r/ChemicalSensitivities

I'm going to a wedding on Saturday where there'll be lots of family I haven't seen for a while due to living abroad for 11 years. I want to go but I'm absolutely dreading the fragrance exposure - everyone's going to be swimming in perfume and cologne 😮‍💨

I'll take an antihistamine, but it doesn't really help with my fragrance sensitivity, especially contact. I'm thinking I might take some alcohol in a small bottle so that I can go to the bathroom and spritz myself in a bid to evaporate some of the scent from my hair and neck after all of the hello hugs?! Do you think that would help at all?

I used to smoke a nicotine vape for years. The last few months of me smoking, I started to get a really weird body odor like sweet, tangy, musky, and it stuck to everything. I could smell it on me during the day and my clothes after I wore them, even in my hair.

Eventually I quit because it was so noticeable. It’s been over a year now and no amount of washing my clothes can get the smell out. It’s not me, or my body, it’s stuck in my clothes now

I tried everything - borax, sodium percarbonate, vinegar, zero odor laundry booster, etc.

Now my clothes, even ones I didn’t wear while vaping, will smell when I wear them. It doesn’t seem as noticeable right when I wash them but as I wear them and my body heat interacts with the clothes, the smell is back.

I feel so alone in this like it’s embarrassing to be told I smell, and it’s embarrassing to be out and about and know I smell.

Has anyone ever experienced this? I need any help I can!!! Literally at the point that I’m about to move apartments (not because of the smell lol) and want to get rid of all my clothes and have to start fresh because there’s been literally no solution that gets the smell out.

Current status: asthma is kicking me to the curb lately and happening as a direct result of fragrance. I had to move out of my fiancé’s house because of back to back fragrance contamination events that came from the product choices of complete strangers - not from the product choices of anyone who lived with us.

The most frustrating thing is that my loved ones can’t stop my fragrance reactions because everyone I’m in direct contact with already chose to be fragrance free.

My worst reactions in the past couple of months are coming from *strangers that my loved ones were in the same room with briefly, at some location other than home* - that’s how aggressive spreading the latest fragrance chemicals are. And that is truly terrifying how far it spreads and how much damage it does after one single person - a person that I don’t even know - chose products over people.

Friends, humans, strangers, I beg you: please, go fragrance free.

In this sub I’m probably preaching to the choir, because people with chemical sensitivity already usually know how bad fragrance is - but maybe a bystander will read this post or find it with google, and maybe they’ll have a change of heart.

It’s no longer just about avoiding harm to yourself or to your loved ones.

It’s about avoiding harm to people you will never meet - people who entered a building after you left, and the loved ones that they hugged when they got home.

1 out of 3 Americans report adverse health effects from other people’s fragrance - and the true damage is certainly even higher than that. That’s only the subset of people who can smell these chemicals clearly enough to notice the pattern. There are many more people who can’t smell the most harmful fragrance chemicals and take damage anyway - with anxiety, depression, temper issues, brain fog, fatigue, asthma, COPD.

Strangers need to do this FOR STRANGERS - sometimes without even being able to smell it. We all have different olfactory receptors, and many people have no way to detect the presence of these chemicals through sense of smell at all. But they still do harm - to you or to others - whether you can smell them or not.

I just moved into a 1 bedroom apartment and when I first moved in I noticed a strong chemical smell. It reminds me of that lysol disinfectant spray. The smell is so intense that it sticks to my clothes. I went to go visit my partner and noticed my clothes smelled like my apartment. What could cause this and how on earth do I get rid of it? I’m an opera singer so I’m worried about what these chemicals are doing to my lungs.

My husband wiped his sweaty face on his arm after spraying with deet over a week ago and has since had numbness where he wiped, around his eye, side of nose and mouth including gums on that side. Poison control was no help. No money to go to ER for them to not be able to do anything. Anyone else ever have similar experience? Any suggestions?

I learned today that empathy and sense of smell share the same brain wiring. when one has chemical damage, the other is also frequently damaged too. Google it if you don’t believe me …it’s actually well studied.

So next time you’re dealing with a seemingly unempathetic bump of a human who can’t understand what you’re reacting to because they can’t smell it, just remember … you’re right. 😔

Something caused damage to that shared part of the brain (where empathy and sense of smell intersect with shared brain wiring)

Hello, Anyone else have to remove themselves from the vicinity of your neighbor’s laundry detergent smells?
Every day as I sit outside on the patio I have to remove myself or I start to get symptoms like numb lips and tight scratchy throat, headache…
So annoying to have to struggle with this oversensitization to chemical products.
Makes me want to go camping 24/7…

Puracy has definitely been going through some growing pains as they've been scaling up their product offerings. (Those of you who care about these things will remember when the "free and clear" stain spray added linalool. They have since switched to lime oil but continue the innacurate free and clear labeling.) With my latest purchase this week of the liquid detergent there's been a very obvious shift in at least the ingredient sourcing if not the formulation as well - the detergent now has a strong stale corn/grain smell than persists after the wash... and maybe some plasticizer contamination. The concentration also seems a little lower than it used to be so it needed to be dosed higher. After a couple of washes I had to stop using it because the smell was driving me crazy. (It's a short trip, I know.) Caveat emptor or you might end up with a refill sized package you'll be donating.

I had to have lunch away from home the other day and went to In-N-Out. I was delighted to find that they do not use air fresheners in the bathroom and the soap at the sinks seemed to be fragrance-free as well. The bathroom had no scent at all, not from the cleaning agents they use, not from guests using the toilets, none. The dining area also had no discernable scent. It was fabulous. The food was good too.

I'll admit, I don't get out very much, so maybe this is common. But after having so many crappy, fragrance-laden bathroom visits it was such a joy to be able to go out and have lunch (and even be able to use the bathroom) and not encounter any fragrances. I'm so excited about it I'm already planning my next visit.

I have a documented fragrance sensitivity and have gone through my employer's formal accommodation process.

There are certain areas of my workplace that I sometimes need to access where fragrance is regularly present. This isn't only fragrance from people's personal products. Employees maintain scented plug-ins and wax warmers in some of these areas, and employees also wear strong fragrances. The scent can linger in rooms and hallways, and I've had physical reactions from exposure.

My employer is aware of my sensitivity and my accommodation.

One of the solutions I've been given is essentially to check/sniff the area myself before entering to determine whether fragrance is present and whether it's safe for me to go in.

This is the part I can't wrap my head around. If fragrance is the thing I'm supposed to avoid, I have to expose myself to the fragrance in order to determine whether the fragrance is there.

I don't expect a completely scent-free workplace, and I understand that an employer can't control every shampoo, deodorant, or personal product someone might use.

But plug-ins and scented wax warmers seem different to me because they're intentionally adding fragrance to the workplace environment.

Would you consider asking the person with the fragrance accommodation to personally check an area for fragrance before entering to be a reasonable solution?

If you've had a workplace fragrance accommodation, how did your employer handle shared spaces or areas where scented products were being used?

\- fragrance gives me migraines and respiratory issues (end up needing inhaler and breathing treatments)

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Hi everyone, I’m wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar because I’m trying to work out whether there could be a connection.

For years I’ve reacted badly to certain laundry detergents, including things like Cold Power and Surf. My usual symptoms have been irritated/dry eyes, waking up with a cloudy or filmy feeling over my eyes, sinus pressure/pain and sometimes headaches.

Recently I used another washing liquid that I suspect I react to, and around the same general period I developed a really strange persistent dizziness. It isn’t spinning vertigo — it feels more like rocking/swaying, as though I’ve just stepped off a cruise ship. I can feel floaty and off balance, and screens, looking around and head/eye movement can make it worse.

I’ve also had some mild sinus aching beside my nose and ear clicking/fullness. Interestingly, loratadine (Claratyne) seems to noticeably reduce the rocking/dizziness a few hours after I take it, which has made me wonder whether allergy or inflammation could somehow be contributing.

I’ve stopped using the suspected detergent and I’m now rewashing all my bedding, clothes and towels in a detergent I know I’ve tolerated before, with extra rinses.

Has anyone here ever had dizziness, rocking/swaying, vertigo, brain fog or balance problems from laundry detergent, fragrance, detergent enzymes or another chemical sensitivity?

If so:

What ingredient were you reacting to?

How long did symptoms take to settle after removing it?

Did antihistamines help?

Did you have sinus/Eustachian-tube or ear symptoms as well?

Most importantly, did the dizziness eventually completely go away, and what helped you fix it?

I’m being medically checked as well — I’m mainly interested in hearing other people’s experiences because this is such a strange symptom and I’m trying to see whether anyone has experienced the same pattern.

A fabric made out of 100% Carbon, developed by the British military for decontamination and PPE. Really feels like this would solve all of my problems right now.

https://www.flexzorb.com/sectors/#defence

https://charcoalhouse.com/activated-carbon-cloth-knitted-single-yard.html

We just purchased a new home in a new building and whenever I enter there Im having throat issues and stiffed nose after and I need to leave the place.

How can I fix this? can I also clean the walls somehow? It is unbearable and I am afraid that I wont be able to live there

Today my ankles legs and face have swollen up just another health problem relating to the butane long term damage

Life after this stuff

Anyone else have a story

My bf brings with him a strong smell powder thingy wrap in a paper inside his bag every time he sees me. What is it and is it anything concerning