P.E.I. woman hypersensitive to cold temperatures finally gets relief

Rachel Doherty's life-long battle to feelwarm is finally over.

The 72-year-old Summerside, P.E.I. woman has a rare condition called Familial Cold Autoinflammatory Syndrome, or FCAS.

The condition ispassed from one generation to another.

Doherty's symptoms are triggered by cool temperatures even on a warm summer dayif the temperature drops below 24C.

"You start getting itchy and swelling and burning," said Doherty. "Where you're shaking, your teeth are chattering. You're really ill."

Always cold: A P.E.I. woman hypersensitive to cold temperatures finally gets relief

7 years ago

Duration 0:55

Always cold: A P.E.I. woman hypersensitive to cold temperatures finally gets relief

In 2008, Doherty and eight of the 80 or so relatives across Canada who suffer from the condition found relief after participating in clinical trials at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

For two months, doctors gave them daily injections of a drug that's normally used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. The patients' symptoms disappeared entirely within hours of receiving the shot.

But after the trials ended, so did the injections. The treatment, which costs about $18,000 a year, is not covered by P.E.I.'s provincial health plan.

In July of this year, nine years after the trial, Doherty got some good news.

'I was just in shock'

After suffering from FCASher whole life, Doherty was contacted bySobi, the Swedish-maker of the drug Kineretwhoagreed to pay the entire cost.

"I was shocked," said Doherty. "I was just in shock. Honestly."

A spokesperson for SobiCanada says the company pays for Kineret for about 250 Canadians who can't afford the drug.

For decades, Doherty and her family didn't even know the name of the disorder.

"There was doctors at home knew that we had this same disorder as my mother, but they had no clue as to what it was really."

'Heavy-duty blankets'

The doctors' advice back then? Take an aspirin and dresswarmly.

"The only thing that we would do is come home, get under the blankets," said Doherty. "I'm talking about heavy-duty blankets."

Hoping to get relief from Canadian winters, Doherty moved to Florida in the mid-80s.

"That was even worse for me in Florida, working in air conditioned buildings and the blowing no matter where, a restaurant, anywhere," she said.

Doherty ended up quitting her job in 1990 and coming back to Canada.

"In Florida you can't stand being outside six months of the year because it's too hot. So it was not the perfect place to be."

Doherty credits a retired dermatologist who worked atDalhousie's medical school, for his research over more than 20 years,that helped so many people who are hypersensitive to cold.

Dr J. Barrie Ross conducted the clinical trials that showed the drug did work. He also helped identify the mutated gene that causesFCAS.

Ross told CBC,this week, that the syndrome afflicts about 700 people in 15 families scattered across Canada, the United States and Europe.

Dr Ross said he's pleased to hear that Doherty is now receiving the drug at no cost.

"Tell Rachel she was the start of it all and I'm so pleased that she's managed to get relief."

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |Charlottetown considered 2nd safest city in Canada, poll finds
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS |GoogleMaps mix-up brings ferry visitors to wrong Pictou County road