Exercise Urticaria

Yes, IT has a technical name. Not just "allergy to running" or "itchiness when I exercise." I think it's time that I educated people on the condition that torments me. It has a name- exercise urticaria.

In middle school and high school, I would get unbearable itchy when I hiked with my family. My parents told me I would outgrow it, that it was just temporary. And I tried pushing through it. I really did. However, I remember one particular time when I was hiking with my family and family friends. It was beautiful out, with spring flowers just blooming. Halfway through the hike, I got that itchy feeling creeping up my calves, then to my quads. And the longer I kept walking, the more the urticaria intensified. All the kids ran up ahead, and I was stuck behind with the parents, because I had to stop walking every so often. It was absolutely embarrassing, being unable to stop scratching and having to stop every few steps. And that's why I became terrified of hiking. I was scared to death that I would be stuck 3 miles in the middle of nowhere with unbearable hives erupting over my legs, my abdomen, my chest.

So I stopped. I gave up family hikes. I stopped running completely. Partially, it was due to laziness, but a large part also due to the allergic reaction I had when I exercised. My friends thought I was just a "city girl," that I preferred staying indoors or going to the mall rather than leading an active lifestyle. It got to the point that I could not even walk to school from my old apartment without an allergy attack. To put that into perspective- I could not walk 15 minutes without feeling itchiness all over my body.

It's hard enough (and embarrassing!) to explain to people that the reason I avoid walking or running is because I get itchy. I usually leave it as "exercise allergy," because no one wants to know about itchiness. However, I end up feeling terrible when I get comments like "it's just mental" or "you should just push through it!" It's NOT just a mental condition. I get red, inflamed hives all over my legs. There is a biological release of histamine, which promotes the feelings of itchiness. The mental part- panic that crowds out all other thoughts in my head, agitation because I know I cannot beat the itchiness- comes afterwards.

Exercise urticaria is particularly difficult to live with, because it's not just seasonal or due to the weather. It doesn't depend on whether I wear clothes made out of 100% cotton or denim, long pants or shorts. It occurs whether it is a warm summer day or a cold, raining one. (Although, the allergy may come on more quickly on cold days.) I can't control necessarily, when I need to walk longer than 10 minutes; sometimes walking a longer distance is spontaneous (walking across campus or walking to the Ave.).

Medications are not magic bullets for this condition. First-line medication for exercise urticaria is an antihistamine. But even that comes with it's side effects of drowsiness and sleepiness. And who wants to exercise after you're all drowsy from the Benadryl you took? Plus, you cannot simply take an antihistamine right when the itchy feeling starts. It takes antihistamines about an hour to take effect. Other medications, cetirizine (Zyrtec) or hydroxyzine (most potent), are also sleep-inducing. However, these 2 medications have a longer duration of action and can be taken at night, and hopefully keep allergies from erupting throughout the day.

Today, I really really wanted to go running; it is beautiful out, one of the first warm days of the year here in Seattle. The sun was out, and the skies blue. Feeling brave, I took an antihistamine 20 minutes before I ran outside. I ran for 10 blocks, then had to slow to a walk. I could feel the itchiness at the back of my knees. Usually, the itchiness intensifies very quickly for me as long as I keep moving. Yet today, I was able to keep walking another 20 blocks until I made it home. It wasn't a tremendous breakthrough, but it's a start! I lasted 20 minutes outside, hooray! But, the last 5 minutes was hard- the itchiness had spread across my stomach, over my thighs. By the time I got back home, I was miserable. I wasn't out of breath or tired, but I was itchy and panicked. Getting home was a relief, and I can't imagine if I had been outside any longer.

Yet, I hope that with continual training and help from an antihistamine, I can slowly exercise for a little longer outside. I seriously would love to be normal, run and walk and play without having to worry about when my allergy attack will happen. Especially with summer arriving, I want to lead an active lifestyle- go biking, walk around Green Lake (that's just a dream right now... I don't know when I will last 3 miles of running!), run the track at the IMA.

Next stop for me is the pharmacy! It's time to check out if cetirizine works for my condition or not!