Hanna Newnham, 27, from Brighton, first noticed symptoms of cold urticaria – hives that appear after cold temperature exposure – after recovering from Covid-19 in 2020
A 27-year-old woman developed a rare condition after Covid-19, which leaves her unable to enjoy chilled drinks or exercise outdoors in the winter. The cold allergy is so severe that a McDonald’s McFlurry saw Hanna Newnham from Brighton go into her first anaphylactic shock.
Hanna first noticed symptoms of cold urticaria, hives that appear after exposure to cold temperatures, two months after recovering from Covid-19 in April 2020 when she went swimming in the sea. Just a few months later, in December 2020, she experienced her first anaphylaxis attack after consuming a McDonald’s milkshake and a McFlurry. She had an itchy throat, cough and throat closure – but did not know what it was at the time.
Talking about her rare condition, Hannah told PA Real Life: “I’m thinking all the time about what I can and can’t eat which is annoying.” Adding: “Especially when people are getting Deliveroos, I have to be like ‘I can’t eat ice cream’.” McDonald’s milkshake and a McFlurry are now off limits for the 27-year-old, along with coconut Little Moons.
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In recent years, Hanna’s sensitivity to cold has intensified, suffering from angioedema (swelling of the face) and anaphylaxis, which narrows her airways, making it difficult to breathe. She can also be affected by the chill from treadmills, refrigerated water, and even her own perspiration, leading to frequent attacks.
She faces symptoms like facial swelling or hives almost every day, especially in the colder months, unless she meticulously manages her body heat and surroundings. During a severe episode, she risks anaphylactic shock, which can cause her throat to swell dangerously.
As her antihistamines became less effective, Hanna was prescribed steroids and equipped with an EpiPen for critical situations. The steroids have spiked her appetite, a concern for someone whose capacity to exercise is compromised. Deemed a safety risk at work during winter by her employment agency, Hanna had to use her EpiPen last October while engaging with children at a forest nursery school outdoors.
Hanna doesn’t fork out on rent, as she’s staying with her gran, and keeps her condition in check by using a kettle in her room, cranking up the heat, and cosying up with an electric blanket. The outdoors became a no-go for Hanna, with chilly weather after a frightening episode of anaphylaxis during a jaunt to the Seven Sisters cliffs on one crisp day in February, despite the sun shining down.
On that fateful day, she recalled: “I got on the bus back, and I thought I could make it home, but I started feeling really faint and my whole face was so swollen.” Her quick-thinking actions led her to a hospital visit, as she recounted: “It was something special, so I just got off at the hospital, and then administered my EpiPen to myself as I walked in.”
Following each EpiPen episode, Hanna faces a drab eight-hour stint under hospital watch, a boredom-inducing prospect she’s itching to avoid. In her bid for a breath of fresh air, she checks in with her GP every week and recently got handed some asthma meds to trial for better breathing. “I feel like they’re just throwing different meds at me because they’re not 100% sure what to do,” she expressed her exasperation.
Undeterred by these trials, Hanna’s holding onto her zest for life as tightly as possible. She’s rejigged her fitness routine to stay indoors, rolling out yoga mats, flipping into gymnastics, and breaking a sweat with Just Dance on her trusty old Wii Fit. “Even if my throat closes, I’ll keep working out – no one can stop me,” she said. “I’ve got so much energy, that’s why I work with kids,” she shared. “I’m always running about, and now I have nothing to put that energy into.”
She credits exercise with helping her achieve 500 days of sobriety after an alcohol addiction started in her first year studying Education at the University of Cambridge in 2018. She also found herself living with a new flatmate who took drugs following her official cold urticaria diagnosis in February 2021. “I didn’t really use drugs before she moved in, and she used a lot, and it was a very toxic friendship that we had,” Hanna explained.
“I was doing a lot of coke, mostly, and smoking as much weed as I could get my hands on, and also drinking as much as I could.” After realising her living situation was detrimental to her health, Hanna moved back to Brighton to live with her grandmother, swapping her harmful habits for daily workouts. “I probably jumped from one addiction to the other, but at least it’s a healthy one,” Hanna admitted.
Hanna is on the NHS waiting list to see an immunologist and hopes to get XOLAIR (omalizumab), an injectable prescription medicine used to treat chronic spontaneous urticaria that costs £6,000 every six weeks. According to a study published in the open-access journal Nature Communications in April 2024, there is “comprehensive evidence for the association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and subsequent incident allergic outcomes”.
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