Monday 11 January 2016

Cold Weather Hives

I'm going to write about weather-induced allergy today because it is something that affected me badly when I was using steroids.

Back when I used strong steroids on my face, my face became very sensitive to external stimuli. One problem that I had was whenever I would go outside in cold weather, my face would break out in hives. At first, it was just one or two spots, but after prolonged steroid use, the welts got really bad. It became a big problem for me in winter, as I would have to walk my children to and from school, which would result in a messed-up face most days.

Anyway, as readers will know, I've been off steroid creams for 4 years now. I'm on a bit of a fitness kick to lose all the weight I put on during that time (I lost 7lbs already!) and I went for a walk this morning. I walked several miles in the cold, January UK weather and suddenly something occurred to me. My face wasn't itchy. I didn't have hives. The arctic wind was blasting my face and my face was ok!

I find this sort of progress really encouraging. Cold induced hives were a big problem for me for such a long time and they have vanished over time without me even noticing. This must mean that my skin is getting stronger. I'm not fully healed yet, but this is a really big step for me. I dont have to fear the cold any more!

I'd love to know if anyone else has ever had this problem. Has the weather ever affected your skin? Did you think that steroid creams were to blame? Has you skin improved since stopping steroids? Please share your experiences.

6 comments:

Elaine said...

Hi Louise. How's the MW going?
Elaine x

Anonymous said...

I'm still doing it everywhere, except my palms. Apparently, the skin doesn't make its own oils in 3 places: the lips, palms and soles, so I can't really see the value of doing MW in those areas, unless someone has allergies. My palms got so bad I couldn't use my hands during MW, so I stepped up to a little jojoba oil and then a thin layer of Vaseline, which gave much needed relief. How are you getting on?

Anonymous said...

Hi Louise! I don’t think my original comment went through, but I wanted to say its crazy you brought this up because I have recently realize the same exact thing! I used to get cold utericia while I was on Protopic. It was horrible! Anytime my body got too cold (I live in Canada!!) my body would break out in hives wherever I got too cold. I had to bundle up all the time. Anyhow just within the last few weeks I have realized I haven’t been getting it anymore!! Its so amazing. I kind of take advantage of it (going outside without my mittens on) because its so nice not to have to worry about that anymore. I really hope that it doesn’t come back for either of us!

Atopiclady

Louise said...

Yes, long may our good skin days continue!

Anna Fearnley` said...

Hi there.

I was having a browse on the internet for blogs about Eczema and came across yours.
We're a small family run business producing natural medicines and cosmetics, based in Whitby, North Yorkshire.
One of our managing directors suffered greatly with Eczema during her teens and through to her early twenties. She tried a lot of different medicated topical creams but it just kept coming back.
As a result, she decided to formulate her own skin cream using different ingredients that are known to sooth and heal problem skin, and here our Soothing Skin Cream was born!

We'd love to send you some free samples to try for any nasty flare ups to see if it helps at all.

Obviously do not feel obliged at all to accept, but we'd be very happy to send you some.

You can check out our website and the product I'm talking about here http://www.sweetcecilys.com/product/soothing-skin-cream/

Thank you for your time and hope to hear from you soon.

Best wishes,
Anna
Sweet Cecily's
annafearnley@outlook.com

Louise said...

Thanks, I've sent you a message via your website. Your products look lovely.