I am allergic to exercise. Exercising causes my throat to close and my face to swell
A woman in Minnesota has a rare allergy that makes exercise fatal.
Maggie Habashy can no longer go for a run or to an exercise class because she knows that if she does, she will have a severe allergic reaction and potentially life-threatening anaphylaxis. Her torso and limbs itch until hives break out on her skin and her eyes swell shut.
When she tells people about her rare allergy to exercise, “the usual response is, ‘Ha ha, me too!’ Right?”‘
She told me Fox: ‘People like to say that; It’s a joke, I’ve heard it a million times. But no, it could literally kill me.”
The ordeal began about a decade ago, shortly after her daughter’s birth. She was running for the first time in months when she suddenly felt more and more itchy.
After a short while, she realized that her entire body was covered in hives – angry red, itchy welts that appear when the body releases certain chemicals that trigger an immune response against a perceived threat, such as pollen or shellfish.
Anaphylaxis during exercise is typically caused by specific foods to which a person may be sensitive or mildly allergic.
A person with gluten sensitivity who eats a wheat protein bar a few hours before exercising is more likely to experience symptoms similar to Ms. Habashy’s.
These days, Ms. Habashy cannot last twenty minutes of an exercise class without experiencing swelling in her throat and itchy hives all over her body.
Maggie Habashy experiences swelling in her face and throat, as well as itchy hives all over her body when she exercises
It is not clear how many people experience exercise-induced anaphylaxis (EIA), but the current estimate is that about 0.05 percent of people experience it at some point in their lives.
In 30 to 50 percent of these cases, EIA only happens when certain foods are eaten before exercise.
In addition to itching, hives, and swelling of the throat, other symptoms of EIA include swelling of the face, lips, hands, feet, and/or genitals, facial redness, shortness of breath, difficulty swallowing, chest pain, fainting, excessive sweating , headaches and gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea and nausea.
After that first run, Ms. Habashy said she assumed she was allergic to something in the air and didn’t think much more about it.
“And then it kept happening,” she said.
“But not only did it keep happening, it got worse.”
The allergic reaction usually starts about 15 minutes after her workouts. She underwent a series of allergy tests to try to identify a specific food or allergen as the cause, but doctors found nothing
She had a severe reaction about 20 minutes after an exercise class. Her husband came to pick her up and they rushed to the hospital
Dr. Micah Karasov, her allergy specialist, performed a series of tests to identify substances, such as pollen, pet dander and certain foods, that could be causing her reaction.
He said: ‘With most people there’s a food trigger that as long as they avoid the food, whether it’s wheat or soy or whatever, as long as they don’t eat that for example two to four hours before exercise, they’re not going to respond .
‘Maggie’s case is unique in that there was clearly no food trigger as she was fasting during that time.’
Both were fairly certain early on that food was not the cause, as she was in the middle of fasting for Ramadan when she experienced a similar reaction twenty minutes into an exercise class.
Ms. Habashy now carries an Epi-pen everywhere in case she has another bout of anaphylaxis
This time the itch was in her throat. She called her husband Ali in a panic and they rushed to the hospital.
She said: ‘He saw that my whole face was swollen. I couldn’t talk, and the doctor asked him, “Has this ever happened?” He said she’s had allergic reactions while exercising before, but at least nothing like this.
“He said the doctor looked very scared and she said, ‘I don’t know what would have happened if she had waited ten minutes.'”
When Fox shadowed her during an exercise class, only 15 minutes had passed before the itching took over and her mouth went numb.
She said: ‘Sometimes I make it 15 minutes, sometimes I make it 45 minutes. It just depends on the day.
‘Some days are more emotional than others. I get frustrated if I don’t finish, but I just do my best and move on.”