A British student has issued a stark warning about the dangers of sharing vapes after the habit triggered a skin condition.
Emily Angel Pellegrini, 21, from Dorset, first realised that something was wrong when what started out as a seemingly innocuous scab formed under her breast.
Assuming her bras were the problem, she replaced them and forgot about the scab - until it spread to the rest of her body.
Advert
And earlier this month, she was diagnosed with guttate psoriasis, a condition that results in small patches of scaly skin appearing all over your body, according to the NHS.
Despite being an aspiring actress, Pellegrini explained that the extensive condition means that she’s reluctant to leave the house because she doesn’t want people to stare at her.
However, she is slowly learning to accept her diagnosis after she made the decision to open up about the illness on TikTok to prevent other vape users from making the same mistake.
Advert
She is pictured below before developing the condition.
She explained that 'sharing vapes with everyone' at university left her with a sore throat that was most likely glandular fever, as revealed by a recent antibody test.
According to doctors, it was this initial sore throat that was the catalyst for her current skin condition.
Advert
She said: "At university there's these vaping bars that everyone uses and everyone shares theirs around and the same drinks.
"You're not always keeping on top of your cleaning, your diet is unhealthy and I think because I wasn't eating the correct food, eating takeaways all the time, and sharing my vapes with everyone, I got a sore throat.
"They [doctor] said that the psoriasis was caused by this sore throat, which is crazy because it was just a mild, normal sore throat that you'd get in the winter.
Advert
"I think that sharing vapes was definitely the cause. I remember I would share a vape with someone and then the next day I'd have a sore throat and I'd be like 'oh, I'm not doing that again'.
"And then I would just forget, share it and then would keep constantly getting sore throats, so I reckon that's not something to do anymore."
Doctors initially prescribed cream to treat the scabs, but they didn't explain the condition in full.
She said: “I Googled what the cream was and it said it was for psoriasis and I started to panic a bit.
Advert
"I went to the doctors and it had spread quite a lot, it was all around my boobs and hips at this point but it was mild, and he gave me this steroid cream but it somehow made it worse.”
The partying she was doing at the time worsened her condition further, and she is now applying cream three times a day to battle the condition covering her from head to toe.
Emily said: "I'm probably 85-90 percent covered in psoriasis. My skin is really bad. It's just so dry, sore, really itchy and red raw.
"Imagine your skin being so dry that it's cracking and bleeding, it's like that. It's like when you have a dry lip and you open your mouth and the corner slits, it's like that but on my hip.
"It kind of looks like a sunburn or oven burn, but with scales on top of it."
While things are currently difficult for the drama student, she is due to start a new treatment of immune suppressants which will hopefully drastically improve her condition.
While it’s difficult to hide, Pellegrini explained that some good has come from the situation thanks to her decision to share her story.
She said of her TikTok: "Loads of people have messaged me and said that I'm inspiring them and making them feel good about their skin
"For anyone out there also suffering from psoriasis, no matter how big or small the flare up is we are all beautiful.
"It doesn’t define us or make us any different and we should embrace it as it’s a part of us and our beauty."
_(2).jpeg)
Emma Guinness