Watch Young Mother Speak Out About Her Rare Allergy To Water!
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A young mother-of-one has spoken out about the struggles she’s been facing after developing an extremely rare allergy to water shortly after giving birth.
26-year-old Cherelle Farrugia from Wales, UK, has always enjoyed swimming and never had any issues with being in contact with water.
After the young mum gave birth to her daughter Willow, however, a rare allergy walked into her life and changed it forever.
As Cherelle took her first shower after giving birth, she noticed painful, itchy hives breaking out all over her body.
Now, each time the 26-year-old gets in contact with water, she develops rashes that stay to hurt her for hours, resulting in the young mum being forced into saying goodbye to long showers and trips to the swimming pool.
Speaking of her rare condition, also known as aquagenic urticarial, to Barcroft TV, the mother said:
“Up until I had my daughter, I had no issues with water at all, I had three baths a day and literally the first bath after I had her I broke out into this awful rash.
“Physically it’s quite painful and it’s very itchy, it’s kind of like a prickly feeling and then it’s a full-blown rash.point 220 |
I’m mostly affected just above my belly button, so my legs are rarely affected; it’s mostly my stomach, shoulders, back, and my neck.point 115 | Occasionally I get it on my face if I’m having a particularly nasty reaction.point 181 | ”point 184 | 1
As the mother added, her condition led her to develop anxiety and depression and made her feel like a prisoner in her own body.
“The weather used to make me feel really anxious, I think for about two months even if it was just drizzling, I wouldn’t leave the house,” Cherelle added.
“I had panic attacks because I was so overwhelmed. I didn’t know much about the condition and I read the horror stories online of people going into shock. I spent a lot of time indoors which really didn’t help with my depression.”
While the 26-year-old suspected what she had been suffering from, she was thrilled after the diagnosis was finally made because that’s when people started taking her seriously.
“I was getting really upset and I was thinking nobody is going to take me seriously,” Cherelle admitted.
“When I told the private allergist and he told me you have aquagenic urticaria I was like thank god there’s somebody who finally understands.
“I’ve spoken to a number of doctors and they don’t know what could happen if I go swimming and for me, that’s a really scary thing not knowing.
“I usually shower in the morning because I’ve got it done so I can kind of have my breakfast then and distract myself while the reactions are happening.
“I think a lot of people who do have long showers are sort of there enjoying the water so for me I don’t have that time I just have to clean very fast.”
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