A 20-year-old claims she is so allergic to the cold that having an ice cream could kill her.
Zuzanna Dmitruk has cold uticaria, which is a rare condition that causes swelling and hives.
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The student said it first flared up when she was 10, when her fingertips would become swollen from being outside in the winter.
Zuzanna, of Manchester, Greater Manchester, said: “In extreme cases eating cold food can lead to suffocation because when I ate so much ice cream [before diagnosis] it triggered my throat and it got swollen.
“All my drinks have to be at room temperature. They can be a little chilled, I can put them in the fridge for a few minutes, any more and it’s just too cold.
“I obviously can’t drink iced coffee so I just pour a normal coffee into the cup that looks like iced coffee.
“I’ve adapted to warm alcohol, especially warm shots. I think I’ve mastered this and it’s not that bad anymore.
“For frozen yoghurt and things from the fridge like cheese, I just wait a few minutes and it’s ok. I don’t use the freezer normally or buy frozen food.”
The 20-year-old, who also works as a social media specialist, said that most of the food she cooks is warm and she’ll use hot milk instead of cold with cereal.
The TikToker said usually temperatures around 10C trigger a reaction.
She said: “It’s mostly my hands. They get red, itchy, swollen and hurt a little bit.
“On a daily basis it’s only my fingertips that get really swollen.
“But in extreme cases, for example swimming, my hands are super big like two and a half times bigger than normal. It’s so big that everything that I touch hurts, I just have to sit with my hands up and wait.
“A doctor told me [after diagnosis] that I shouldn’t eat or drink anything cold, avoid changes in temperature because if it gets worse and worse someday it could be deadly.”
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Zuzanna, who works in marketing, said she wears gloves when she goes out and is careful when she cooks to try and let things heat up after coming out of the fridge.
She said that since creating TikToks those who also have cold urticaria have messaged to say it’s “so cool” she is shining a spotlight on the affliction.
Zuzanna said: “People are normally very curious, they want to understand and listen.
“It was so lovely because one mother messaged me and said ‘I just showed your TikTok to my little boy because he has it too and thought that he was alone and now he knows that he’s not the only one and there are people with this condition’.
“I was so happy after I read that message.”
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