skin turns reddish spots due to stress cycling

Hi, My wife's skin got reddishrash kind of spots on her skin when she stress much on the cycle. the skin get heated up and the reddish colored. after some times it becomes normal. it appears in the hands an the neg. WE consulted doctor and we checked for allergy in blood. the report says no allergy in blood. we r waiting for a specialist appointment. before that i just want to have a discussion in thsi forum. Have any idea what is this due to. and one more thing she is not sweating much when she overstrained cycling. she feels sometimes itching on the spots. I have a photo taken on the skin when the problem arrises. If any specaialist can help i can send the photo as well.

thanks in advance!

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
From the symptoms it sounds like exercise induced urticaria. Most symptoms can be controlled by taking antihistaminics like benadryl or Claritin or zyrtec.Ask your wife to slow down or stop your exercise as soon as symptoms start.She should always exercise with a partner who knows about your condition.

In some people, eating certain foods before exercise may make allergic symptoms more likely to occur. Keep track of what she eats before exercising for a few weeks. If she notices a pattern to your symptoms that seems related to a certain food, stop eating it for a while and see if the hives stop.Also,she should not exercise for 4 to 6 hours after she eats.

She should stop exercising as soon as she notices the hives. If the hives don't go away in 5 to 10 minutes, or if she has other symptoms, call her doctor right away. It can be Exercise-induced anaphylaxis.

Also wear medical alert jewelry or ID tags describing the condition and sensitive substances and always carry a self-injectable epinephrine kit (Epi pen).

I hope it helps. Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing or in case you have any additional doubts. Kind regards.