Woman allergic to her own husband due to ultra-rare condition that stops her kissing him

West Yorkshire: A woman is allergic to her own husband – and revealed that kissing him can bring her out in agonising hives.

Kerrie Armitage, who has been married to Peter for four years, suffers from the ultra-rare condition aquagenic urticaria – an allergy to water.

The condition suddenly developed in 2013 after a rash broke out on her arm.

Medics were perplexed, but the 28-year-old was diagnosed after getting trapped in a rainstorm and breaking out in horrific hives.

Now the full-time mother – who had to give up her job as a cleaner because she could not touch water – has revealed his lips give her hives.

She said: “Because his lips are wet, the saliva can make me react.

“He’s got to make sure his lips are dry before he gave me a kiss.

“It's not every time - I can do the same thing time and time again and not react, but then I’ll do it once more and get a flair up.

“It completely depends on the circumstances.

“For example, if he was to give me a kiss on a hot day when I'm flushed, I'd probably flair up, but maybe not if I was in a cool environment.

“It can be frustrating but he's really supportive. After years together, it's become normal. You learn how to get used it.

“But it can be bothersome.”

Kerrie said she faces a daily battle to protect her skin from agonising flair ups.

“It affects every aspect of my day to day life,” Kerrie, of Leeds, West Yorkshire, said.

“I have to choose between doing the washing up and bathing my kids.

“My hands can’t take them both – it’s too painful. When I've got my children sat on me giving me a cuddle their body heat can cause me to sweat and have a reaction.

"Even tears can trigger the hives. I’ve had to train myself not to cry. Thankfully, I wasn’t much of a crier anyway, but I’ve learned not to get too angry or frustrated, as this can make my body flush and cause me to sweat, which can be very painful.”

Kerrie's condition can trigger several times a day and she has to make sure she doesn't stay in the bath for longer than ten minutes to try and minimise her reaction.

“I've found the closer the water is to body temperature the faster I react, so I have really hot baths to try lessen the reaction,” she said.

“I don't drink cold water - it feels quite sharp at the back of my throat so I stick to coffee.”

Kerrie, who has to keep antihistamines and an EpiPen with her at all times, also suffers from exercise-induced anaphylaxis. She discovered this second allergy just months after her urticaria diagnosis after playing on a Nintendo Wii Fit game at home.

“It was completely out of the blue,” she said. “I couldn’t breathe, I was on the floor struggling to get air into my lungs.

“Thankfully, I stopped the exercising straight away and my breathing slowed, but I was left feeling quite sick for a few days afterwards.

“Now, I’ve got to the stage where I can feel an episode coming on and know to stop whatever I’m doing and relax, but I can’t articulate what’s happening at the time.

“It all becomes quite foggy in my head."

On another occasion, Kerrie was forced to sit on the floor, gasping for breath in the middle of Leeds’ busy White Rose shopping centre after a reaction was triggered by simply walking up a flight of stairs.

In a vicious cycle, the anaphylactic reaction causes her to sweat which, in turn, triggers her water allergy.

“I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place,” she said.

“The two worst episodes I’ve had have been after no more than five minutes of exercise – the equivalent to a warm up. I’ve had to rule out exercise completely now, it’s just too much of a worry.”

Kerrie, who has spoken out as part of Allergy Awareness Week, running this week, was previously a size eight with a keen interest in fitness.

But her allergy to exercise combined with side effects of her medication have seen her expand to a size 14.

She has also had to teach her eldest daughter Katie, nine, how to administer an EpiPen injection.

Now she faces a daily checklist to ensure she’s done everything she can to avoid reactions.

“Before leaving the house I have to ask myself if I can get to the bus stop or if it’s too far and likely to trigger my reactions,” she said.

“I have to check if it’s going to rain and make sure I have back-up clothing in case I get too hot or too cold.

“It’s made my social life go to pot. Before, I could just say, ‘of course I’ll come out’ but now, it’s, ‘where are we going? What’s the weather? Can I park somewhere close so I don’t have to walk and risk my anaphylaxis triggering?’

“There are all these stupid little things I have to consider.”

Amena Warner, nurse advisor at Allergy UK said: “Urticaria is also known as nettle rash or hives.

“It is a red raised itchy rash and is very common, affecting one person in five at some point in their life. In most people it settles quickly and is no more than a mild inconvenience, but in some people it can be severe and long lasting.

“A very rare form of urticaria is that which is triggered by water, which is called aquagenic urticaria, the red raised itchy rash comes up on contact with water.

“Treatment can help the symptoms and the person should receive specialist information from an allergist/immunologist.”