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A nurse from Colorado, Katy VanNostrand suffers from a rare allergy to exercise. She revealed that running or having sex with her husband could potentially kill her.

Katy was diagnosed with exercise-induced anaphylaxis in 2009. She had visited several doctors after repeatedly going to anaphylactic shock for the past six years.

Her first reaction was in college. She was 22 and took religious studies at Bates College, in Lewiston, Maine. She was running with a friend and started to feel terrible. They thought she was just dehydrated then her friend lifted her shirt and saw she was covered in deep red hives. Her face, lips and eyes were swollen.

They ran to the nearest hospital and found out that she was having an anaphylactic reaction. At first they thought it was probably something she ate or her washing powder.

After that it happened frequently, she had 15 and 20 reactions a year. Several doctors could not determine the cause until she was 28.

Katy, 34 and her husband John, 35, who was also a nurse decided to move to Carbondale. She went to a gym and within 10 minutes of running on the treadmill her face started swelling. She was rushed to A&E at Valley View hospital in Glenwood Springs where she was referred to a new allergist.

Katy was skeptical at first, but after a few minutes the doctor told her he suspected she had exercise-induced anaphylaxis. He described it as an ultra-rare condition that if Katy eats certain food, her body goes to shock when mixed with hormones released from exercise according to Mirror.

The Sun reported that Katy was advised to cut rapes, cranberries, oats, corn, rice, onion, celery, fennel, nuts and even black pepper from her diet to help control the reactions. She carries an EpiPen injector in case of an emergency. After cutting out food and taking medication, her reaction lowered to only four to six times a year.

Katy and her husband are grateful for fewer occurrences and continue to work with her doctor to keep her safe.