The SpecialMoms Parenting Magazine Issue 5 | Page 20

Introducing Cold Urticaria
By Melissa Frankenfeld

E

very one of us can remember the day that changed our lives. The day that our children were
diagnosed with some condition, rare or not so rare, and draw a definitive line of “before” and
“after” diagnosis. For my family and I, we had two of those days, one in November of 2011,
and then again in February 2012.

It took us over a year to find answers for the strange symptoms affecting our then 3 year old son,
Connor. Symptoms that included body aches and pain especially in the joints, fatigue and lethargy,
weird rashes that came and went for no apparent reason, body parts swelling to over double the size of
normal, and him constantly sobbing that he wanted to be in a warm bath. Through the year I logged
anything that he was doing when the symptoms would hit, take pictures and when I finally made a correlation I was literally told I was “crazy” by the doctors we had taken him to. Now,
sitting in a specialist office that November, he confirmed our suspicions that
cold was the cause. In February, our then 7 year old daughter, Taylor,
would develop and be diagnosed with the same condition. Please allow me to introduce you to Cold Urticaria (ur-tih-KAR-e-uh).
Cold Urticaria is a rare medical condition that affects between 1
in 100,000 OR .05 percent of the population depending on which
doctor you are talking to, and is best explained saying the person is
“allergic” to cold. Cold Urticaria reactions can be brought on by
cool temperatures, cold food or drinks, breezes, air conditioning,
cool water like lakes or oceans, touching a cold table, walking
on cool floors or even the refrigerated section at the grocery
store to name a few. The reactions vary from hives and swelling (angioedema) to anaphylaxis, shock and death. Our
daughter Taylor, has gone into anaphylaxis from
walking down the hallway at school and briefly
passing under an air conditioning vent that was
on. Our son Connor, has experienced anaphylactic shock from numerous things. The anaphylactic reaction that still stuns me the most
is because he became very upset one day. As
he got upset his core temperature raised, and
his body perceived things as to cold. This reaction also affected his heart.
If you ask a doctor any question that you
would when a diagnosis comes [