Cholinergic Urticaria (heat Hives)

I stress, but I'm not so sure if C.U. has a strong correlation to stress anymore. I developed CU in 1/06 when I was going through a very stressful time, so I naturally associated it with it; but I don't know anymore. I remembered that I got teeth fillings in 12/05, but they weren't ceramic fillings. I think it's silver amalgam, which contains mercury... I think I'm going to get these filling taken out ASAP...

Does anyone else happen to have these type of fillings? This documentary made me think about this...

htt p://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2288 515475015225824

Hey everyone, I've just discovered this forum and am very excited to hear all of your stories. I've had chronic hives, on and off, for going on ten years. In that time I've tried a bunch of different remedies, conventional and alternative. I've found that, for me, regulating my diet has made the most difference overall. I currently eat a fairly strict macrobitioc diet (though I still have a weakness for caffeine), which has been very helpful for my condition, as well as improving my general quality of life. I also exercise regularly, and a third thing I fell I should bring up is I am former heavy drinker and drug addict, now nine months sober.
Put very broadly, I would say that in my life, the more I exchanged my former unhealthy habits for healthier ones, the more relief I have experienced for my chronic condition. My symptons these days are a lot less frequent and less intense. I would be interested in hearing from anyone else with similiar experiences. Thanks, and best of luck to all of you. That sucks, but it's great to see people getting together like this to help each other. Glad to be here.

i'm sorry to be anal, but I just read my first post that i put up a second ago and have to stress I did not type the word "caca", i wrote in the S-word but apparently the website automatically changed it.
I feel violated.

Do this stuff everyday or every other day or else the CU will come back.

1. Smoke marijuana, the good kind.
2. Masturbate alot. (Relieves alot of stress)
3. Take a hot shower/bath and rub baking soda all over your body and leave it on for 5 minutes. Make sure you're body is wet.
4. Go outside.
5. Workout alot.
6. Drink alot of water.
7. Try not to scratch when you itch.

All the above are more effective in the Summer (maybe Spring too) since you're able to sweat easier.

I don't check this thread as much as I used to but if you have any questions, my AIM is nalaneyugn.

By the way, you should try doing 1, 2, and 3 at the same time.

Get a towel and cover the bottom of the bathroom door, so no smoke will get out and turn the water on real hot, the steam will open up your pores so when you smoke, your skin will breathe it in too. Hop into the shower/tub and just stand/lay there for about 3 minutes, then get out and start smoking. When you smoke, try to keep the smoke in your lungs for as long as possible. After all that just put on the baking soda and jack off.

Hey everyone, just a quick update. I'm going to get my amalgam fillings taken out soon (within the next month). Yesterday, I purchased Vitamin E tablets, Vitamin B12, and a Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc supplement. I stopped antihistamines about a week ago and I'm having an attack right now. I've taken the pills and I definitely notice an improvement (sweating from my face, underarms, and the itching is tolerable considering it's winter). Just took a long hot shower and I'm covered in hives, but there the itch is barely noticeable (although my face and body are red). I doubt this is a placebo effect, but I'll let you guys know if things continue to improve.

Hey Luckee I am also a drug addict/ acoholic 2 years sober!!
I have this ailment as well, and its hard to balance sometimes. i am 26 and sometimes stress overwhelms me. I have a great job, life, girlfriend, family. But its still hard sometimes. I love being sober, and only have a life b/c of it. I think that its important on any of these forums to personal. I know that CU hiners quality of life. I take homeopathic meds now, work out a lot, contain my stress best I can, eat decent, rest when I can, and I have learned and accepted what I have and deal with it very well. Its a part of me and thats all. I can make myself nuts or just now that it is not going to kill me and I will be okay. I know I will be okay, and recently I have been. Thanks everyone for all the help

Hello. I have had Exercised-Induced Urticaria for almost three years now. I have a question for others who have it.

Do any of you live in climates that are warm year round? I know that the only time I don't get hives is late-July through September/October. If I don't work out in the fall/winter, by January/February the hives are out of control. Right now it's January in Ohio, where I currently live, and everytime I do anything active it feels like there is heat trapped inside of my body. Does anybody else get this feeling? I get it the most in my face. My face will get bright red and I'll feel a ton of pressure.

While I don't argue about this being related to histamines/allergies, as I am no professional and I've done no research, I do know that antihistamines do absolutely nothing for me. In fact, they usually make my chest heart, and give me really bad panic attacks when I go to sleep. I don't know if that happens to anybody else, maybe not. But the only thing that has ever helped is long term exposure to heat.

I do want to move to California in the next couple of years, maybe even southern California, and like I asked before, do any of you live in year-long warm climates? I do plan on exercising pretty regularly, but I have a feeling, at least for me personally, that if I was exposed to heat all year round I wouldn't get the hives as much.

Thanks.
Matt

PS: Do any of you get hives on your face? I just started getting them on my face for the first time since I've had urticaria.

Someguywithhives: Right now I am living in a cold climate such as yours. (I'm living in Canada) I recently went to Southern California for a week long vacation and I did notice an improvement in my CU, but they did not go away completely. I still had the tingling itching/burning sensation in the usual situations, but there was no rash. I was also miserable outside when it was 80 degrees but I can almost attribute this to being unacclimated to the warm climate as my CU pretty much goes away in the summer months.

My question to people on the forum is if anyone here is from a warm weather climate such as Southern California. I too have been contemplating moving "back" to Southern Cal, but I am wondering if it will really mean the end to my CU.

Hi, I haven't posted for a while but I still have my CU. Recently I've been chatting to a friend of mine who's a surgeon and he took an interest in it. Now 3 doctors (neurologist included) are trying to help me out and doing it on a personal level so I know they're not trying to fob me off. They're all really highly regarded. The three of them think it is an autonomous nervous system (ANS) problem. Basically the system that deals with fight or flight. I dunno does this ring true for many people but I always get an attack when I get an adrenaline rush, like if something unexpected happens. So they also reckon that because it's triggered by nervousness, strong emotions etc. that it could be something with my ANS. So I'm going for an MRI within the next month which they say is just to rule out any sinister problems which can be associated with the ANS. This is just a precaution before they begin to look at what they actually think may be the cause. The thing that made me think that these guys know what they're talking about is that they explained that CU is too general a diagnosis. They think that these symptoms can be caused by numerous different things, ie, hormone or chemical imbalances. And this made me think that maybe this is why we're not all the very same. Some of us get it when we're nervous, some sweat, some don't, some get it when they eat spicy food etc.
So anyway, I'll let ye all know how I get on and whether I get any light shone on the situation. If someone finds a cure, please don't forget about the rest of us. I know if it's gone,this site will be the last thing you think of but if you really suffer from this, make it the first thing you do if you know how to stop it. Anyway, take it easy guys. I'll keep ye posted.

Update: It's been 5 days since starting the vitamins and minerals. Sweating A LOT easier (starting sweating just sitting down getting a haircut, and taking brief walks). The attacks have somewhat increased in severity (my immune responses must be getting stronger too), but the itching is tolerable. Anyway, I recommend everyone try these supplements (cheap, cost about $15 for all that stuff). Good luck, everyone.

Hi i recently went to a dermatoligist, a School health center, a Physician, and one of the best Doctors in Washington D.C., I have had this for months and this Cholonergic Urticaria is one of the worst cases my doctor as ever seen. I have been on Hydroxyzine, Zyrtec, Cimetidine, Singulair, a ton of creams, and soo many different other pills that its rediculous. In the begining i could work out but recently i can't even sweat. In the beggining I use to work out really hard until I was sweating and i was perfectly fine. But those good days are over. I have never ever had any kind of illness until now. I have never felt a burning and itching like this ever before.

It feels as if I have gotten poison Ivy absolutely everywhere!!!...I have been reading everyones posts and am hoping to find a cure! I read that drinking is bad for it but as a College Freshman at Syracuse University I can tell you that I drink before I go out until im reasonably drunk and then im fine due to the fact that i cant feel it or anything for that matter.... A simple kid walking up to me and like hugging me or tackling me like jockingly causes a serious itch to arise. Whenever a little case of adrenaline comes, i just know wats going to follow. I can't listen to loud music anymore and due to the fact that I go to school in Syracuse, you would think it would be ok because its cold here, BUT ITS EVEN WORSE DUE TO THE HEATING SYSTEMS!!!!....All of these medicines seem to work for about two days and then my body gets used to it and i start doing stupid things like taking an extra pill cuz it just itches soooo bad...

You may find this amazing- I recently have been walking to class in a T-shirt in Syracuse NY when its 32 degrees outside and my back will still start itching!!!!!!....I don't get this and i really need to find a Voodoo, a cream, a pill or absolutely nething that helps....PLEASE HELP ME!!!! cuz right now im saying the famous words of..
WHAT THE %$*# SOMEONE HELP ME....IT ITCHES LIKE caca...WATS GOING ON!!!!

Hi i recently went to a dermatoligist, a School health center, a Physician, and one of the best Doctors in Washington D.C., I have had this for months and this Cholonergic Urticaria is one of the worst cases my doctor as ever seen. I have been on Hydroxyzine, Zyrtec, Cimetidine, Singulair, a ton of creams, and soo many different other pills that its rediculous. In the begining i could work out but recently i can't even sweat. In the beggining I use to work out really hard until I was sweating and i was perfectly fine. But those good days are over. I have never ever had any kind of illness until now. I have never felt a burning and itching like this ever before.

It feels as if I have gotten poison Ivy absolutely everywhere!!!...I have been reading everyones posts and am hoping to find a cure! I read that drinking is bad for it but as a College Freshman at Syracuse University I can tell you that I drink before I go out until im reasonably drunk and then im fine due to the fact that i cant feel it or anything for that matter.... A simple kid walking up to me and like hugging me or tackling me like jockingly causes a serious itch to arise. Whenever a little case of adrenaline comes, i just know wats going to follow. I can't listen to loud music anymore and due to the fact that I go to school in Syracuse, you would think it would be ok because its cold here, BUT ITS EVEN WORSE DUE TO THE HEATING SYSTEMS!!!!....All of these medicines seem to work for about two days and then my body gets used to it and i start doing stupid things like taking an extra pill cuz it just itches soooo bad...

You may find this amazing- I recently have been walking to class in a T-shirt in Syracuse NY when its 32 degrees outside and my back will still start itching!!!!!!....I don't get this and i really need to find a Voodoo, a cream, a pill or absolutely nething that helps....PLEASE HELP ME!!!! cuz right now im saying the famous words of..
WHAT THE %$*# SOMEONE HELP ME....IT ITCHES LIKE caca...WATS GOING ON!!!!

Ok so does not showering in the morning affect it?????....In college i tend to shower at nights cuz i dont have the time some mornings......but When i dont shower in the morning...my back gets dry and for some reason.....it is usually worst when my back is dry....is that true or is it a coincidence?????

skitomcat1,

my cu is exactly like yours. The cold makes it worse cuz my body is all uneven: going from cold to hot and hot to cold all the time. IT really has messed up my life, when I do any pyhsical activity, i mean it could be even walking a few feet sometimes, i get a horrible unbearable itching and burning. it just isnt something i can get used to. It really sucks when I sit donw for a test in school, i start itching, and I cant even concentrate, i am just being tortured and no one knows it! i hope you guys know what I mean cuz i feel alone with this god damn thing sometimes

Skitomcat,

i always shower at night and my cu is horrible, maybe there is a link

Skitomcat,

Wearing less clothing won't help, I wouldn't think. I know everyone's CU is different, but there at least seems to be a consistency in regards to acclimatization. In other words, by the winter time your body has lost it's ability to adjust to any rise in body temperature, and this could have happened for any number of reasons. You will break at no matter what you do, because your body temperature will still be going up. Personally for me, the only time it I don't get hives is at the end of the summer, and I guess if you continue to work out going into the fall, the hives might not be as bad come winter time. Or maybe if you went in a sauna a few times a week as well, that might help. I haven't done either of those things, so I can't say for sure, but it seems like it would work. I know I never sweat during the winter, but once I get used to the humidity that comes around June/July, I sweat more and more, and by August the hives are gone. They just always come back around December, because I am habitually inactive in the winter. I pretty much hibernate. I think how I go from one extreme to the other may have been what caused this to happen in the first place.

Did u say SAUNA!!!!...thats like a bad dream.... Ive been in hot tubs and my CU isnt really too bad in hot water but a dry and hot Sauna. Im not sure i could do it....I can literally sit in a hot tub for baby 2 minutes b4 my entire body starts to freak. Its nice to know someone else is going through the same thing! GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!!..So im going to go get a cold bottle of water... Keep posting suggestions everyone...Im hoping someone finds a crazy Voodoo!!

Well, you'll break out in hives no matter what. Avoiding hives wont really help. Soon as summer comes around, they will get pretty bad. But once you force your body to be exposed to heat for a while, it goes away, and there's no way to avoid heat in the summer. The idea was that you start going to the sauna after the hives go away at the end of the summer (if that ends up happening for you, like it does for many others). And then you just keep making yourself go to the gym/sauna in the fall/winter, and hopefully that keeps the hives away. You have to keep your body temperature up all year round. That's what I'm going to try doing, anyway.

that actually makes sense...Because in the begining of the summer its pretty bad but when I man up for a few weeks and workout like I usually do my body can then sweat. Lately ive been such a wuss that whenever i have the opportunity to workout I just cant do it to myself. But what do I do when I literally just cant sweat, because there are times when i start to workout that the itching is Sooo bad that i have to stop. Like ill start running and then my body will itch terribly and my body will like shiver, its itching that bad....Ne reccomendations???