I’m allergic to WATER and 39 other substances – getting caught in rain makes me want to scrape my skin off with a knife
A TEENAGE girl who's allergic to WATER and 39 other substances says getting caught in the rain makes her want to "scrape my skin off with a knife".
The extreme reactions can cause her throat to dangerously swell up, break out in hives and give her a feeling of "ants crawling" on her skin.
Chloe Ramsay, 19, faces a daily struggle after being born with a whopping list of food allergies.
There are so many she has to use a colour-coded spreadsheet to keep track of them all.
From a near endless range of fruit off limits, Chloe recently discovered she is also allergic to water.
The "invasive" reactions have caused her anxiety and even made her "look like a drug addict".
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In order to keep them at bay, Chloe has to inject herself twice a month potentially for the rest of her life.
As a child, Chloe remembers frequent trips to hospital to be handed EpiPen's and medication after going into anaphylactic shock.
Having being treated during childhood, Chloe no longer ends up in hospital but still continues to suffer.
New allergies frequently pop up and the severity of existing ones can change too.
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The carer, from Havant, Hampshire, was first diagnosed with allergies when she was just six months old.
If she was given potatoes or bananas Chloe would "go blue and pass out".
Currently she cannot eat foods like strawberries, kiwis, fruit juices or even use scented shampoos.
And from October 2022 water started causing her to break out in hives.
Chloe explained: "With the water allergy, it just came on one day - I thought I'd used a body wash I was allergic to, but it got worse.
"Whenever I washed my hands I would get massive rashes and felt like ants crawling on my skin.
"I'll have to be giving myself injections to treat my allergies for life."
Despite the hospital using a "microdosing" technique to slowly train her body to not go into anaphylaxis and to reduce her severe reactions, new allergies have continued to emerge.
At one point she could not eat any fruit at all.
The "invasive" reactions such as swelling lips can be experienced alongside a "scratchy" sensation when breathing.
Later diagnosed with a pollen food syndrome, she must also avoid perfumes, scented soaps and even wood-smoked meats because of the pollen in the trees used to smoke it.
She said: "At school I used to have my own little blue band so the dinner staff knew my allergies.
"They had to make my food from scratch.
"Now I'm at university, I struggle because a lot of the social stuff is based around food and I have to constantly be checking the menu.
"It makes me quite anxious to be sitting around food that I know I can't eat."
She has since been diagnosed with aquagenic urticaria - an allergy to water on her skin - but luckily, drinking it caused no issues.
Chloe said: "It can be itchy and painful, like having ants crawling on your skin.
"The allergy came almost suddenly. I would be fine taking showers then one day I started itching and each time was worse.
"I changed my shampoo, conditioner, body wash, flannel, scrubber, and the water temperature - nothing helped."
The condition worsened over time and became debilitating for her.
She said: "Once I got stuck in the rain waiting for a train and by the time I got inside, I couldn't stop scratching - I looked like a drug addict.
"I felt like I wanted to scrape my skin off with a knife. I told even told my mum 'I can't do this any more'."
Last year, she was introduced to a medication injected monthly to treat her allergies - after a medical board approved the strong drug because of her severe situation.
With the drug, her water allergy is "almost completely gone" but she still needs to be careful around perfumes and eating pollen-derived substances when on the medication.
She has to keep track of whatever foods she reacts to, and how severely, using a traffic-light colour coded system on an Excel spreadsheet.
She said: "So far, nobody has been on that injection for life.
"Apparently I'm one of the unlucky three per cent that wasn't completely cured by it.
"I'm so unlucky - I used to get quite upset, but I just have to laugh it off now.
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"I'm allergic to so many things that my parents joke 'what will you be allergic to next, oxygen?'."
Chloe's allergies
- Peanuts
- Hazelnuts
- Soya
- Smoked meats
- Tomato
- Carrot
- Apricot
- Banana
- Blueberry
- Blackberry
- Cherry
- Cranberry
- Grape
- Grapefruit
- Kiwi
- Mango
- Orange
- Papaya
- Peach
- Pear
- Raspberry
- Strawberry
- Dried apricot
- Dried mango
- Dried banana
- Raisins
- Dried cranberry
- Tinned orange
- Tinned pear
- Tinned peach
- Tinned apricot
- Tinned apple
- Tinned mango
- Fruit pastilles
- Wine gums
- Haribo
- Skittles
- Jelly beans
- Jelly babies
- Water
- Pollen
- Dust
- Sand
- Mould
- Dogs
- Cats
- Glue
- Face paint
- Insect bites
- Perfumes
- Candles
- Air freshener
- Deodorant
- LUSH stores
The signs of an allergic reaction and anaphylaxis + what to do
SYMPTOMS of an allergy usually occur within minutes of contact with with the offending food or trigger, but they can also come on up to one hour later.
Most allergic reactions are mild but they can also be moderate or severe.
Anaphylaxis is the most severe form of allergic reaction which can be life threatening.
In some cases, anaphylaxis symptoms lead to collapse and unconsciousness and, on rare occasions, can be fatal so it's important to know how to recognise them and act quickly.
Mild to moderate symptoms include:
- Itchy mouth, tongue and throat
- Swelling of lips, around the eyes or face
- Red raised itchy rash (often called nettle rash, hives or urticaria)
- Vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhoea
- Runny nose and sneezing
Severe symptoms of anaphylaxis include:
- Swelling of your throat and tongue
- Difficulty breathing or breathing very fast
- Difficulty swallowing, tightness in your throat or a hoarse voice
- Wheezing, coughing or noisy breathing
- Feeling tired or confused
- Feeling faint, dizzy or fainting
- Skin that feels cold to the touch
- Blue, grey or pale skin, lips or tongue – if you have brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of your hands or soles of your feet
Anaphylaxis and its symptoms should be treated as a medical emergency.
Follow these steps if you think you or someone you're with is having an anaphylactic reaction:
- Use an adrenaline auto-injector (such as an EpiPen) if you have one – instructions are included on the side of the injector.
- Call 999 for an ambulance and say that you think you're having an anaphylactic reaction.
- Lie down – you can raise your legs, and if you're struggling to breathe, raise your shoulders or sit up slowly (if you're pregnant, lie on your left side).
- If you have been stung by an insect, try to remove the sting if it's still in the skin.
- If your symptoms have not improved after 5 minutes, use a second adrenaline auto-injector.
Do not stand or walk at any time, even if you feel better.
Sources: Allergy UK, NHS
