"I'm afraid to open the refrigerator": how a girl with an allergy to cold lives
21-year—old Arianna Kent from Alberta, Canada, suffers from a rare dangerous disease - cold-induced urticaria. To put it simply, this girl has a severe allergy to cold, which manifests itself in the form of a profuse rash all over her body, itching and burning.
Despite this, Arianna lives in a country where in winter the temperature often drops to minus 40 degrees. Although moving to warmer climes would hardly help her, because even an open refrigerator can be potentially dangerous for a Canadian. How the girl manages to cope with this disease, read in our material.
Arianna Kent is often called "a girl with an allergy to winter," although even in summer, an anaphylactic shock can occur in a Canadian resident. Ice in a glass with a drink makes her fingers swell, an open refrigerator or freezer causes a rash on the body, even a breath of wind and swimming in the pool can cause Arianna to have an allergic reaction. And it looks something like this:
Arianna says that in the cold season, she can be outside for no more than five minutes. Even a walk to the car promises a girl trouble. That is why Arianna spends most of her time at home.
Arianna's list of "enemies" includes an air conditioner and a refrigerator. The girl cannot be in a store where the air conditioner is on, because almost immediately a rash appears on her skin.
When something cold gets into Arianna's food, for example, ice is mistakenly put in her drink, a strong tension arises in the girl's throat.
Arianna experienced her first attack of an allergic reaction when she was 14 years old. It happened when a schoolgirl was clearing snow. Then the girl felt difficulty breathing and told her parents about it.
The examination by doctors did not bring proper results — for the first two years everyone thought that Arianna was suffering from food allergies. Until now, not all employees of medical institutions believe that she has cold urticaria. Not to mention friends and colleagues…
Arianna is in the hospital at least once a month, not counting those cases when she is hospitalized urgently. Before that, the Canadian had to visit doctors three times a month, but thanks to a special diet, the number of visits was reduced.
The disease creates many problems not only in terms of physical well-being. Once, because of him, Arianna almost lost her job. The fact is that the girl works in a restaurant, and one of her "duties" is to look attractive.
When the girl began to put on a lot of warm clothes, the employers were surprised, and did not immediately believe in the existence of an allergy to cold. To dispel their doubts, Arianna opened the refrigerator and red spots immediately began to appear on her hands.
Arianna always has an autoinjector of adrenaline in her purse in case of anaphylactic shock. After all, even the simplest things, like a draft or ice in a glass, can turn into serious consequences for a girl.