HeatHives.com-All About Hives

Hello Everyone!

I seen something on television today that made me wonder if it would in any way change cholinergic urticaria. First, let me say that I would not personally do this, and it may not work or have any effect at all. I just thought it was interesting & I would share it.

Before I get into it, let me just say something about cholinergic urticaria (heat hives). Most of us have an outbreak when we are about to sweat, right? At least that is when I get all itchy–it is when I get hot, nervous, etc.  So it is the process of sweating, or getting ready to sweat, that causes the hives/tingling/itching sensation.

Well I was watching something on TV about a person that had hyperhidrosos. Hyperhidrosis is where the body sweats excessively (way too much). Some people have sweaty palms, some people have really sweaty arm pits, etc.

Well one person with sweaty palms had a surgery, in which doctors make a cut in the body, and cut the nerve. It is called a sympathectomy. By cutting the nerve that is involved in the stimulation of sweat, the person no longer is supposed to have the excessive sweating problem. They said that they no longer have sweaty palms.

So this got me thinking, Could it Cure Cholinergic Urticaria Hives?

I wonder what would happen if someone with cholinergic urticaria got this procedure done? Would it prevent the stimulation that causes our reaction? Or would it not change anything? Hmm…

First, I would like to add that even if it did help, I personally don’t think I would do it. That means for the rest of your life, you will have issues with sweating. Personally, I like to sweat, and wish I could do it more.

Also, there may be side effects associated with this surgery. Some people that have had the procedure done, had other strange type of sweating (for example, started to sweat on the back of their legs, etc.). Some people experience hair loss. And there is always a risk with surgery (plus it ain’t cheap).

But it sounds interesting. Another question is “Is there something that they can do, to crank up that nerve to produce more sweat? Maybe if they could overstimulate that nerve, we would sweat more and bypass the whole reaction thing? I wonder if that nerve has any involvement in cholinergic urticaria, or other parts of our nervous system? For example: how about if we had a small cyst pressing up against this nerve or something? Or the nerve was somehow being restricted or pinched (kind of like a water hose).

Just some things to think about…

Here are a couple of links about the nerve & surgery I was talking about in case you want to read more:

http://www.excessive-sweating.net/ets_side_effects.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endoscopic_thoracic_sympathectomy

Hello Everyone!

I think it is so weird how I get these strange “bumps” on various parts of my body after consuming milk. As you know I recently tried a diet to see if it helped my cholinergic urticaria. While all of the “itchy bumps” went away on my body during the diet, the cholinergic urticaria didn’t go away completely. It did get a little better, but not a 100% cure.

So as I have said before, I definitely have a milk issue. It makes my hives more intense, and what really just confuses me, is these little red bumps I get.

I get them on different parts of my body. I often get them on my finger or hands. Sometimes I get them on my face or arms. And yesterday I noticed a few bumps on my elbow that are itchy. It is so weird.

I am just glad that at least I know that it is for sure the milk that causes it. Since going off the diet I have been having all sorts of junk. I had krispy kreme donuts, a blizzard from Dairy Queen, pizza, and a few other snacks that contain milk or milk products. Now it is starting to make its mark on my body in the form of the little itchies.

The good news is that so far my hives haven’t been super intense. They are still there–I can feel them just beneath my skin, waiting for my body to get too hot so they can blast out & torture me. But I have actually not been breaking out that bad at all the past week or so. It has been nice.

I predict even fewer breakouts over the course of the next couple of months. Fall time…the time when it isn’t nearly as hot outside, and yet people have not yet started blasting heaters inside. So overall it is easier to keep cool. It is probably the best time in terms of seasons for hives relief (for me anyways). Of course, summer is great too if you can keep the sweat coming. But if not, then you are in trouble. Winter is probably worst because I walk outside, and my body gets used to the cold. But then, I go indoors where it is 75-90 degrees with a heater–and my body just can’t keep up with the temperature change.

Hopefully everyone’s hives back off soon!

The past couple of days I have been doing a lot of errands. It has been very hot & muggy. I tried to purposely keep the windows up to make the temperature get really hot in my car. The results, a little itching the first day, followed by SWEAT…YES!!

It feels so great to sweat! I never realized how much I took it for granted until I got cholinergic urticaria (heat hives). So every time I am lucky enough to sweat, I always take advantage of it.

I had a great sweat yesterday. Today, I also went out and didn’t itch at all. Instead, I went directly into sweating with no itching or prickling. I love it!!

If only it would be like this all the time. But this makes me think, perhaps if I could get way more sun/outdoors exposure, and sweat like crazy on a frequent basis–maybe this thing will go away for good??

I always makes me feel more positive after a good sweat, because it gives me hope that one day this is all going to be behind us.

The old saying is sometimes true: Use it or lose it!!

Just think about it. If you don’t use your memory, you will lost it. If you don’t use your body, it will become out of shape and you will “lose it.” Maybe it is the same with sweat glands. Maybe we didn’t use them enough, and they stopped working? Maybe air conditioners are to blame as well. It seems like humans have air conditioners everywhere. At home, work, car, etc.

So maybe we just need to get more good old fashion sweat, on a CONSISTENT and REGULAR basis. Sure, I have days when I sweat or go outside–but certainly not consistently or regularly. Plus, when this first started, I had a period of little activity and stayed mostly indoors.

Diet Update:

Well I have now been off the diet for several days. I am actually still avoiding milk “mostly.” I allowed myself to have a blizzard from Dairy Queen. It was great, but it still upset my stomach a little despite taking some lactose pills. So oh well. I guess I will just have to really control my milk intake, and allow it here & there in my diet.

So I have just been eating regular stuff again (with wheat, etc.). I am no longer trying any intense diets at the moment, but I am more “healthy food” conscious, so I am going to try to find a better balance of healthy food vs. junk foods.

Hello everyone!

Well the diet is now officially over….YIPEE–junk food here I come. I wanted to make a post to let everyone know my full experience & thoughts on the results. As most of you already know, I did the diet to see if it would help not only the rashes, but mostly my cholinergic urticaria (heat hives).  I also had some other issues occasionally with my stomach/digestion. So here is a summary of the positives in the experience:

Stomach- My stomach actually felt much better on the diet. I do not feel near as bloated. I only had a couple of stomach upsets (from the gluten free pizza). But other than that it did help my digestion. It seems I can digest foods a little easier. I have less gas, and my stomach feels flatter.

Rashes- As you know, I had a small rash on my finger when I started. It completely went away on the diet. I also had a small rash on my face after eating the gluten free pizza. That also went away. I don’t have any type of rash or eczema on my body at the moment. So this was definitely a plus-and I think diet is defintely related to my skin problems that I occasionally get.

Cholinergic Urticaria- Although the diet didn’t cure the cholinergic urticaria, it does seem like it did help. For example, I was not as reactive, and had less breakouts. When I did have a reaction, it wasn’t quite as intense as it was previously before starting the diet. I now think diet isn’t a major factor causing cholinergic urticaria. However, I may use diet in the future to help manage both the rashes & CU.

Conclusion- The diet was a great experience so I could see whether or not the CU was related to my diet. I would have to believe that diet is not the only cause of CU (at least in my situation). The diet was definitely beneficial. It helped my rashes clear up, and my stomach felt great.

However, it is certainly not easy being on the diet, and the whole time I questioned whether or not it was even worth it. I craved foods so badly, that I though to myself, “Okay, I can handle the itching–just give me back my good foods.” So even if this extreme diet did cure the CU, I doubt I could stay on it for a long period of time.

Even though the diet didn’t CURE the cholinergic urticaria, it did seem to somewhat help it. Also, it helped clear up my rashes, which confirms that I do have some food intolerances & issues that I have to manage. For example, I can’t consume too much milk, and when I do consume dairy, I will have to take a lactose intolerance enzyme to help me digest it.

Future Diet Plans: First & foremost, I am going to enjoy some foods for a while. I am not going to restrict anything in my diet. I am going to consume gluten, wheat, and even milk. However, I am going to limit the amount of milk especially, because I can still get rashes & bad stomach upsets if I do not control my diet better than I have in the past.

As far as the future, I will know that if I start to get a rash, or if my CU intensifies, that I may be able to eliminate the rashes & calm down the CU by going on a short diet of just veggies and meat. As I said, I will eat a lactose pill anytime I do decide to consume milk/dairy.

As long as my long term diet, I plan to try to eat more healthier than I have in the past. This means reducing the amount of junk food I have eaten. For example, I may allow myself a lot of junk food for a couple of days, but then eat very healthy for a few days (with no junk food).  I also may go through periods of trying to avoid dairy & other allergens just for my health (no rashes).

I am still skeptical about the whole candida issue. It may be a possibility. I may try this diet later on, but at this point I am going to relax for a little while & enjoy foods. I may try this diet in the future.

I also plan on doing several more things to try to improve CU. I really hope to get a house within the next year, so I can move out of my extremely cramped 1 bedroom apartment, and actually live again. If/when I get a house, it will open up so many possibilities for me.

I feel I will actually be able to cure (or at least significantly help) my CU, because I will be able to do the following things:

• I will be able to grow my own produce in a garden (which means I will be eating way healthier)
• I will get probably quadruple the sun exposure (I get way to little sun exposure at the moment)
• I will get to sweat way more (which does seem to help CU a lot)
• I will be able to try water filtration (such as a water softener, chlorine filtration, etc. to see if it helps with the CU)
• And many other types of changes & experiments!!

So I can’t wait for those things. I still remain positive that one day we can all overcome this. One day, this will hopefully be a thing of the past. We can go outside again, and run & workout, etc. and not feel the tingle & pain of CU. We can walk into a building and not have to think “Gee I hope I don’t have a breakout.”  No more worrying about it. We can all live a relatively normal life again. Keep in mind, most people have this go away completely after a few years.  It sucks right now, but lets all hang in there!