I have chonilergic urticaria. One of my allergists diagnosed me over a decade ago after scratching my arm with the edge of an index card. Within about a minute or two, the line on my arm turned red and bumped up along that line and surrounding it like tiny, itchy goosebumps.To manage my urticaria symptoms or itchy hives and “wheals” from heat, stress or a prior food allergy reaction, I had to be on 24-hr Allegra during the day and Zyrtec at night. I hibernated in air conditioning and reveled in Netflix during that time.Caffeine aggravates urticaria symptoms, so if I’m having waves of symptoms I’ll increase my water intake and down like two huge glasses of water with a pinch of celtic sea salt (to help my body retain the water–not to mention the fact that salt is a natural antihistamine so I add it to everything).
I never go to the beach if its above 78 degrees. My heart beats way too fast from the heat. I get exhausted and honestly being in a heated environment is just pure torture. I also have vasovagal syncope (fainting) from heat and failed the “tilt test” at the heart doctor which proves that heat and I don’t mix.
During allergic reactions, body temperature increases. So when I was younger, my family always kept a fan directly aimed at me, since for them, the temperature was comfortable.
For this reason, autumn can’t come soon enough. Its not just the changing colors of the leaves that stirs my senses but also that cool, brisk breeze that visits towards the end of September and makes the outdoors feel like the air conditioning turned on.
Its the spicy, cinnamon-scented festivals with candied apples that I can’t eat because of my food allergies and severe gluten intolerance which you can read about here. I still watch others eating everything I can’t and although I feel sad, I smile knowing my allergen-free and gluten-free recipe at home will taste a thousand times better.
The autumn months are all about the warm apple cobbler recipes that we all will exchange and swear by. Its the haunted happenings that we make plans for in September to make October a full month of Halloween. Its the hot lattes and changing fall colors.
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