32-year-old UK Woman, Allergic To 'Almost Every Food', Left Malnourished

A woman from Leicester, England, suffered malnutrition after a rare syndrome that left her allergic to almost everything, except for four foods. In 2015, the 32-year-old began to experience severe and unexpected allergic reactions to food, perfume, heat, cold, petrol stations and vapes. Her restricted diet has left her malnourished and her ribs sticking out.

Amy Francis-Smith is a senior architect in Leicester. In 2015, she became allergic to lemons and peanuts and after eating tomatoes, she went into an anaphylactic shock. Her life quickly became challenging when she soon realised that she became allergic to smells, everyday things and almost every food, except four which are- courgettes (squash), rice, pears and beef. Her limited diet intake has left her malnourished. She described eating food as a ‘gamble’ as she tried to figure out what she could and could not eat.

Amy also became allergic to carbonated water, public transport, air fresheners, heat, and cold. If a strong-smelling perfume was sprayed in the house, she could not stay in the house. It was in 2017 when she was diagnosed with a rare illness called mast cell activation syndrome, which causes a person to have repeated severe allergic symptoms. Things took a turn for the worse when she was also diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. These are hereditary diseases that impact the body’s connective tissues.

Her education suffered due to her medical condition as she had to drop out of her master’s course. She had to “cut short her career” and could not earn any money. Amy Francis-Smith was referred to allergy clinics, where the doctors assumed that she “was making it up” and was not allergic. It was found that the mast cells, which are present all over the body had become activated, released chemicals and caused swelling, rashes and breathing issues. It affected every single organ in the body. Her liver, spleen, bladder and heart were affected. Her hair fell out, her teeth eroded quickly. Despite her intense medical condition, she was not eligible for disability benefits.

However, Amy Francis-Smith did not give up on her Master’s degree. After many trials and errors, she reintroduced foods to her diet, worked on stress reduction and tried different healing models for inflammation reduction.