- Cold Urticaria
- Interviews
Tina's interview
How did all start?
I believe that the cold urticaria started after I got stung by a bee. About after two weeks of being stung up at my cottage, I went swimming in the lake. It was a hot day and the water wasn’t cold but regardless after leaving the water my entire body broke out in hives, I felt very light head and dizzy. I didn’t realize back in 2013 that this was cold urticaria. I was pregnant and had two babies back to back so I never got tested to see if I was allergic to bees, until last week when I was officially diagnosed with cold urticaria and allergic to water and the cold and a bunch of drugs.
Do you already have a diagnosis? How long did it take you to get it?
I got diagnosed 2 weeks ago feb 8, 2018. Did the ice test and my entire arm broke out with hives.
For what medical specialties have you been treated? What has been the most useful specialty for your?
Right now it’s so new and I’m just learning about it and what my triggers are. The allergists gave me rupall which is a antihistamines to take daily.
What have been your biggest difficulties?
This entire thing has been difficult. I haven’t gotten over the shock of the diagnosis and Now find myself reading and looking for people that have this to see what has worked for them. Showering is difficult cause I break out with hives, I stopped taking my kids swimming as I had anaphylactic episode in a heat indoor pool. I also discovered that cold drinks causes me anaphylactic. This has been tough and I now discovered I have massive fears and consistently anxious.
How has your social and family environment reacted? Have your social or family relationships changed?
It’s been hard on my entire family and me. The things I love most are things that I cannot do. I can’t seem to get past this, but again it’s only been a few weeks with the official diagnosis. My family is supportive as much as they can be, but they really have no idea how awful this is for me.
What things have you stopped doing?
I have stopped swimming and stopped drink anything cold and eating anything cold. Everything is warm or at room temperature.
What do you think about the future?
I’m too scared to think about the future. I pray that this goes away and I get to swimming and enjoy all the winter sports I love so much with my kids.
What would you like to do if you didn’t have your condition?
Everything that involves water and cold winter sports.
Finally, what advice would you give to a person in a similar situation?
This is a hard one for me. I would have said get help but after being diagnosed I have realized that the medical field is no help. I have seen 5 specialist and all said to me that there is nothing they can do for me, that this journey is mine to figure out what my limitions are, and to always have my epi pen on me. The advice I would give is find people with the same condition like I’m trying to do and talk to them, ask them about their journey and try and find peace in what is now.
