Cold uticaria?? Is this what my daughter has?

[dirty ethel rackham]

Dd just came in from walking the dog this afternoon.  The temp was in the low twenties (warmer than it has been) and they walked for about an hour.  She has large welts on her cheeks and her face looks all broken out.  Also, her legs (mostly thighs) are bright red and look swollen.  Her face was mostly exposed.  She was wearing thick jeans, but also had boots on, which may be why her lower legs were not affected.  Nothing on her trunk - she had a good fleece on and a down jacket. 

 

All I could think of was uticaria.  Anyone have experience with this?  She's lived in this climate all her life and enjoys the outdoors.  She has never had a reaction like this before.  What should I do about this?  (Like now, and what do I need to do in the future?)

[LNC]

My daughter has it. Sometimes even touching cold granite in the morning and when eating extremely cold slushies. She is covered in hives with cold weather exposure.

 

Her allergist prescribed an epi pen for camping and temp changes. Even in summers, the streams and rivers up in tbe mountains are cold. He also said living in very cold climates would not be suitable for her, so it affects college choices down the road.

[Isabella]

It sounds like it.  I had cold induced, heat induced, and salt induced (including my own sweat and swimming in sea water) urticaria.  It's embarrasing, and can be dangerous.  I come out of the ocean looking like I've been bitten over every inch of my body with ants.  Also, I went out once on a particularly cold morning and my ears and throat swelled up! I was a little worried that time.

 

They do tend to break out on the fleshier parts of the body, so the inner thighs sounds like where you'd expect it.  Although my ankles were another hot spot, and also wrists and palms and inner side of upper arms.

 

Basically it shows an immune system that is not functioning as it should.  A concerted effort to eat better - eg minimize processed foods, minimize sugars, minimize carbs, increase vegetable intake - has seen them disappear for me.  It's been about 6 years that I haven't had an outbreak at all.  Before that it was an almost daily thing for 10 or more years.

 

HTH... :)

 

 

[MercyA]

Yes, I agree that it sounds like cold urticaria.  Please do take this seriously and seek a doctor's advice.  I know someone who has cold uticaria.  One day she was exercising in the cold and started to have symptoms.  Her throat began to swell shut and she was just able to get home and dial 9-1-1 before she passed out.  She's okay, but obviously has to be very careful now.  It's my understanding that rapidly changing temperatures often cause the reaction (for example, being outside in very cold temperatures and then coming in a warm house).  I think I also remember reading that it often goes away after a period of time, so it likely will not be a lifelong problem.

[GSOchristie]

I have this! I never knew it had a name. The first time I noticed it was in college when we went camping in the mountains, I took a shower and the water was cold and I got hives. I used to get hives when I would run outside in the winter. I get them now if I go outside with the kids then take a shower. They really, really hurt, like I have to scratch and then I want to cry because it burns so badly. Seriously, I thought I was crazy, that no one gets hives from cold.

[elegantlion]

Ds has started having hives this winter when he gets hot. He moved some desks today and broke out. He's 16 and never had this issue before. They go away when he cools down and mostly he immediately stops what he's doing when they happen. He mainly gets them on his upper torso and arms. Kind of the opposite of your dd, but wanted to post because we've also lived in this climate for years (and this house for a few) and it's a new issue. 

[mommymilkies]

Ds has started having hives this winter when he gets hot. He moved some desks today and broke out. He's 16 and never had this issue before. They go away when he cools down and mostly he immediately stops what he's doing when they happen. He mainly gets them on his upper torso and arms. Kind of the opposite of your dd, but wanted to post because we've also lived in this climate for years (and this house for a few) and it's a new issue. 

I had this start happening to me about 3 years ago.  Happens when I shower, too.  Now they get up to my face! It's really weird. 

[ErinE]

I have it, and I think Parrothead mentioned she has it as well. I get large welts all over my body and experience severe itching. My face gets puffy, but I've never had problems with breathing.

 

For me, prevention involves layers with good thermal undergarments. My hands and feet are particularly sensitive so I wear insulating gloves and wool socks. I stopped drinking iced drinks to keep my body temperature up as having ice water in the winter will cause a reaction. Hot tea or coffee helps. I've also noticed that it's important to keep my skin moisturized with a thick balm like Vaseline or Aquaphor. Basically, I do my best to keep my body warm, out and in.

 

Treatment is warming myself up as quickly as possible with a warm bath or shower. If I couldn't take a shower, I'd probably take an antihistamine, but I haven't needed to thus far.

[FriedClams]

I've never been formally diagnosed, but I am sure I have it. I have to be very careful with large temp shifts.

 

An example - Last year I was training for a half marathon. One day I walked 8 miles (about 2 hours) in 38-40ish degrees with rain. I had many layers and was fine during the walk. I went home and within 10 minutes I was in near shock. I broke out in hives ALL over my legs (wet tights) and was freezing. I took a Benadryl, ran into the shower to warm up, and bundled under a bunch of blankets for a couple hours to recover. It was scary. If I didn't respond to Benadryl I would have had to call 911.

 

Last summer at the pool I broke out in hives going from hot to cool water. It wasn't as shocking or painful - more it looked really weird.

 

Anyway - I would educate as much as you can and keep Benadryl around at all times. I know I am WAY more careful than I used to be because it scared me so badly.

[Acadie]

I get urticaria in some areas of my skin from sun exposure.  Trying to keep histamine levels low overall reduces how reactive I am.  So avoiding environmental or food allergens is a good thing.  Our family is really sensitive so we're on a low histamine diet.  Not everyone needs to go that far, though.

 

Does she have any allergies?

 

Amy 

[dirty ethel rackham]

Thanks for the input.  Dd doesn't seem to have any food allergies that I know of.  However, just this past week, she noticed a bumpy rash at the inside of her elbow.  It looked very much like the exema that ds used to get after he sensitized himself to peanuts (my picky kid was allowed to make himself a sandwich when he couldn't eat what I was serving.)  Dd thinks she may be having too much peanut butter (almost every morning on toast.)  She is allergic to amoxicillin - she gets a rash.  But she hasn't been exposed to any of that.  She has had a cold all week.  This is just so sudden.  She has been a swimmer in the past so she was accustomed to getting into very cold water to train.  She is a rock climber and is around chalk all the time and doesn't seem to have problems with that (she says that her nasal stuffiness goes away when she is in the filthy climbing gym:).)

 

Putting Benedryl on the shopping list as we are getting low - I have to have it on hand any time we eat out just in case there is shellfish cross-contamination.