Allergies are technically a form of hypersensitivity whereby the immune system develops a disorder when it overreacts to environmental substances called allergens in a way that is predictable, acquired after birth, and fast onset. Most people have some type of allergy and have experienced the symptoms of such a reaction—red and itchy eyes, runny nose, general itchy skin, and sneezing. The reason for this shared common experience is that mild allergies like hay fever practically run rampant among the human population. However, severe allergic reactions can occur that threaten a person’s life and might even kill the individual if they do not receive prompt treatment for their anaphylactic reactions to the allergen. Roughly 1,500 people in the United States alone die from these intense allergic responses. The real problem comes around when someone has a severe allergy to everyday things that are hard to avoid. These unfortunate people are forced to completely modify their lives around these strange and unique allergies.
1.
Water
Wreaking biological havoc on its victims, aquagenic urticaria or a water allergy causes major problems. Since water is one of the most abundant substances on Earth and a necessity for life, people with this allergy have severe issues around which to work their lives. Most of the time a water allergy is a skin based allergy where people have an allergic reaction when coming into physical skin contact with water. Touching water results in welts, excruciating hives, rashes, or even lesions on the skin within five to ten minutes. This curious allergy is not caused by a histamine reaction in the body though, and it still puzzles doctors to this day as the underlying cause of the allergy remains unknown. Many scientists believe that perhaps victims are just ultrasensitive to the additives in water instead of the liquid itself.
2.
Money
Money. Money. Money. It is what makes the world work but is considered to be the root of all evil because of all the problems it brings. An allergic reaction to money actually results from a nickel allergy. Most coins use some amount of nickel—not just nickels themselves—meaning that all metal coins can prove problematic to people with this allergy! While most people don’t know about it, an allergy to nickel is actually one of the most common reasons behind dermatitis (skin reactions like rashes, blisters, and even just severely dry skin). Since nickel is in a lot of technology as well, the individuals with this allergy can’t really avoid contact and stick with antihistamines, corticosteriod creams, and intense over the counter lotions.
3.
Sunlight
Half of the time given to a day is reserved for sunlight, even more so during the summertime. Therefore, having an allergy to the sun (also known as solar urticaria) is an incredible inconvenience and severe annoyance. Symptoms like skin inflammations will generally fade over the day with the disappearance of the sun. Sunscreen of super high protection can only help slightly though and needs to be used in combination with actual physical barriers to the sun like not going out into direct sunlight and wearing wide-brimmed hats and clothing that covers most of the body.
4.
Sweat
A mild version of this allergy is often confused with heat rash, but this allergic skin reaction goes far beyond that simple collection of bumps to include welts and severely red, itchy skin. It isn’t a reaction to hot internal temperatures though but to the liquid sweat itself. Therefore, any activity that triggers the sweat glands from exercise to mild exertion to even eating spicy foods can cause this response. This allergy (albeit more common than most assume) is very hard to diagnose though since its symptoms overlap with certain thyroid disorders and skin problems, but once the trigger is found out to be sweat the most common treatment is avoiding situations that result in activation of the sweat glands.
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