HeatHives.com-Cholinergic Urticaria and Hives

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!

Well this may seem like a no-brainer for most of you, but I thought I would post it anyways. Your daily wardrobe can effect your cholinergic urticaria (at least a little).  If you want to minimize your hives, you may want to give attention to your clothing. In terms of clothing, there are several things you can do to help minimize your hives attacks. Here are a few tips for anyone suffering from cholinergic urticaria (or other heat related hives):

Wear loose clothing: This allows you skin to breathe, and maintain a cooler temperature since air can circulate & cool the skin more. If you wear tight clothing, it can keep your body heat closer to your skin, thus allowing it to stay warmer. As everyone knows, when we get hot, we itch. So it helps to wear loose clothing.

Wear breathable fabrics: This goes hand & hand with the first tip above. If you wear tightly woven fabrics (such as nylon, etc), it keeps your body heat inside your clothing. Instead, try to select breathable fabrics such as very thin cotton. The thinner & more breathable the fabric is, the easier it will be to keep your skin temperature cooler. It also tends to feel very comfortable to the skin.

Wear light-colored clothing- Okay, maybe you don’t always want to wear the same color. But if you are going to be outdoors a lot, then colors can definitely count. I have learned this first-hand, and even got a painful reminder today. Dark colors absorb sunlight (and heat) dramatically faster than light colors. So if you want to avoid this, simply wear light colored clothing (whites, yellows, oranges, etc.). The lighter the color, the better.

As I walked outside today with a dark green t-shirt on, I noticed the stabbing needle pain  & itch of CU before I even realized what was going on. The sun was beating down on my back, attracked to the dark colors. Needless to say, I knew better and should have stuck to one of my bright white cotton t-shirts. If I had a white shirt on, I guarantee I wouldn’t have started itching nearly as soon.

Avoid excessive detergent: Excess detergent can make your clothes stiff. This can be very uncomfortable if you have dry or itchy skin. So if this is the case, you may want to use a little less detergent, or even consider a fabric softner. Also, detergent may leave a residue which could irritate your skin.

Diet Update: Tuesday I had cereal for breakfast (dyno bytes) with rice milk. For lunch I had grilled chicken salad with banana nut bread for a side. I had chips and salsa, nuts, and other snacks for a filler. Today I had dried fruit for breakfast. I had chili for lunch, and I’ll have more chili for dinner. So far, no milk, and no CU changes yet…

Hello everyone!

Probably the biggest problem I have with this hives thing is the painful prickling sensation.  Sure it itches too (and the rash/bumps aren’t my idea of fun either), but it is those stinging little pricklies that make you have to scratch, but yet scratching provides no relief. That is the most uncomfortable part of it in my opinion. Sometimes I think if it wasn’t for the stinging it wouldn’t be that bad at all. I could completely manage it. But the stinging & itching sensation can be so strong (and even painful), that it can almost make you turn into a fit of rage. Ahhh, how I dream of those days when I could run & exercise & walk outside with no fear of hives, and sweat would drop from my nose & forehead…I miss those days!

Diet Update:

Well I have now been on the diet of NO MILK a couple of days now. I have not seen any results yet, but this is not surprising as it will take weeks instead of days before any results will likely be seen anyways. It seems as if I am not quite as reactive as I was about 4 days ago. I do still have the red bump on my inner index finger as well (which will probably also take a week or two before it goes away).

The way I see it, it is kind of like any other diet. If you went on a diet to lose weight, then you would not expect to see results the next day. Instead, it is a very slow process. So I will be looking for subtle changes over the next few weeks/months. I will be seeing how my skin feels, if the bump on my finger clears up, and if the hives become less sensitive with everything else being equal (no sweat therapy) or other changes.

If I don’t see the results, the I will cut back wheat/gluten out of my diet as well & see if that changes anything. Here is what my diet has been like so far:

Sunday Meals:  For breakfast I had a bowl of Dyno Bytes cereal (a generic form of cocoa pebbles) with some rice milk. Rice milk actually tastes pretty good, and has no real milk in it. For lunch I had some beef stew been burritos my wife cooked. Very tasty. And we had the same for dinner. As a snack I had some banana nut bread that my wife cooked from scratch. It was her first time making it, and it turned out great. I was actually surprised at how easy it was for her to make. Just some flour, bananas, walnuts, sugar, and vanilla. Here is a picture of it:

I also snacked on a few cashews, and half of a yellow bell pepper. Everything was milk-free. The cereal, the corn tortillas, even the banana nut bread. I was careful to read all ingredients on every label while buying the items at the store. My wife is also being a great sport & actually avoiding milk with me, which makes life easier on me since she is the cook.

Mondays Meals: Today, I had a dyno bytes for breakfast again, and the tortillas/burritos for lunch & dinner (left-overs from yesterday). I also snacked on a half of a yellow bell pepper, a few cashews, and had a couple of chips & salsa. Again, everything was milk free.

So I will continue on the diet & see how things work over the next few weeks. I am optimistic about the the diet. If nothing else, it will let me know for sure whether anything in my diet is causing (or at least worsening) my hives. So in due time I will have my answer! And if it turns out that a food intolerance isn’t causing the CU, then I can at least mark that off my list as a possible factor.

Hello everyone!

Well I just wanted to update everyone on my own hives situation, and also tell you about a few experiments I am going to try with my diet soon.

First of all, as many of you may know, I have already determined through a diet test that milk is no longer my friend. Apparently, I have some sort of  milk intolerance/allergy. I was completely unaware of this until recently, and used to eat lots of ice cream, etc. I only noticed this after having a lot of stomach problems, and completely removing milk from my diet a few months ago. I then reintroduced milk into my diet, and had severe stomach problems.

So, after this little experiment I decided I would try to reduce the milk in my diet, and when I felt the urge to eat it, I would simply take those lactose pills so it wouldn’t upset my stomach. Overall, the lactose pills worked well (but they are fickle & you have to make sure to take enough of them).

Anyways, I have been taking the pills, and still eating some milk products here & there. Then, over this past week, I got a lot of snack food on my grocery store visit. I got a lot of those little snicker bars (milk), some chocolate peanut butter cups (milk), ate a peanut butter milkshake (milk), and had a pizza (milk), and a couple of twix bars (milk), oh yeah, and those little peanut m&m’s (milk).

I did have some stomach upsets (just a little cramping), but that isn’t the reason I am writing this post. Instead, I think there is a strong possibility of a food intolerance with at least some CU sufferers (myself included).

After about 2-5 days of eating all of these little snacks loaded with milk/dairy ingredients, I began to develop a small red/itchy bump on the inside of my finger. I have had CU off/on for about 7 years now (almost 8), and I never had any rashes or eczema issues. But I did develop a rash on the back of my neck/arms/hands about a year ago, which I was able to eliminate by reducing my milk intake, and with the help of a topical steroid cream.

Now, by eating a lot more dairy than usual, this bump appears (it appeared before in the exact same spot when I had my rash outbreak last year). Here is a picture of it (it is kinda hard to see with the lighting in the pic).

But that isn’t the only thing that has happened. Many of us on the forum have been trying to use a “sweat” type of therapy, which involves trying to make our bodies more adapted to sweating. Well I had been trying this with great results. I worked outside a few days during the week, and was sweating fine.  Then, I had a period of a few days where I mostly stayed indoors (also the same time when I was eating all the milk products).

Well, suddenly after these few days I became super-reactive. Literally, I started getting prickly just sitting in my apartment. The thermostat read 71 degrees, and I am usually fine at that temp. I continued breaking out like this for 2 days. I walked outside & immediately got prickly. I also got prickly in my sleep.

I even had a “BAD” type of outbreak. I was just sitting in my apartment. Suddenly I felt the prickly stinging/itching sensation in a few spots. So I scratched & didn’t think about it. Then, it kept doing it. I thought…Okay why am I breaking out right now. I then start scratching myself like crazy on my head, chest, abdomen, arms, etc. I told my wife to grab our camera. Then, after intense itching, my chest became red in a lot of areas, and I developed a few of the “pinpoint” hives. Here are some pictures of this whole event: PS..I apologize in advance about the small amount of chest hair, but in my defense, I am a guy…hehe.

The pictures above are right in the middle of my outbreak. It was itching & stinging very intensely before any physical symptoms appeared (such as the red flushed skin & hives). I usually don’t have very visible symptoms, only during a very bad attack like this one. I was itching so badly I could barely hold still long enough for my wife to snap the shots.

By the way, about 10 minutes later, the hives and redness were completely gone.

I will be making another post detailing my thoughts & a new diet test I will be trying…