Sudden Swelling: Hereditary Angioedema Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe hereditary angioedema. Writers describe the years before it had a name: the unexplained swelling of a hand or a face, the abdominal attacks mistaken for appendicitis and, in several accounts, operated on unnecessarily, the family members who died young of something nobody could explain. There is the word itself — the C1 inhibitor and complement testing that finally names it — and the relief and inheritance grief it brings. Then learning the warnings: the tingling prodrome, the rash that precedes an attack, the triggers of dental work, trauma, oestrogen and stress. Writers describe treating at home with on-demand therapy and the change it made to a life, prophylaxis with newer agents, the airway attacks and the emergency plans carried everywhere. Later chapters cover clinical perspectives, cost and access, and the attacks that came anyway.

Who it's for

For families living with HAE, anyone with recurrent swelling that antihistamines never touched, and clinicians who want to hear how long the diagnosis usually takes.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 287 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.