Itchy skin and weals with photo - exercise related?

Just a supplement - I have not changed the shower gel I normally use, neither has the powder used to clean my clothes or bedclothes changed and although I have reduced my food intake during my diet I have not added any new foods so I don't think this is an allergic reaction. I am taking a multi-vitamin pill daily to compensate for any loss of vitamins as a result of my diet (basically the diet simply involves having just cereal and fruit juice at breakfast, fresh fruit at lunch and no alcohol at all - evening meals are unchanged - usually meat plus 3 veg).

I sometimes get really itchy skin, after showering, I use e45 bath or shower wash, as it don't dry the skin, I have a red mark on my face near my jaw everyday, and all I can put it down to is I don't use soap on my face just hot water and Nivea cream , which I have been using for years , so I think it could be either hot water or the cream. Don't know, you will have to try different soap or lotions and see if it's your shower gel .

Or it could be a sweat rash, if you say it settles down in the night. Maybe your skin cools down and the wells and irrational disappear just s thought. 

Yes I know what you mean, but sometimes when we get older talking about myself the ingredients in the cream gel etc can cause a reaction, maybe someone else on this forum might have some ideas sometimes it trial and error to find the cause.

I think it can be urticaria, can can read more about it on google. Or u may allergy to s.th like food or plant. If u are uhable to handle it or take long time to get it away. U should see a skin Dr. 

nakb, that looks like an allergic reaction to me.  My best guess is that something you use, shower gel possibly, has changed ingredients, or you have developed a sensitivity to it without it changing ingredients.  Shower gels are scented, and such products are quietly reformulated periodically for one reason or another.  Do you use a body creme or a body veil after you bathe?  I am sure it is something that contacts your skin that is the culprit.  Have you been around animals lately?  Dogs, cats, wild birds or domesticated ones?

In any case, if this continues much longer, you should see a dermatologist.  The welts look really itchy and uncomfortable, and if you cannot pinpoint what is causing them, you need professional input to help you get it sorted.  Good luck.

Thanks for the various responses. I think I have identified the cause of the outbreak, which may be helpful to others.

The two odd things were that it started suddenly, about a week ago, and that the outbreaks only occurred in the late evening and cleared up before morning.

I had eliminated environmental factors (e.g. heat or cold, presence of animals, etc) and allergies to washing powders because nothing had suddenly changed.

The only thing that had changed about the time the outbreaks started was that I had a severe toothache and started taking paracetamol and ibuprofen painkillers.

The only three things that happen regularly each evening are that I exercise in the gym, have a shower and eat dinner.  I eliminated the shower because I have not changed my shower gel recently, and I eliminated a food allergy from dinner as my diet has also not changed.  That just left the exercise.

The exercise on its own could not be the issue as I had been doing the same amount of exercise for several weeks without problem before the outbreak.

Similarly the toothache and/or painkillers on their own could not be the problem as they would not explain why the outbreaks only happened in the late evening, and in any event I have had toothaches and taken painkillers before without problems.

I can therefore only assume that exercise makes me susceptible to an outbreak, but it requires a second factor to actually trigger it, and either the toothache or the painkillers provided that second factor.

Last week I visited the dentist and he confirmed I had a gum infection.  This cleared up a couple of days ago and I stopped taking the painkillers and re-started exercising.  For 2 days now I have been back on my original routine (exercise, shower, dinner) and have had absolutely no problems at all.

Odd that a gum infection (or painkillers) could work together with exercise to cause such an extreme skin reaction, but that seems to be the only explanation.