Hennie: A year ago we went on holiday to the sea. My son at that stage was 16-years-old. He went into the sea and suddenly developed some sort of allergic reaction and started burning and itching and felt a bit dizzy. He got out of the sea and had a shower. He felt better and went back into the sea and the same situation arose. He fainted on the beach and they resuscitated him there. They took him to the clinic and the doctors didn’t really know what was going on. They actually did a CAT scan on him because they thought it may be epilepsy, but that showed nothing. He stayed in overnight but they couldn't find anything. For the rest of the two weeks we lived in fear waiting for something to happen again. We came back home and went to a neurologist with the CAT scan. He examined my son and couldn’t find anything and he thought it was probably some kind of allergic reaction to something.

Harry: Did he have something to show in the way of allergy, like itchy bumps.

Hennie: Yes, he had quite a severe itchy burning sensation all over his body.

Harry: Apart from the itch itself, were there itchy bumps or weals?

Hennie: Yes, most definitely.

Harry: Well then that definitely suggests that he had a severe allergic reaction. That could be caused by a number of things. You mentioned that he was in the sea and the sea may have been polluted or contaminated with some chemical. He may even have been stung by an insect.

Hennie: We thought of that but about two weeks ago we had some friends over and he swam in the swimming pool. All of a sudden he had the same reaction and felt dizzy and faint. I didn’t know who to contact about this. I went onto the Internet and got to a site where I read about a condition called cold urticaria.

Harry: Yes, that's just a cold allergy. Urticaria is what we are speaking about, which is the itchy bumps and weals that you described. It is well recognised that urticaria can have many, many causes, not only chemicals that I was speaking about earlier. It can also be caused by physical agents; for example it can be caused by cold. That is a possibility. And that is certainly something that is common to the sea and to your swimming pool.

Hennie: Every time he eats an ice-cream his lips swell up. On the site they talk about the ice-cube test - we've done that and he had a reaction. We're going down to the sea again in March. What do I do?

Harry: Look, I think you should confirm the diagnosis with a dermatologist because this can obviously be serious from what you've described. So please confirm this with a dermatologist and if that's the case, then he's got to avoid exposure to the cold.

Hennie: How do you do that with a 17-year-old boy going on holiday?

Harry: Well what else can you do? You can't take a chance. At least he's 17 and he's not seven or younger. But at 17 years he's an adult and he's got to be sensible. He's got to do everything possible to avoid anything cold. He'll just have to drink his beer warm.

Hennie: On the site they mentioned anti-histamine.

Harry: Yes, that can help but it is just symptomatic or palliative treatment and often it doesn't work. You can't rely on it.

Hennie: So avoidance is the best thing here.

Harry: Absolutely, no question about it. And if it involves the mouth and the throat, it can be fatal. He must get this adrenaline injection and keep it on his body wherever he goes.

Hennie: Are you talking about the Epipen?

Harry: Yes.

Hennie: Thank you.


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