Am I Allergic to Exercise?
Exercise-Induced Anaphylaxis continued
There’s a sub-type of EIAn that only occurs when exercising within two to four hours after eating a specific food. The individual can exercise without symptoms, as long as the incriminated food is not consumed beforehand. Likewise, the person can eat that food with no reactions as long as no exertion follows for more than four hours after eating the food.
This condition, known as Food-Dependent EIAn, is challenging to diagnose. If you suspect symptoms of this, be sure to see an allergist for testing.
In fact, Ostro recommends that individuals who start to experience flushing, itching or hives during exercise immediately stop the activity, and consult an allergist before resuming a workout regime. When EIAn is diagnosed, the person will be prescribed an epinephrine auto-injector.
“Cholingeric urticaria is bothersome but non-life threatening, while EIAn is a potentially life-threatening condition,” Ostro says. Fortunately, the bothersome exercise reaction is the more prevalent.
So can the person with cholingeric urticaria hives stay fit and exercise? Yes, but it may involve finding a less heat-inducing sport such as swimming, or inclining to winter sports such as skiing.
Kavanagh, who lives in New Brunswick, Canada, enjoys both. But she doesn’t limit herself to them. She races dirt bikes and rappels off mountains, too. She just ensures that she takes appropriate safeguards to avoid and minimize her body heat reactions.
Besides staying out of direct sunlight and taking medication, Kavanagh layers her clothing for temperature changes, and wears a “cold” shirt that wicks away sweat while maintaining her active lifestyle. “I refuse to let my allergy get the best of me.”
First published in Allergic Living magazine.
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tardis_blue
“Contact dermatitis doesn’t develop immediately, “but takes 48 hours after contact with the inciting substance before skin lesions develop.””
My son reacts anywhere from instantly to within minutes of exposure to his contact allergens.
I am glad to have found this article. This has been an issue with my son for years. He doesn’t get the same symptoms, but he has eczema, so all that happens for him is that his eczema flares up. We had finally come to the conclusion that it was heat that was doing it, but we were hesitant about it because we’d never heard of any such thing, so it’s nice to know we aren’t crazy. We did think it was his sweat, and that was mentioned in the article, too, so I’m still not sure exactly what is going on. I don’t _think_ he usually goes around with stuff all over his skin that only causes him to break out when he sweats, but he doesn’t get rashy if he’s just too warm–it doesn’t happen till he sweats, usually copiously.
Hmmm…now I think about it, he doesn’t have a problem with hot baths or hot tubs, so maybe it is the sweat/contact dermitis thing. That’s distressing, because it happens often. I don’t know of a more gentle laundry detergent than All Free and Clear, and I don’t know what else would be bothering him.
rainbowpromise
I did not equate my exercise hives to my fever hives – because they don’t match.
When I go to the gym to work out and break out in hives, it is on my hands and face. I started watching the habits of other gym people and discovered that most of them liked to snack on my allergen. So I started wearing thin golf gloves, or batting gloves to work out in. I also started wearing an extremely unfashionable headband to keep the sweat from running on my face requiring the need to wipe my face with a towel that has been contaminated with nut residue. The workout hives ended.
When it came to my fever induced hives, I kept track of when they occurred. It was not actually at the height of the fever, but as the viral infection was at an end. I thought it was just my body fighting off the infection. I don’t get it every time, but most of the time.
Otherwise, I do know that with long-term daily records, my body temp is lower than normal.