In my practice, I often encounter people who say that they are allergic to the sun. With exposure to sunlight, they experience symptoms such as itching, hives or burning. Some have visible rashes while others don't. Some have a medical condition which makes them more sensitive to sunlight; others are using various medications or topical agents that cause a reaction on the skin with sun exposure.
It is possible that you can be allergic to the sunlight, with exposure causing hives. More commonly, people experience hives as a result of heat exposure - whether due to the warm of the sun, hot showers or exercise. Other reactions to sunlight occur as a result of contact dermatitis to topically applied products, such as cosmetics and sunblocks.
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Hi, I have got allergic to sun since I was 14 yo, now 35 years old. I hate it. I used to be outdoor person, swimming, bike cycling, etc. Now I cannot do anything outside. I love summer, but I cannot go anywhere. My skin will react with hives and red rash just few hours after exposing to sun. They are very itchy and I will have to control myself not to scratch them otherwise it will leave scars. They do not go away after 24 hours like some doctors said though, it will go away more than 1 weeks sometimes, even 3 months with bad rash. Is there any ways to stop this at least reduce them besides wearing long sleeve and all sun protections that you all already mentioned? Some medications maybe?
My hives break out about 24-48 hours after sun exposure. They drive me crazy for three days, then they are gone. If I have a base tan, no problems, and I don’t get them any more unless I lose my tan, then I have to start over again. Prednisone and Atarax are the only way to get relief.
Susan– you have polymorphic light eruption syndrome. I have it as well. Same symptoms. It baffled me for a while as it would just happen once a year in the Spring– but apparently it’s not uncommon. Just wanted to clue you into it and let you know you aren’t alone.
Have you tried supplementing with 5000IU D3 per day during the previous winter months?
Try taking a tepid bath with about a cup of baking soda dissolved in it. The rash you described is called prickly heat.
Erythropoietic Protoporphyria, and other forms of porphyria offer a medical explanation Vampirism. This condition does not always present visible rashes, and as such may be difficult to diagnose. I have had this condition since age 4, and was not diagnosed until 13.
I have been allergic to the sun since i got a real bad sunburn when i was in the 6th grade. Now, 31 years later, i am suffering more each year. Not only do I get the raised rash on my arms, but if i get any sun exposure on any other part of my body (That doesn’t get normal exposure during the year) I get an ugly red/purple rash that is very painful. When i was a kid they tried to tell me it was poison ivy, i was alleric to trees…grass…everything.
I am allergic to the sun as well i dont get hives but a real deep purple color and swell up twice the size of my normal self in the burned area. I have been like this since i was 2 and i am 32 now. I have tried all types of sunscreens and different creams, sprays and other stuff and nothing works other then waiting out the time for the burn to go away and swelling to go down which is about 3 days or more. I have found some clothes that is fairly priced and is every day looking clothes. coolibar.com has everything for people like us to be normal again or in a sense of normal however the burns are no more since i have been wearing the clothes. I was a person who couldnt be out no more then 15 minutes at a time now i can be outside at least 3 hours with the clothes yeah i have a life outside. Even swimming is possible with the clothes from coolibar.com
Hi, I started breaking out right when Aunt Flow first visited me around 14 yrs. old. and I’m 48 now. I to was always outside all summer, if I wasn’t in the water I was by it. If I get a base tan (tanning bed)and keep it and I still use tanning lotion’s (and yes I still tan with them) I don’t break out during the summer. I had a doctor relate it to hormones and sun exposure he has seen alot of Indians with this.(I didn’t break out when I was pregnant)so maybe there’s something to it. All I know is I’m broke out now really bad that’s how I found this web site. Good luck
My girlfriend has really dark skin, but she will burn if exposed to the sun for only two minutes (i’m serious). What is the problem? Anyone else heard of such a thing? It is even worse if she uses the wrong sunblock, she’ll burn even quicker! Any answers?
Some of you sound like you have something else called polymorphous light eruption. Check it out.
I had this condition for years until my dr. prescribed Plaqenil(used to prevent malaria) I can now stay in the direct sun for hours without bumps and itching. It has been a mircle med for me. I love the outdoors and the sun. The only negative to it is, I have to get a yearly eye exam b/c of a possible side effect. however i have had no eye problems since i started the med. The eye exam is a small price to pay for me!!!!
You should definitely consider asking your dermatologist about PMLE or PLE ( polymorphous light eruption). It is essentially a delayed hypersensitive allergic reaction to sun light that can present in a few different ways. For YEARS I struggled to figure out why I broke out in painful hives after a day at the beach and I was just ( 10 years later) diagnosed with PMLE. I have been fortunate in that I have a mild case, but I have heard of steroids or cortisone for people with severe cases.
I also have PMLE. I am 21 right now. the first time it happened was when I was 17 or 18. The dermatologist diagnosed me as having eczema. I know now however that I have PMLE, the symptoms match me perfectly. Extended exposure to the sun will leave my skin red (my skin is brown and I can still see the redness) and at night its a war trying to sleep because your arms will be on fire all night. After a week it goes away completely, and I have a dark tan, at which point I can go out into pretty intense sun and not break out. But once winter comes along my tan goes away as does my resistance to the breakouts, and at that point I know the next time I’m out in the hot sun for a long time I’m going to hate myself later…
I also read that PMLE usually happens in females and is “rare” in males… I guess I’m one lucky guy then (I’m male)… lottery numbers are 26 2 1 5 6
Hi. I’m a 40 yr old African American female (Kill the myth that people of color don’t sun burn) and have been suffering from reactions to sun exposure since I was about 23. Any exposure to my bare skin results in an itchy red painful rash that usually turns into me looking like a puffer fish. The only thing that has worked for me over the years has been medoral-dose packs (steroid) and medicated Sun screen prescribed by my doctor. It puts a damper on a lot of our summer activities. I like being outside in the summer wearing tank tops and all that jazz, and would love to hang out at the beach, but 5 minutes or more exposed and I’m done(literally). I take precautions like keeping a light sweater in my car at all times and never leaving home with out my meds and sun screen.
I will ask my doctor about some of the posting I have read referring to the different diagnosis and medications. They have been very helpful.
losing my mind-well, seriously. i’m actually somewhat paranoid, which isn’t helping. 40 years old, falling apart-on oxygen 24/7 after pneumonia (?), enlarged heart, unexplained minor strokes, migraines, seizures (well, the headaches and seizures aren’t new, but escalated…), pain, horried fatigue, vitamin D in the tank, B12 in the tank-why do i bother to eat?-and now, i’m turning into a vampire. i actually have scars from being in the sun. ah well, i’m already on vitamin D and B12 shots…i guess i’m going to have to start taking melatonin now? how the heck can 20 mins. in the sun…the one day i made myself go out into (the light, the light…oversensitve much? it really does burn…) the sun and sit leave me strips of skin that look like they’re twenty or thirty years older than the rest of me?
am i wrong to think this mysterious thing could kill me while everyone murmurs about how ‘unusual’ it is to see so many ’stress-related’ disorders in one person…well, you’d be stressed too if you were this sick and didn’t know why. oh, so it goes in that direction? well, actually…yeah.
somebody tell me something, before i go sunbathing at high noon…
im 15 yrs old and have been allergic too the sun for 14 yrs now an i was born allergic too it . i have it pretty bad i cant be out side more then 20 minss or my skin turns white ihave too diffrenet types of skin tan and peer whitee and the peer white skin is from being allergic too the sun . when the sun is out i cant be outside beacause i can barley see when the sun is outt it hurts my eyes way too much . but i just say god made me this wayy for a reason too tech the others something diffrenet i know im beautiful either wwayyy!
I’ve been allergic to the sun my whole life! I’m 18 now and I like to call myself a Vampire
im allergic too the sun been this way sic i was a babby i cant go out to the sun i brak out if i go out in it 2 hours after im in it i brun up and 3 hours later i swell up like a ball my eyes get were i cant see out of them i trun black and blue i cant go swiming i cant go out in it what can i do and is there othere out there like me
I found out that I was allergic to the sun, I was wondering if its still ok to be exposed to the sun? is it bad ? I am a hiker and outdoors and I don’t want this to get in my way so is it bad? Please email me at Brianna.M.Doucet1@gmail.com
i found out i was allergic to the sun when i was 3 its called xeroderma pigmentosum and it sucks im 18 now and its getting worse.like sunscreen only does so much and plus i live in arizona ..best place for me right ? NOT!
i go to a waterpark and swim and im out in the sun all day. but i day later, i break out into a rash. what is caused by that?
I’m 60 and had arguments with the sun since 7 or 8. My twist to the sun allergy is: swelling of exposed area, tan well with out rashes or sores, then comes the burning under the skin and anxiety(I thought). Any further exposure is extremely painful and dangerous. My body stores up the suns poison until i feel like I am on fire and my heart hurts. The fire only goes away when i hide in a dark room for two to three days, heart hurts longer because (the anxiety) my body dumps adrenalin into my blood as an antidote for the burn. Extremely hard on my heart. Been near death a few times. For 30 years the doctors said it was in my head because it wasn’t on my skin. Wrong doctors, the right doctors were University of Washington Medical staff, they gave me my life back.
I took 150,000 IU of Beta Carotene each day for two years and hid from sun. I started exposing myself to sunlight and absolutely no problems, felt real nice, boating, fishing ect. Stopped taking them last fall and went fishing yesterday, today I am back hiding from and cussing the sun. Tomorrow back on pills, only make you ORANGE, better than hiding in pain. It’s your life, see a DOCTOR, a real one.
Soon back to living life normal. Thanks Colin
I often get episodes of hot flashes,dizziness, headaches,anxiety tension in my neck and sometimes feel just downright ill and worst case scenarios include tunnel vision and near fainting. It has taken many years for me to associate sunlight and flouresent lights to my episodes and even regular light bulbs when they are directly overhead to long. When I did finally associate my ill feelings with light everyone I know says I am crazy even though some witness my episodes and can tell I am physicaly ill find it impossible to believe that it could be caused by the light. I was not aware there really were such allergies but after nearly 30 years of my episodes they seem to go hand in hand with light exposure. I feel a bit of hope knowing such allergies really do exist but I do not get the skin rashes that seem to be the main symptom. Can there still be allergies without the skin breaking out? I am very light skinned and very very freckled and burn very very easily but seldom expose myself to the direct sunlight that causes me to burn. Can anyone help me?
I have had issues with the sun since my birth – I am now 17. I have a blood condition in which my blood temperature changes 10 times faster than that of the average human. This causes my organs to expand and suffocate themselves and in turn causing me to have a convulsion. I also have fair, pale skin. I never tan, just burn. I get heat stroke frequently, to the point where I’m usually hospitalized – either for the heat stroke or my convulsions.
I also seem to have troubles during the winter where my blood gets too cold to flow properly and my limbs turn purple. I’m hoping to grow out of this in my later years, though I have yet to know what this condition is called.
I am looking for info in this sun allergy. My son is going on two and has been having symptoms in and off for a few months now. He will wake up and have hair missing and then have a rash all over his body. The newest symptom is swelling of the face. He woke up the other day and his entire face was swollen to the point he could not open his eyes. We took him to the ER and they said that he has a photosensitive allergy that was probably caused by the sunblock and the sun exposure. They said to cover him head to toe if we gou out side and we did that the other day and even with out the sunblock. The rash started to appear as well as his eyes starting to swell. Has anyone ever heard of any of this.
i stood outside for about ten minutes and about five minutes in, my legs started to tingle and itch. I went back in to my house and the parts that were exposed just completely flared up, I couldn’t stop scratching my arms and legs and chest.
This is the first time I’ve reacted to the sun like this, but I read that it can start around your twenties. I just turned 21. Would my GP be able to prescribe me with anything to prevent this from happening again?
Hi, Im Emily. I Just found out that i was allergic to the sun. I went to the park to play and when i got out of the sun i was red i can home and i had a rash! The next day I went to my dads and we worked outside, and when i came in i was covered in Hives on my arms,Waist,Face,Back,Stomach,and my chest. My mom took me to the docter and they said its possible for me to be allergic to the sun but they think it is a viral rash! They gave me a steroids shot in my left buttcheek and the rash dried up! I didnt go to school that day either b/c i didnt feel good at all! Today i felt better so i went to school! When i Got to reading the rash came back! So i asked if i could go call my mom to bring my allergy meds and they said i could so i called she said it will be 1 hour! When my mom got there it had gotten worse so the nurse took my temerature and it was 100.4 and they said i could go home if i felt like it so my mom asked me if i wanted to go home so we could go to the docter to see what the rash really was and i said yeah! So I will get back on and tell you guys what the docter said when i get back! Thanks for reading my story!
hi i also have most of the symtom that kassey no 24 tell about.i also in may and june when driving become nervousis this unusual?