I HATE Summer -- Living With Cholinergic Urticaria

I normally try to avoid complaining on social media or on my blogs but this is one topic I can't keep quiet about. I don't hate summer for no reason, trust me. Its not the tiny outfits that are way too small on the wrong body type or the bright happy colors that make my inner goth girl cringe. No, its something much less superficial than that.

                                                 Put me in summer temps and I will desintegrate. 

 My physiology just cannot handle it. If I am in temperature above 74 degrees I go a little bit crazy. 

I have chonilergic urticaria. One of my allergists diagnosed me over a decade ago after scratching my arm with the edge of an index card. Within about a minute or two, the line on my arm turned red and bumped up along that line and surrounding it like tiny, itchy goosebumps.

To manage my urticaria symptoms or itchy hives and "wheals" from heat, stress or a prior food allergy reaction, I had to be on 24-hr Allegra during the day and Zyrtec at night. I hibernated in air conditioning and reveled in Netflix during that time.




Caffeine aggravates urticaria symptoms, so if I'm having waves of symptoms I'll increase my water intake and down like two huge glasses of water with a pinch of celtic sea salt (to help my body retain the water--not to mention the fact that salt is a natural antihistamine so I add it to everything). 

Celtic sea salt contains all 92 trace minerals your body needs and has been found to actually LOWER blood pressure in comparison to regular table salt. As with anything, though, balance is key and it's a good idea to talk to your doctor before increasing salt intake.

Having cholinergic urticaria is a burden to others because you're constantly freezing them out. 

Your physiological internal temperature is not the same as others. Your body naturally heats up during any histamine reaction which aggravates symptoms further. Maybe even your significant other's body heat in bed makes your symptoms appear. I notice skin to skin contact during sleep makes me sweat and in turn, itch. For this reason, I wear mainly cotton and mainly long sleeves. I can't wear shorts during the summer because if I sit on a solid chair or leather, the backs of my thighs break out in hives and itch. Long pants and long skirts are staples in my wardrobe.

I never go to the beach if its above 78 degrees. My heart beats way too fast from the heat. I get exhausted and honestly being in a heated environment is just pure torture. I also have vasovagal syncope (fainting) from heat and failed the "tilt test" at the heart doctor which proves that heat and I don't mix.

During allergic reactions, body temperature increases. So when I was younger, my family always kept a fan directly aimed at me, since for them, the temperature was comfortable. 

For this reason, autumn can't come soon enough. Its not just the changing colors of the leaves that stirs my senses but also that cool, brisk breeze that visits towards the end of September and makes the outdoors feel like the air conditioning turned on.

Its the spicy, cinnamon-scented festivals with candied apples that I can't eat because of my food allergies and severe gluten intolerance which you can read about here (but then I get inspired to run home and lookup nut-free soy-free gluten-free candy apple recipes on Pinterest). I still watch others eating everything I can't and although I feel sad, I smile knowing my allergen-free and gluten-free recipe at home will taste a thousand times better.

Here is a candied apple recipe I found. Make sure to use USDA Certified Organic apples so that you avoid the soy/GMO/pesticide wax on regular apples. Also, according to a tip on Amazon, add the cinnamon oil after the sugar liquid is already slightly cool so that it mixes properly and you don't get 'spicy' spots and others with no cinnamon.

The autumn months are all about the warm apple and cobbler recipes that we all will exchange and swear by. Its the haunted happenings that we make plans for in September to make October a full month of Halloween. Its the hot lattes and changing fall colors.