A 2-year-old student from California is allergic to water and she has opened up about her extremely rare condition.
21-year-old Tessa Hansen-Smith is diagnosed with “Aquagenic Urticaria”, a type of disease that causes her to come out in a bright rash when she sweats, takes a shower, or cries.
Tessa was diagnosed with the disease when she was just 10-years-old.
The rare disease affects her that she avoids breaking out in a sweat and has to be shuttled around her university’s campus.
Tessa is now talking about her rare condition so she could help people that are diagnosed with “Aquagenic Urticaria”.
Talking about her rare condition, Tessa said, “It’s a really difficult condition to have as I’m even allergic to my own tears, saliva and sweat. I’m really prone to heat exhaustion and have to avoid physical activity.”
She added, “I even have to be shuttled around my campus at college because otherwise I show up to my class with a fever, migraine and rashes making it really difficult to concentrate.”
She continued, “I suffer with a lot of muscle fatigue and nausea too; the sickness is usually caused by me eating something with a lot of water in foods like some fruits and vegetables. Even drinking water can cause cuts on my tongue.”
When Tessa was just 8-years-old, her parents saw that there was something wrong with her.
Every time when she went for a shower, she would break out in a rash, which left her skin really red.
At that time, the family of Tessa thought she was allergic to the soap that they were using.
Tessa explained, “We one by one took them out to see which products I didn’t react to.”
She continued, “To help the rashes I’d take an allergy tablet which got rid of them but aquagenic urticaria gets worse with age, so that no longer works for me like it did.”
Once they realized that it was not a soap allergy, the mother of Tess realized that she had a disease.
Fast forward to today, Tessa now takes 9 tablets every day to keep her disease away.
Tessa said, “Having aquagenic urticaria can be a mental game at times – it’s hard to take so many tablets everyday knowing that it’s not actually ever going to stop.”
She added, “At one point I was taking 12 tablets a day; currently I’m taking nine. I’m frequently reminded that there’s no cure to aquagenic urticaria and that I’ll never really be fully better which is definitely a difficult thing to hear sometimes.”
Tessa says her rare condition will not stop her from being left behind in life.
She wants to become independent and leave her town when she goes to college.
She explained, “I try my best to take things one day at a time because some days are better than others. If I’m able to see my friends and loved ones without having to leave early due to feeling sick, or make it to all my classes in one day, I see that as a win in my book.”
Tessa also runs an Instagram page that spreads awareness about the “Aquagenic Urticaria” disease.
The 21-year-old student wants to inspire people who are diagnosed with the same disease.