Johanna Watkins has such an unusual allergy that she can’t actually sit in the same room as her husband.
The 29-year-old from Minnesota can’t kiss her husband Scott or even sit beside him for a movie. According to The BBC, Johanna suffers from Mast Cell Activation Syndrome which means she’s allergic to almost everything.
She explains that their date nights are very different from those of other couples.
“Scott and I will try to watch a show together. We can’t be in the room together, because I’m allergic to him, but he will be three floors below me in a room on his laptop and I will be on mine and we’ll watch the show at the same time and then text about it as we’re watching it,” says Johanna.
Johanna says the symptoms were not as severe prior to the couple’s wedding in 2013. In fact, the pair used to enjoy many activities together including hiking and Johanna’s condition didn’t impact her job as a teacher. Aside from some rashes, migraines, and IBS, Johanna had no other symptoms.
Only a year ago, her symptoms worsened and the couple realized they could not be in the same room.
“We had noticed that when Scott would come in [to the room] I would start feeling worse and worse. My normal daily symptoms would just be aggravated,” says Johanna. “And then at one point he went to get his haircut and came back in the room and within two minutes I had started my anaphylactic symptoms and he had to leave.”
“It was this horrible reality that it wasn’t going to work,” says Johanna. “I was now reacting strongly to my husband. Before this, I had reacted to my parents, too many, many other people, but it was horrific when it became Scott.”
Doctors are trying different treatments but so far none have been successful.
Johanna’s symptoms are so strong that she has had allergic reactions to cigarette smoke a block away and pizza smells wafting in from places a mile down the road.
The couple is currently living in a friend’s house while their own is under reconstruction to make it a safe space for Johanna.
Despite the obvious difficulties the couple face, they are completely committed to each other.
“On our wedding day, we made vows to each other that till death do us part. No matter what life brought,” said Johanna. “I can tell you that even if I have this until I’m 90 years old, I would be committed to my husband with that vow and still love him.”
