Talking Allergies

I guess that is what it's called, that's what my family doctor called it.

My son reacts to extreme temperatures which isn't good where we live. In the Yukon. We have cold winters and hot summers.

My son will get hives if in the direct sunlight and will get hives if in the cold. We are dealing with this already since it's getting cold here. He's in kindergarten and doesn't always wear his hat. I picked him up at school one day and his hands and ears were covered in hives from being outside. I keep reminding him and his teacher that he needs to wear his outdoor gear to prevent this.

Once it gets colder he wears a bellaclava. I was just wondering if anyone else deals with this kind of allergy. I will be talking to his allergist again in November when we go to Vancouver to get him tested again.

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Donna
wife to Marcel
ds 5- (peanut, tree nuts,dog/cat, dust mites, tree pollen)
ds 2 - (milk)

Yes, both my girls have cold enduced hives (cold urticaria). I actually tried to put that in my signature as well...but there was a word limit, and unfortunately with so many allergies as a family...I couldn't post everything in the signature. We typically have issues with swimming...so we take reactine prior. The girls also get hives on areas of exposed skin in the winter (like on the wrist if snow gets on the crack between mitten and jacket). I thought we had it bad in Saskatchewan...but the Yukon is even colder!

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DD age 9 1/2 -peanuts, nuts,
DD age 7 1/2 - milk, eggs, chicken, peanuts, treenuts, cats, dogs,
DS age 2 1/2
Husband- asthma, eggs, treenuts, fish, shellfish environmental
Self - penicillan, eurithromiacin, mild laytex allergy.

A friend of mine's daughter also suffers from cold uticaria. She took her daughter to a Naturopath, they changed her diet slightly, and the cold uticaria stopped.

Not saying this would work for everyone, but thought it worth mentioning.

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6-yr old son: anaphylactic to peanuts; asthma
1-yr old daughter: No known allergies

There will most likely be a natropath in vancouver, I have a small window on the day of our appointments, I can see if I can find one to fit us in. It's worth a try.

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Donna
wife to Marcel
ds 5- (peanut, tree nuts,dog/cat, dust mites, tree pollen)
ds 2 - (milk)

Hi - I have issues with cold inducded urticaria. I also have a problem with heat (not sunlight but hot showers etc...) and exercise/my own sweat. I find that symptoms are generally worse with wind and physical exercise in the cold. Sounds like your son might be running around outside at recess - it may not bother him but for me this is something that will exacerbate the situation.

To help keep hives at bay I take Reactine daily, carry an Epi-Pen, Benadryl and my inhalers just in case. This type of reaction is anaphylactoid and while it has the potential for a serious systemic reaction (because of the release of histamine into the bloodstream upon exposure) it differs from anaphylactic reactions in that it is non-IgE mediated. I also find that Benadryl is usually very effective. The most dangerous situations would involve sudden full body exposure - plunging into a cold lake for example. Essentially I was diagnosed by having an ice cube held on my thigh until a giant hive appeared.

Does your son have any other allergies? Perhaps foods, drugs, insects or environmentals (meaning pollens, animals etc..) Is there a history of asthma or anaphylaxis? Try to do as much research as you can before seeing the allergist. In my own experience doctors (yes, even allergists) seem to have little knowledge of these types of "allergies" and their diagnosis/management. They are not true allergies in the same sense that food or drug reactions are. I have a few links that I will try to look up for you to read.

As for the sunlight, this I know amost nothing about. I have heard of it and read about it (can't remember the name of the condition right now) and it seems to have the potential to be very serious.

I will post back with more info soon - first I need to find where I saved those links. I can't imagine having to deal with this while living in the Yukon!

My son has seen the allergist before about all these issues. I was given the ice test on his arm but it didn't do much.

He's had eczema, still has it mildly. He's allergic to peanuts, dogs/cats, tree pollen and dust mites.

Yes, had some extreme exposure and it doesn't help that we live in the Yukon. He can't go into a outside pool because that is usually too cold and he'll break out. If he's in the hot, hot sun he'll get red and itchy. It's really strange for me to see him like this, since as children my brother and I have never had any allergies or skin problems and would run around all summer exposed to the elements.

We do carry an epi-pen because of the peanut allergy and a supplie of antihistamines.

Here's a link as well to another forum with links provided to me in regards to the physical allergies.
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-pp ... sg=12616.2

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Donna
wife to Marcel
ds 5- (peanut, tree nuts,dog/cat, dust mites, tree pollen)
ds 2 - (milk)

Oops, must have missed the part about his peanut allergy. Sorry! Since you are already a pro at handling allergies and anaphylaxis, these physical symptoms will hopefully be the least problematic for you. However, given his history he may be at risk for systemic reactions.

In case you are interested in further reading, here are a couple of the links I mentioned:

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/c ... 113/4/e313

http://www.access4allergickids.com/sun_allergy.html

http://www.cpf-inc.ca/information.htm

The first deals with clinical features and anaphylaxis in children with cold urticaria. The other two deal with sunlight allergy, which if diagnosed as a true allergy may be part of a group of conditions called Porphyria. It is important to note that certain medications (including antihistamines) might make a sunlight reaction worse.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/ ... 2601001060

This last link deals with physical allergies in general in easy to understand language.

I hope you get some solid answers from the allergist. It is true that the ice cube test is not always effective - not everyone will react to small exposures but may react to full body exposure. I think in theory these type of allergies generally have a genetic component - but given a family history of allergy and immune problems it could be just yet another presentation of atopy.

Good Luck! Let us know how the appointment goes

There are quite a few sun allergy conditions, and quite a few conditions that cause a sensitivity to the sun (Lupus for example). I have Solar Urticaria and PMLE (Polymorphic Light Eruption). My daughter has both as well, much more severly than I do. We both also have Cholinergic Urticaria, which is allergy to heat/sweat. I moderate a group for sun allergies, but I don't know if it is ok to post the link to another group here. With the sun allergy, it is best to go to a dermatologist and get a work-up since there are some diseases that have sun sensitivity as the first symptom, so rule those out first.

I know it is really difficult for my daughter with both the sun and heat allergies because the poor kid can't go outside until just before sundown, then still needs to be all covered up... then when she gets sweaty sometimes reacts anyway even though she's medicated. And it is really anxiety producing for me, trying to find the balance between not wanting her to do anything because of fear that she'll react and letting her be a kid!

Wendi

Both my sisters get hives to varying degrees. They usually fade once they warm up. I don't have this, but I do have skin problems in hot weather, I get patches of eczema between my fingers from sweat

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Asthma and eczema
Drug allergy (succinylcholine)
Food (corn, raw apples, green beans, tree nuts, flax)
Misc (pollen, grass, mold, dogs, cats)

Just got back from the allergist's with a diagnosis of dermatographism or physical urticaria for one of my sons.

He did the ice cube test (to rule out cold urticaria) which was negative. So that's good.

So I'm just starting to research what exactly this means, and am finding some conflicting info about whether or not it can turn into something systemic and life threatening? I know that cold urticaria can, but can physical urticaria? Since we have epipens, we are prepared for any major reactions anyway. But I need to know what to tell the school about how seriously to treat him turning all red and blotchy (which is happening quite frequently). I'm really concerned about the physical urticaria symptoms getting in the way of them recognizing true anaphylaxis quickly.

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1 son allergic to eggs, peanuts, green peas, chick peas, lentils and tomatoes
(avoiding tree nuts and most other legumes too)
1 son allergic to eggs, and has outgrown peanuts
Both with many environmental allergies, asthma and eczema

twinmom, sorry to hear about your son's diagnosis---I can definitley see how that would be a major concern when dealing with the schools!

I can't answer your question about whether dermographism can develop into anaphylaxis, but I've had this condition for as long as I can remember, and I've never had any more than hives and redness in the location of the scratch. I don't even bother to take Benadryl or anything when I get hives from dermographism . . . the cause is pretty obvious. Even if I scratch without realizing it, and then someone remarks---"you've got hives on your back!"--I can tell the difference between hives from food and hives from dermographism. (For one thing, the hives are in the shape of the scratch. When I get hives from an allergic reaction for some reason it tends to be on my face . . .and those hives tend to be smaller and less red.)

I also have mild cold urticaria---definitely had it when I was a kid, and I think I do now as well when it gets very cold outdoors. BTW, the ice cube test isn't 100% reliable (as my allergist explained to me) because sometimes hives develop only when a larger portion of the body is exposed to cold.

Thanks for answering my post Helen. I can't even say how valuable a little support is on this crazy, allergy roller coaster that we all ride on every day! At least we're not riding it alone.

You are right about the hives looking different. When my son has had anaphylactic reactions the hives have been tiny, and tonnes of them, and he has had lots of swelling (lips, ears, eyes, cheeks etc.). What he is experiencing right now is sporadic hives (like large, scattered individual ones) and large red blotches usually on his chin and cheeks, sometimes several times throughout the day. So that gives me something to tell his teachers. *breathes and calms down a bit* I've been called into the school several times because they've been alarmed about how he looks, and weren't sure what to do.

The hives seem to be triggered by touch, stress, heat and we thought cold as well (so it's good to know that the ice cube test isn't 100%). We were playing outside a couple of weeks ago and some snow got thrown in his face. A couple of minutes later he started screaming and crying, and his face was covered in a swollen red rash. We got him inside and dosed him with benadryl and got him warmed up, and his face calmed down after a little while. The poor little guy is just so sensitive.

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1 son allergic to eggs, peanuts, green peas, chick peas, lentils and tomatoes
(avoiding tree nuts and most other legumes too)
1 son allergic to eggs, and has outgrown peanuts
Both with many environmental allergies, asthma and eczema

The poor little guy! Glad to have been able to help a bit. It does sound like your son is really sensitive to the cold. You probably know this, but some people with cold urticaria need to avoid swimming in cold water.

Since your son is so sensitive to everything, I guess it isn't that surprising that he is breaking out in hives all the time. But just to give you something else to think about---"chronic urticaria" can be idiopathic (i.e. the patient breaks out in hives with no discoverable trigger.) It isn't unlikely that people with dermographism will develop chronic urticaria for a time.

I hate to suggest this, but the other possibility to consider would be that he has developed another allergy. Is an allergist following up on the hive issue?

I hope that your son's system settles down---dermographism isn't always for life.

The chronic urticaria sounds like a distinct possibility for us. It has been about 10 months of him having unexplained hives. We have discovered one new allergy (tomatoes), and the allergist has been working with us to rule out the possibility of any others. The problem is that he has so many environmental allergies (the only thing he isn't allergic to outside is trees ) and they're all off the charts as far as severity, so it has taken until this winter to get a good read on what's going on as far as the welts around his mouth.

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1 son allergic to eggs, peanuts, green peas, chick peas, lentils and tomatoes
(avoiding tree nuts and most other legumes too)
1 son allergic to eggs, and has outgrown peanuts
Both with many environmental allergies, asthma and eczema

It is really hard to figure out whether there is a particular trigger when there are so many possible triggers! 10 months is a long time to suffer from unexplained hives.

I've posted about this elsewhere, but I have been through this type of situation--my allergist first suspected chronic urticaria which did make sense on account of the dermographism, but I didn't really buy the theory because I would tend to get hives after eating (plus sometimes with mild reactions I can just tell I'm reacting even if the symptoms are minor)! I ended up going on an elimination diet. I was so thankful that my mom had bought me this book by Dr. Janice Vickerstaff Joneja:

http://www.amazon.ca/Dealing-Food-Aller ... 969&sr=8-1

I'd highly recommend it for dealing with unexplained hives. . . or with elimination diets (I didn't do the elimination diet on my own, however---my allergist supervised it. Still, the book helped a lot. I wouldn't recommend a radical elimination diet without medical supervision--often, it is best to try eliminating only suspect foods the first round through.)

I still get small hives sometimes. . . but things are much better than they were (and my hives generally don't last too long . .. they appear and disappear quickly).