Allergic to jogging?

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  • JayneJohnson49
    JayneJohnson49 Posts: 1 Member
    edited June 2015
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    I also had this issue, very painful. The burning sensation is unreal and sucks. My roommate also thought I was making it up but after being in tears and having her jog back to pick me up she realized I wasn't. Plus it ONLY occurred outdoors, not in a gym or inside. The temperature also didn't matter. At first I suspected it was due to extreme lows or highs but nope, also happened on a comfortable 70 degree day.

    I saw an allergist and he said it was a reaction to something in the air and to take a daily over-the-counter 24 hour acting antihistamine such as Claritin or Zyrtec. I do the Sam's Club brand but sure enough, after a week of taking them I had no more reactions. All the burning, itching on my legs and torso was gone. That was in 2008 and I've taken them every morning since then with no further issues. I did try a one month period without the allergy pill as I couldn't get to Sam's Club. Sure enough the reaction returned.

  • killerqueen21
    killerqueen21 Posts: 157 Member
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    It's typically Cholinergic Urticaria or Exercise Induced Urticaria. It is indeed an allergy. I suffer from this and Exercise Induced Anaphylaxis. I have to carry an epi pen. How wonderful and not lame at all.

    Sometimes if you work out consistently, your body will adjust to it (the urticaria) after a few days and it won't bother you. But if you have more than a few days in a break, it'll flare up all over again. Antihistamines don't work for mine.

    If you're just out of shape I got nothing for you lol. Except that it'll get better as you get more in shape :)
  • ryanbrowning115
    ryanbrowning115 Posts: 69 Member
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    could be that you are allergic to something in the air
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,949 Member
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    Yep this happened to me! It went away after exercising consistently for a few weeks.
  • sarahlou1114
    sarahlou1114 Posts: 17 Member
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    Thanks everybody! I don't feel particularly out of shape, but I normally don't jog. I have a desk job at a local elementary school and as it's summer break I'm just now working out regularly again. All of the comments have been great! I need to make a doctors appointment but for now I'm going to push through. :)
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
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    I call it my "skin disease"...happens when I sweat. I get super itchy on my chest and back, sometimes the hives sneak up my neck. I also take a Clariton or something non-drowsy, and make sure you have a shower after you sweat to wash it off. My doctor told me that people release histamines when they sweat, and I'm having an allergic reaction. My seasonal allergies are wicked anyways, but the hives drive me nuts.
  • sarahlou1114
    sarahlou1114 Posts: 17 Member
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    Do you take the Clariton even when you're not working out. Or only on the days that you are?
  • MFD7576
    MFD7576 Posts: 271 Member
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    sarahlou1114 wrote: »
    Ok I know I can't really be allergic to exercise since I can do any other exercise routine I want, but, every time I try jogging for a period of time I break out in blotches and itch like crazy. My brother in law starting jogging when he was extremely overweight and never experienced this problem. Has anyone ever heard of this? Or experienced it? I would love to jog and complete a 5K as one of my fitness goals but this is crazy!!!

    Im sure others have mentioned this since I kinda just skipped to the first answer I thought when I saw this. It could be a heat rash! Friend on mine would walk to work (roughly 2 or 3 miles) and in the summer months he would be itchy and rashy when he got to work. Also you could be having a reaction to the potential acidic quality of your sweat. I don't know how to fix that or if its a cause but I do know sweet can be acidic. Another friend of mine has gone through plenty of computer keyboard because his finger sweat would rub off the keys lol

  • MFD7576
    MFD7576 Posts: 271 Member
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    Taking a Benadryl could help as well, even still it might not be an "allergy"!
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
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    when I know I'm going to be involved with anything that's going to cause allergies, I carry clariton with me. Working out, yard work, day drinking on the patio, hiking, sitting on the football field watching the boy child. Just to be prepared. Where I live, cotton flies around in the air, and it's terrible so I have a box of anti-histamines in my purse or gym bag at all times.
  • MamaBirdBoss
    MamaBirdBoss Posts: 1,516 Member
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    sarahlou1114 wrote: »
    Ok I know I can't really be allergic to exercise since I can do any other exercise routine I want, but, every time I try jogging for a period of time I break out in blotches and itch like crazy. My brother in law starting jogging when he was extremely overweight and never experienced this problem. Has anyone ever heard of this? Or experienced it? I would love to jog and complete a 5K as one of my fitness goals but this is crazy!!!

    Um. Actually you CAN be allergic to exercise. Look up "exercise-induced allergy" and "exercise-induced anaphylaxis." I have exercise-induced anaphylaxis. Jogging is THE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORSTTTTT for it.

    First I start wheezing a little. Then I break out in hives. Then eventually, if I don't stop, it gets harder and harder to breath and I throw up or get diarrhea.

    Mine is food mediated. So I exercise before I eat. It's also aggravated by NSAIDs, so no NSAIDs before exercise. My total allergy load affects it, too. And finally, the TYPE of exercise matters. The more stop/starts and intervals, the better it is. Steady-state jogging is literally the worst thing possible for it.
  • MamaBirdBoss
    MamaBirdBoss Posts: 1,516 Member
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    Oh, since you like jogging, after you address other possibilities (and take an antihistamine before!), you should run until you START to feel the reaction. Then back off it and either jog or walk slowly until the sensation recedes. Then run again.

    Unfortunately, the hormones and excitement of race day make it worse then. :(
  • MamaBirdBoss
    MamaBirdBoss Posts: 1,516 Member
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    killerqueen21 wrote: »
    It's typically Cholinergic Urticaria or Exercise Induced Urticaria. It is indeed an allergy. I suffer from this and Exercise Induced Anaphylaxis. I have to carry an epi pen. How wonderful and not lame at all.

    Sometimes if you work out consistently, your body will adjust to it (the urticaria) after a few days and it won't bother you. But if you have more than a few days in a break, it'll flare up all over again. Antihistamines don't work for mine.

    If you're just out of shape I got nothing for you lol. Except that it'll get better as you get more in shape :)

    Hey, an EIA buddy! :D
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,430 Member
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    Another idea: could you be allergic to your washing powder in combination with sweating? Then you might washing ALL your running clothes just with water and see if it helps. Or are those new garments that are treated with something chemical?
  • terar21
    terar21 Posts: 523 Member
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    Push through and don't feel bad about it happening to you. It happened when I first started running. I could swim a mile but a quarter mile of running and I felt my like ripping off my skin the itching was so bad. I'd scratch and there would be giant welts. It's a circulation issue. Just keep pushing through it and it'll stop. It mildly pops up for me if I take a couple of weeks away from running (even though I run 5ks with no issue now). Try to resist the urge to scratch
  • Sickpuppyapb
    Sickpuppyapb Posts: 12 Member
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    sounds like prickly heat to me.
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
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    dbomb76 wrote: »
    You should ask a doctor, not random internet people.
    What if my doctor recommended I stop worrying about approval from authority, and instead focus on group validation for my mental health?
  • sarahlou1114
    sarahlou1114 Posts: 17 Member
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    Thanks for all the comments! So glad I'm not the only one! :)
  • MamaBirdBoss
    MamaBirdBoss Posts: 1,516 Member
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    dbomb76 wrote: »
    You should ask a doctor, not random internet people.

    Would be better advice if fewer doctors were idiots.

    My EIA was misdiagnosed for years.
  • sarahlou1114
    sarahlou1114 Posts: 17 Member
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    That's funny! And true :lol:

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