A woman with a skin disease she dubbed a "plague" had to stay in bed for 10 months and spent years in agony before finally getting diagnosed.
Kira Archuleta, 24, was afflicted by a severe form of the rare skin condition Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS) and was cruelly dubbed 'Freddy Krueger', the character from A Nightmare on Elm Street, by bullies.
Boils and lesions would appear if she scratched them and then spread across her body.
Her family had a history of acne and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), so at first, she thought her hormones were to blame for her symptoms.
After trying CBD oil to no avail, Kira found antibiotics and prescription painkillers were her only hope to manage the intolerable marks.
Kira struggled so much with the pain, she had to be homeschooled and was unable to continue with her job in a supermarket bakery.
She was officially diagnosed at 17, but her HS took its toll socially and job-wise; it caused her so much pain that she was bedridden for nearly a year.
Kira, a carer from Manteca, California, US, said: "A doctor walked into the room and said, ‘you have Hidradenitis Suppurativa' and I was like 'what?'
"I was shocked, I’d never heard of it before. I didn’t just have wounds, spots or lesions - these were actual holes in my body.
"You could fit a whole hand in some of them. The pain became so excruciating, I ended up bedridden for 10 months.”
Even though the disorder had no known genetic history in her family, Kira has come out the other end - understanding that beauty is within all bodies regardless of appearances.
"Now, with pain management and antibiotics - I can work and live a full life. I've learnt that embracing your body is what makes you beautiful, not appearances."
Despite having no known genetic history of HS - the bumps began to spread to areas like her face, thighs, breasts and groin.
She said: "Around 10 years ago, doctors didn’t really have the knowledge of my condition in the same way they do now.
"They made me feel ashamed, at first. I was told the problem would go away if I just ‘cleaned better’ - which made me feel even worse, like I was doing something wrong.
"I was afraid to show my face for so long, because society told me it was ugly.
"People like me feel cast out and forced to hide. It was three long years of worsening pain until I finally got a diagnosis.
"I used to play softball at school, and I had to give it up. I went from being this strong, outgoing, sporty, bubbly person - to a shell of my former self.
"Even as an adult, people still call me horrible names like Freddy Krueger.
“Before long, it began to spread around my thighs and, because the nature of my job meant there was a lot of walking around, standing on my feet all day - it became too debilitating, and I ended up unable to do my job.
"My boils were absolutely everywhere - on my groin, my thighs, my underarm.
"I could just be sitting down, and I’d feel one of the blisters pop and that would be it - pain radiating through my entire body."
Her lesions meant Kira was unable to get another job - and life quickly became impossible for her.
“I had my independence snatched away from me,” she said.
“It was so hard. Being bedridden isn’t any kind of life - my mum bathed me, changed my dressings every morning and made me food.
"She did things no mother should be doing for a daughter in her early 20s.”
Kira says she wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for her mum, Tina, 48, a carer.
“It got to the point where I just couldn’t live like this anymore," she said. My mum was in agony watching me go through the pain.
“I didn’t want to live. But after 10 months, she decided to admit me into the hospital.”
She was taken to the UC Davis Medical Centre in Sacramento, California, US, and kept in for seven nights.
“They gave me antibiotics and fentanyl through an IV and they were properly cleaning my wounds," she said.
"Through the will of god - I began to feel the most healed I had in 10 months.”
After coming out of the hospital, Kira was put on a course of doxycycline for the flare-ups and is starting Humira - a medication typically used for arthritis - to ease her pain.
She also adopted a new skincare routine, including lukewarm showers once a day, witch hazel, and moisturiser.
Kira has also stopped eating red meat, pork and dairy as she says these “aren’t good for her body” - according to the NCBI, there is some proof to suggest this helps to lessen some people’s inflammatory symptoms.
“This is more than just a condition - or even a disability. Hidradenitis Superativa is a plague," she said.
“But above all, this condition has taught me to be grateful. I do feel more beautiful because I know that I am not alone. There is finally a crowd I can fit into.
"I’m still here - and now, through TikTok - I have a platform to spread awareness of HS.”
