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My Dermographism History:

My first encounter with dermographism was way back in grade 8. The first memory I have of the condition was at lunch time. The school that I attended at the time had a cafeteria where you would grab your food, then pay at the exit.

I remember dreading having to take the money out of my pocket because the friction between my hand and my jeans. This friction would cause my hand to appear red and swollen. This was later diagnosed as dermographism.

Being a kid, I never really thought that I should see someone right away. I just would hide the condition and live with it like it was normal. It wasn't until a year or so later that I actually pursued help from my parents and doctors.

Looking back at that time there were only a few things that I could relate to causing this condition.

1. tetracycline prescription - for acne
2. Getting a good shock from a CRT computer screen
3. Hormone changes during that time in my life

The initial consultation from the doctor decided that we should discontinue the tetracycline, and take occasional anti-histamines.

From then on doctors visits were about every 6 months to monitor my condition. During that time various drugs were prescribed as well as tests.

I went for an allergy test with a specialist in Toronto, but they couldn't accurately test me. This was because each time they poked to insert the allergen, it would set off my natural reaction with dermographism. Therefore they could not establish my reactiveness accurately. At this appointment they also did a thyroid test to rule out a flaky thyroid.

The next test was a skin biopsy to test for a condition called Mastocytosis. That test turned out negative.

I did find relief from a doctor that prescribed a combination of two drugs. That combination really made my life better because it was definitely the hardest time in my life living with the dermographism. It would reduce the reaction greatly so that I could be a normal teenager. The down side is that the drugs had negative side affects including being drowsy etc.

3 years passed by taking that combination of drugs then I decided to investigate other options with numerous dermatologists. They at times prescribed different antihistamines that there were newly available.

So, that is how things went for a while..... take your morning antihistamine, avoid contact with things, and go about your daily routine.

When I was about 22-23, my dermographism suddenly dissapeared. I no longer required the antihistamines, and had zero problems with "skin writing". Life was great!!!

To my great frustration however, the problem re-appeared just after I turned 24. This time, it seemed to cause other problems as well.

I decided to go back on the antihistamine route for relieve. Unfortunately though, my back seemed to have broke out in severe acne because of the swelling/contraction of my skin cells trapping oil because of the dermographism.

To deal with the acne problem, I consulted a dermatologist again, and they prescribed a cortisone based cream which I used religiously for a couple of years. The thing that sucks is that no one told me about how much damage steroids like cortisone do to the skin.

So, now at my age of 28 I still deal with the dermographism, but also deal with the acne that is a result of the original condition.

I have managed to get myself off of antihistamines and just deal with the itchiness, redness, and discomfort. It takes a lot of mind power, but I feel that it is better to deal with the pain than risk the long term affects of taking anti-histamines for over 10 years.

For information on my next plan of attack, read the what's next section