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Abigail Beck, of Tucson, Arizona, was diagnosed with aquagenic urticaria last month, three years after her symptoms initially appeared when she was 13 years old.
One in every 200 million persons is affected by this incredibly rare disease. Only about 100 cases of water allergy have been documented. It usually happens when a child reaches puberty.
Rehydration medications have been prescribed by her doctors.
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She claims that her allergy makes her puke even when she drinks water. She went on to say that she hadn’t drank a glass of water in over a year. She drinks pomegranate juice or energy drinks.
To combat the effects, she can only drink a limited amount of water at a time and takes antihistamines and steroids.
“My own tears cause a reaction where my face goes red and burns really badly. I cry like a normal person and it hurts. Tears are one of the worst parts of it because when you cry, your tears shouldn’t burn your skin,” she said.
It’s thought that the disease is caused by a chemical in the water that causes an immunological reaction. The majority of instances develop at random, with no family history of the disease.
Last week, the youngster experienced an allergic reaction to a sports drink, which caused her stomach to spasm and her chest to hurt for four hours.
“It slowly progressed and started getting worse over time. When it rained it hurt really badly, it felt like acid. ‘I thought it was normal so I asked my mum if rain felt like acid to her when it rained and she said no,” Abigail was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.
She first assumed something was wrong with her water or that she was having an allergic response to skin moisturiser. However, as time passed, the symptoms became more severe.
She waited until this year to visit a doctor because she was afraid they would think she was “mad.”
Abigail explained that doctors needed to be educated on her disease because so little is known about it.