Allergy to Partner?

[Cindy]

I had atopic derm and some reactive airway disease, allergies as a small child.  As I grew up, I was without problems until this year.  I am now 36. My symptoms started shortly after I began a relationship.  I have had eczema, subjective shortness of breath, runny nose, etc.  I would never have connected this with my relationship were it not for some unusual circumstances....

My partner moved away after we had been together some time. During that time, my symptoms were getting progressively worse.  After she left, they resolved.  Over the course of the next four or five visits, I always had flares while we were together, and resolution (over time) while apart.  Trying to understand this, and understand what to do about it has been one of the most stressful experiences of my life.  I have been doing all the "tests"- patch, intraderm, immunocap, without anything really fitting.  I have yet to test her "products" specifically.  I have been reading personal anecdotes on the web about actual allergies to partners (narratives seem a little questionable at times) and did a very systematic review of the literature (I used to be a researcher and am a physician myself).  I found a handful of articles referring to atopic reactions to human dander, all of which were older.  I would like to know your experience with "interpersonal reactions" and/or reactions to human dander.  My reactions very closely resemble my reactions to animals-  very itchy and red eyes, sneezing, couging, sob.

I love this woman like I love life itself.  I am looking for help and feedback anywhere I can get it.  If I am "allergic" to her, could we test her dander?  Could we develop shots from it?  If we get married, and I just live with it, manage it, what is the long-term course of repeated allergen exposure?  Does it burn out, mabye because of concurrent IgG development?

Please help.  I cannot tell you how much this hurts.

Thanks,

[National Jewish]

This is quite an interesting story.  Human albumin, immunoglobulins and other proteins are readily detectable in house dust.  Thus, allergy to human dander is theoretically possible.  Nonetheless, it is exceedingly rare.  There are only anecdotes and very little scientific proof.  In this case I would first focus on more commonly encountered allergens and sensitivities, such as perfumes, make-ups, hair sprays, and other toiletries that your partner uses.  Does she have any pets?  She might carry enough allergens with her clothes that would evoke an allergic reaction.  I would eliminate them one by one and determine the response.  Once external and easily identifiable factors are eliminated, I would then focus on life style changes that occur when you are both together.  For example, you might be eating some special foods when you are together and you are allergic to them.  Together, you might be involved in some other activities that you do not normally do on your own.  If the foregoing approach fails, I would consider checking whether you have IgA deficiency.  This is a common disease and could lead to hypersensitivity to IgA derived from your partner.

I do not see any possibility to generate dander from your partner for testing purposes and for developing allergy shots.  The question about

[starion]

Hi!  I wonder if she's USING something which you are allergic to--a skin cream, shampoo, conditioner, detergent (on her clothes), cologne.  Perhaps if you & she are good detectives, you could figure out which products she may be using which you are sensitive/allergic to, which I would suspect is a lot more likely than being actually allergic to HER.  It might be useful if you gave her a list of the brands of various products you use that you know you are NOT allergic to, so she could try using them & washing all her clothes in them to minimize the "noise" & help make the detective work simpler.  Good luck!
Starion