15-Year-Old Suffers Rare Allergic Condition That Leaves Her In Pain Upon Contact With Water

A teen girl from Arizona has been diagnosed with a rare allergic condition that leaves her in pain upon contact with water. The 15-year-old cannot have a bath, cry or even drink water without becoming severely ill with hives.

Abigail Beck from Tucson was diagnosed with aquagenic urticaria last month after she went to the doctors with complaints of vomiting while drinking water. Beck said her tears felt like acid and she suffered severe hives after showering, NY Post reported.

Aquagenic urticaria is a rare allergic condition with only about 50 reported cases in the medical literature. The patient develops hives on contact with any type of water within 30 minutes of exposure, which can last for 30 minutes to 2 hours even after the exposure ends.

Due to Beck's severe reaction to water, she has not drank a glass of water in a year. Instead, she keeps her body hydrated by consuming energy drinks, pure pomegranate juice, and rehydration tablets. "I never have the urge to drink water at all. I don’t want to drink it, the taste is bad for me," Beck said.

Beck is on antihistamines and steroids to reduce the severity of her reactions. Meanwhile, as a "permanent treatment" the doctors are considering providing an IV line for Beck to ensure she gets more fluids.

The condition has considerably reduced the teen's physical activity as sweating hurts and further dehydrates her.

"My own tears cause a reaction where my face goes red and burns really badly. It ruins my life, but I don’t want it to. I throw up if I drink water, my chest hurts really bad and my heart starts beating really fast," Beck described her ordeal, LadBible reported.

Beck is very careful about reading labels before buying things but she said it's frustrating to realize that everything has water in it. However, the scariest part is the lack of medical information about the rare condition, Beck said.

"I’m scared that if it gets out of control one day, no one will know what to do, including myself. I don’t even know how to help myself," she added.