Exercise-Induced Hives - Environmental Disorders Message Board

Anonymity · 11-22-2002, 12:23 PM

I apologize in advance if I have selected the wrong board to post this message on. Thanks!

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? Or even prescription medicines that he could (eventually) mention to his allergist?

Any help would be MUCH appreciated!!

rhody · 12-20-2002, 06:40 PM

Have you checked the internet? I just typed in "exercised induced hives" and found a whole bunch of things.

Merrida · 02-16-2003, 07:59 AM

I have a client who has this same problem, he is rather literally, allergic to exercise.

Same symptomatology, he will develop red skin, that then gets a little puffy, and he'll get hives. He said he participated in some testing when he was a kid because he always had this, and that they told him he was allergic to exercise.

I thought it would be more of an issue related to compounds in the sweat reacting with bacteria on the skin, perhaps some hormonal issues, as well as dietary issues could be looked at too.

If it's annoying but not life threatening, can he continue to exercise despite it, and just deal with the redness, and then shower with an antibacterial soap or prescription soap, take a cool shower after working out, and let it settle down.

Perhaps exercise twice a day for shorter periods? Or reduce his exercise time to 20-30 minutes? Perhaps varying his intensity? Perhaps doing more anaerobic exercise so he sweats less?

If it's not threatening his life and he has to deal with symptoms only, perhaps more wicking materials, and treating this more as an annoyance? Perhaps antihistamines before exercise?

shawnavomacka · 02-21-2003, 07:41 AM

Hi - I have gotten hives in the past, usually during or right after exercising and no doctor up until this point has been able to say what causes it. One did tell me it was probably exercise induced anaphylaxis but gave me no causes, etc. I had an "attack" last night, really a bad one, and today I got on the internet to check out some possibilities. What did your boyfriend eat before he worked out? One of the "triggers" evidently is fish...which I had for dinner last night and then worked out after that. Very interesting.....I do have an epi-pen for am hesitant to use it so I normally just take benedryl but this mornig the left side of my mouth and left eye are swolllen - still!! Don't know if this helps but certainly some foods may trigger it it sounds like.
Shawna

FlowerFairy · 04-05-2003, 07:52 AM

Hi,
When I was younger I would break out in hives and my doctor (couldn't afford an allergist)never did figure out what was causing them. He put me on Hydroxine which is the generic form of Atarax. It's an antihistamine/antianxiety agent and I took that for quite some time. The hives eventually went away and i'm not sure why and haven't been bothered since. This is just my opinion and I am definitely not an expert on this condition...i'm surprised that your fiance was taking all those medicines for hives. The less medicine you take the better off you are because they all have side effects. I feel like hydroxine is much safer than some of those medicines he had been taking. I'm also surprised his dr. hasn't prescribed it already...maybe he can't take it for some reason. I had an allergic reaction to a new blood pressure medicine a year ago and they gave me a prescription of hydroxine to counter that and so since I already had some,I have just recently started back taking hydroxine (as needed)to help me with insomnia as advised by my dr. Have him ask his allergist about hydroxine. It's inexpensive and it doesn't take much to do the trick. In my pocket P.D.R. it describes it as: antihistamine with antianxiety,muscle-relaxing,antivomiting,broncial-dilation,pain-relieving,anti-spasmodic properties,for stress related,dental and minor procedures,for emotional problems,anxiety associated with stomach and digestive disorders,skin problems and behavorial problems in children.