My name is Melissa Myers I am 37 years old, I was born and lived most of my life in West Texas, and I have had Cold Urticaria for 34 years. . I remember my first reaction after going swimming at a local swimming pool in West Texas when I came out of the pool I remember itching and was broke out it with hives, my grandmother gave me some medicine for it and it went away, and From that day till now I have Suffered with this Condition My dad said he remembers me having hives when I was 4 or 5 years old but never associated it with the cold. When I was around 15 I made an association with my hives and the cold environment , swimming, air conditioning, humid weather, cold wind, cold toilet seats yes cold toilet seats etc.
It was'nt until about 5 years ago my mother a LVN , found a name for my conditon, called cold urticaria and I finally had a name for my condition. I knew of all my years of having this I knew it had something to do with getting cold, Every time I would swim, go outside in the winter, go into air conditioned buildings, sitting on concrete, it doesn't stop even in the Summer time, I can sweat and even a cool breeze would cool my skin and cause me to have breakouts, I learned over the years how to deal with this without a Dr. or Medication, To me I thought it was normal to be this way on a daily basis.
I just have to take extra precautions to make sure i didn't have any severe breakouts, I knew i could swim for a limited amount of time, If I over swam or stayed out in the cold too long, I would start Feeling tired, short of breath, Dizzy and blurry vision, slow heart rate and, confusion, when this happened i knew my blood pressure was dropping and needed to warm up immeditally. Even all this time of suffering with cold Urticaria, I still find that Dr's. In my area in East Texas really don't have a clue about this condition. I tell them about me having this and my symtoms and they look at me like I'm crazy!
It is really hard to have a condition that people are not aware of and do not know how to treat. I would take hot baths everyday in the winter after work, I would be so miserable by the time 8 hours were up all i wanted was to be warm my skin would severely burn, itch, and swell all day. I always just wished summer would hurry up and be around the corner, even though I still react during the summer because of the sweat cooling off and every building in Texas is AirConditioned but its not as bad as Winter time.
This condition has always interfered with enjoying things with my family and kids, I have had to many times just sit inside and watch my kids play in the snow without me, go swimming without me, even going to a movie theature is miserable and torturous. Iv tried many medications over the years over the counter medications that never seemed to really work for me, it was not until recently. I went and seen a regular family Dr. for depression and he gives me some Visteril for anxiety. Well behold I have found a medication that worked wonders for me, it was a miracle! The Next Dr. Appt. I told this family Dr. that the Visteril that he had given me for Anxiety did not so much help me for anxiety, But did treat my Cold Urticaria from me having Breakouts. I was So excited. He proceeded to tell me that my cold Urticaria was from stress? I looked at him like he was crazy! , And really was a little pissed off, I told him there is no way because i have had this condition since i was a Little girl. He disagreed with me and i went on about my way. Till this day over a year and a half later the Dr. still gives me my Visteril, But I don't use it for Anxiety I use it for my Cold Urticaria. I take 25 mg at night, so for over a year and a half now I have been pretty much hive free, and Living a normal life as long as I take the medication, I can now swim for as long as i want, I can stay outside in the winter time, I can handle staying through a whole movie at the theatures. If i forget to take my meds, I will know it my reactions will start back and i will start to have breakouts all over my body. And it makes me remember real quick i forgot to take my Visteril (hydroxyzine).
I have done alot of research over the years about this condition, and it hasn't' been until recently that more and more people are coming out, and informing the public and Dr's about this Condition. It is time all of us Cold Urticarians Come together to inform the public and Dr's that this is a true condition and we
do suffer. And we need a Cure. I thought for so many years I was Alone with this condition and suffered silently away from my friends and family and even the medical community., and i was the only one in the world with it, People need to know that their not alone anymore! If it had not of been
for the Visteril (hydroxyzine), I know for a fact I would still be just as miserable today
then I had been for the last 34 years of my life.
my paypal is [email protected]
Any Member of My Group that request one will be sent one for Free.