A woman has said that her rare allergy to water means that she can't cry as it feels like her "blood is boiling" and the pain leaves her immobile.
Niah Selway, 23, from Hastings, has a condition that is so severe that she can never take a bath and she is allergic to her own body fluids, including sweat and urine.
The young woman has Aquagenic Pruritus, which affects very few people in the world and its cause is unknown.
Her allergic reactions leave her in extreme pain and can immobilise her for hours.
Due to her condition, she can no longer work and uses up most of her time in recovery as she is left exhausted.
Speaking to Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on This Morning today, Niah explained that her allergy didn't mean instant pain and gradually builds up in a rash after 5 or 10 minutes as her body begins to burn.
Asked whether she stops herself from crying due to the pain, Niah said: "It's a difficult one because I try not to deprive myself of the right to cry.
"Any surface that the tear touches becomes red and scratchy [...] it's not when water hits me it's 'ouch!'. It's 5 or 10 minutes after I feel my body start to burn... it almost feels like my blood is boiling."
Opening up about how she dealt with doing day-to-day things, like having a shower, she said: "That was one of the main challenges when it started happening... especially when I started having allergic reactions to my urine and sweat."
"Everything I have to do in my everyday causes me pain," she continued. "It completely takes over my body... it leaves me immobile.
"It is absolutely exhausting. I use most of my time in recovery."
She added: "I stopped working when I started having the allergic reactions to urine."
It is not known whether the condition is curable, as it is not known what causes it, but it is said that it does improve with time.
Niah has been having treatment on the NHS but has now launched a GoFundMe to try and raise £250,000 to get treatment at a private clinic in Germany.
*This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV
