A combination of chronic urticaria and something else too

[amit123]

Hello people,
I was actually trying to seek help with a local doctor but i am trapped in such a situation where i don't know what to do and whom to approach.

FYI: I am a 19yr old male and i am suffering from chronic urticaria since almost childhood or may be since birth. My dad says it might be genetic as he is also suffering the same problem but at a very lesser level. The urticaria is accompanied by flowing nose, blocked nose, wheezing and stress.

Almost all of my family members are diseased. My dad recently had been cured from blood cancer, my mom is suffering from diabetes and hyperness, my uncle and aunts at my mom's place too have a typical problem of being hyper, diabetes, depression, my grandpa is suffering from piles.

My main concern: Few years ago, probably 1 or 2, a new thing started where the muscles twitch all by themselves on a random basis and on any part of the body. I encountered a terrible week last year when both of my eyelids where constantly twitching all time except when i was sleeping(co-incidently my dad said that he had experienced the same thing)! The frequency of muscle twitching has increased this year and it happens everyday twice or thrice for few seconds. I read about the dreadful Myoclonus which 'i think' is similar to my symptom and im really worried about my future.

How can i understand that whether i am suffering from Myoclonus or not? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myoclonus or is it a symptom of urticaria or is it just a normal thing? Is it serious? Which doctor(qualification) should i seek help from?

Please help me

[amit123]

Hi, you've been very helpful toward my concerns, i thank you for that and it's been a very long time since i spoke to you about my condition. The allergy has been consistant till now. The twitching is always and only accompanied with the allergy.

I have noticed some things lately that when i am outside my residence and physically active, i have hardly or even never encountered such allergic issue. I spend most of my day working on my computer at my home. May be i need to get more physically active but i'm not sure if this is related to urticaria, is it?

Also, i have an important question. Do my symptoms really point towards Urticaria? Do you recommend me getting myself treated with Homeopathy?

I got myself tested for thyroid and angiodema few months ago. For thyroid, the result was negative and negative for angiodema too. But, the doc gave me a warning about the angiodema report saying that the counts are in limits but not far from the count i shoud be concerned about. If you don't mind, can i share my test report with you and could you suggest me about it? Please let me know.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

It is generally considered that second generation antihistaminics like as Cetirizine, Loratadine, Acrivastine and Fexofenadine are non sedating.But before taking them you should consult your allergy specialist and find out which one works the best for you as none of them are without potential side effects and an advise of an allergist should always be taken before taking them.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing or if you have any additional queries.

[amit123]

Now I understand.  Please, i need to sort out a few more things that bug me:

I have always noticed that whenever my urticaria starts, thats when all of my other problems start(muscle twitching,flowing nose, blocked nose,voice hoarseness,e.t.c) otherwise, i am happy and healthy. I sometimes doubt that my body is hypersensitive to physical exertion. A few examples like when i was a child, a couple of times i had fights with one of my school mates and when i used to get a hard push on by back, the urticaria symptoms blasted all of a sudden. Also, after masturbation, the urticaria comes back, followed by the other things.

Another thing is that when all of these problem increase, i feel dryness in my throat throughout the day and it feels like i have sunk my face in the water without blocking my nostrils and some water has rushed in. These are accompanied by flowing nose/blocked nose. I consume 1/2 Cetzine to get through with it and it takes a day for it to heal me back.

Can you suggest a non-sedative or least sedative anti-histamine? I am having a tough time dealing with the dizziness provided by Cetzine.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

The differentials which I have given in my post contains most of the differentials of muscle twitchings.They vary from non serious causes like abnormalities of minerals and hypoparathyroidism to serious neurological causes.It is important to rule out most of them by a careful history,examination and investigations by a physician.

Regarding your sleeping difficulties,it can be due to the medicines like cetrizine but it can also be due to muscle twitches that you have during your sleep.Sometimes hypnogogic myoclonic twitches are present during sleep which may interfere with sleep and hence the person does not wake up feeling refreshed. . It's not known exactly what causes the twitches, but they appear to be associated with anxiety and faint stimulus like noise.

Whether you are having them or not can be confirmed by sleep studies or polysomnographs by sleep specialists. Try avoiding day time naps and pls don’t take any caffeine before bedtime. Try to sleep in a room where there is little noise and pls don’t feel stressful and anxious regarding every day’s worries just before bedtime. You can try meditation for stress and if the condition does not improve then you can take some mild sedatives.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing or if you have any additional queries.

[amit123]

Thanks for your fast reply kindd. The urticaria reaction is switched on for almost 8hrs a day, i mean i constantly feel the tingling,itching and burning sensation and thats the time span when i mostly experience the twitching.

Predementia symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease: "The executive functions of attentiveness, planning, flexibility, and abstract thinking, or impairments in semantic memory (memory of meanings, and concept relationships)", i experience none of these as i recently learned to solve the 3x3x3 rubik's cube puzzle and have no issues while studying and i have never acted crazy(like mood swings, sudden mood change, and others)

Ive looked for the symptoms of Epilepsy,Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological imbalances and found that none of them match my symptoms. They seem to be a long set of things and i encounter only one or two symptom i.e stress and muscle twitching. Are you saying that the neurological problem might be underlying?

I have recently opted for Homeopathy treatment(urticaria) http://www.urticaria.com/app/default.asp and the doc says that stress is the cause of the twitching.

An important thing i needed to ask. When i wake up, i never get the feeling of being totally fresh. Is it because i consume cetzine(makes me very dizzy) tablet every alternate day?  Yesterday night, while sleeping i experienced a twitch for 1-2 seconds on my left foot and i think i experienced this earlier too.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

There are a number of causes for muscle twitchings.It can be due to acid-base imbalance in the body,low sodium,calcium and vit D deficiency,Alzheimer’s disease,muscle fasciculation syndrome(a disorder of the nervous system characterized by the uncontrolled twitching (fasciculation) of muscle groups in various parts of the body),ALS,chronic fatigue syndrome,hypoparathyroidism,spinal muscular atrophy or spinal neoplasms and spinocerebellar ataxia.Pls discuss these options with you doctor.
Myoclonus on the other hand is a symptom and not a disease.It is part and parcel of a disease.Moreover,it is usually present when one is asleep also.But in your symptoms,you have described that while asleep you are usually symptom free.It is usually found in epileptics and neurological illnesses.

Chronic urticaria is not a single disease but a reaction pattern that represents cutaneous mast cell degranulation.Its pathophysiology involves IgE and releasing of mediators when a susceptible person comes in contact with allergen,while pathophysiology of muscle twitchings is different.

I feel that you should consult a physician and get yourself evaluated for the various causes of muscle twitchings and get them ruled out one by one.
Take care and pls do keep us posted on how you are doing.