Teenager is forced to quit school after being struck down by a mystery illness which makes her vomit up to 50 times a day
- Anna Giles thought food poisoning caused her sickness when she was 14
- But the sickness continued causing her to drop two dress sizes
- Doctors have ruled out illnesses including cyclical vomiting syndrome
- Mystery illness has made her feel so ill and weak she had to leave school
Kate Pickles For Mailonline
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A teenager was forced to give up school because of a mystery illness which means she struggles to keep food and water down.
Anna Giles, 17, has dropped two dress sizes from a ten to a six since the sickness took hold of her nearly three years ago.
She has endured scans, tests and multiple hospital visits but medics are baffled by her mystery illness.
Doctors have ruled out a variety of illnesses including meningitis, a brain tumour, allergies and cyclical vomiting syndrome.
The straight-A student was forced to leave school while studying for her AS levels because she is too weak to get up in the morning.
Now she is desperate for help to find out what is causing her illness – which can leave her vomiting up to 50 times a day.
Anna Giles, 17, says she thought she had food poisoning when she started being sick at 14 but it has continued for years. She is now desperate to find out what is causing her mystery illness
She has been admitted to hospital suffering from severe dehydration but a variety of tests have failed to establish what was wrong with her
‘I can’t keep down water or even crackers or dry toast, and it’s a struggle to concentrate because I’m so weak.
‘This condition is taking my teenage years from me. It is ruining my life.
‘So it’s exasperating when anyone tries to suggest I have an eating disorder. I don’t want pity. I want medical help.’
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She claims that doctors frequently ask her if she has an unhealthy relationship with food linked to an eating disorder.
But she is adamant she loves to eat and says she finds this line of enquiry frustrating.
‘They questioned my relationship with food, asking if I had an eating disorder or found the idea of food traumatic in some way.
‘It was ridiculous. Sometimes I’d sit with a bowl at the dinner table because I’d projectile vomit before even getting through a whole meal so I clearly wasn’t making myself sick.
‘They tried suggesting I had emotional issues with eating that meant my body rejected food, but I’ve always loved eating.
Anna’s illness has left her feeling so weak and unable to concentrate that she’s had to give up school
She has lost more than a stone and dropped two dress sizes from a 10 to an eight since developing the mystery condition
‘I watch food shows all the time and love cooking and socialising over dinner.
‘I kept insisting there was something else wrong with me, but it felt like I had fight to be heard.’
Anna who lives with her office manager mother Karen Giles, 55, in Wapping, London, said when she first got sick aged 14, her family put it down to severe food poisoning.
She said: ‘I was really queasy for no reason, then I started throwing up.
‘We all assumed I had severe food poisoning or an allergy as I vomited up to 30 times a day for the next four weeks.
‘I was admitted to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel for rehydration treatment as I couldn’t keep anything down.’
The teen, who’s 5ft 6ins now weighs 8.5st having lost a stone to the illness.
She is hoping that by raising awareness of her illness, someone might be able to find a cure.
‘I want people to realise what I – and others with chronic vomiting – are going through.
‘At the moment, I’m not living, I’m just existing.’
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