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​This woman is allergic to everything - including her husband

Picture the last time you had an allergic reaction—to pollen, peanuts, whatever it may be.

Scott and Johanna Watkins

Recall how irritated you were by the endless sneezing and coughing or how scared you felt when a crazy rash formed on your skin and you couldn’t breathe properly.

Now, imagine the symptoms of your worst allergic reaction multiplied by 1,000: That’s the state Johanna Watkins lives in every hour of every day.

Back in 2012, Johanna started developing sensitivities to things like gluten and dairy, which didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, her husband Scott Watkins, told Today.

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Gradually, her symptoms became more intense. Just a couple of years ago, her immune system started to spiral out of control.

After seeing dozens of doctors, Johanna was diagnosed with mast cell activation syndrome—a rare immunological condition in which mast cells excessively release chemical mediators, resulting in severe allergic reactions, according to the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.

“With this disease, the systems your body has that are supposed to protect you, are actually hurting you,” her husband writes.

“Johanna’s severity is one of a kind. She has it in an exquisitely horrible way. It’s a hellish experience. She’s constantly almost entering anaphylaxis (a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction).”

Johanna can only eat 15 foods. They still make her ill, but they won’t kill her.

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As if things couldn’t get more painful, she recently started to “develop allergic reactions to the natural chemicals and body odors that people release,” according to the couple’s GoFundMe page.

The only people Johanna’s body’s tolerates are her closest genetic relatives—her siblings, who are there for her when she needs hands-on help.

That’s right: Not even her parents or Scott can be near Johanna without making her ill. She currently lives on (and never really leaves) the main floor of her house.

The space is pressurized, because even drops in air pressure can trigger a reaction. Scott lives upstairs. He hasn’t kissed his wife in about a year and a half. They watch TV shows together in separate rooms.

“She gets sick when I’m around her,” Scott writes.

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“If I stayed around her for more than 15 minutes, there’s a decent chance she would go unconscious and I’d have to bring her to the ER. Who would ever think that your presence would hurt someone?”

Chemotherapy wasn’t enough to heal Johanna, and the couple is still looking for cure that will free her from the confines of her body.

Despite the lack of effective treatment, Scott and Johanna do their best to find happiness, despite the circumstances.

“We have joy in our days,” he says. “There’s sadness, too, but we move on.”

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