A young woman in California has been diagnosed with a rare condition that causes her to have an allergic reaction to just about everything.
20-year-old Ashley Fisher can go into anaphylactic shock when she smells a certain food or steps outside after a slight weather change.
Although Ashley began experiencing these unbelievable symptoms as a teenager, it took years for doctors to finally diagnose her with mast cell activation disorder (MCAD).
The rare condition, in which too many mast cells gather in the body’s tissues, means harmless substances are often mistaken for infectious germs.
MCAD eventually left Ashley completely bedridden, since nearly anything she came in contact with could send her into immediate anaphylactic shock.
“In the beginning it was happening every day and I had no idea why,” Ashley said, according to The Daily Mail. “I was constantly going into shock from smells of outside things like car exhaust, flowers, paint, perfume, even things like the smell of nuts or avocado after someone else had eaten them.”
“I would even go into shock sometimes over temperatures or seemingly nothing at all,” she continued. “I couldn't go out anywhere like the mall or a restaurant or the grocery store or places with friends because of the risk of an airborne reaction.”
After being hospitalized on a number of different occasions and restricting herself to eating just a few foods, Ashley finally decided to try something different.
The teen turned to holistic practitioner Dr. Robert Janda, who opted for a method of desensitization for Ashley.
Dr. Janda essentially exposed Ashley to small amounts of foods and chemicals that she had previously been allergic to, in hopes of desensitizing her body to them.
Within the first week, Ashley was already able to eat two new foods. By January 2016, she announced that she had finally walked outside by herself for the first time in years.
“When Ashley first came to see me she could hardly do anything. She was allergic to just about everything. She just didn't have a life,” said Dr. Janda.
“She's stronger than she was before, she's not in a wheelchair any more, her diet has enormously increased, and she can exercise almost at will now,” he added. “There are still a few allergies and a few other issues, but I think we both believe that she is going to continue to improve.”
