I’m 44, female, 2 kids, full time job with busy life as expected for this world. I have been dealing with hives, itching, prickling, stinging sensation for the past 2 years. Many of my symptoms were described in videos on this site. I cried, because it’s so uncommon that someone else will describe exactly how this feels.
Today I read about heat hives for the first time. I’m not 100% sure this is what I have but it does have many things in common to my symptoms. Things that are different for me are:
- I can be in very hot places and have no immediate reactions. My symptoms are more “time of the day” related. I’m especially bad in the morning, they start 10-15 minutes after I leave bed. I also find difficult falling sleep because, 5 minutes after I’m in bed, the random prickling will come. I need to focus, breath and just “forget” about it so I can sleep (I can do this now, after more than 2 years dealing with the problem).
- My itching lasts for hours. It is not a 20-30 minutes reaction. I can have the sensation for 2-3 hours, it usually starts in the morning and I would feel almost nothing by midday.
- I have found a connection with sugar and carbs (natural sugar, even fruits and carbs and milk). Artificial sweeteners seem to be ok though.
- Maybe because of sugar content, I react to certain alcohol types, such as wine.
Things that I could relate to in terms of triggers and causes are:
- Summer and Winter are worst seasons. Even when I don’t specifically react to a hot environment, summer is not a good season, neither it is long exposure to sun. I might not feel an immediate reaction, but I’ll become more sensitive during this time.
- Hot baths, or showers in general. I have reduced the frequency and duration of showers to minimum. I moisturize the moment I leave the shower.
- Sweat (or exercise) does seem to help. Doing regular exercise has helped me. When I do it, the reactions reduce in frequency and duration.
- Water quality. Being in a pool for more than 10 minutes will trigger a reaction for sure. Beaches are ok.
- Clothing. Too tight, too thick, poor quality material will trigger a reaction.
- Contact with certain fabrics will trigger the reaction
After reading about this topic, I think I have a combination of hives and a variation of heat hives is one of them. I have got the book, let’s see what changes I can make to improve my quality of life (this is very disruptive).
If any one wants to comment or share something with me, please do.
Thanks,
-Irma
Josh says
Heyy.. Am Joshua. Was so surprised that this even has a name. I had already said I must meet with a doctor about this when it was obviously becoming true that it was not something normal but I just said let me check online for info and to my greates surprise I see the problem am facing. So it hives..Lol
Okay, so first of all, I think mine is triggered by many things starting with anxiety. If I laugh so much especially laughing *maximally* all of a sudden before I even get to stop laughing the hives begin and continues badly even after I stop for about 7 minutes. It so bad that, there was a day I laughed suddenly, I had to run into an empty class locked the door, removed my *long sleeves* and all top clothings (Don’t hope, I did not remove my trousers, lol) to getair reach my body.
Secondly, I realised mine also has to do with weather conditions, especially during the winter but occurs usually with me trying to keep warm. I think there body gets confused about the temperature changes; most times, it occurs when I’ve gone through a long stretch of enduring the winter cold when I get out on a winter jacket and then it gets to a point I don’t really feel the cold that much again even when it’s really cold, but I think I get to pay the price for that adaptation later on, when I still exchange between room temperature and external about seven times successively in a day, maybe the fifth or 6th when I get out again and try to endure the cold the hives begin or even when I get home or suddenly laugh in a warm room.
Thirdly, and most frequently is the one that’s not linked to weather pattern, but rather has a direct an instant action in triggering the hives, this is when I eat anything *Hot & Spicy*. They go together, if I eat something spicy that’s not hot I won’t feel anything, or if its just hot but once I take it *Hot & Spicy* the reaction immediately picks up in less than a minute, meanwhile, it stays the shortest period compared to the other stimulus because once I stop eating the item and take some water, it stops after like 4mins, but starts again once I taste the food (many times I go all these rounds when the food is really delicious, lol).
Lastly, if I play sports like soccer which is my favourite, especially during the winter, I get the hives especially if I get tired and yet not sweating or if am wearing long sleeves body hug while playing.
In conclusion, hives begins without any signs and reaches high or maximum scale in a very short time like 2 or less minutes. Clothing fatctors like wearing body hug sleeves during the winter increases its effect or trigger. A very important note is that, I think the hives reaction is *localized* based on the triggering factor, because whenever it’s caused by a hot and spicy food, only my Head (scalp, maximum hives), Face (A few reaction or none), Neck (hardly noticed any) react while my whole body remains okay, but when it’s triggered by winter plus body hug sleeves only my trunk feels the effect and regions of the wear. Also, I experience hives many times during which my blanket or singlets starts beginning out fire sparks surprisingly whenever I take them away from my body. I try to use lotion to many times to reduce this effect. Thank you.
Bob says
Irma:
Hi, please see my October 24, 2016, extremely lengthy and detailed post on this forum. I was cured of CU by adopting a whole-food, plant-based (“vegan”) diet. Modern science is beginning to understand the mechanism as to why this works. CU is an autoimmune disorder. Eating a diet high in fiber serves to regulate the immune system, preventing it from overreacting. This solution is easy, it is inexpensive, and it works. Give it a try.
Anonymous says
Call me A for short
I was wondering What foods can I eat for dinner apart from sweet potatoes when on a diet.
The only reason I find dieting hard is because I get really hungry and their is only sweet potatoes to eat. Anything else.
Also should I be eating mixed veg (Peas,Carrots, sweet corn ect).
Bob says
A:
The diet I adopted is a hybrid of the diets recommended by two doctors who base their practices around whole-food, plant-based nutrition.
These doctors are Dr. Joel Fuhrman: https://www.drfuhrman.com/ and
Dr. John McDougall: https://www.drmcdougall.com/ .
In my mind I refer to Dr. Fuhrman as “The Salad Guy” and Dr. McDougall as “The Starch Guy”.
As an example of what I eat, let me review what I ate today.
For breakfast, I had a large bowl of oatmeal topped with a cup of fresh blueberries. I made the oatmeal overnight as “overnight oats”. (I placed 3/4 cup rolled oats in a small mason jar with 1 cup of almond milk. I then stirred well and placed this in the refrigerator. In the morning I placed in a microwave container to reheat, topped with the blueberries and maybe an additional 1/4 cup of almond milk.)
For lunch I ate a huge salad (1.25 pounds) from the excellent salad bar at the cafeteria at work. This salad had a wide variety of vegetables in it, plus 1/2 cup of quinoa (from the salad bar) plus 1 cup of beans which I took to work. (I always take a cup of beans to work to place on top of my salad.)
For dinner I had 2 1/2 huge bowls of 16-bean vegetable soup which I made this past Sunday. (I made a huge batch of soup in my slow cooker and I have been eating it for dinner every day this week.) Along with this soup I had two slices of whole wheat bread.
So, as you can see, I typically have oatmeal for breakfast, a huge salad with added starch for lunch, and a starch-based dinner (potatoes, rice, corn, sweet potatoes, beans, peas, or other legumes).
I hope this example helps.
Anonymous says
Hi,
These itching started about four months ago, appearing on my butt and it was always after I got up from the bed or when I was about to go to bed… At first, I thought it was stretch marks but I started feeling the welts and after I scratched for a while it spread to my thighs. Then I blamed it on a random insect bite. After a while, I started getting the welts on my arms, elbow pits, stomach and back. I didn’t even know there was a name for it until I Googled it. I started taking loratidine for a while and it reduced but I can’t really pin point what causes it cos sometimes it’s when I feel heat and I’m sweating, other times it’s when rain falls and I’m cold. I thought it appeared as a reaction to a soap I was using cos after I stopped using it, the welts stopped appearing and there wasn’t any itching but they’re back and it’s frustrating.
I’m 18 and a female