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Post by sean3000 on Sept 19, 2006 12:23:47 GMT -5
My first thread so please bear with me !!! I wanted to start a thread on Cholinergic Urticaria so that anyone suffering with it (or anyone who HAS suffered with it) can share advice and offer support. It goes without saying that being able to speak to someone who has been in the same position as you, can understand you and help you all that bit more. ok so what is Cholinergic Urticaria??? basicaly its a condition where by when there is a rise in body temperature, or a rise in emotional stress, the body starts to itch intensley all over and tiny red dots start to appear everywhere. Even the slightest things seem to be able to trigger an 'attack' such as sweeping up, walking in the sun etc. There is no definate cure for this condition but it does eventually just burn out on its own, this can take up to 7 years in some cases. Anthistimines do work and can sometimes control symptoms also there are lots of tales of 'natural remidies out there'. Anyone who is suffering with CU (as its commonley known) please post here and let me know how you go about living you day to day lives. Regards Sean
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Post by Olivia on Sept 19, 2006 14:12:09 GMT -5
Hi Sean I think my son has something very similar. His seems to be heat related and anxiety related as well and heaven help us if he runs a temp. His can be anything from tiny red dots to huge hives. Anything from riding in a hot car with no a/c to sleeping in his socks (no kidding!) can bring on an attack. He does seem to be outgrowing it now. Although I've noticed hives, (little ones) on his little sister when the house is too warm lately. Hoping it was just a fluke. Olivia
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Post by sean3000 on Sept 19, 2006 14:49:34 GMT -5
hello Olivia, That sounds very much like urticaria and the fact that you say it can be triggered my anxiety would perhaps suggest that it is in fact Cholinergic urticaria. Can i ask how old your son is? CU tends to affect people in there late teens and eary twenty's, (dont ask why! it just does ) did you ever see a doctor about it? and if so which (if any) antihistamine did he prescribe? keep him off the E-numbers in foods, in particular E102 which is Tartrazyine (found in anything colored yellow) and E210-220 which is benzyoate, this is found in hot, spicy foods. I'm looking into This condition for a university/college project so I'm glad that you responded. I have also suffered with it myself and its a really horrible thing to have to deal with.
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Post by Olivia on Sept 19, 2006 15:52:40 GMT -5
Actually, his started at 2, maybe younger, and he's almost 7 now. He also has many, many allergies, (we haven't had him tested yet though). Benadryl works, he's been on zyrtec which helped with the seasonal stuff but not much with the hives. Bad attacks, (where the hives join into one giant hive that can cover his whole back) we do the er thing. They hit him with steroids etc. He's also asthmatic and extremely small for his age. He's still in a size 4/5. We had a car one summer that had no air and the darn thing would overheat, so I'd have to actually run the heat in the car to keep the thermostat down. Poor kid would be covered in hives every day that we had to pick up his sister at work. If he gets very upset he'll break out as well. And in addition the poor kid has exzema. Lots of issues. Olivia
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Post by sean3000 on Sept 20, 2006 3:49:16 GMT -5
yeah i was tried on Zyrtec which is 'Certizine' (you can buy this stuff over the counter) this actually didn't help me in the slightest, different antihistamines work for different people.
I tried Xyzal which is Levo-certizine (which I'm still taking) to be the one that worked for me, its the second generation and an isomer of the drug Zyrtec.
Steroids generally do work, what i mean by that is they will clear the hives up if theres a bad attack or if he's going through a really stressful period, however i cant imagine there are many, if any doctors out there who would advise him to take steroids on a regular basis (I'm talking in terms of urticaria, i note that he also has other medical conditions)
Is he able to exercise? and do you find that he can break into a sweat and the hives just disappear?
one final point, try changing your detergent to a non-biological alternative (if you haven't done so already) i found that this helped relieve my symptoms.
Regards
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Post by Olivia on Sept 20, 2006 8:10:07 GMT -5
I seem to have found one detergent that he doesn't react to. I won't use anything else. No fabric softeners, nothing with perfumes. Hypoallergenic (yeah, I'm realizing thats not necessarily accurate) extra gentle baby soaps and shampoos. He does seem to be outgrowing much of it. Usually if he's breaking out I've hit him with enough benadryl that he doesn't want to exercise. No idea if that would work or not. This has to be coming from my side of the family. I have two of my three daughters from my first marriage that had cold uticaria when they were younger. Couldn't play in the snow, and we're in the midwest. I was the same way as a child and I've found as an adult, if I'm extremely anxious, I'll break out on my throat and wrists every time. Occasionally behind my knees. Weird family, huh?
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Post by sean3000 on Sept 20, 2006 10:45:47 GMT -5
not weird, more like unfortunate when it comes to skin conditions.
In all the time i have spent looking into Cholinergic urticaria (and this is, if you like my specialty) i have never had any reports on it actually being heriditory.
Do you notice if hes any worse after eating something in particular or after travelling somewhere? one thing i did was to keep a diary listing the times of my attacks what i had ate that day and where i had been.
Although there is no one thing in specific that courses Cholinergic Urticaria there may be things that make it worse (also refer to my previous post about the E-numbers).
The positive thing is that he is starting to outgrow it and i'm sure it will just burn out all together. its also important to eat the right foods and be sensible even when it does go away to prevent the darn thing form coming back.
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Post by Olivia on Sept 20, 2006 11:46:14 GMT -5
We thought he was allergic to strawberries, told this to the school and they fed him strawberry yogart anyway, (the kind with berry chunks) and fruit snacks as well, and he didn't react. Good news for the school, I still made a stink, but at least they weren't dealing with my attorney. He had a terrible reaction after I served catfish one night as well but he didn't eat any of it. If he had that bad a reaction because it just touched something that he ate, I can only imagine what would happen if he actually ate it. Could have been the asparagus too I suppose, he did eat that, and one of my daughters are allergic. We're going to have to get him tested before we end up feeding him something disasterous,(or the blasted school does).
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Post by sean3000 on Sept 21, 2006 10:30:04 GMT -5
yeah, i would definatly advise getting him tested the sooner the better, i think people dont take allergies as seriously as other illnesses which is totally wrong. it may be that he will need to carry an epipen around with him incase of a severe reaction (who knows unless hes tested).
Strawberrys are a common allergy, as are tomatoes and shell fish is perhaps the worst thing an allergy sufferer can consume!
Keep him on the antihistimines, keep a diary of events stay off the problem foods and get him tested. at least then your halfway there to getting this thing sorted,
Sean
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