“It’s not you; it’s your semen…”

Sometimes medical truth is better than fiction, and some conditions, which are real and painful, and not jokes at all, seem just too ready made for Grey’s Anatomy. Semen allergy may be just such a condition.

This relatively rare allergic reaction, which includes itching, burning, and swelling in the genital area after unprotected intercourse (and in severe cases hives or swelling may appear elsewhere on the body and the woman may experience difficulty breathing) got some much needed attention at a session covering gender-related research on allergies and asthma in women at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology yesterday.

According to Dr. David Resnick, who presented on semen allergy at the conference, and is quoted in a prepared statement, symptoms usually occur within 30 minutes of exposure (sounds romantic, doesn’t it), but reactions can also happen hours or days later. In some cases women will have allergic responses to a particular partner’s semen, while other women will have the reaction to all semen. The prevalence of the allergy isn’t known, but a 1996 study of 1,073 women (who were experiencing symptoms and sought information) approximately 13 percent were determined to have semen allergy.

One of the treatments for semen allergy is a technique called Intravaginal Seminal Graded Challenge. The challenge consists of semen being inserted in the vagina, first in very diluted form and then in progressively less diluted form. The good news part of this treatment is that frequent exposure to semen, preferably in the form of sexual intercourse, is a key part of the treatment regimen.

The presentation also described some women having allergic reactions not to the semen itself, but to allergens transmitted through semen, including the medications vinblastine, penicillin and thioridazine and some food and beverages, including walnuts and Coca-Cola. Which really makes you appreciate the old adage that “you are what you eat.”

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