cholinergic urticaria/hives

[jifnif]

I have exercise induced urticaria.  I want to know if anyone else has this and if so what causes it and what can you do to control it without a prescription.  I am desperate.  I am a runner that does not want a prescription.  I suffer from asthma and the hives are worse when my asthma is worse.  I am not taking anything for asthma except for an inhaler at the moment.  I am tired of depending on drugs.  I know that may sound ignorant but I want to help myself to help itself if you know what I mean.

[TessLea]

I have the exact same problem, runner also, asthma too.  I don't like taking the meds either but the rash was so bad in the beginning that I slept most of the time on meds so as not to destroy my skin.  They don't even really know what causes this, allergic to your own sweat, food allergies, asthma...  if they don't know how can we?

As I sit here typing this, I have a breakout on my shoulder and my forearm.  After diagnosis, I searched and found some information.  Just type in 'exercise induced rash'  you'll find some stuff.

Right now I try not to eat anything an hour before my workout and I take a 10mg lortadine and hour prior to training.  It seems to help a bit but it isn't going away.  It's been happening since last February, I was preparing to run a 10K and I didn't get to thanks to the rash.  Now I am 16 pounds over my running weight because I locked myself in the house for 5 months covered in a rash every single day.

Keep in touch, I know no one in my area with this problem.

[audiophile]

I have the exact symptoms that flare up at the gym.  I am less of a runner more a weight lifter.  Red patches appear as I am lifting.  I am taking 10mg Zyrtec everyday.  Does seem to make any difference.  I also use anti itch cream / lotion from Eucerine.  Very frustrating!  Before this happened a couple of months ago, I had zero allergies to anything and I am 40 years old.

[Nic_George]

I am very sympathetic, I have suffered from Cholinergic Urticaria (exercise allergies) for twelve years since developing them at the age of 15. The rash develop during or sometimes slightly after running or working out at the gym.

The symptoms persisted for four years, vanished for a year, returned more aggressively (I would break out in a rash after any exertion, eating hot food or emotional stress)  and persisted for a year, vanished for a further five years and then returned again just recently.

Initially, most anti-histamines were not effective at treating it but in later years I found Fexofenadine hydrochloride 180 mg (Allegra/Telfast) prevents attacks.  

There is plenty of good literature available online on Cholinergic Allergies (try searching in www.scholar.google.com). Basically, the average time you will suffer is 7 years, although people can suffer on and off for 30 years. I am sorry to tell you this but apparently there is NOTHING you can do to get rid of it. It is ironic, but that was the best advice I was ever given because I stopped searching in desperation for a cure.

I suggest you learn to manage the allergy. I take Fexofenadine hydrochloride 180 every morning. Most research I have read suggests this medicine should not damage your health if taken over a long period (although I give my body rest from it for a few days at a time when I don’t plan to do any exercise.  

Don't feel lonely, it occurs in about 15 % of people at some point, and about 0.5 % of people will have on going problems, so there are plenty of us around.

[camjam]

Hi, I have this awful itch when I run or walk long distances.  My thighs mostly, but sometimes it will spread to my butt and sides.  It is the weirdest thing.  I have suffered from it for years, but no I want to run and it is limiting me.  I can do other cardio no problem, it is just the running motion that gets me for some reason.  

[jcam72]

I too have had this problem, cholinergic urticaria or mitochondrial urticaria, for over 14 years.  They told me it would only last 10 but guess they were wrong.  I take Reactine (Citrizine sp?) 10 mg during the summer and whenever I think I may break out.  Walking around the mall, someone yelling at me, any exercise can trigger it.  It basically comes with an increase in heart rate.  The Dr. who diagnosed me (4 doctors later) explained it like this... when you temperature goes up, the message gets sent to your mast cells to sweat except your mast cells mess up the message and release histamine instead causing the hives.  

[donna63]

I am 45 and have had this since I was 18.  I am not a runner but if I just want to walk briskly anytime between 10 and 30 minutes I will start to itch at my ankles and it moves up to my thighs until I can't stand it anymore.  I get little red raised bumps and start to scratch like a crazy woman.  I am able to get on an olyptical but not a treadmill which seems really weird.  I can't even walk on my lunchhour for fear that I will get a breakout.  It's hard to even walk the rest of the way home once it starts to itch.  My doctors all think I am crazy but at least now thanks to the internet I see i am not alone.  I have tried antihistimines but they make me so tired it kind of defeats the purpose of wanting to exercise to get more energy.  it is very frustrating.  

[Dr_Aparna]

Hi,
Cholinergic urticaria is a subcategory of physical urticaria (aka hives) that is a skin rash brought on by a hypersensitive reaction to body heat. Symptoms follow any stimulus to sweat such as exercise (sometimes called exercise-induced urticaria), heat from the sun (which could also indicate solar urticaria), saunas, hot showers (reaction to water can also indicate water urticaria), spicy foods which may cause an increase in body temperature or even stress due to blushing or anger. Some people only have symptoms during the winter months where their body temperature rises when it is unacclimatized to heat.
The rash typically develops within a few minutes of a rise in body temperature but can take longer to appear visibly on the skin. The visible rash is often preceded by a general warming of the skin or itchiness. The hives last from a half an hour to several hours with a mean time of 80 minutes, with the duration often contingent on the severity of the outbreak.
Cholinergic urticaria can be very difficult to treat. Most treatment plans for cholinergic urticaria involve being aware of one's triggers.
Drug treatment is typically in the form of antihistamines,H2-receptor antagonists such as cimetidine.
As the disease may be physiological in origin, psychological treatments such as stress management can sometimes lessen severity and occurrence.
ref:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholinergic_urticaria

[aloharn]

Hello My Fellow Itchers,

Lately I have had a lot going on.  We just moved from Colorado to Ohio to be with my husbands family, I am an RN and it took 2 months to even get my nursing license here, I still can't find a job that will hire me right away... So I've got a lot of stressors here.  I started to break out about 2 weeks ago after being attacked by bugs when we went camping.  I thought that the new hives were from mosquitos that were getting me in our house and when I let the dogs out - but I started covering myself up and using "Off" and kept getting them.  Then they started in huge clusters underneath my clothing and started to merge together to form COLOSSIAL sized ones.  I always thought that "nerves" causing things were kind of a cop-out for symptoms, but now I know better.  Trying to control it with Hydrocortisone 1% (ineffective), triaminaclone (effective for 10-30 seconds), daily doses of Zyrtec 10mg + Benadryl 25-50mg (effective but makes me too sleepy - at least I get some good rest and the hives are totally resolved when I wake).  I am just sick