Exercise induced allergic reaction

[Orangelover]

Right Mumsnet am I going crazy or is this a possibility?

I've never been an exercise freak, but try to go to a class or two a week just to try and keep the flab at bay because I'm partial to nice food and the odd drink here and there. I mainly do spin classes or something like Zumba.

On the odd occasion I've pushed the intensity a bit, and done something like a run on the treadmill and maybe got a bit hotter and sweatier than usual I sometimes go all blotchy and break out in a kind of hives situation

There has been two occasions recently, one including this afternoon where following a run I've literally come out in a rash, had to dash to the loo and I swear today my tounge was actually tingling, no swelling though. Genuinely felt rough for a good hour or so afterwards and have taken an anti-histamine. I'm starting to actually panic I've got some sort of allergy to higher intensity exercise Google tells me it's possible but extremely rare.

Has anyone ever heard of this? It's really put me off exercising if I'm honest! Will obviously be cautious and making a Drs appointment but am I going mad?

you can get exercise induced urticaria

I get throat narrowing if I exercise too hard for some odd reason but I can feel when to stop!

I've definitely got the uticaria but it's more the associated symptoms that are bothering me! I genuinely had a solid hour of feeling dreadful afterwards. Nausea, abdo pain, itching, tingling. I'm not a panicky person at all but I genuinely had feelings of doom coming over me - was genuinely expecting anaphylaxis any minute which sounds incredibly dramatic and I'm really not usually anxious about health related things at all!

I feel like I sound absolutely crazy now

How old are you OP? Just wondering if it's hormonal.

I'm 29, so definitely hoping it's not menopause related yet!

That's what I was thinking but noooo not yet 😁 x

You can get allergic reactions where exercise is a co factor. So if you eat a certain food then exercise you get symptoms, but if you eat the food and do not exercise, or exercise without eating it you are ok. Try keeping a diary of what you have eaten and exercise to see if there is a pattern. It is very rare, but can happen with wheat for example. I would talk to your GP.

2 members of my family have been diagnosed with exercise induced anaphylaxis.
One member was diagnosed in their teens. The GP had not heard of it. They had anaphylaxis after going for a run and ended up seeing a specialist at the hospital who gave them the diagnosis.
My other family member was diagnosed in their 40s. They get hives when they go for a brisk walk and experience tongue swelling etc.

I think it is food related. So if they eat certain types of food, then their heart rate is raised, they go into anaphylaxis.
They both carry epipens.

DS who is very fit and active developed exercise induced anaphylaxis at the age of 23. He had to call an ambulance a couple of times and now has an epipen . Fortunately he hasn’t had any attacks in a few years, but it was very scary for him.

He is allergic to various things and has asthma too. DD gets urticaria and itching if she gets overheated.

Yes it's absolutely possible. It's also possible as others have said for exercise to exacerbate a reaction to something else. I would definitely talk to your GP and ask for a referral.

Yup, I have wheat-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis.

You need to see your GP and request a referral to an allergy clinic.

Just to add, I saw a very experienced immunologist who said it isn't actually that rare, it's just very under-diagnosed, people get fobbed off with an 'ideopathic anaphylaxis' diagnosis. It's tricky as reactions are not predictable and are hard to replicate. But certainly for WDEIA, the omega-5-gliadin IgE blood test is pretty definitive (rare to get false positives and a positive indicates WDEIA).

I get the hives rash thing. Especially if I do high intensity exercise and sweat then go out in the cold. For example a dance fitness class then go home to take a shower- or if I jog outside.

My son has this when he runs. He has other allergies to food and carries an epipen, also has asthma. What seems to work is not eating for three hours before exercise and sometimes he will take anti histamine also. My niece who is a few years younger has also started experiencing the same sadly.

I know there is an excercise induced rhinitis (or something like that), when ever I walk, literally just walking, my nose streams and streams, my eyes stream to the extent I cant see anything. I looked it up and it is apparently a thing.

@TickleChops and @fernfriend after your breakouts, does it go all flaky? i used to go spin every day then suddenly i had a rash all over my body including face (my eyes swelled also). no doctor could diagnose it. after a load of antihistamines and cream it went away by itself. never did find out what it was 🤷‍♀️. Sorry OP to jump on your thread but your post rang bells!

If it's an allergic reaction where you run and what things you bump into may be important. My daughter is allergic to fungal spores, causes asthma, running through the woods at certain times of year would trigger this.

I definitely get this too. I had wondered whether there might be a food associated with it which triggers it. I haven’t been able to work out what it could be. It happens rarely but recently it happens on two consecutive runs. I get the symptoms just as you set out @Orangelover.

does anyone know whether the allergy would show up in an allergy test or would there need to be associated exercise for it to show up? I wondered for me whether it might be pine nuts as it seemed to happed after green pesto at some point but that might be totally wrong.

Mine has happened when running outside, when running on a treadmill and even in the swimming pool. So I am dismissing the external environment as a factor for me. Could it be the external environment for you @Orangelover ?

Did you have the pesto with pasta?

@Orangelover re-reading your posts and your symptoms do sound potentially anaphylactic.

UK anaphylaxis guidelines are Airways, Breathing, Circulatory. Your tingling tongue is a potential airways risk if it progressed and your sense of doom is an indicator of a BP drop so a circulatory risk.

US anaphylaxis guidelines are 2 major systems affected, and you clearly had skin and digestive system and possible circularly system too.

With exercise-induced anaphylaxis it is possible to halt the progression by stopping activity (which wouldn't happen with a non co-factor mediated allergy like a straight wheat/shrimp allergy) which is another reason why we don't always realise we are having anaphylactic reactions (and why we aren't always taken seriously - it took me over 2 decades to get a diagnosis).

Please book a GP appointment asap.

@SinisterKnitter probably! Sometimes with salmon though and sometimes not at all (but maybe other wheat- reallt don’t know but I will be aware of that now…)

Mast cells activate when exercising, releasing histamine. You could try only eating low-histamine foods before exercising and see if you still get a reaction... with histamine intolerance it tends to be a 'build up and then over flow' situation rather than a reaction to the same thing/every time

I get red blochy rash on my face only after spinning and weirdly this only happens a few days before my period

I get this - it's usually if I have eaten something with wheat (noodles, bread) and exercise in cold weather. The sickness is because blood pressure drops, and once was so bad I had to go to bed with heaps of extra layers, blankets etc. it's very unpleasant but doesn't bother me as much in warmer weather. Dr was a bit lost about it all.

I get exercise induced rhinitis. Have to remember to take tissues with me on a run! It only started in my 40s though.