Avid Soccer Player’s Skin Condition Causes Her To Break Out In Life-Threatening Hives
Most people, when they sweat, will reach for a water bottle. However, one college soccer player has learned that sweating sends her to the emergency room.
Caitlin McComish of White House, Ohio has a serious but common condition known as cholinergic urticarial, which causes her to have hives when her skin is subjected to sweat and heat.
For the 20-year-old student, it means running the soccer field will set off an intense inflammatory reaction that will cause her to develop hives and swelling of her throat. This means she must get urgent medical care.
McComish, who attends the University of Toledo, was first struck with life-threatening anaphylactic shock because of the allergy when she was running in her hometown back in 2013. She said she got an upset stomach, with tingly feet and palms. McComish said she felt really itchy and she could feel the swelling rise in her throat.
She immediately called her mom, who showed up with the paramedics, just as McComish’s throat was closing. She went through treatment, but before she went back to college for the fall semester, she had 17 shocks, all during her training sessions.
McComish tried various strategies – in vain – to decrease the body’s response to sweat such as:
- Taking baths before her practice
- Wearing a cooling vests
She eventually got to see Dr. David Lang, The Cleveland Clinic’s chairman of the department of allergy and clinical immunology. Lang suggested McComish get Xolair injections, which is an asthma medication.
McComish said it was by the grace of God that she was able to see him. Since that time, she saw a significant response to her condition and may be able to – in time – get back into the game. Right now, she’s benched due to an unrelated heart condition.
The condition – cholinergic urticarial – is quite common with about 10 percent of 500 high school students having some form of it.
Lang said the condition causes people to suffer with swelling and itching, with heat or sweat being the key inciting factor.
He said the condition is so common and symptoms are so mild that patients tend to manage the symptoms on their own or not aware that it’s a real problem.
McComish said getting help for her condition has enabled her to reevaluate the situation. She said she came to terms with the situation. But, in the beginning, she kept ignoring the issue, thinking it’d go away.
McComish said the harder she worked, the worse she felt. And, it wasn’t until her favorite gave her some good advice that she realized she needed to streamline her life.
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