I recently learned of dermatographia – in which pressure causes hives.

Exhibit 94015444 of why I don’t trust many doctors:

The Cleveland Clinic says it is a common and benign skin condition, then in later paragraphs admits that it could be a sign of an autoimmune disease.

*insert katja screaming at the top of her lungs*

Look. This is complete irrationality from this chronically ill person’s viewpoint. How in the world do you go from “this is completely harmless and common” to “well, also it could be a symptom of things going totally and terribly wrong to you down the road”?

…well.

Turns out dermatographia affects women and men 2:1 and it’s been observed more in obese people.

I think I know why almost every other general-knowledge site has been this dismissive.

Do a little more reading that gets a little deeper into things and…

“Patients with dermatographism and delayed-pressure urticaria should not wear backpacks or carry other heavy weights and should avoid tight-fitting clothing and excessive friction or pressure on the skin. Patients with heat- and exercise-induced urticaria need to avoid excessive heating of the skin, vigorous exercise, hot baths, and other factors resulting in increased body heat.”

Also:

“DPU is the most debilitating of CIndUs and is triggered by sustained local pressure (e.g., wearing tight shoes, carrying heavy bags, long walks, sitting or leaning against firm objects, climbing ladders, jogging, driving, or clapping hands). Deep and painful swellings, clinically resembling angioedema, develop 30 minutes to 12 hours after pressure, and may be associated with ‘flu-like symptoms, fever, arthralgia, and fatigue.”

…so for most of my life I’ve been trying to tell doctors that I get heatstroke super easily, that exercise wears me out, and that I get “heat rashes” all the time for no reason…

Only to get gaslit over and over and over again…

And this shit is documented?

…I…hate doctors so much right now. Almost as much as I hate the TSA.

Yeah, yeah, #NotAllDoctors, but…I am in no mood to be fair right now.

The thing is…once you know, then everything makes perfect sense.

It started when I was a kid and couldn’t wear a watch because my skin would get itchy and red under the strap.

My aunt bought me a dozen pretty little-girl-lace dresses and I hated them all because they itched.

Then it progressed to being picky about socks.

Then elastic bands were out.

And then bras were out.

I can’t wear the majority of synthetic fabrics: either it’s too scratchy or it doesn’t breathe so I get a “heat rash”. I also can’t wear wool or even angora or alpaca.

It’s a good thing I earned my own money for some years before things got really bad because essentially the only fabrics I can wear reliably is silk, cashmere, and pima cotton.

And for years I thought it was the autism and/or ADHD and a more ridiculous version of “tag sensitivity”.

I tolerated skepticism and judgment from peers and medical professionals this whole time because it sounds ridiculous, very empress of peas to verbalize “nope, nothing other than silk, cashmere, and high quality linen and cotton”.

Except, no, it’s been something else this entire time.

And this entire time I’ve been correct to want to stay out of the heat, to not exercise to the point of heavy sweating, to refuse exerting myself in ways society wants me to as a fat person.

My suffering over the past week, where I haven’t been able to sleep, where I’ve been surviving only because of triple-dosing on anti-histamines, where I’ve been anxious to the point of being sick over not knowing what was going on?

Utterly unnecessary if only someone had been willing to do their job at some point in the past decade. Looking at the articles, they’ve known vaguely this was a thing since 1998, but most of the more useful articles seem to be clustered around more recent years.

And remember when I said further up the page that this could be an autoimmune disease?

Well. It progresses, as I’ve laid out.

Maybe it starts out as “no big deal”. But it’s something to keep an eye on because one day you too might wake up covered in hives because your skin can no longer tolerate the cheap cotton sheets. A perfectly normal cotton shirt might tear your skin and leave you covered in weeping ezcema.

And if that day comes, known that cetirizine might help.