Exercise-Induced Hives- Need Suggestions!! - Alternative Medicine Message Board

Anonymity · 12-02-2002, 10:40 PM

I have been very impressed with the information on this board, so I thought I would post this question.

My fiance is 22 and has had exercise-induced hives for about the past four years.
Everytime he gets overheated, (it doesn't take much- he's very temperature-sensitive) he becomes very red. The hives always begin on the inner sides of his elbows along with his feet. His face, hands, and extremities begin breaking out in itchy and red blotches and welts. Then, within a few more minutes, his torso, and back will begin to break out.
He saw an allergist, and they managed to control the hives through a combination of several strong prescription medicines including effexor, naproxen, ranitidine (Zantac), and amitriptyline. He was on this combination and able to control the hives for a couple of years.
Recently, though, he has had some other health problems and has had to quit taking the medicines prescribed to help with the hives. Thus, the condition has returned full-force.
He gets some relief from a cold shower, but he is having a hard time exercising for more than a few minutes. This is a problem because he truly enjoys working out and misses it when he cannot.

Does anyone have any tips on coping with this condition? Maybe there are supplements or creams that could help calm his skin? Are there herbal remedies for this condition? Or even prescription medicines that he could (eventually) mention to his allergist?

Any help would be MUCH appreciated!!

12-04-2002, 04:50 AM

Can I suggest that your boyfriend goes to see an ND (Naturopathic Doc). They are trained in homeopathy, herbal medicine and acupuncture and I am sure that an ND could help him.

If you get to the cause of a problem then you can normally begin to resolve it. However, if you just treat the symptoms, then you probably will not.

Did the allergist ever tell him what may be causing this, rather than just giving him the drugs to take to treat the symptoms? It is interesting that now he has had to stop taking the drugs that all the symptoms have come back again?