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Pollen, dust, animal, and certain food allergies (e.g., to nuts, shellfish, and dairy) are fairly common. But their severity has a huge range. You probably know someone who has hay fever (hey!) or can’t be around cats or dogs for a long while without sneezing (hi again!). Or you may have a person in your life who has to carry around an EpiPen in case they get stung by a bee or accidentally ingest food that has traces of nuts.
Other allergies are incredibly rare. So rare, in fact, that you may not even have heard of them before. According to Penn Medicine Becker ENT & Allergy, some of the most uncommon allergies known to medical science include water allergy, also known as aquagenic urticaria. In short, people who suffer from it develop itchy and painful hives when their skin comes into contact with water. So, they have to limit their exposure as much as possible.
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Edit: For all those wondering I was born 4 months early at 1 pound 6 ounces.
Another very rare allergy is sun allergy, aka polymorphous light eruption (PMLE). Similar to aquagenic urticaria, PMLE means that people’s skin develops hives, but this time when exposed to sunlight, not water. People with PMLE have to avoid exposing large areas of their bodies to the sun and manage their symptoms with the help of sunscreen and antihistamines.
Some other rare allergies include cold urticaria (allergy to cold temperatures, whether that’s air, water, food, or beverages) and exercise-induced anaphylaxis (allergy to exercise which means you may need to have emergency adrenaline shots if you’re too physically active). And in some cases, you can find individuals who have cholinergic urticaria (sweat allergy) and nickel allergy (essentially, an allergy to coins).
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I couldn’t finish my vaccines and can’t get boosters shots because the chance of another reaction is higher than the chance of me actually contracting anything we vaccinate against. Or it was, until we starting losing our herd immunity. If I had kids I’d still vaccinate them.
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What makes you a statistical rarity or total anomaly, dear Pandas? Do you have any bizarre allergies? Were you born with any genetic quirks? Have you ever been in a million-to-one situation?
How have all of these niche experiences affected your life? Would you rather be one-of-a-kind or have more things in common with everyone else? Let us know in the comments!
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I feel as though I uh... have not lived up to the hype.
Edit: wow this really blew up. Thanks for the kind words everyone. Don’t worry I’m a happy guy.
Bonus fact: I actually had a twin brother, but there wasn’t enough food for the both of us. My chances were 50/50 from the get-go. I live my life not only to live up to the expectations set for me, but also for my brother who never got to live his own.
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My skin is white.
Ive had doctors ask me ‘are you sure you have sickle cell? Want to be retested?’ This has happened 6 times that I remember. Ive never seen my mom angrier lol.
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