Many people on the planet have a variety of allergies. Some are overcome by unbearable itching in response to chocolate or lemons, some begin to sneeze from flower pollen, some can not take certain medications. Each of these types of allergies can be dealt with. But what to do for those who are allergic to water in any of its manifestations? About the girl with such a rare disease, let’s talk in this article.
Sweat and tears
Sadie Tessmer, a 15-year-old resident of the United States, is one of 50 people on the entire planet who have been diagnosed with aquagenic urticaria. It manifests as extreme pain, itching and redness in places where the skin comes in contact with any liquid.
This means that Sadie suffers intolerably from regular showers as well as from her own sweat. She can’t even cry at these moments because tears also cause itching and pain for the next few hours.In her attempts to find a less traumatic liquid, Sadie has tried all kinds of water: salty, fresh, hard, soft, even several times distilled. Each time the effect was equally painful.
Experimentation with the temperature of the water did not help either.For a long time, doctors could not diagnose Sadie’s disease. The fact that usually a violent immune reaction (classic allergy) occurs in response to ingestion of a foreign substance. In the case of the young American, however, the body is reacting to its own fluids (e.g. tears).
According to Sadie’s mother, Amber, her daughter had aquagenic urticaria only a year ago. At first it appeared as severe redness of the skin after taking a bath. At first, Amber thought her daughter was just turning on too much hot water.When the illness was confirmed, the girl had to be removed from school to be home-schooled.
This greatly discourages Sadie. She feels very lonely, and her plans to play sports professionally or join the army after school are ruined.
It is a great relief to know that Sadie’s internal mucous membranes are not afraid of water, allowing her to drink and eat soup through a straw, but if she tries to eat liquid food with a spoon or drink water from a bottle, her lips will immediately swell and become very sore.