An innocent kiss on the lips could be anything but for Caroline Cray Quinn, who risks dying with every kiss.
Mrs Quinn, 25, has mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), a rare disease that affects only one in 150,000 people.
MCAS is a disorder that causes blood cells to overreact inappropriately to certain foods, fragrances, and other potential environmental triggers.
Ms. Quinn’s MCAS is particularly severe and only allows her to eat two foods: oatmeal and a specially prepared nutritional formula. Any other food could cause a life-threatening allergic reaction.
Caroline Cray Quinn has mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), a rare disease that affects only one in 150,000 people.
The condition means that even kissing someone who has eaten foods you are allergic to could trigger a dangerous reaction, making managing your love life a little more complicated.
Even kissing someone who has eaten foods you’re allergic to could trigger a dangerous reaction, complicating your love life.
As such, she has developed a set of strict rules that any potential love interest must follow before touching lips.
Quinn, a Boston healthcare recruiter, recently detailed these dating directives in a TikTok video that has already been viewed 1.7 million times.
“For someone to kiss me, they can’t eat anything three hours before,” he said.
‘They also can’t eat any of my top six anaphylactic allergens (peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, mustard, shellfish or kiwi) 24 hours before kissing me.
“And you have to brush your teeth before you kiss me.”
A member of her medical team gave her these rules after her diagnosis after she asked the “unconventional and awkward” question: “Can I kiss a boy?”
Ms Quinn said that, for the most part, the rules had proven successful.
“It’s been pretty easy to follow those rules, but I’ve had a handful of minor reactions while kissing someone or after kissing someone,” she said.
‘My mouth is itchy, my lips and tongue are itchy, and as soon as I feel it, I immediately stop and let them know that I feel reactive.
‘If necessary, I brush my teeth immediately and take some emergency medications.
“It’s never really gone beyond a little bit of a blush and a little bit of a headache.”
She currently has a boyfriend, Ryan, who she says happily follows the rules and enjoys the same foods she does when they are together.
While Ms Quinn had severe food allergies growing up, she was only diagnosed with MACS in 2017.
‘I’ve had serious food allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, mustard and kiwi since I was two, but other than that I was perfectly healthy.
‘I became ill with MCAS in September 2017 after a true allergic reaction to cross-contamination with nuts turned into a series of anaphylactic episodes to foods I was not allergic to.
“After an eight-month long waiting list, I visited an MCAS specialist who officially diagnosed me.”
He added: ‘(MCAS) presents with many uncomfortable and life-threatening symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, swelling/itching in the throat and mouth, loss of consciousness, low blood pressure, and hives/rash.
“To avoid flare-ups and MCAS symptoms, I avoid triggers such as food, animal hair or dander, mold, dust, heat, and certain odors.”
She even went two years without kissing anyone because her MCAS symptoms kept coming up, which was later revealed to be a mold problem in her home.
Despite the dangers MCAS poses, not just to dating and intimacy but to life in general, Quinne insists on not limiting herself.
“I’m very allergic to dogs and cats, and it’s technically a risk for me to just leave the house or go to the beach,” she said.
“I could be lying on the beach sunbathing and suddenly a dog could come up and lick my face.
“But I’m not going to stop going to the beach just because I’m afraid of the worst-case scenario.”
She currently has a boyfriend, Ryan, who she says happily abides by her dating rules and enjoys the same foods she does when they are together.
While Ms Quinn had severe food allergies as a child, she was only diagnosed with MACS in 2017.
Ms. Quinn’s MCAS is particularly severe and only allows her to eat two foods: oatmeal and a nutritional formula specially prepared for people with the condition; anything else could cause a life-threatening allergic reaction.
Quinn even suggested that her dating rules could be helpful for people who aren’t sure about their potential partner’s long-term intentions.
“I know it’s a little unconventional to have to screen your kissing prospects, but it’s a low-key dating cheat code,” she said.
‘Immediately eliminate any guy who doesn’t really give a damn about you.
“Like they have to follow some rules to be able to kiss you, so they obviously care, they’re obviously interested and they’re willing to put in a lot of effort.”
She joked, “So if you ever want to know if a guy is serious about you, tell him you have MACS and tell him to follow the three rules, and you’ll know right away.”
Allergies can cause a variety of symptoms, but the most serious is a dangerous inflammation of the airways called anaphylaxis.
This can make breathing difficult or even impossible and can cause the body to go into a cardiac emergency such as cardiac arrest due to lack of oxygen.
Quinn is not the only person who suffers allergic reactions due to intimacy.
There have been rare medical cases of people with peanut allergies suffering reactions due to small traces of nuts getting into their partners’ semen.
However, these cases have only been documented a few times.
