I found that whenever I walked to school from my apartment last winter, I would start to get rashes. I thought it was coming from maybe a certain tree on the way there as I only had the problem on days warm enough to go sans sweater (low 60’s) and wasn’t when covered up. Skip to a few weeks ago when my mom had her AC going full blast. After about 20 minutes, I got a rash on my arm only where the AC was blowing. Then, just a few minutes ago, I was walking from the store with a cold slab of Natty Light resting against my belly while I was holding it, and I had a small rash right where it was resting. What gives?
It’s called “cold urticaria”, or “cold induced urticaria”, “urticaria” being the fifty-cent word for “hives”. In other words, yeah, you’re allergic to cold.
This makes me a sad panda. I’ve never had these until last winter, and one of the three sites says it goes away after 6-12 months, so hopefully that will be the case (anyone had it come and go?) Thanks for the info.
how cold does it get in New Orleans?
Fortunately not too cold, mid 40’s is about right in the middle of the winter (but humid).
My girlfriend has had it ever since she was young and it has never went away, pain in the rump as it gets plenty cold enough in NJ. Her symptoms are much less pronounced as long as she stays physically active and keeps her body temp up. But even mild temps low 40s will cause hives if she is inactive for a while. I’d have to ask her for anymore info.
Damn cold. You need a sweater 10 months out of the year–they put the thermostat in public places like Wal-Mart at about 68 and it’s freezin’ in there.