Help Please...Might be allergic to perfume...

I've never really experienced an allergy towards perfume until 2 days ago. Once at work, where everyone got carried with spraying the junk all over the place, then today at school sitting in class and reeks of perfume. It was so strong, I almost passed out from it, and it has made my throat so swollen today.

On both occasions now, my throat has become swollen and and it just reeks of perfume when I breathe. Like someone took the perfume bottle and sprayed it into my mouth.

The perfume smells, has made me dizzy, have vertigo, I almost passed out in class, my throat is so horse and swollen it's pathetic. Constantly coughing white mucus up.

We seriously need to start a petition on white house.gov of perfumes man. Ridiculous.

Going to the doctor's on Friday, and I'm hoping he will give me a note to my boss to have them not let customers play with the perfumes.

I literally felt like I was going to die today. That's how bad it was.

How can I get this smell out of my throat, and ease the swollen feeling?

Thanks.

It hurt just to eat my turkey dinner today.

reply to post by Diabolical


I have the same problem with perfume and lots of other odors. The cause for me is severe asthma, which I wasn't diagnosed with til late 40's.
The feeling of your throat swelling could be a serious symptom. If it happens again before your doctor appointment, I would head to the nearest emergency room.
Better safe than sorry.
Best of luck,
Nugget

If your throat is swollen seek help NOW! it only takes three minutes to die if you cant breath.

I've been allergic to most perfumes and aftershaves all my life. I hate church or any indoor function where lots of people are using them. Kids in school who these bother can't think correctly, their body is constantly in a defense mode. It is not uncommon for people to be allergic to these things. I would guess that one third of people are allergic to them. One third of all school kids also.

It is not an allergy that can cause a bad reaction most times, it just interferes with thinking a bit. The culprit is a ketone most times I think. These chemicals should be illegal in schools. The constant breathing of these chemicals can also cause a weakening of the body through various ways. I studied a few but this subject is so complex and widespread that it is fruitless to persue. If you don't feel good because of these scents, you will not challenge the person wearing them. These perfumes and aftershaves are much worse than cigarettes on people. Some are much worse than the chemicals in our foods. And they talk about air pollution or second hand smoke causing problems.

Agreed on the throat swelling being very serious. You might want to talk to your doctor about getting an EpiPen (epinephrine injecting pen) that you carry with you in case it happens again. The second and future reactions tend to be more dramatic then the first.

Most commercial perfumes are chemicals, not 'natural' ingredients and yeah, although I'm a 'smell freak', I can't tolerate any commercial perfumes. I love natural smells, though. There are some perfume companies out there specializing in them.

As far as avoiding the public's love of the junk, I'm not sure how you can avoid it, especially if you're in some business where there's perfume being sold. Might be time to look for a job where the air you breathe can be a bit more controlled.

Most offices now have guidelines discouraging perfume use by employees.

It's possible that whatever you reacted to was a rare occurrence or ingredient and it won't happen again, but you really have no way of knowing what it was.

reply to post by VoidHawk


It's just horse and very irritated now, swelling has gone down after I left the class.

reply to post by signalfire


No, I don't know what they sprayed. I just know my throat hurts really bad after they sprayed whatever they sprayed, before, during, or after. lol Maybe some ice cream will sooth my throats horseness?

This may be off-topic, but I've never understood how large department stores ban smoking, but all seem to have their perfume counters closest to the front doors as you walk in.

reply to post by charles1952


Because America doesn't run on reason.

I am not even a smoker but where I'm at they ban it in bars. There's something about a bar without cigarette smoke and dingy lighting that feels wrong.

Either way to the OP: Just be sure to keep an eye on it. Perfumes can cause bad allergic reactions. If it gets really bad they can shoot you in the ass with some steroids.

I don't like most perfumes and I think they smell gross. I never understand the reasoning behind some of them.

Men don't like them and women don't like them so what's the point. I actually wear men's cologne, this brand named Curve and neither men or women know it's for guys. It just smells good. I have actually had women and men come up like those stupid Axe commercials and tell me I smell good. LOL.

But yeah, be careful.

OP, for now try taking a very long hot shower. Blow your nose out while you're in there to get rid of the residual chemicals from your sinuses and the steam will help clean out your lungs.

Eat anything you want to, but the ice cream will mostly be comfort food

Sudafed can cancel out some allergic reactions but be careful with it. Taking it too often lets it build up in your system and it's an upper that makes some people nervous, others crabby or worse.

reply to post by Diabolical


My allergies to cigarettes and perfumes started instantly just like yours. I had to start carrying an inhaler because several times I felt close to dying.

I use unscented laundry soap, shampoo, hair products, everything!

I began to think of the serious consequences of all the added scent and what they are made of from your deodorant, make-up(each product has scent so add a bunch for makeup), laundry soap, fabric softener, bath soap, shampoo, conditioner, bath powder, foot powder, think of how many people put on themselves each and every day THEN they ADD perfume!

Now think of a group of people together and they all used differently scented products!

Most are made of chemicals that are meant to imitate real things like flowers and fruits. People get angry that I get ill :-(

reply to post by Diabolical




hah, finally women's old deception gag is coming back to bite them in the arse.



YOU USE DECEPTION AGAINST US FOR TRILLENIUMS TO MAKE U PRETTIER AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENS!!!


Hah!!!


what's next eyeliner makes your eyelids swell to the size of baseballs. WOO

reply to post by Diabolical


I have the same problem, Diabolical. The moment I hit a pocket of perfume, I cannot breathe. Beware candle stores as well. For a workplace, it shouldn't be an issue depending on the size of the workplace. Most larger employers actually have rules against perfume wearing by employees because it is distracting. School--well, there's no help for that one if you're in college. Better to figure out who the culprit is and sit as far as possible from the olfactory infractor.

Like Char-Lee said, mine started quite suddenly, too. Walked into a Nordstroms and nearly lost consciousness. I, too, have to watch the scents on everything from soaps to cleaning supplies. My doctors said that I was developing chemical allergies due to my overactive immune system. I have a tendency of becoming allergic to things the more I get exposed to them. For me, what I react to is really hit and miss. Fresh paint is fine but Pine Sol will make my head light and woozy, my nose bleed, my skin will turn hot red and peel off.

There's a bit of a discussion about having multiple chemical sensitivities being a somatoform disorder. Basically, high amounts of stress can cause normally mundane things to become internalized into physical distress. If you've been feeling extremely stressed, this might be the root of the problem but I'm not sure how I feel about that presumption as I do have diagnosed chemical allergies (some perfumes will inflame or "burn" my skin) and have those same symptoms. Sometimes I think that perhaps manufacturers would prefer it to be all in somebody's head.

For more info:
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: allergies.about.com...
Chemical allergies: www.webmd.com...