Cholinergic Urticaria

There are numerous threads on this forum about people who have cured their cu and the rather large thread on cu. For those of us who are still suffering, this would be helpful. So i'm going to rummage through the forum and quote solutions that have worked for people as well as provide a faq and basic information for those with cholinergic urticaria/heat hives/ stress-induced hives. For those who don't have this conditon, but are clicking this thread to learn about it. Cu is characterized by red welts appearing on skin, along with an intense itching in affected areas.


From what I have gathered...


Basics:
a)chinese medicine/acupuncture seems to help, but not cure cu.

B)homeopathy doesn't seem to work, although there are advocates for it.

C)antihistamines keep the cu at bay, not a definite cure for cu.

D)exercise/steam room/hot showers and baths will deplete the body of it's histamine levels and keep the body from having attacks for +/- 24 hours, varying from person to person.

E)staying away from histamine releasing foods will greatly reduce attacks. Common ones:
* alcohol
* bananas
* certain nuts
* chocolate
* eggs
* fish
* milk
* papayas
* pineapple
* shellfish
* strawberries
* tomatoes
f) for most people, an atomsphere with high humidity will reduce attacks and make sweating easier.

G)some have found taking a multi-vitamin, vitamin e/b pills can make this condition less sevre.
H) not every antihistamine works for everyone, some people will have better results with one as opposed to another.

I) hydroxyzine (very commonly prescribed antihistamine for cu causes drowsiness and a very hard time concentrating, most people who have taken this antihistamine have switched/ gone off it because the side effects are too unbearable.)
j) cu seems to be stress related (in terms of developing the condition, it usually develops during a time of great emotional stress.)

faq:
1) how did I get this condition?

No one is sure about how or why people get cu. It seems to be affected by stress as many people who get c.U are usually going through an unusually stressful time when they develop it. Personally for me, my family was having financial problems, I was switching schools, schoolwork, etc.


2) what triggers a cu attack?

Histamines in your body, when released, triggers a cu attack. Heat is the stimulis, the actual precipitating cause is sweating (inability to sweat). Red welts begin to appear on areas including but not limited to arms, neck, chest, arms, back and sometimes legs. After sweating is induced, the itching should go away.


3) is there a cure for cu?

There is no sure cure for cu, it seems different things work for different people depending on the sevrity of the attacks and other factors. Cu is a relatively rare disease that effects a small % of the population which is part of the reason why there isn't a definite cure.


4) is cu contagious?

No, cu is not contagious.


5) will cu ever go away?

The average duration for cu is 7 years, cu will spontaneously go away eventually for most people.


6) is there a demographic of people who are more likely to get cu?

I, unfortunately, cannot answer this question. Part of the reason being that cu is such a rare disease. However, I have traveled halfway around the world (i'm in the us) and met someone with cu.


Now for solutions I have found from these forums, from various people.

cdz said his cu is 95% better and hasn't had a serious attack in a long time, he suffered cu for 2 years+.


sean has been doing much better (90%) and continues to take 5mg xzyal and vit. B supplement everyday.








follow up post by jimmi56


many posts have been deleted by mods. I'm not exactly too sure why, but we lost some valuable and informative posts. There is a very bad spellcheck that seems to uncapitalize a lot of things on this forum, meh.


Feel free to correct me if I have gotten any information wrong and if possible, mods, please sticky this thread so that people who are suffering from cu can do something about their lives. Thanks to all of those who have given me hope with their posts about how they have found their cure and hopefully, i'll find mine.

I have had cu for about 7 months now and I have tried basically everything. No anti-histamines work at all for me...I have tried benadryl, claritin as well as other treatments I read about online. For a while, I was on doxepin which slightly reduces the problem, but it leaves you very tired all day. I also tried acupuncture which surprisingly worked for about 2 weeks and then it came back even worse. I am currently using a combination of two medicines and it has worked extremely well. I recomend this to everyone suffering from cholinergic urticaria. I take one tagamet (cimetidine) 400mg pill every morning and one at night. I combine night-time tagamet pill with one .5mg cogentin (benztropine) pill. Cogentin is used for parkinsons (i think) but it is an anti-cholinergic. I honestly have not had a single hive for 4 months. I don't guaruntee that it will work for everyone, but it sure works for me. Good luck!

Fantastic post duper!
Also if anybody needs any advise off me please feel free to pm/email me.

Awesome post man.


I wouldn't wish this pain on anyone, so it's good to see that you're helping people out who want to get rid of that awful pain by giving them some options to start off with, or if not cures to end with.


In the process you're helping them to further explain why it is that this happens to them. Most people when they get it, don't know why... It's the most annoying pain in the world, and it's good to see that you along with everyone else is helping to alleviate the mystery as to why it happens.


I hope you're doing fine and I wish you and everyone else the best in their battle against cu.

Nice thread. However, try to quote some medical sources as well.. I don't want people with cu to read this and take everything as if written by a doctor. Especially the parts about stress

as far as I know, cu triggers by body heat, and stress triggers body heat. I don't think stress is a factor.. Stress just creates body heat which creates the hives.

My dermatologists said that it's believed to be start with an infection sometime in ages 15-20 (which is the most common age for the start of cu). Stress reduces the immune system.. Which makes infections come easier. So like I said. I don't think it's actually related to stress anymore than it's related to eating hot food..

And. Link to wikipedia on homeopathy. Most people don't know what it is and should know exactly what it is before they start praising it. Drinking water hasn't cured anyone as far as I know..

Ps.


Im new to this great forum for ppl with cu.

Short info on me:

live in malmö, sweden (europe for those who don't know). I'm 21 and have had cu since I was 17. I keep it at bay by running on tread mill 1-2 times a week. Avoiding histamin-rich food also helps.

Edit: I have never ever noticed any raised histamin levels from drinking a lot of beer. I go out 3-4 times a week and drink beer, but have never noticed any different in my hives from it.. So I don't think alcohol in general have any high amounts on histamin, but im not sure. Dried strawberrys do have very bad effects though

Ok..Insats...I have cu too...What do you say..To try healing both the same time :p i'm 19 and I have cu for 5 months now..I'll try acupuncure in about 1-2 weeks..Ang I hope geting better..I suggest to try it too..
If it doesnt work..Il buy ketotifen..In could be a cure..

Very interesting article. I guess we were right all this time.

Http://www.Livescience.Com/humanbiology/ 061207_stressed_skin.Html