll be working out or running or whatever and not have any outbreaks, but if I start thinking about it BAM! Anywho as you all know the problem is an real annoyance especially if you outbreak when doing something important like driving as I was today : (. What sucks is I’m probably going to be joining the Army after College and this Cholinergic Urticaria is gonna be a real problem if it’s still there I mean I cant be itching uncontrollaby when I’m leading a patrol. Anyways I have some questions regarding anything that can at least prevent outbreaks from occurring to often.
1. I’ve heard antihistamines (I have no idea what those are) can stop outbreaks, what are some ones you would reccommend?
2. I’ve also heard accupuncture can help treatments is this true or would I just be wasting money?
3. Finally while I’m almost positive that their probably is nothing I can do but wait it out, I’d like to know from those who have waited it out how long it took for them?
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Title: Re: My Story and Some Questions? Post by: HivesGuy on January 05, 2010, 06:49:09 PM
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Hey ItchingSux, Great post and welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear that you too also suffer from this, but I am glad you know that you aren’t alone in this frustrating condition. To answer your questions: 1. Antihistamines are simply anti-allergy medications. They block the chemicals responsible for causing allergic symptoms (histamine), and are useful in many allergic reactions/conditions. As far as Cholinergic urticaria, the general consensus seems to be this: They can help most to manage symptoms, but they don’t usually stop symptoms 100%.
They mostly make it a bit more manageable (and it varies from person to person). I don’t take them really, because they maybe only help me about 10%, and the side affects (drowsiness, etc.) makes it unworth the effort for me. You can get these over the counter at walmart or any drug store/retail store that sells medicine. Zyrtec is a pretty popular brand that a lot of people use, and it does have a generic cheaper form (cetrizine). Other antihistamines can include benadryl, claritin, etc. A doctor or dermatologist can prescribe you a stronger kind of antihistamine, but this is something you want to discuss with them. As always, use caution when trying these, and always follow the label or prescription instructions. Only seek a doctor for proper advice on medications. 2. To me, accupuncture would be a complete waste of time and money. Most people give it up after they realize it doesn’t stop the hives. Some people say it helps them to focus, etc. which helps them manage the pain and discomfort.
So of course it is your choice. My personal opinion is that I have never/will never do it. Period. A waste of money in my opinion. 3. From me personally, I had it for about 6 months at first, it then went away for about 1-2 years with no symptoms at all. It then returned during a stressful time, and was a little more persistant. I have now had it since that time for about 4 years straight. So on/off I have had it for around 7-8 years or so.
Medical articles suggest that it has an average duration of about 7 years in most people. It can be shorter (months), ,or longer up to 30 years or more. Some people on this forum have had it for 30 years or more. But like I said, it usually isn’t constant. It may come and go, and be intense and less intense during certain seasons/times. It may clear up altogether, or decrease in intensity over the years. Hang in there, and as hard as it seems, try to keep a positive outleook. At least you know what it is, and at least it will probably go away some day. Thanks again and welcome! Hivesguy
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Title: Re: My Story and Some Questions? Post by: kellie on January 22, 2010, 10:53:47 AM
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I feel for you!!! I had an episode around my freshman year in high school and my freshman year in college & every 3-4 years afterwards. Still don’t know what causes them but have taken zyrtec at night and clariton & zantac 150 in morning and it helps manage them until they go away. When I was younger they give me predisone. I don’t like taking that because of the side effects. Hives go completely away while on it but right after your off they come back worse. Also my dr tells me it makes the episodes last longer.
A lot of it could be stress. I have set up a appt. with a psychologist who also is a hypnotherapist (sp?) Hypontherapy has helped in my past (sleep walking, weight loss, etc.) It helps you learn how to calm your body down. I am considered a hyper person. It is very hard for me to go into a complete relax state. I have found this helps. I did see an accupuntarist but only three times. It did help for awhile afterwards (3-4hours) because it puts you in a very relax state. I would recommend seeing a good allergist/immulogist to get their feedback. Avoid Aspirin or Ibprofen. It makes it worse. Always take tylinol (sp?)
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Title: my heat urticatia Post by: slaugsb on March 21, 2010, 10:37:40 PM
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I have had cholinergic (heat) urticaria for about 3 months now. I was deployed onboard a Navy ship, visited many countries during the summer months, worked out and ran daily. I got back to the states(NC) and was fine for a couple of weeks. I was running and working out every day. never had any problems. Then one day it started. I began to itch when i got hot (this was in jan).
I started breaking out in small painful burning bumps on my arms, chest, and back. I saw an allergist. They performed a bunch of allergy tests, all negative. they did some blood work also- nothing out of the ordinary. they diagnosed me with heat urticaria. I break out in warm rooms, exercise, sleep. I dont break out when i take a hot shower, or any specific foods or anything. I have not had a chance to get much sun. I was prescribed claritin, 10mg/ day. did not work. then allegra, 10mg/day, did not work. then zyrtec…went from 10mg to 20mg to now 40mg/day. it helps some, but i still break out daily. the hives last for about 15 minutes once i actually break out.
i cannot run, workout, or anything. if i even carry anything i will break out. right now i am taking 40mg of zyrtec a day, 20 in the am, 20 in the pm. I am also taking prednisone, 10mg/day for 1 week, 10mg every other day for a week, 5 mg every other day for a week. my first week is over…it has been no help at all. i am going to try to start getting some sun every day, and maybe even ask about uv treatment through a hospital. to anyone who has this, i feel your pain. the doctors say they cant do much to help. they dont even know much about it. i am in the military and cannot run, pt, workout, or anything. i cant even deploy now.
all i can do is when i break out, go turn the ac on in my truck and sit there for 30 min. I cant really go out either bc i break out. cant stay in wal-mart for long, cant go shopping. day to day life sucks, but it could be worse. i am going to try going home(AL.) for a couple of weeks to a different climate and see if it helps any. i will try sun exposure and post the results. i have never experienced this before. i went from one day running a few miles, lifting weights, then the sauna, to not even being able to walk in a warm room. anyone have any suggestions or methods that helped them? thanks
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Title: Re: my heat urticatia Post by: HivesGuy on March 22, 2010, 04:37:15 AM
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Hey slaugsb, Excellent post and welcome to the forum! I can certainly feel your pain, and I am sorry to hear about you getting this also. I know it must be frustrating being in the military and dealing with this, especially since doctors can’t really do much to help. About your question on suggestions, you have named most of the things we usually try ourselves (antihistamines, prednisone, exercising, sun exposure, etc.).
I know it is so frustrating because you just want the hives to go away, and it seems as if there is something we can do. Unfortunately, we just have to tough it out the best we can. If those antihistamines don’t work, there are slightly newer and stronger ones on the market now. Some have posted that fenofexadine has helped them, as well as doxepin. You may want to talk to your doctor about trying those, or perhaps even a combination if your symptoms are extreme. I try to minimize drug usage with things like antihistamines, but some on the forum have found relief from them. Thanks again for the great post, and welcome!
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Title: Re: my heat urticatia Post by: ejsail on May 08, 2010, 09:48:07 AM
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My son has cholinergic urticaria and his dermatologist is very familiar with it. My son took zyrtec on his own and it worked… When we told the dermatologist about it, he said if it worked, that’s great. He then went on to explain that using an Antihystimine is the answer, but there is one specific type that works best on this skin rash. I cannot for the life of me remember what it’s called, but it is not on your list of what you’ve tried.
I’m thinking it started with an H. Maybe your doctor should consult a dermatologist… If I can reach my doctor to ask him for the name of it again, I will post it for you, but I would suggest getting off all those meds and forget that approach. It is useless and will mess up your system! (just my opinion of course). Good luck!
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Title: Re: my heat urticatia Post by: HivesGuy on May 08, 2010, 03:36:15 PM
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Hello ejsail, Thanks for making that post and welcome to the forum. Antihistamines do indeed help some people with Cholinergic Urticaria. For others, it merely minimizes some of the symptoms. Hydroxyzine may have been the one that started with an “H,” since it is commonly prescribed. I hope your son is doing okay with it. Thanks again for your post.
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Title: Re: my heat urticatia Post by: waynebulley on May 18, 2010, 08:24:17 PM
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Hi EJSail, I have tried the UV treatment – with out success. The first dermatologist prescribed this therapy 3 sessions per week for 3 months which I attended religously for absolutely no benefit at all. I’m concerned about the negative effects of such exposure to UV i.e. skin cancer risk which is a real issue here in South Australia. I am currently taking 2 x 10ml Zyrtek per day and this has reduced the severity of symptoms but certainly not eliminated them.
I feel that I probably need to double this dose (like you have i.e. 40ml /day) however I am really not keen on this idea. I agree that the anti histemines mask the symptoms only. If I forget to take my morning Zyrtek then I suffer symptoms straight away when conditions heat up! Good luck managing this. Wayne
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Title: My unfortunate relationship with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: ken8lk on January 08, 2011, 01:57:58 AM
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I doubt anyone would read this, but whatever. I am 16 years old. I had this terrible condition for a little over a year now. It started in December 2009. I have the usual extremely painful and itchy sensation on my back, feet, fingers, and scalp. But I dont get any visible hives, my skin just gets a little red, which is good because most cases of this condition have visible hives. At first, I thought it was from fleas or something, cause I have a dog. But a few weeks later I finally accepted that there was something wrong. Naturally, my parents dont give a flying donkey about this painful condition.
They care much more about my grades. I found it amusing because I will have this condition for the rest of my life and I will NEVER be happy again, and even being the most successful person on earth will not change that. So I finally managed to convince my parents to take me to the doctor 3 months after it developed. I had a very thorough blood test, which checked my thyroid level and things like that. Everything was normal. I left without a diagnosis and no medicine to cope with it. 7 painful months later, after much more convincing, I went to the same doctor the second time. I was referred to a dermatologist. The appointment was scheduled for much later, so I had to wait another 3 months. 3 months later, I go to the dermatologist. Interestingly, they were much more concerned about my acne (here’s my question; why doesnt ANYBODY I KNOW, INCLUDING FAMILY AND FRIENDS, CARE???). So I insisted that my Cholinergic Urticaria was much more important.
Apparently, since I dont have hives, I cant be diagnosed with it. But the dermatologist knew quite a bit about Cholinergic Urticaria. I was actually surprised, I have heard that most doctors have no clue what it is. Anyway, this time I left with a diagnosis for dry skin (which Im almost sure its not…) and some antihistamines. That actually happened a few days ago. I am left with no choice but to fight. I made my decision to become a dermatologist and find out what this is, and find a cure to it so all of the people on this forum that are suffering can be cured. To be honest, this is the only thing that keeps me alive. My childhood dream of enlisting in the Army is now completely crushed. My dad is a veteran of the USMC, and his dad is a WWII veteran. My dad is very disappointed. My grandfather would be too If it wasnt for my desire to find a cure, I wouldve done horrible things to myself (I dont want to say it, use your imagination…hint: something ending).
Even then, I still have desires to do it. I have read how a lot of people live 30 years with this condition, I simply will not accept that defeat; I would have brought the condition down with me, if you get my drift. The one way trip out. Of course, I probably wouldnt, but desperate times require desperate actions… I now treat my condition like my worst enemy. It will die. I will have my revenge. My sole purpose in life is to have revenge on this condition. It has affected too many people.
No longer. It may have claimed my dream of 10 years, but it will not win. I hate to admit it, but I tear up whenever I remember all the good times Ive had before this fight began. I feel extremely jealous of people who can sweat normally. Theyre so carefree and happy…it really angers me when I hear them complaining about their “problems”. I keep asking myself, why me? Why couldnt a terrorist get this? I was ABOUT to fight for this country (I was literally a few months away from enlistment…you can imagine how disappointed and angry I was). Sorry to whoever had to read my rant. I wish everybody was cured of this disgusting disease.
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Title: Re: My unfortunate relationship with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: HivesGuy on January 08, 2011, 06:48:41 AM
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Hey Ken8lk, Excellent post and welcome to the forum. I seen that your post has already been read 27 times…congrats. Anytime you post something here, you can rest assured that people are going to read it. Typically, a post will have a lot more reads than replies. And I do read every single post made here as well. So you are always posting to people interested in what you have to say here, even if only a few reply. Your story is very interesting, and I am sorry about all of the frustration you have endured with it. I used to mostly get red as well, but now I do get noticeable hives when I have an attack. About your comment of never being happy again, I have thought the same thing.
But to be honest, I am happy many days, and I am very happy with my life at this moment. A lot of people on here make the effort to not let Cholinergic Urticaria rob them of a happy mindset, and they are very successful with that. Also, the odds of you having this your entire life are relatively small. Most people on here who have had it for many years have usually kept it under great control, and have lived high quality lives. For example, Bbroom has had it for years and years, and it recently went away for her. And all those years she was able to manage it to where all that would happen is red dots, and almost no stinging/itching at all. She had a family, and all sorts of things. So don’t give up and don’t let this crush your life dreams or happiness. You may just have to come up with new ways to accomplish them. Also, this forum has many many people who have experienced remissions for years and years, and some who are presently “cured” or under remission.
So try to have a positive attitude about that, even though it can be very hard at times (admittedly). I can also relate to the feeling that many friend and family don’t care. I think it is really really hard for people to understand what we go through. To most people, they have onyl felt a mild itch. They have no idea about the stinging/painful itch sensation we feel. So they don’t have any way to understand our pain. But at least here you do have people who know your pain. Perhaps if your parents read some posts on this forum/site, they can uderstand how this can be very hard to cope with at times. How are the antihistamines helping? Many people are able to use some sort of regimen or combination to keep the hives under control. If your current regimen doesn’t work, you may want to keep on trying things with your doctor.
They won’t cure you, but they can make a difference for sure when used in the right combination. Also, about the military, perhaps you could still attain that dream. I have found studies online of people in the military with this, who were treated and able to resume duty. There may also be military positions where you could do something less “physical” as well. If not, then you could certainly be a doctor/dermatologist. Perhaps you will be the one who makes a breakthrough on this condition. You never know, and if you try hard enough, I am sure you will make a difference. Also, there have been times when I felt like my life would be better if I were dead.
But I tell you the truth, I keep hanging on, and slowly things get better. Ending it is letting Cholinergic Urticaria win. Instead, be determined to keep trying medicines, keep fighting, and things may begin to improve dramatically for you. Ending it is never the right solution. You always have so many options of medications, chaning your lifestyle, etc. Hang in there, keep that fighting attitude and try hard to have a positive outlook with this. Thanks again for the post, and welcome to the club =).
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Title: Re: My unfortunate relationship with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: ken8lk on January 08, 2011, 02:56:45 PM
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Thank you for your kind words 🙂 I do take antihistamines (its been a week now) and from what I can tell, they actually make it worse. Its actually a lot more painful. I stopped going to the gym for a few weeks cause ive been slacking off, I think thats why. I was going to the gym to attempt to control my symptoms. Can you give me the link to how people in the military were able to control it? I may find some use for the article…
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Title: Re: My unfortunate relationship with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: HivesGuy on January 08, 2011, 03:01:27 PM
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Your welcome :). The thing with antihistamines is that you have to find what works for you best. Some people may take Zyrtec and it works great, but it doesn’t do anything for others. Some take Allegra. It really depends on your own body on how effective a certain type will be. You may even have to take a combination of H1 and H2, or H1 and something like Montelukast or something similar until it is reduced. But you should hang in there and don’t give up okay.
The summary is below: ABSTRACT A 22-year-old African American U.S. sailor presented with an intermittent pruritic eruption precipitated by mild activity for the last 2 years. She developed an extremely pruritic papular rash that would quickly coalesce into larger wheals following any exercise, light activity such as vacuuming, or taking hot showers. This condition had been getting progressively worse, preventing her from successfully completing her physical readiness test and other required physical training for the last 2 years. Previous treatment with antihistamines and steroids had failed to control her symptoms. She was diagnosed with cholinergic urticaria, successfully controlled with a combination of cetirizine, montelukast, and propanolol. She has since been returned to full military duty and is able to exercise regularly.
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Title: New victim here =/ Post by: AdamM on January 18, 2011, 12:57:02 AM
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Hello I just came across this site this morning and read some of your blog posts and immediately noticed the eerily similarity between your case and mine and figured I would join the community. Here is my story though. Things were going well for me I was running and lifting every other day I had just passed my medical inspection for the air force and received my ship date for March 29th of this year. I was 18 and seemingly had my life planned out until one night I went to the gym and noticed this crippling painful itch whenever I ran or lifted. I just worked through it because even though it hurt it seemed to go away after a few minutes of running. I figured it would just go away but little did I know it wouldn’t instead the outbreaks got worse and more painful to the point that I had to quit going to the gym or doing any physical activity for that matter.
I noticed that my mom had changed laundry detergent to a cheaper brand so I figured alright I know what the problem is and proceeded to change the detergent to a dye and perfume free version. I went to the gym again only to be reminded that it had not helped at all. Shampoo and body wash were the next to come under scrutiny and sadly that wasn’t the problem either. Starting to get depressed I finally told my mom and she suggested it might be dry skin and bought some Eucerin which also failed to work. I finally took to the net and found someone on Yahoo Answers who had the same exact issue I then saw a reply mentioning this long term “Cholinergic Urticaria”. Off to Wikipedia I went and just as I thought the article described my exact issue unfortunately it also didn’t fail to assure me that I have a long road of suffering ahead of me. At this point it was shortly after Christmas before I was able to make a doctors appointment for January 3rd and get an official diagnosis and a script for Claritin which up to this day hasn’t worked and has resulted in my doctor bouncing me over to an allergist which I get to meet next week.
Unfortunately this whole thing is throwing a wrench at my air force plans and my personal relations with my family. Due to the coincidental occurrence right before my enlistment and the fact that my father never wanted me to enlist in the military my parents are fighting and my mom is taking this out on me as if its a plot to make my dad happy. So that’s my story.
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Title: Re: New victim here =/ Post by: HivesGuy on January 18, 2011, 06:09:06 AM
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Hello Adam, Thanks for the excellent post and welcome to the forum. Yes, I can definitely notice a lot of similiarities in your story and mine (as well as many others here). I can definitely relate to what you have gone through, and what you are still going through. My mother simply doesn’t understand either. She constantly asks me to do physical stuff around her house (which I can’t do without an attack), and she keeps it like 80 degrees in her house, which causes almost instant attacks.
It is frustrating, and needless to say, I can’t visit too often. That Eucerin definitely won’t cure Cholinergic Urticaria, but I do use it on a daily basis in the winter to help with dry skin. It is so thick and it seems it does help cool my skin for a while. It will be interesting to hear how your allergy appointment goes. Please let us know how it turns out. If the Claritin isn’t working, ask them about possibly trying Allegra or something a bit stronger. Claritin does NOTHING for me either, and a lot of people on here do not get relief from it. People generally like Zyrtec or Allegra the best, but even those sometimes don’t provide enough relief as we would like. Thanks again for the great post, and welcome!
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Title: Re: New victim here =/ Post by: AdamM on January 18, 2011, 01:17:11 PM
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Thank you i’m glad I stumbled across this site. I guess the hardest part about this is just watching others be able to run, goto the gym, play wii, etc. While having to slow myself down to simply do my job without breaking out. One question I had is how have vitamins worked out for people? I saw a different blog with someone posting about how they did this huge vitamin and omega-3 routine and it seemed to help him after a while. I wasn’t sure on it though because it did take a few weeks apparently and it seemed like it could of just went away on its own with him just experiencing a placebo like effect. Figured i’d ask before trying $50 in vitamins.
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Title: Re: New victim here =/ Post by: HivesGuy on January 18, 2011, 02:07:34 PM
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Yes, it is always difficult to discern between the placebo and something actually working. Throughout the years, many times I have thought something was working, when in fact it was the placebo effect. Right now, the vitamins I am taking are not helping my hives to go away at all. I am still going to try them for a few more weeks though to be sure, and I will update with a post in a couple of weeks. Also, I know it kinda stinks to watch others sweating, running, working, eating spicy foods, etc. I can’t do any of it, but I have learned to cope. Things could be worse, and at least I stand a chance of this going away or getting better over time.
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Title: Re: New victim here =/ Post by: AdamM on January 19, 2011, 03:19:46 PM
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Ah alright. Something i’ve noticed that seems to help keep them down is if keep moving around or gradually build my body temperature up through jumping running around the house it seems to keep the reactions at bay or atleast makes them less likely to come out. Of course theres the problem of not looking like an idiot if you’re constantly surrounded by people at home. I imagine this is the same as exercise therapy though.
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Title: Re: My unfortunate relationship with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: robbie on January 20, 2011, 06:29:59 PM
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Hi, i have nothing smart to tell you except that you are not alone. I was telling my wife last night that this is now the bain of my existence. I exercise for a living in a small community gym that I own…I also get reactions to a/c as well so Im always hiving up…I completely feel your pain and frustration. I pray for all of us that there is a cure.
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Title: Re: New victim here =/ Post by: Rogerq23 on February 02, 2011, 01:24:54 AM
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Welcome to the forum, you story was a nice post. It really sucks that Cholinergic Urticaria messed up your plan for the air force. I still get sad because we all can relate so much to every story and how it has changed our lives. Well, I dont mind having placebo if it does take the pain and the hive away. Hehehe, it will make life easier. It is sucky too that you cant tell anyone about this problem even to vent yourself. Like if I tell someone they think I am crazy or I have a contagious illness and they get away.
The only one that comprehends me its my brother. Not even my mom or dad, they just keep saying wash your bed sheets. I did tell my mom that sometimes even walking is kinda painful when i have break out. She said then you wont be able to do anything? hahaha kinda true… this is so sad.
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Title: Re: New victim here =/ Post by: ken8lk on February 07, 2011, 12:30:25 AM
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I can relate to your story. I was about a year before my Army enlistment, but that is when I was attacked.
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Title: Re: New victim here =/ Post by: Abhishek S on February 07, 2011, 08:38:10 PM
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Hi Guys, I was just browsing again today for Cholinergic Urticaria(Cholinergic Urticaria) and came across this forum. It seems as if most of you guys around here are just beginning to experience the onset of the attacks. I have been suffering from Cholinergic Urticaria for the past two and a half years now. So I will share my story and the different ways i tried to control the attacks and how finally I found out a way that works for me. I still remember the 1st time i had an attack. I was in Maryland, sometime around mid december when the weather is the coldest. I took a hot shower in the morning and was setting my hair, suddenly I felt a thousand needles forcing themselves out of my face and scalp.
The sheer pain and itching brought me down to the floor. My head was shivering and my capacity to think was absolutely zero at that point. It lasted for about 3-4 minutes and was gone. When I recovered, I looked into the mirror wondering what just happened. The sheer episode was so terrifying that I knew this was something serious. The next day it happened again when I was having a cup of hot tea. The severity was more and the pain was twice as it was the last time. I didn’t know whether to scratch the skin out of my face or to fall to the ground. Then over the next days this continued and every time a different external stimulus triggered the attack. I will list a few here. 1) Hot shower 2) Hot and spicy food 3) Hot beverages 4) Transition from a cold to a hot room 5) Exercising 6) Sometimes even opening the oven door which would send a gust of hot air towards me would trigger the attack 7) Wearing warm winter wear when I am just about to step out. I started browsing and found out that it was called Cholinergic Urticaria and unfortunately there was no cure.It could only be controlled by antihistamines and other techniques. However, I am not a big fan of being on medication all the time because I always fear what effect they would have over the long run. So I started putting up with the attacks. When I realized that a sudden temperature rise causes it, I found out a way of lessing the severity by running cold water over my head whenever I could feel the attack coming. You guys must have experienced that it is almost always that we can sense it coming.
One thing I also realized is the it has a point of origin. In my case it is my scalp. It starts from there then the forehead joins in and the full face later followed by the hands and upper body. One more way of controlling the attack just at its onset is to immediately go into a meditative state and start taking deep breaths and just concentrate on your breathing. But cooling the point of origin or breathing just before the full blown attack is a temporary solution. It will occur repeatedly if you body is not used to the attack and you don’t develop a way of letting your body know how to tackle it. Fortunately for me, my body learnt that lesson on its own. So lets get to what worked for me – I am a workout freak and exercise regularly. When that attacks started I couldn’t do that because just within a few minutes the hives would show themselves.
However I was so determined to not quit my gymming that no matter how severe the attack was I would keep running on the treadmill. Initially for a few days it was terrible, many times it was so severe that it would force me to get down and sit on the floor with my hands over my head. However, in that process I realized that my body’s tolerance to pain was increasing. I continued my schedule and never missed a day of workout. Slowly the attacks were becoming less severe and finally after two months there were none. Now, no matter how hot the shower was or how spicy the food it would not induce a full blown attack except for a slight tingling sensation in my scalp. I can live with that I said. However a year later when I got busy with work and had no time to go to the gym the attacks started again. So I again got back to my routine exercising and was successful as the first time in totally suppressing the attacks in about a month. So guys, the point I want to make here is, induce the attacks yourself.
Workout worked for me. Maybe it will for a lot of you. However keep in mind that in some extreme cases the attack may lead to asphyxiation, so make sure that you go to a doctor, tell him everything about your situation and ask him what you would have to do in case you are asphyxiated. I say it again guys, i took the risk and it worked for me. But I do not take any responsibility if a similar trick doesn’t do you any good or causes you any harm. . The human body is a masterpiece and it will learn to fight what hurts it if you guide it in the right direction. Cholinergic Urticaria should’nt stop you from achieving your goals or getting into the air force. It can just slow you down a bit but can never stop you. I just hope that everyone in this forum benefits from my post. Abhishek.
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Title: Re: New victim here =/ Post by: HivesGuy on February 10, 2011, 09:19:44 AM
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Hey Abisheck, Just wanted to thank you for that awesome post, and welcome to the forum. That was very interesting reading your story and how you were able to overcome your symptoms. I am sorry the hives came back, but I hope your regimen helps you again. I am definitely going to try to start working out HARD this summer again. I used to love working out and pumping iron, but I haven’t done it consistently for almost a year or so now.
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Title: Push through the pain Post by: larrys on March 07, 2011, 04:31:56 AM
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I am a 24 year old male, prior infantryman 5 years & 2 combat tours. Its been about 9 months since I got out of the army and about 6 since I started to get heat hives. I am utterly sick of this ailment. It is probably the wrong mentality to have but I believe if my body wants to cause itself pain then it deserves more in hand.
I remember when it began I did not know what it was. One day I was taking a shower and feeling the prickly pain caused by the hot water that I got so aggravated that I turned the heat up more only to be in more pain and stand there and take it. I am a messed up individual like that, I can deal with the pain but when it becomes visible hives that becomes something I cant will away. So I am taking the same approach that I did that day in the shower. No more sugars, no more bread, no more smoking, and most of all INTENSE cardio everyday. I will not stop because of pain, I will refuse. My first bout of exercise this way was interesting to say the least. I started by putting on heavy clothing and jogging in place in a “shower sauna” (turn shower on full heat and close the door) for about 15 min.
Then I jogged in place around the house mixing up height and pattern of the jog, while punching in the air, for about 30 min. The pain spiked randomly throughout the exercise and at the end I was sweating but felt no pain.
Nor did I strip the clothing off, in fact I feel like crap because of all the cardio but I have been sitting here in the clothing for about 45 min, I can feel my body is hot but I have no prickly sensation. So far so good, just wanted to this post out and will see how the rest of my day goes. (My intent for posting here is to share my experience as someone who was once in extremely good shape and is sick of this ailment. I will try to be organized better for future posts detailing food intake, pain spikes, and exercise details. But most of all, I am not a doctor, if you mess yourself up trying to follow anything that I do, that is your own fault. And hopefully I dont go into anaphylactic shock)
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Title: Re: Push through the pain Post by: Duper on March 07, 2011, 05:58:27 AM
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Good post, I’m glad you’re working through it. Just make sure you are properly hydrated or else it could get very dangerous…
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Title: Re: Push through the pain Post by: silvertones on March 07, 2011, 06:21:54 AM
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Read my story to get a perspective of were I’m at. My guess is that : 1. You just came back from a very hot area to a cold area. 2. You are not comfortable being out of the Military & your life is in turmoil. My opinion is that this is a psychosomatic illness with very real intense physical symptoms. BTW Thanks for your service to our Country!
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Title: Re: Push through the pain Post by: larrys on March 08, 2011, 06:47:28 AM
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End Day One By the end of day one I realized that this may be my cure, too early to tell, and if it is psychosomatic perhaps it can be my placebo. After working out and cooling off I took a nice hot shower and felt the slightest prickly pain on my forehead but it only lasted for 15 seconds.
The rest of the day was met with no sensation of prickles. Granted I did not go outside and my place is relatively cool, but I would check by performing activities that would normal get me wanting to scratch and strip naked (Jumping around, lifting weights) throughout the day. My diet for day one was poor as I did not plan this in advance, and still need to produce a thought out meal plan. Day Two Exercise routine was the same, it took awhile for the prickly sensation to appear this time in the shower sauna, compared to day one’s. Just like day one im still in my sweaty clothing, body heat is up, and still not feeling any sensation of prickles. I took a scoop of NOXPLODE prior to doing today’s aerobic activity, and had a bottle of water on hand during. The idea behind the NOXPLODE is that it will help get my body vascularized. My theory is better blood flow = better delivery of oxygen and nutrients to body. In the past when I took NOXPLODE it was for weight lifting. I can see/feel the difference between lifting with and without nitrous oxide products.
On top of the NOX I will be taking GNC mega men multivitamin mid day. I actually started taking this about a week prior to all of this because I thought the heat hives may be from a vitamin D deficiency. As for my workout plans… Normally when I lift weights I do not do alot of aerobic activity, once a day for 2-3 days would be cardiovascular training. But for this setup I think I will do intense cardio everyday for 2-3 weeks in the morning, weightlifting mid day, and start taking in extra protein (around 200grams for my body weight 180lbs). After 2-3 weeks depending on how often the heat hives return I will cut down the cardio and make a determination on that. Quote from: Duper on March 07, 2011, 05:58:27 AM
Just make sure you are properly hydrated or else it could get very dangerous… Definitely, I am going to invest in a camel back so I can always have mass quantities of water with me, especially useful if I decide to do a road march. Quote from: silvertones on March 07, 2011, 06:21:54 AM
1. You just came back from a very hot area to a cold area. 2. You are not comfortable being out of the Military & your life is in turmoil. My opinion is that this is a psychosomatic illness with very real intense physical symptoms. BTW Thanks for your service to our Country! 1. When I left Afghan it was Aug, cooling down from the summer but, very similiar to the weather to what I came back to, the mountains of Colorado. Went to PA, Pittsburgh when I got out and I have always had trouble with the air here. Its very dirty. 2. Yes I show signs of PTSD and alot of anxiety in crowded places. I refused to go into busy establishments but it never prevented me from taking care of buisness.
If I needed to go to the mall to get a new phone I could. But now the anxiety from heat hives causes me stress doing the most simplistic task. But I think that for most suffering from this it would be the same. Who likes to be seen with bumps all over them? 3. Are you stating that this is psychosomatic for everyone suffering from it?
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Title: Re: Push through the pain Post by: ken8lk on March 08, 2011, 09:10:53 PM
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Fighting pain with pain…I like it. I tried something similar to this today, it worked pretty well. And I have a question for you, my friend. I want to join the Army, but I have this condition (I have no visible hives or any visible condition, so technically MEPS cant do anything about it :P). Did this start before or after the Army? Do you reckon I will be able to pass Basic and AIT with this? I want to go in either as 19D Cavalry Scout or an M1 Abrams operator… My worst fear is that during ceremonies and stuff where I have to stand completely still, I will be attacked. Can you tell me how you dealt with this (if this happened before your service?)
EDIT: I was dumb, I read this as “6 years since I had hives”, not “6 months”. Do you believe that you could’ve served successfully with your disease? Are you still able to stand completely still in ceremonies? You are the only person I heard of who was involved with the armed forces and had Cholinergic Urticaria, so Im desperate for answers. PS, (although this is off topic) thank you for your service.
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Title: Re: Push through the pain Post by: silvertones on March 09, 2011, 06:17:04 AM
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Yes I do believe it is psychosomatic. Just my opinion of course. Work on cutting the symptoms but don’t ignore trying to fix the cause.
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Title: Re: Push through the pain Post by: hieveryone on March 09, 2011, 08:10:36 AM
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@silverstones This seems very interesting to me. I’ve gained some relief from ‘optimistics’ therapies, but you never know if there is a placebo or they are really working. The best results I have gotten are physical (exercise, water, antihistamines, …), but I’ve always found annoying my shyness and I usually wonder if it has something related. Not too much time ago I stopped listening to sad music (I’ve always loved very very much pop/rock music, specially the 60’s) and I feel a lot more stressed, sometimes with no reasons (I think it may be connected with expresing our feelings), but of course they are only ideas and they’ll be probably wrong.
Have you made any progress ‘fixing the cause’?, I read that an antidepresant worked for you but it recently stopped, I tried one a year ago and it did nothing, and now that the hot is approaching maybe I will try something similiar, like going to a psyc (this is my last option becouse I don’t know how my family would take that) becouse, honestly, as everyone knows here, it is hard to match working hard and having Cholinergic Urticaria (in my case university), and for me it’s harder now in spring and worse in summer. Do you have any other method for decreasing the posibly psichomatic effect?, bye 🙂
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Title: Re: Push through the pain Post by: larrys on March 09, 2011, 08:21:19 AM
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End Day Two Short sensation when bringing in the groceries. A lot of factors were against me on that one, heavy coat, heavy bags, going down steps, and a pretty women. Late in the day I had a dentist appointment to get a procedure done and not once did I getting any feeling of prickles. The pain involved with the procedure was slight but I happy was happy it went well during the visit, so I decided to go down to GNC and get my protein. I had a bad attack in GNC a few weeks ago when getting my men’s multi vitamin and this time I began to feel prickles on my back, lower/mid. It was towards the end of the checkout process so I was just eager to get out, I cant remember for sure whether it was bothering me while I was walking to my car but I do not remember it being so. Diet was poor as I just got the food I needed.
Even if the exercise is not the cure for my Cholinergic Urticaria daily/life, atleast I am getting some good exercise and can feel great because of it. Day Three Woke up and did not feel like doing anything. Sucked it up, put on my clothing, drank the NO, and went for a fun 10 min jog in the shower sauna of doom. Slight and short lived prickles on the face a minute in, but my scalp was itching like a beast. I always had an itchy scalp when exercising only cure for that was to to buzz my head, so I can deal with the itchy scalp. Afterwards I ran for 5 min before I got a headache, from the dental procedure I had the day before, so I stopped. I am still sore from lifting a few days ago, hopefully I can get off my behind and lift today. Wish I had a workout buddy like I used to have, its good to have someone around to keep you revved up when you are feeling lazy. Going to begin my meal plan today, I will post my meal plan later when I fine tune it. Quote from: ken8lk on March 08, 2011, 09:10:53 PM
And I have a question for you, my friend. I want to join the Army, but I have this condition (I have no visible hives or any visible condition, so technically MEPS cant do anything about it :P). Did this start before or after the Army? Do you reckon I will be able to pass Basic and AIT with this? I want to go in either as 19D Cavalry Scout or an M1 Abrams operator… My worst fear is that during ceremonies and stuff where I have to stand completely still, I will be attacked. Can you tell me how you dealt with this (if this happened before your service?) Ahh, ceremonies… It is a blast watching people fall out because they locked their knees.
I could not imagine having an attack during a ceremony. The slightest itch, drip of sweat, or cramp would make me crazy. Basic/AIT you wont have a choice of where you are supposed to stand but once you get assigned to a unit you should be able to weasel your way to the middle or back of the formation so you can scratch/move about ever so slightly. That wont help much for a big attack though. I could see alot of anxiety coming about from this, being forced to stay relatively still and being in sheer pain. Eventually I would of snapped if I had this problem. But if you make it through basic/ait, get assigned to your unit, go to sick call. Get a profile to not stand in formation/be exposed to the sun for X period of time, get to see a specialist.
I wish this happened to me while I was still serving so I could of done that. Being in the field with the condition is a different story. In the winter time I think you would be good. In the summer time, sweating, uniform/body armor/helmet, and god help you if you get prickly heat ontop of heat hives. I spent 2 weeks out in FT Irwin CA, a desert for all intensive purposes, with one uniform. There was no shower when we were in the box and not enough water to take a shower. Baby wipes was the preferred method of cleaning one self, and they suck. My uniform was like cardboard with white salt stains all over it. The prickly heat that developed was far worse then heat hives as it was a consistent irritation. Atleast heat hives come and go. If you do make it through basic/AIT there is a chance cavs/tankers are better off as far as selection of where you want to be assigned to afterwards. I know infantry was pretty much randomization. But anyways I would suggest asking for whatever seasonal temperatures you would be better off in. If I had to pick I would go FT Carson CO, FT Lewis WA, anywhere in ALASKA (clean air, cool temps). Would have I of been able to do it all over with Cholinergic Urticaria? Really depends if exercise if my cure. If you have any other questions or I missed something ask away. I know I was kind of all over the place with that.
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Title: Re: Push through the pain Post by: ken8lk on March 09, 2011, 03:22:03 PM
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Thank you for answering with detail 🙂 I really appreciate it. How long would I have to stand still in Basic/AIT? I can probably pull it off, since my pain tolerance has gotten better. I found that holding my breath is very useful, since I can ignore it even better. I find that having an attack in hot temperatures is much better than having an attack in the cold. I dont know why. Mine lasts for about 3.5-5 minutes at the most when Im running, and its not as bad as staying out in the sun.
I function a lot better in hotter temperatures for some reason. The more clothes I have on, the better. If I go to Ft Benning in Georgia in the summer, how bad do you reckon my itching will be in Basic/AIT/ceremonies? Thanks again for responding, I feel better now that my dream of 10 years can happen even with cholinergic urticaria.
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Title: Re: Push through the pain Post by: silvertones on March 10, 2011, 06:54:41 AM
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Quote from: hieveryone on March 09, 2011, 08:10:36 AM
@silverstones This seems very interesting to me. I’ve gained some relief from ‘optimistics’ therapies, but you never know if there is a placebo or they are really working. The best results I have gotten are physical (exercise, water, antihistamines, …), but I’ve always found annoying my shyness and I usually wonder if it has something related. Not too much time ago I stopped listening to sad music (I’ve always loved very very much pop/rock music, specially the 60’s) and I feel a lot more stressed, sometimes with no reasons (I think it may be connected with expresing our feelings), but of course they are only ideas and they’ll be probably wrong.
Have you made any progress ‘fixing the cause’?, I read that an antidepresant worked for you but it recently stopped, I tried one a year ago and it did nothing, and now that the hot is approaching maybe I will try something similiar, like going to a psyc (this is my last option becouse I don’t know how my family would take that) becouse, honestly, as everyone knows here, it is hard to match working hard and having Cholinergic Urticaria (in my case university), and for me it’s harder now in spring and worse in summer. Do you have any other method for decreasing the posibly psichomatic effect?, bye 🙂 It did stop or so I thought. When I went off things got real bad again so I went back on. Things were better. I posted before that I’m a musician. I do a solo band thing. I hadn’t had much luck getting any playing gigs. New area I live in.
Finally something broke and I got a chance to play. I was scared to death I would get an attack on stage. You know what? Nothing. I now am playing 3 nights a week and never have an attack. I feel better and have cut the meds in half.I rarely have any sensations at all. I’ve tried not taking meds before bed and I’ll usually wake in the middle of the night all agitated & this will set off an attack. This has also helped me get in touch with my wife’s terminal health issue. Not easy. As mentioned in my first post this is my 3 round of this in 30 years. Each time a high stress series of events preceded. As a side note though heavy sweating cured the symptoms for the summer. This is a very complex issue isn’t it?
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Title: Re: Push through the pain Post by: larrys on March 10, 2011, 02:19:12 PM
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End Day Three Normal, had slight feeling of heat hives coming on when I was cooking over high heat. I am not going to do a day to day description of what I am doing in my experiment as that is taking too much time and I am highly unorganized. If anyone wants to know what my meal plan/workout schedule is just ask. I went to see the doc today and was given generic claritn (Loratadine) and Doxepin which supposably will help with anxiety and also acts as an antihistamine. Quote from: ken8lk on March 09, 2011, 03:22:03 PM
Thank you for answering with detail 🙂 I really appreciate it. How long would I have to stand still in Basic/AIT? I can probably pull it off, since my pain tolerance has gotten better. I found that holding my breath is very useful, since I can ignore it even better. I find that having an attack in hot temperatures is much better than having an attack in the cold. I dont know why. Mine lasts for about 3.5-5 minutes at the most when Im running, and its not as bad as staying out in the sun. I function a lot better in hotter temperatures for some reason. The more clothes I have on, the better. If I go to Ft Benning in Georgia in the summer, how bad do you reckon my itching will be in Basic/AIT/ceremonies?
Thanks again for responding, I feel better now that my dream of 10 years can happen even with cholinergic urticaria. It has been so long and I was not keeping track of time, but the longest time would be around 1 hour. Some soldiers were being stupid during formation and the punishment was to stand there at attention for a long time. Even the graduation ceremony went by quick, a quick speech by the post commander, sing the army song, and you are dismissed. How would you react to having an attack while standing at attention and have a drill instructor yelling at you? (BTW, I never had one yell at me. If you do as your told and do not make a name for yourself they wont even know you exist). Georgia is humid even when I went in SEP I could break a sweat just standing still. If you are better off when sweating then Georgia is the place to go.
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Title: Re: Push through the pain Post by: ken8lk on March 10, 2011, 04:36:15 PM
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I see. Hopefully, I will be able to pass the fitness tests. Is Georgia humid all year?
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Title: Re: My unfortunate relationship with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: NimNims on March 11, 2011, 02:17:30 PM
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Hey there ken, I know exactly how you feel, your story is so similar to mine, I too wanted to join the Military, as I really looked up upon a relative who was in WWII, and he was called Ken too! ;P He was in the Artillery regiment, I can’t really remember what specific one, but all I know is that a German tank shell hit his artillery piece and his whole team died except for him miraculously, and he had shrapnel in him(very, very small shrapnel), even till the day he died…
He was a really great man, he was rarely angry. I wanted to join the British Royal Air Force as a pilot or Intelligence Analyst, but I felt this condition which I had, would get in the way… and they would turn me down. Instead, I looked at what I was strong at, which is Science, especially Biology, I just naturally get it and I find it fascinating, I would use this to find a cure for this at some point in my life if there has not been a cure found. Cholinergic Urticaria is one of the most painful, and irritating feelings ever, and I would do anything to cure it. I was just like you, it put me down, I really didn’t feel as active as I did anymore, and I really hated it when people thought they had problems, I would happily replace my problems with theirs, I hate going every day when I have to feel it.
I was recently diagnosed with Cholinergic Urticaria, and knowing that what it was – than not knowing what it was – I feel so much more comfortable. The real fear, was not knowing what it was, and I started to get real emotional when it kept happening. But, keep your inspiration in you ken, if you want to find a cure, please keep that inspiration, you could find it, and put a lot of people out of pain haha. Reading your post wanted me to join the forums.
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Title: Re: Push through the pain Post by: larrys on March 11, 2011, 03:55:28 PM
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Quote from: ken8lk on March 10, 2011, 04:36:15 PM
I see. Hopefully, I will be able to pass the fitness tests. Is Georgia humid all year? I would say yes
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Title: Re: Push through the pain Post by: ken8lk on March 13, 2011, 02:40:24 PM
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Excellent, it looks like my Cholinergic Urticaria won’t be much of a problem then. Again, thanks for the information 🙂 PS, what you’re doing is called sweat therapy. It works for most people if it’s continued over a long period of time. I’m doing it too.
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Title: Re: My unfortunate relationship with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: LuckyHives on March 13, 2011, 06:52:59 PM
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Kudos to you I got this crap condition when I 17 and also was planning to enlist in the military. seven years later I still dont know what to do with my life. Its hard because your career choices are somewhat limited. My only advice is dont give up no one wants to be a coward. Sorry for the grammer texting on my smartphone.
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Title: Re: My unfortunate relationship with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: ken8lk on March 13, 2011, 10:13:46 PM
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Dang, 7 years…I probably wouldnt last that long. And my plans for enlisting are still open. I’m just going to ignore it to the best of my ability. Nimnims, my grandfather was in Artillery too 😛 how coincidental. That is true, I feel somewhat better now that I know what I’m dealing with. The first few days were terrible. Btw, they have no reason to turn you down, since they can’t test for it…you can tell them that everything is fine. That’s what I’m planning on doing ;P
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Title: Re: My unfortunate relationship with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: LuckyHives on March 14, 2011, 07:35:41 AM
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That’s great. I could tell you personally when I came down with cholinergic urticaria I became very isolated, I didn’t want to break out in public or around my friends. I wasted a whole lot of time sitting around doing nothing, it wasn’t until two years ago I started going to school. I think you should pursue your goals and be proactive. Don’t waste time feeling sorry for yourself, like I did. Support our troops.
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Title: Re: Push through the pain Post by: nico1021 on March 29, 2011, 01:57:22 PM
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Quote from: ken8lk on March 13, 2011, 02:40:24 PM
Excellent, it looks like my Cholinergic Urticaria won’t be much of a problem then. Again, thanks for the information 🙂 PS, what you’re doing is called sweat therapy. It works for most people if it’s continued over a long period of time. I’m doing it too.
I’m doing the same thing too. And as for your preworkout drink theory, I take Jack3d before my workouts and it has an ingredient known as beta alanine which causes tingling in the skin all over your body.I find this is helpful to get your mind off the extreme pain from the urticaria, and it seems to help me sweat faster as well. It’s such a pain in the butt.
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Title: Serving in Military/Army/Navy with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: Slick1020 on May 06, 2011, 06:44:59 AM
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Everyone can call me “T.” I am a pilot in the US Air Force and I have Heat Urticaria. I think the condition started around the age of 16 years old. I went to see a doctor and a dermatologist as a military brat but nobody could diagnose my ailment or effectively treat my condition. My condition worsened when my father received orders for Hawaii. In Hawaii, homes on the Army base did not have air conditioning.
My parents thought I had some issues or sugar ants were biting me in my room due to my complaints about itching, burning, and skin crawling sensations. I am now 31 years old old and I still have to battle with the condition. I have spent 5 months in Iraq and 6 months in Afghanistan. What really helps repel the outbreaks for me consist of working out 6 days a week. Some people may need to workout 5 times a week instead of 6. But if you keep up the consistency of your workouts during the summer and winter months your outbreaks will almost disappear. During the winter months move your workout indoors to a gym if you like to run outside all the time. Moving from an area of cold to extremely hot will not cause you to have an outbreak if you make the body sweat 5-6 times a week.
Also, drink at least 6-8 glasses a water a day. Water helps to regulate body temperature. I’m not a big consumer of water and I think I run faster when I’m not super hydrated. I had to go see the flight doctor because after returning from Afghanistan my condition flared up. I didn’t have the opportunity to work out in Afghanistan as much as I did in Iraq. So I had to pop claritin at least once a day. But after returning from my deployment I had to ask the flight doc for something stronger of which he prescribed taking 2 allegra pills a day. I told the flight doc I shouldn’t have to hit the gym 6 days a week in order to live a normal life. Once I know my body can take the heat I will jump back into my gym regiment. When I was about 17 I had alopecia areata. Basically, your hair falls out in spots.
At the same time I had heat urticaria (unknowingly) and the dermatologist had to give me steroid shots in the spots where my hair fell out. Those steroid injections helped subside my heat urticaria. I cannot remember for how long the injections helped before the heat urticaria returned. I do not know if dermatologists have looked into the use of steroid injections to help treat the condition, kind of like a monthly allergy shot. Ask your dermatologist about using possible steroid injections. The injections I received did not have any side effects except for making my hair grow back.
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Title: Re: My Story & Best Treatment Post by: Slick1020 on May 06, 2011, 02:29:52 PM
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I do not know what dosage Allegra comes in over the counter but the flight doc prescribed 180mg pills. I know everyone calls viagra the little blue pill but Allegra is the big blue pill. My pills came in the color of blue.
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Title: Re: My Story & Best Treatment Post by: LuckyHives on May 06, 2011, 04:32:34 PM
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I follow the same workout routine but I work out 7 days a week running the treadmill. Seems to be the best remedy got skinnier too..lol…crazy how you joined the air force and succeeded with this conditon..almost inspirational.
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Title: Re: My Story & Best Treatment Post by: nowash on May 06, 2011, 06:12:38 PM
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They use steroids for severe or refractory cases. They don’t use them willy-nilly because of the side effects, which include opportunistic infections among other things. Welcome to the forums, btw.
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Title: Re: My Story & Best Treatment Post by: Slick1020 on May 06, 2011, 11:51:33 PM
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Thanks for the welcome to the forum! I departed Hawaii for basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas with the condition. For some reason going to Texas in February and having a Training Instructor yell in your face takes care of the anxiety surrounded around possibly having a breakout. Anyway, I did not have a problem until I left tech school in Texas for Maryland. The condition flared up again but drinking 6-8 glasses of water a day, utilizing lotion 2 times a day, and walking everyday to work fixed my problem.
Even when I was in Korea I can only remember having a problem maybe once but I had to walk to work everyday and I guess it helped. Left Korea direct for college in Texas and since I had to run all the time in AFROTC I didn’t have a problem until my friend invited me to Germany for Christmas.
In Germany my condition came out in full force during the winter months. I think sitting around my friends house and not working out caused the reaction. Right now I am trying to slowly increase the temperature in my room to mimic the temperature outside. When I leave my room my body will not have to endure a huge temperature fluctuation upon hitting the hot Texas air. I’m currently living in billeting (on base hotel) because I’m about to move to a base in California shortly.
I typically keep the temperature between 70-72 Fahrenheit in my room. I have experienced the same problems as everyone else in the forum. When I become extremely sensitive to the condition I can breakout due to loud noises, heat, or my cell phone just simply ringing. Approaching the checkout counter in the store I have wanted to scratch myself silly but I can fight it off without anyone noticing. Nobody can see the raised bumps on my skin because I’m African American. I have had 2 sexual encounters in my life cause an outbreak years ago.
This forum has made me realize I am not alone and maybe a cure will come someday. Best thing I can do when I start feeling the itching, burning, and prickly sensation consist of taking some death breaths. I’m hoping we can all stick together because you can fight through our condition. Or should I say “sweat through it.” Working out at least 30 minutes a day (my workouts are 2 hours weights/running) will help if your condition can subside enough to get in the gym. Or take walks early in the morning or late at night. Walk 1-3 miles and you will notice a difference but I think you need to start running at some point or hitting the gym and riding the exercise bike. Do something that will make you sweat your butt off and hydrate.
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Title: Re: Push through the pain Post by: larrys on May 13, 2011, 03:17:01 PM
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I have been meaning to do an update but it keeps slipping my mind. So I went to my doctor some time ago and had some blood work done. I was low on potassium (not alot but enough to warrant taking potassium pills for a few weeks). During that time in which I took the potassium my Cholinergic Urticaria subsided. It has been several weeks since I have been off of the potassium and I have yet to have an outbreak. I still need to get some follow up blood work done but as of right now I am happy everyday that the Cholinergic Urticaria does not return. I am still working out with lots of cardio, weight training, and drinking mostly water.
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Title: Military member with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: That-guy on March 15, 2012, 07:19:17 PM
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Hello my names todd i just turned 22 (go figures right?) and was just diagnosed by a homeopathic Physician. I DID NOT go through a military physician for fear of being discharged if they learn of it. Has anyone tried homeopathic remedies such as natrum muriaticum and seen results? This disease is incredibly frustrating and it only adds to the stress knowing i could get kicked out for having it. Is anyone else dealing with this in the military or have any info on whether or not ill be discharged from service for having it. I have so many questions and it seems noone has any answers… Any posts would be greatly appreciated.
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Title: Re: Military member with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: HivesGuy on March 16, 2012, 04:39:06 AM
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Hey Todd, Great post and welcome to the forum. As far as homeopathic remedies, most people here seem to have noticed little to no benefit for anything homeopathic. There are a few people on this forum who either have plans to join the military, or have joined it. You may want to use the search feature to find these specific posts. I don’t believe they would discharge you unless your Cholinergic Urticaria became such an issue that you couldn’t even function. There have been studies online which mention people in the military being able to resume duty after being placed on antishitamines or other treatments. I’d spend some time on this forum to get some tips from others, and see if any of those ideas might may your hives more manageable. Best wishes to you, and thanks for your service.
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Title: Re: Military member with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: nkarafo on March 23, 2012, 04:32:37 AM
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Hello Todd, Sorry to hear that as well. I am new to forum and this is my first post. I maybe write my story later on. I live in Greece and I have UC for about 16 years. I’m 32 years old. Nowadays I think is getting worse but I’m trying to fight back. In Greece, army is obligatory and I have served for 18 months as a soldier. I don’t mind with that but from what I remember (it was 1999-2001), I didn’t have many hives back then. And maybe is the fact, like many others have written, that if you are working out regularly, you don’t have so much problem! We had a hard training everyday (I was in armored tanks (open from above)) and it was normal for me.
I was taking pills every day (I think it was Zyrtek) and now I’m taking xozal and it was ok. So, if you will train yourself in regular basis, then I think you don’t have to worry so much. I’m also considering in buying a machine to have in in my house to work out because I don’t want to go to gym every day. Maybe I will find a “cure” as well. Good luck!! P.S. I left from army with the best condition as we have it here “I1”, which is capable for anything.
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Title: Why?????????!!!!!!!! Post by: whyhives on April 13, 2012, 10:37:37 PM
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Hi there! , Well im new to this forum, just found it today (after having a breakout which made me do research 😛 ) and been reading some post and decided to tell MY STORY! 😀 I started having hives around 2 years+ ago after a PE class and notice this red bumps which looked like mosquito bites 😮 . It didn’t bother me much then but after time passed and i thought i had heat rash as the hives only appeared mainly after exercising. (Used Calamine Lotion which helped the itch a little) Heat being the TRIGGER is a BIG PROBLEM as i really enjoy exercising/ working out. I had to give up doing Taekwondo because of this.
I’ve been to a doctor and allergist which gave me Xergic (fexofenadine hydrochloride) + Ranitidine HCL which did helped prevent some of the hives from appearing but wasn’t good enough so the allergist gave me Colchicine which had to be taken with the other 2 medications and it definitely helps with keeping the hives in. (However i still see some bumps appear after getting really heated up and the colchicine seems to cause some weird stomach digestion) :-[
I really hope that there can be a cure for this outrageous nonsense which appeared in my life for no reason and is ruining it …. >:( Can’t even enjoy a holiday in a hot climate (Singapore, Universal Studio) where i had to keep hiding my forearms to prevent people from looking at me. :'( Any Advice for change in diet? – No allergy found based on blood tests , and health is good. The allergist said that i have Cholinergic Urticaria because of my immune system o.o WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT IT!!!????? >:( >:( >:( Cheers for reading . (17 year old male , desperate for a cure as I’m going to have to join the military soon o.o ~~~~~ )
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Title: Re: Why?????????!!!!!!!! Post by: Rogerq23 on April 14, 2012, 08:13:25 PM
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We all know how you feel. It’s sad how we have to change our lifestyle due to this. I also feel for you that you must go to the military having this condition, I hope it goes away. It seems like you have tried medication as many people in here. I take Zyrtec every single day, but I try to minimize the consumption of this, obviously because it is bad to take a medication over and over. But it just feel awkward PLUS painful when you have a breakout in front of people and more when the place is crowded. I am actually from a Tropical country as well, but thanks God, I havent had Cholinergic Urticaria back in my home country.
But every time I come to the US, which is the place I am living right now, I have it. I lived in California before, which is drier than the current state that I am right now which is New York. I noticed that I have it worst and with more frequency back in California. Casually I am going to Singapore… about a month from now and let me check if I get it there… I hope I don’t, because I know its very hot in there… since it is still cold in here… I hope the change wont be a nightmare.
Something I noticed too is whenever I go back to my home country I will have the first week some break out because its hot there. But after a week, I dont get it anymore. When im back to the US, I dont have it the first week, then it comes after the first week. I guess its something about the environment. Maybe the species of pollen and trees that I am exposed here that we dont have back in my country. I will come back to this post after I have been in Singapore or maybe when im there… 😉 Keep in touch.
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Title: Re: Why?????????!!!!!!!! Post by: whyhives on April 15, 2012, 04:06:39 PM
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Quote from: Rogerq23 on April 14, 2012, 08:13:25 PM
We all know how you feel. It’s sad how we have to change our lifestyle due to this. I also feel for you that you must go to the military having this condition, I hope it goes away. It seems like you have tried medication as many people in here. I take Zyrtec every single day, but I try to minimize the consumption of this, obviously because it is bad to take a medication over and over. But it just feel awkward PLUS painful when you have a breakout in front of people and more when the place is crowded. I am actually from a Tropical country as well, but thanks God, I havent had Cholinergic Urticaria back in my home country. But every time I come to the US, which is the place I am living right now, I have it. I lived in California before, which is drier than the current state that I am right now which is New York. I noticed that I have it worst and with more frequency back in California. Casually I am going to Singapore… about a month from now and let me check if I get it there…
I hope I don’t, because I know its very hot in there… since it is still cold in here… I hope the change wont be a nightmare. Something I noticed too is whenever I go back to my home country I will have the first week some break out because its hot there. But after a week, I dont get it anymore. When im back to the US, I dont have it the first week, then it comes after the first week. I guess its something about the environment. Maybe the species of pollen and trees that I am exposed here that we dont have back in my country. I will come back to this post after I have been in Singapore or maybe when im there… 😉
Keep in touch. Hey Rogerq23 , thanks for the reply . I will also be going to Singapore (for military) at the end of the year and i’m hoping that the medication would help me suffer less when i’m in there. I’m currently living in NZ and it’s autumn at the moment therefore I won’t get any problems from the climate. However i still work out on a daily basis which still makes me break out… :- Keen to hear what happens when you head to Singapore . 😉 Question : How bad is your breakout and does it appear when it just gets really hot from the climate or when you exercise?
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Title: Re: Why?????????!!!!!!!! Post by: Rogerq23 on April 15, 2012, 08:32:59 PM
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Quote from: whyhives on April 15, 2012, 04:06:39 PM
Hey Rogerq23 , thanks for the reply . I will also be going to Singapore (for military) at the end of the year and i’m hoping that the medication would help me suffer less when i’m in there. I’m currently living in NZ and it’s autumn at the moment therefore I won’t get any problems from the climate. However i still work out on a daily basis which still makes me break out… :- Keen to hear what happens when you head to Singapore . 😉
Question : How bad is your breakout and does it appear when it just gets really hot from the climate or when you exercise? To answer your question. “How bad is your breakout and does it appear when it just gets really hot from the climate or when you exercise?” It was worst in CA, sometimes I get get all covered by hives (chest, arms, thighs and behind my knees), I can get it by exercising, walking, get nervous/shamed and sometimes when i get scared. But usually I get it for getting in a heated building in winters. I guess the more worried you get about breaking out in hives you get it worst.
Just try to diverge your mind and think something else. I know its difficult. Here in NY, I get it less intense. But the winters are worst. Temperature can drop to -8C during winter and when I get into the buildings its hell. I get the hives. Either exercising or cuz of the temperature I can get the hives. BTW, you commented that you are in NZ, so do you get that back home in SG? or it just happen in NZ?
I’m so curious about that, because if you don’t get it back home, then you are similar to me. Cuz, I dont get it back in my home country either… I will definitely come back and tell you how it goes when I am there, I hope I dont get it. I dont wanna spoil the opportunity to be there with this. Just come back to the forum around June… or just message me your email, so i can update you.
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Title: Re: Why?????????!!!!!!!! Post by: whyhives on April 15, 2012, 11:24:35 PM
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To answer your question. “How bad is your breakout and does it appear when it just gets really hot from the climate or when you exercise?” It was worst in CA, sometimes I get get all covered by hives (chest, arms, thighs and behind my knees), I can get it by exercising, walking, get nervous/shamed and sometimes when i get scared. But usually I get it for getting in a heated building in winters. I guess the more worried you get about breaking out in hives you get it worst. Just try to diverge your mind and think something else. I know its difficult. Here in NY, I get it less intense.
But the winters are worst. Temperature can drop to -8C during winter and when I get into the buildings its hell. I get the hives. Either exercising or cuz of the temperature I can get the hives. BTW, you commented that you are in NZ, so do you get that back home in SG? or it just happen in NZ? I’m so curious about that, because if you don’t get it back home, then you are similar to me. Cuz, I dont get it back in my home country either…
I will definitely come back and tell you how it goes when I am there, I hope I dont get it. I dont wanna spoil the opportunity to be there with this. Just come back to the forum around June… or just message me your email, so i can update you. [/quote] @Rogerq23 The emotional factors doesn’t really affect me to get breakouts (it might idk lol) , which means that your probably suffering more than me o.o I get break outs in both NZ and SG . It’s worse in SG due to the hotter climate which doesn’t really require me to exercise for me to get a break out as the heat from the sun is strong enough for it to occur. Basically as long as my skin is heated i get break outs. Hope that you will be alright in SG. 😉 I’l be on the forum to check for your updates.
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Title: Re: Military member with Cholinergic Urticaria Post by: nauqaz on April 27, 2012, 10:05:19 AM
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hey todd,please try vitamin C,E,D,b complex,take 2 tablets of polybion z and cecon 500 mg each daily and other vitamins too,i got rid of my uritcaria in 2 weeks even though i had the worst case of urticaria for more than 4 years.anti histamines never worked for me but these vitamins did