Woman’s unusual itching symptoms led to devastating diagnosis days before honeymoon

A 29-year-old woman from Cumbria has been diagnosed with an extremely rare disease, forcing her to cancel her dream honeymoon with her husband as she attempts to battle it.

Two months after Flo Moffat-Charles married her husband, Josh, in September 2023, she started experiencing an extremely painful and debilitating bout of itchiness.

When the symptoms began, the newlywed couple had just booked one-way flights to explore around South America, including Peru, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, for at least four months - and had set down a £1,500 deposit.

They had also quit their jobs in preparation for their adventure.

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Flo began to experience extreme fatigue, nausea, jaundice and chronic itchiness on her hands and feet, which were the initial warning signs.

Josh told The Mirror: “She was sleeping with ice packs on her feet. Taking cold baths in the middle of the night in an attempt to ease some of her horrid symptoms."

The couple decided to cancel their honeymoon plans in a bid to get definitive answers.

Flo endured months of tests, an MRI scan, an ultrasound and a biopsy in an effort to be diagnosed.

Devastatingly, the diagnosis was something the couple would have done anything not to receive. Flo was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis – a rare liver disease which has no cure.

'My feet, my hands and my legs felt like they were on fire'

Flo was also diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis - an inflammation of the liver, occurring when the immune system damages healthy cells.

She now has to take 13 medications a day to try to alleviate her pain and manage the symptoms of her condition.

Flo said: "For some time it was really scary to think about anything long-term because it suddenly felt like so many decisions were out of our hands.

“At the time, it was all-consuming. It was what we thought about every day. My feet, my hands and my legs felt like they were on fire."

Her husband Josh, explained: "As the partner of someone with a progressive chronic condition, you can feel a little helpless.

“The itching is almost like ants on your skin that you can't get rid of. It's quite an intense feeling that you can't really relieve."

'It's taught us to enjoy every moment and get out there and have as much fun as possible'

Josh is running the London Marathon next month (April) to raise donations for Flo’s condition - which is progressive.

He said: “It will probably just become part of our life and that's something that we're going to have to continue to deal with. Ultimately we want to be able to live and live well."

Josh will be running to raise money for the charity PSC Support one of the few organisations providing patient support for the disease.

He concluded: "It's taught us to enjoy every moment and get out there and have as much fun as possible. You don't know when something like this is going to be around the corner. We have to hold out hope."

Flo added: "When you get married and take the vows 'in sickness and in health', you don't expect to have that put to the test quite so quickly. Receiving a diagnosis of a life-long illness is not something we anticipated at the start of our marriage. It's been a difficult few months, but Josh has made me smile and laugh through it all."

You can support Josh's fundraiser here.