“I had to move to the other side of the country due to my allergy to the sun.”

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

As they explored the city, he began to feel ill and his legs began to swell.

His feet continued to grow and became almost three times their normal size. It was then that she called the emergency services and was taken to the hospital with a anaphylactic shock.

The doctors who treated her were puzzled.

They initially suspected the reaction was due to a bee sting or pollen, but Carrie was tested for both and was not allergic to either.

When she recovered, she was discharged, but for the next several months she continued to have reactions.

After many tests and consultations, the doctors finally established a diagnosis: cholinergic and solar urticaria: Carrie was allergic to heat and sun.

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Carrie, a lover of sunny weather, was devastated.

“It was like the death of my previous life“, dice.

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

If your body feels hot, it goes into anaphylactic shock.

The illness

The doctor Mansi Kanuga, an allergy specialist at the Mayo Clinic, says there are a “variety of theories” about the cause of cholinergic and solar urticaria, but “the specific underlying mechanism is not well understood.”

“These disorders are probably the result of an increased sensitivity of allergic cells (known as mast cells) to environmental conditions or stimuli,” he explains.

Mast cells are part of the immune system and help fight infection. When they detect an allergen, they release histamine.

Carrie’s doctors believe 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 babies, her son had a voracious appetite and I breastfed him almost constantly.

Her body was depleted of nutrients to the point where her hair began to fall out.

Carrie says doctors believe her body may have felt like it was being attacked and mislabeled heat as the enemy.

To painting

As Carrie tried to understand the diagnosis, she grew increasingly frustrated.

The only safe place for her was the bed, from which he could not get out for months.

She says she was lucky, her husband at that time had a good job and health insurance and was able to take care of the children, but she had a hard time accepting his condition.

I often thought, “I can’t stay here for 50 years. This can’t be my life.”

“One day, a voice appeared in my head and said, ‘Now that your life is over,why don’t you do what you want and paint?'”.

Carrie had always loved art, but had abandoned it as a teenager, influenced by others to pursue a more secure career.

Before her heat allergy, she had worked as a medical writer at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where she wrote for medical journals, textbooks, and the hospital’s website.

But painting “just took me into this other realm where my physical condition didn’t matter,” he says.

“I couldn’t wait to wake up in the morning and paint. It’s all I wanted to do. I developed a really beautiful relationship. with creativity because it saved me“.

New life

Carrie was able to sit up in bed and balance her sketchbook on her knees and surround herself with all the supplies she needed.

She describes herself as a “intuitive painter“which lets the painting emerge without a plan and thus creates something” bigger than I could imagine. “

His paintings are colorful and feature many flowers, dating back to his family’s history as gardeners.

As Carrie began to paint, she was also trying different treatments.

Cholinergic and solar urticaria are often managed minimizing exposure to triggers such as hot baths and direct sunlight.

Antihistamines can also be helpful in reducing itching and hives.

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

AAT involves placing pads on the body and applying gentle pressure. It is similar to acupuncture, but needles are not used.

Dr. Kanuga told her that, at the moment, AAT was not a scientifically studied approach to allergy management.

Carrie was skeptical at the time, but says that after the treatments the improvement was “So immediate that it surprised me.”

He was able to get out of bed and walk, he could drive again and climb the stairs. Occasionally a rash would break out, but the reactions subsided.

Other treatments

There was another, more drastic treatment that her doctors suggested she might benefit from, but it would change her life: moving from Ohio, where temperatures can reach as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit, to a more temperate climate.

Carrie decided to take the plunge and moved to rainy Seattle, where the maximum temperatures generally are around 21 ° C.

With the cooler setting, Carrie began to see gradual improvements in her condition until she was able to do yoga and paint beyond her bedroom.

He started looking for a studio, but after facing exorbitant Seattle property prices, he bought a school bus, painted it pink, named it Rosie, and turned it into an art space.

“It turned out to be one of the best blessings of my life,” says Carrie.

While the woman says she has more freedom in Seattle, she still needs to be careful With the warming summers and the fires Washington State Foresters.

When summers are too hot, you should seek refuge in air-conditioned hotel rooms or cabins on cooler islands.

She admits that managing the condition can sometimes be difficult. She misses her children’s sports games when it’s too hot and depends on her family to help her with shopping and household chores that require too much movement.

But there are also positive things. He has led her to write her memoir, “The Story of Every Flower,” and is teaching art classes online in hopes of inspiring others to embrace creativity in difficult times.

“The creativity it can be your ally, your friend or your lovera, “he says.” It’s always there.

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