Sun allergy: how an American woman survives a rare disease

When Carrie Schmitt was unable to get out of bed due to a life-threatening heat allergy, she had to quit her job and move to another part of America in search of cooler weather. BBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

This also prompted her to become an artist.

On a hot day in Ohio in 2003, Carrie was out walking with her young son.

During the walk, she felt unwell, her legs were swollen.

When her legs almost tripled, she called an ambulance and was admitted to the hospital with anaphylactic shock.

The doctors were puzzled.

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Carrie's allergy became so severe that she could no longer climb stairs or make any quick movements, such as sweeping the floor.

When her body felt warm, she experienced anaphylactic shock.

Dr. Muncie Kanuga, an allergy specialist at the Mayo Clinic, says there are many theories about the causes of cholinergic urticaria and solar urticaria, but the exact mechanism is not well understood.

“These disorders likely result from increased sensitivity of allergic cells to environmental conditions or irritants,” she says.

Urticaria, also known as hives, is an itchy rash that appears on the skin.

It can be caused by the immune system mistakenly attacking healthy tissues in the body.

One in seven people with chronic urticaria experiences depression or anxiety as a result of this condition.

In many cases, no obvious cause can be found.

Allergic cells are part of the immune system and help fight infection.

When an allergen is detected, they release histamine.

Carrie's doctor believes that her allergies may be related to the birth of her son.

Carrie lost a lot of weight while breastfeeding him, and unlike her other two children, her son had a very strong appetite and ate almost constantly.

Her body lost so many nutrients that her hair began to fall out.

She says that, according to doctors, her body might have thought it was being attacked and mistakenly blamed the heat for it.

As Carrie tried to understand her diagnosis, she became increasingly irritated.

The only safe place for her was the bed, from which she had not crawled out for months.

According to her, she was lucky, because her husband had a good job, health insurance and he could take care of the children, but it was very difficult for her to come to terms with her illness.

“I can’t lie here for 50 years. I don’t want such a life,” she thought.

The woman recalls that one day there was a voice in her head that said: “Now that your life is over, why don’t you do what you want and start drawing?”

Carrie has always loved art, but left it as a teenager to pursue a more stable career.

Prior to thermal allergy, she worked as a medical writer at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital, where she wrote for medical journals, textbooks, and the hospital's website.

But when she painted, it was “as if she were transported to another realm where physical condition did not matter,” the woman says.

“I couldn't wait to wake up in the morning and start drawing. That's all I wanted. I had a really great relationship with creativity because it saved me,” says Carrie.

She could sit in bed, holding a sketchbook in her lap, and all the necessary materials by her side.

She calls herself an “intuitive artist” because she draws without a plan, which allows her to create something “more than she could have imagined.”

Her paintings are colorful and contain many colors - a reminder that she comes from a family of gardeners.

When Carrie started painting, she too began to experience different treatments.

Cholinergic urticaria and solar urticaria are often treated by minimizing the effects of triggers such as hot baths and direct sunlight.

Antihistamines may also be helpful to relieve itching and rashes.

But Carrie found that her allergies did not respond well to traditional treatments and began researching more holistic approaches, including advanced allergy therapy (AAT).

During this session, special pads and gentle pressure are placed on the body.

It is similar to acupuncture, but without needles.

Dr. Kanuga says AAT is not a well-studied approach to allergy treatment right now.

Carrie was skeptical at first, but says the improvement after treatment was "so immediate that she was shocked."

She was able to get out of bed and walk, could drive again and climb stairs.

From time to time she developed rashes, but the reaction became weaker.

Doctors offered her another more radical treatment, but it meant dramatic changes in her life.

She was advised to move from Ohio, where temperatures can reach 38 ° C, to a more temperate climate.

And Carrie decided to take this step - she moved to rainy Seattle, where the temperature is usually around 21 ° C.

In the cool environment, Carrie began to see a gradual improvement in her condition.

She was able to do yoga and paint outside the bedroom.

She started looking for a studio, but when faced with exorbitant real estate prices in Seattle, she bought a school bus, painted it pink, named it Rose, and turned it into an art space.

“It has been one of the best blessings of my life,” Carrie says.

Although Carrie has more freedom in Seattle, she still needs to be careful, as the summer is getting warmer in Washington state and wildfires are more frequent.

When the summer is too hot, she has to seek refuge in air-conditioned hotel rooms or cabins on the colder islands.

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She admits that coping with illness can sometimes be very difficult.

She skips children's sports when it's too hot and relies on her family to help out with shopping and household chores that require too much movement.

But there are also positive aspects. The illness prompted Carrie to write a memoir, Every Flower's Story, about her creativity, and she also teaches online art classes in hopes of inspiring others to be creative during difficult times.

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