Faster Than Your Couch!
I am bringing this up because I've been running with a co-worker a few times, and her running (she's a very beginner) is becoming less fun for her because she gets red splotches and a bad itch on her arms, legs and trunk after around 20 minutes of running/walking. It almost seems like an "allergy" of some kind.
She gets that itch and rash regardless of whether any clothes cover the skin or not.
I've heard of cold-induced histamine release, which leads to a similar, red, itchy rash in some people, and I vaguely remember that I had some itch on my legs and stomach from running when I started up again after a longer break, but that went away after the first 3 or 4 runs.
Anyone any idea what this could be, and what she can do about it?
I was thinking of taking Benadryl before the run to see if this could prevent the hives, but I don't want to give such "medical" advice to someone else without knowing what I'm dealing with.
Run for fun.
Are all these runs in or near wooded areas? I'd try to look for potential environmental allergens, which could be a very wide range of things contained in pollens, dust etc. For example, my son can almost get poison ivy just by walking by it.
Clothing: Is it washed with different detergents then her normal clothes are? Is it something from the material, ie. the type of technical fabric, dyes, etc.?
Is she using any lotions, such as sunblocks, that may be different than normal?
How long does it take for the symptoms to go away after she's done running?
If she is new runner is she used to spending time outside? If not her body may have to adapt to all the allergens that she has been isolating herself from. Sometimes this can take awhile. New research shows some promise with peanut allergies by slowly introducing it into the diet so she doesn't just want to give up.
I wouldn't worry too much about her taking Benadryl before a run. It's extremely rare for someone to have a life threatening reaction to Benadryl. It might help her to figure out if it is histamine induced.
I've never heard of exercise induced histamine release but It wouldn't surprise me if it exists. I'll have to do some research on that, but first I need to go for my run.
After getting back from my run I decided to do a search for Exercised induced allergic reactions and what do you know, but apparently it's a medical diagnosis.
Here is a fairly in depth article
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/886641-overview
And some others.
http://allergies.about.com/od/anaphylaxis/a/eia.htm
http://www.runnersworld.com/injury-treatment/allergic-to-running?nopaging=1
If it were me I'd try to keep running gently and see if it goes away. There are lots of people who live with exercise induced asthma.
Connoisseur of Cookies
If this is happening regularly your friend needs to see her doctor, and possibly an allergist, before she runs again. This isn't something she should try to run through until she figures out what, if anything in particular, is triggering these symptoms.
I don't think a comparison to exercise induced asthma is fair in this case. Sure. People live with and manage exercise induced asthma *after* it has been diagnosed and treatment initiated. What is being described needs medical evaluation, assessment and treatment *before* moving forward with any additional exercise program. Should this turn into a full blown anaphylactic reaction, which it could, it could turn fatal quickly.
Please tell her to follow up with her doc pronto.
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"C" is for cookie. That's good enough for me.
Tim
The differential diagnosis depends on whether the only time she experiences the hives is from running or if she gets them from hot showers, stressful events, food reactions, etc. There is a difference in treatment from exercise induced anaphylaxis to cholinergic urticaria and both require seeing a dermatologist or allergist. Either way, not just an easy fix.
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