Woman refuses to let remarks get to her after being diagnosed with Hereditary Angioedema

November 17, 2016

Lauren Farley-Smith was diagnosed with Hereditary Angioedema at 13
The genetic blood disorder causes random attacks of body swelling
Her flare-ups are often triggered by her bouts of anxiety and stress
Strangers often stared and made cruel comments as she fell depressed
But last year she vowed not to be beaten by the affects of her illness
She will soon begin a four week course to become a flight attendant

Stephen Matthews For Mailonline

Published:
05:05 EST, 17 November 2016

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Updated:
05:24 EST, 17 November 2016

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A woman suffers from a life-threatening condition that has caused her face to swell to double its normal size.

Lauren Farley-Smith, 20, from Darlington, first showed symptoms of Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) when she hit puberty.

The rare condition is an inherited blood disorder that causes attacks of extreme body swelling, continuous vomiting, as well as intense abdominal pain.

Her flare-ups are triggered by bouts of anxiety and stress so she often practices meditation and has counselling to help her cope.

Strangers often stared at her and made cruel comments about her appearance and she fell into a depression as a result of her condition.

But last year she vowed not to be beaten by the affects of her illness and she will soon begin a four week course to become a flight attendant.

Lauren Farley-Smith, 20, from Darlington, first showed symptoms of Hereditary Angioedema when she hit puberty. It has since caused her face to swell to double its normal size

Lauren said: ‘It has a big emotional impact on me but I won’t let it control my life.

‘At first I was very self-conscious about going out the house if my face swells. People would laugh at me and kids would cry when they saw me.

‘I was on anti-depression for a couple years. I felt very lonely and confused as to why it happened to me.

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‘It was hard to explain to everyone and really took a toll on my social life – I felt isolated from my peers and I just thought I was a burden to my family. I’m trying my best to have control of it instead.

‘I have always wanted to be cabin crew and I am going to follow my dream.’

Although Lauren has had HAE from birth, she had no idea she was a sufferer until her first flare up was when she was 13-years-old.

Her flare-ups are triggered by bouts of anxiety and stress so she often practices meditation and has counselling to help her cope

Strangers often stared at her and made cruel comments about her appearance and she fell into a depression as a result of her condition

Doctors thought it was allergic reaction and she cut out chocolate and cheese from her diet but nothing changed.

Then she was treated for cyclic vomiting yet her attacks continued.

In 2012 while on holiday in Spain she was so sick she had to be airlifted back to the UK and a doctor recommended she was tested for HAE.

WHAT IS HEREDITARY ANGIOEDEMA?

The condition is a rare inherited disease that causes swelling in various body tissues.

Some people have many attacks each month, while others will go months or years without a swelling attack.

The swelling is caused by the poor functioning, or lack of, a protein in the immune system.

If a person does not have enough of it, blood vessels can become leaky, allowing fluid to build up in the tissues.

This can cause swelling anywhere in the body but is most common in the limbs, intestines, face and voice box.

The swelling in the intestines often causes severe stomach cramps and swelling in the voice box can be life-threatening if it causes the airway to be blocked.

The illness is inherited and a person can develop it if just one parent is a carrier.

There is no cure but it can often be managed by avoiding triggers and taking medication.

Source: All About HAE

Her throat can swell up when she is sleeping, often forcing her to wake up as she is unable to breathe.

She suffers from stomach cramps before it begins to swell. This causes her to start vomiting until she physically can’t anymore.

Doctors have warned her of the danger of her tongue swelling, which could restrict her breathing.

But the condition has affected more than just her health, forcing her to miss a year and a half of school due to hospital visits.

She said she has been fired from her previous jobs because her employers believed her to be lying about her suffering.

Customers have previously laughed at her when she went into work with a swollen face while others refused to talk to her out of fears it was contagious.

But besides stress, her flare-ups can also be triggered by physical contact.

Miss Farley-Smith said: ‘Once someone stood on my foot at work and I couldn’t put my shoe on because it had swollen so much.

‘I’ve got to be careful if I go out with friends, if I get shoved or pushed I have to go home immediately as it can cause an attack.’

Doctors have since prescribed her tranexamic acid to help her battle her incurable condition.

But Miss Farley-Smith said there is no point feeling sorry for herself as she has it for the rest of her life.