Some women can suffer from an unusual allergic reaction during or after sex – experiencing intimate discomfort, swelling or even breathing difficulties.
The cause, experts say, can be a little known condition called seed plasma hypersensitivity, an allergy to proteins found in sperm.
Dr. Michael Carroll, associate professor in reproductive science at Manchester Metropolitan University, says that the condition can hit more people than before – and often not diagnosed.
Write for The conversationHe warned that it is often mistaken for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), fungal infections and general sensitivity.
But an indication that you are in fact ‘allergic to sex’ is ‘symptoms disappear when condoms are used’, he revealed.
The sex allergy is now recognized as a ‘type 1 hypersensitivity’, which falls into the same category as peanut allergy, cat painter and hay fever, he said.
Although it is rare, the professor claims that this has been diagnosed under shame, stigma and a lack of consciousness – which means that ‘many women suffer in silence’.
In women it usually influences the vulva or vagina, but can also cause full body symptoms such as beehives, squeaky, dizziness, runny nose and even anaphylaxis, a potentially life -threatening immune response, he warned.
Some women can suffer from an unusual allergic reaction during or after sex – experiencing intimate discomfort, swelling or even trouble with breaths
Seminal plasma hypersensitivity was first documented in 1967, when a woman was admitted to the hospital after a ‘violent allergic reaction’ to sex.
It was thought that it only affects more than 100 women worldwide, until a study discovered in 1997 that almost 12 percent of the symptoms after sex could have the allergy.
Although Dr. Michael Carroll had similar results in his own non -published survey in 2013, he thinks the true figure could be higher.
The professor said: ‘It is time to bring this hidden state from the shade and to the advice room.
“And it’s not just women. It is possible that some men can be allergic to their own sperm, “he added.
In men it is also called the post-organization disease syndrome-because it causes symptoms that last seconds, minutes or even hours after ejaculation.
It can cause headache, burning eyes, a runny nose, sore throat, fever, muscle weakness and fatigue, claimed French researchers last year.
More extreme symptoms include palpitations and incoherent speech, wrote an expert hospital center des Quatre Villes, on the outskirts of Paris in a French diary.
The researchers discovered that women between 20 and 59 who had sex less than once a week had an increased risk of death within five years
In the hours after the climax, a 22-year-old man was described as suffering from sneezing, watery eyes, abdominal cramps, muscle pain and deep fatigue, published in a paper in the American Journal of Case Reports earlier this year.
Although only 60 cases post-orgasmic disease syndrome have been reported since it was first discovered in 2002, it can influence much more, because it is likely that some people do not seek medical help.
“The problem is not the sperm,” Dr. Michael Carroll from, but rather a prostate -specific antigen, a connection in sperm.
And it is not specific to a partner – women can develop a reaction to every man’s ejaculate.
There were also indications of something that ‘cross reactivity’ is found, if those with existing allergies can develop another.
So if you are allergic to dogs or other things, you may have developed an allergy to sex, even if you don’t realize it.
“In one unusual case, a woman with a paran -use allergy broke out after sex in hives, probably because of spornot proteins in her partner’s sperm,” he said.
The diagnostic process includes an overview of your sexual and medical history, often followed by a skin prick test with your partner’s sperm or blood tests.
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Treatments include prophylactic antihistamines to prevent allergic reactions before exposure and anti -inflammatory drugs.
There is also desensitization, where a doctor places a diluted sperm solution in the vagina or on the penis, with intervals of 20 minutes.
Although the allergy does not immediately influence fertility – and many women with SHP become pregnant – can make things more complicated.
“Avoiding the allergen – usually the most effective treatment for allergies – is not feasible for couples trying to get pregnant,” he explained.
So if you are allergic to sex and you try for a baby, you might want to choose IVF with washed sperm – to completely avoid the allergen PSA.
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