Don't know what Cold Urticaria is?
Don't worry I didn't know what it was for a long time as well.
Keep reading to find out exactly what it is and how I learn to live with it.
This is definitely not a feel sorry for me post, but rather acknowledging something that has been a big part of my life. Most people don't fully understand or believe that someone can be allergic to the cold or cold weather conditions. But let me tell you first hand, it's very much true.
I can't remember my first experience with it, but my mother told me that when I was about 3-4 years old (roughly), our family were all at the beach back home when suddenly my skin transformed into this nasty mess. I looked like a leopard with red raised bumps all over my body. Ever since then I can't remember a time when it ever went away.
What it is exactly. An allergy to the cold/cold conditions, also known as cold hives, that causes itchiness, swelling, redness and raised bumps. It can be brought on at anytime if the body senses any severe coldness to it. Some people have it worse than others, some people can't even touch anything cold but luckily for me it comes and goes.
In the beginning my parents had no idea what caused it and doctors had my mother write down everything that I ate as it was thought it was something in my diet, or maybe something that was in the air. Later after many diets and tests, my mother was the first to notice it was when I was cold that I got this nasty rash. It would first appear on the areas that were exposed first, like my cheeks, knuckles, ankles and knees. The more I stayed cold the more it would spread and the worse the condition would get. I didn't even have to personally feel cold, but something in my body could feel it more and before I knew it I would be breaking out with this rash in the middle of summer.
Symptoms
Cold urticaria signs and symptoms may include:
Temporary reddish, itchy welts (hives) on the area of skin that was exposed to cold
A worsening of the reaction as the skin warms
Swelling of hands while holding cold objects
Swelling of lips from consuming cold food or drink
Severe reactions may include:
A whole-body response (anaphylaxis), which can cause fainting, a racing heart, swelling of limbs or torso, and shock
Swelling of the tongue and throat, which can make it difficult to breathe
Cold urticaria symptoms begin soon after the skin is exposed to a sudden drop in air temperature or to cold water. Damp and windy conditions may make a flare of symptoms more likely. Each episode may persist for about two hours.
(Taken from Mayoclinic.org)
For such a long time I hated this part of me, I always had to make sure there was a warm alternative to activities and living in Tasmania (where it felt like it was always freezing) I was always that kid that would stay in the classroom during recess and lunch to stay warm. Luckily I had teachers that would understand (once they actually saw I wasn't lying), and amazing friends who never complained about sitting with me to warm up or giving me their jumpers when I started getting itchy.
My way of dealing with it for the longest of times was to purely just stay warm, this was made hard considering where we lived and my lifestyle of triathlons, cross country running and swimming training in outdoor pools in the winter. I distinctively remember having to get out of morning swim training's earlier than others because I would start to get really irritated by it. Swimming in chlorine only irritated it further and these were the worse causes of my allergy, I wouldn't even look like me getting out of the pool. Rushing to the shower and turning it on to near burning just so I would warm up. Nasty kids would make fun of me for it, or for always getting out of the hard sets, it was actually really hard to not tear up in front of them.
Close to eleven/twelve years, we learnt that plain allergy medicine worked for it, I used to use a simple liquid one but it would take forever to kick in and never fully protected me from freezing conditions. Few years on, I discovered Zyrtec and honestly it changed my life. I would take one every morning as to stop it before it came, and would always travel with it. My friends would then carry some with them at all times for me, and bit by bit I learned what brought it on and how I could stop it.
I learnt how my body would feel even before the breakout appears, first I get tingly and then that's when I should take the medicine and immediately go and get warm or put on some more layers. The wind to wet skin was what really did it though so I made sure to always double up before I went swimming. Soon enough I became so aware of the symptoms that most of the time I was able to stop it from happening.
Fast forward to gr11/gr12 when I gave up my competitive sporting lifestyle and the less I had to worry about swimming in freezing conditions. Finishing high school I made the decision to move to Gold Coast up in Queensland (the other side of Australia), mainly for a change and to study the degree I wanted to, but also because it would be a LOT warmer. It did take a good three months or so to climatise and get used to the hot sticky summers, but ever since I've moved up here I haven't had to have medicine every day, I still carried it with me just in case I had to sit in a cold lecture room for a few hours but apart from that I felt and now feel like a different person. During the summers especially I don't even have to worry at all about medicine, I can now go out swimming in the ocean for hours and not have to get out and warm up, I can now drink alcohol and not flare up, and I can be outside at night without a jacket and feel completely normal.
These past five years or so I almost forgot what it felt like to have it or to feel self conscious about showing it, but it was this current winter that saw it return. Queensland had a long and cold winter this year and on occasion I would find myself waking up in bed freezing with the start of a rash on my feet and wrists. No where near as bad as it used to be but it reminded me of all the times that I did have it back home in Tasmania and how much it would affect my self confidence. On the occasion I return back home it always rears it's ugly head so I definitely made the right choice in moving somewhere with a warmer climate.
Looking back, the one thing that always sticks with me is how people reacted. My real friends and I made fun of being stuck in the warm classrooms during lunch, they accepted it and we joked about it. People that were rude to me, only showed just how nasty they can really be, they put others down just to laugh at them, and would never have any sympathy for others.
Today, I don't know whether I'll grow out of it or if it'll get worse if I ever move somewhere colder again, but I'm thankful for those who do care and those who do try to make me feel as normal as possible when it does happen.
To read up more on the allergy/disease head to https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cold-urticaria/symptoms-causes/syc-20371046
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