I signed up just so I can respond to this; I hope the original poster is watching. I don't know about sweat allergies, but I do know about a skin condition called hidradenitis suppurativa, which is incredibly painful and is caused by clogging of the sweat glands. If the rash that you get is actually more like boils or lesions, you should consult a dermatologist and keep asking for referrals until you get one who has heard of it. It only affects about 1% of the population and there's no cure, but there are some treatments that can provide relief. I've been suffering from it for almost fifteen years now and it's horrible - so few doctors know about it (and so many patients are too embarassed to mention it or try to shrug it off as nothing) that it's misdiagnosed more often than not. I hope that's not what you have, but I thought I'd provide this information just in case you were misdiagnosed like I was for so long.

More info:She suffers from an extremely rare skin disorder called Aquagenic Urticaria - so unusual that only a handful of cases are documented worldwide. When Ashleigh gets wet her body explodes in sore, itchy red lumps that take about two hours to ease. She has to wash. But showering is a painful experience and she can only do it for a minute at a time. These brief showers are the only contact Ashleigh has with water. The one thing she doesn't miss is the washing up. "People find it hard to believe, they say things like 'Oh my god, how do you wash. Scroll down for more ... She developed the condition five years ago after an acute case of tonsillitis. She was prescribed a heavy dose of penicillin that rid her of the tonsillitis but left her with another problem. "I suddenly started getting a rash after I showered or swam," says Ashleigh who used to swim regularly and spend a lot of time at the beach. "I tried to ignore it but it got progressively worse so I went to see a dermatologist." Ashleigh's dermatologist, Professor Rodney Sinclair, told her the penicillin had altered the histamine levels in her body and caused the Aquagenic Urticaria to occur. There is no cure and no successful treatment for the condition so the gravity of the situation began to dawn on the 14-year-old Ashleigh. "I was in disbelief for a while, but I soon realised how serious it was. "I cried for a few hours, then picked myself up, and kept going. I realised it was something I had to live with," she says. So Ashleigh found ways to avoid water - she stopped doing sports and anything that made her sweat. She makes sure she stays in air-conditioned places and always has an umbrella in her car. Her family and boyfriend of three years, Adam, 23, are very supportive but her condition makes intimate moments with her Adam a little difficult. "We have to sleep with a sheet between us at night, and I can't go near him if he's sweaty," said Ashleigh. Even the experts seem a little vague about Aquagenic Urticaria. Dermatologists agree there's an association with elevated blood histamine levels, but there are other processes at work since antihistamine drugs often provide no relief at all.

Seriously, no biggie. I have dermatological urticaria which means my skin is just hyper sensitive. I get hives from sweat, crying, showers, extreme heat, extreme cold, and plenty of other crappy things. The year I learned this, I was 16 and had just been hired on as a swimming instructor. Its something you learn to deal with. It's not always so bad, and before I go swimming, I pop a reactine and it works wonders!

Plus you're from Canada. This just isn't your life.

it's not permanent. i've had that before. it took me half a year before i no longer have allergies to it though.

FYL. i have something like this but i don't think mine is serious. every time i sweat , my legs will itch like hell. no red bumps or anything. just the horrible itch:(

you have a sweat rash, its a fungal skin conditon and you can treat it with canestan (clotrimazole)

Wow, I never knew that one could be allergic to sweat. If it's real, that definately sucks. But, as others have said, it does sound peculiar to be allergic to something your body produces, especially something as common as sweat. And it does sound strange that you haven't noticed it before, and that it's only in specific spots. But I don't have the condition, and I know nothing about it, so who am I to judge? Really, good luck with that. Hopefully it gets taken care of :).

And now you know how you developed this allergy. God, such an overexposure :P

I signed up just to reply to this and first of all wanted to thank the op for posting, at times it felt like I was the only person suffering from "Cholinergic Urticaria" {google/wikipedia if you need to & yes it's vary real}. I would say my condition was severe and lasted 4-5 years. I didn't get any visible hives but it was excruciating painful right from the bottom of my ears all the way down to below my waist. Friends, family and co-workers use to look at me like I was crazy and doctors didn't understand what I was talking about. I once flared up so bad at work a co-worker was thinking seizure and was on the phone with 911. Heat, sudden spikes in temperature and/or physical exertion would set me off. I went a whole winter without a coat or sweater and their were still times where I'd have to pack snow down my shirt to "try" to cool off. I also had to get up twice a night to soak a t-shirt I was wearing in cold water or I didn't sleep. Cold and/or wet seemed to be the only way to sooth an attack for me. I seen several doctors and specialist before it was determined what my condition actually was. I would say I'm now fortunate enough to be symptom free. I have no idea what caused my Cholinergic Urticaria to start but it left just as mysteriously as it started. From the sounds of it your condition isn't as bad, but know this it does eventually get better.