Fragrances and Asthma / Allergies

My Pulmonologist’s office has a large sign announcing no perfumes or colognes allowed on the premises. Why don’t gyms and physical therapy facilities have the same signs?! So annoying! People who do not have allergies and/or asthma can be very inconsiderate.

Agreed. Even if I have a service person in my home with cologne I suffer
Walking past homes that use scented products for laundry will trigger me from their dryer vents

Also, I lost my smell from Covid 3 years ago so seldom get a warning
Frustrating

@mjo4094 I also struggle with manufactured fragrances. I can do okay with products made from essential oils only, but I have a lot of wheezing/chest tightness issues with faux fragrances.

I also have trouble going by perfume counters in department stores, and about 3-4 years ago I finally gave up wearing any fragrance personally. I was sad at the time, but I feel so much better and know I'm not adding to my own problems.

Walking by homes where laundry is going with fragrances from laundry soap escaping the vents is also really hard on my allergies and asthma.

mjo4094 - Any suggestions on how to de- fragrance your world and kindly encourage others to help by not contributing more challenging fragrances?

I too can’t handle the smell. I had to say something to my optometrist office and they toned it down. I love my dentist, but they have strong air freshener.
I live in an apartment complex and the walls are thin right now the sweet lady on the other side of my living room wall is burning some kind of a candle
I’m tired of all these scents. Even laundry detergent that is unscented.

I use non fragrance bath (kirk) soap, ALL free and clear detergent and rinse with white vinegar. I only use vinegar when washing towels and underwear. It kills germs and makes every thing so soft. I stopped using perfume years ago. (courant was my fav) We have stopped going out to eat or shop because there's invairably someone drenched in fragrance or after shave seated next to us. (besides I've seen too many employees use the toilet and then leave without washing their hands). That has taken some getting use to, but I now do find pleasure shopping online and watching movies and PBS Masterpiece Theater without hearing cell phones and people talking through the movie. I have an air cleaner (honeywell) in each room and change the filters in them and my HAVC system every month. We had the duct work cleaned and we vacumn every week. If I have to go to the bank, I always wear a good mask. I do have home health care and I love it. I did have to go to urgent care for a UTI but it had only two people in the waiting room. My pharmacy also makes deliveries.

It’s sad and funny—I have a reduced sense of smell so I can’t smell much but smells still set me off. My loved ones have to help me figure out what might be the trigger(s) and help eliminate them. We do have split A/C and clean out the filters fairly regularly and rinse them off. We also have air cleaners going 24/7 that are silent and replace the filters annually, as recommended. We also have no carpet anywhere in our home. These things have greatly helped us reduce allergens in our home and improved our quality of life.

By the way, making popcorn in the microwave sets all of us off, especially when it gets burn in the end. We do not microwave popcorn. No one in our home uses fragrances whenever possible and we use ALL free & clear laundry detergent as well.

@hicopd Is the popcorn just plain or does it have butter and flavoring added? I know that pre-buttered and flavored popcorn contributes to lung problems and there is medical literature about that. If there is any smoke from microwaving popcorn, that would be a trigger. We use an air popper (no oil) and that works well. We melt real butter separately and pour onto the popcorn. We also have no carpeting and use HEPA with carbon air filters inside. We are also careful about cleaning products and run exhaust fans when using bathroom cleaners.

@lisalucier I'm just like you. Unfortunately, many people don't understand how big a health problem fragrances are, and can be offended easily because this is their identity and style to choose to use fragrances. It's hard for me to go to a show not knowing if my lungs will be assaulted by chemical fragrances. I have started taking an actual respirator for chemical and particulate and a silk scarf. I have been wearing the N95 masks in public which is now more normal because of the pandemic. If I need to change a mask for a respirator at a show, I'd wait until the lights go out, and conceal it with the scarf so I don't draw much attention. Some people are offended because they assume you're making a public display about them, when actually, you're just trying to breathe with all the barriers in your way. In public, I wouldn't ask a person about fragrances, but I would get up and move away if possible. You can't do anything about the detergent they washed their clothes in. Some of the issue is the chemicals that disperse the fragrance, such as pthalates. It would be nice if regulations could remove the toxic chemicals from public exposure in various products.

I also wear a KF94 mask most of the time when I’m in enclosed spaces in the public. Since COVID, no one seems to give any hassles about wearing masks in public, even though few wear them. I’m fine with that.

I had a relative that had to have her staff screen all patients to see if any were wearing any scent and if so, send them home to return for a later appointment because it would give her disabling migraines if she was in the room with them. She has since retired from her dermatology practice. It was a sensitivity/allergy that developed later in life, as well as a severe allergy to mint (which she loved and cultivated). I was with her at Costco once and we got a sample candy that had a trace of artificial mint which immediately caused her to start wheezing and I had to lend her my rescue inhaler!

For popcorn, we rarely ever microwaved anyway, but when we did, it was a prepared mix that included seasoned seaweed flakes and mochi crunch. Our microwave runs hot so tends to burn popcorn. Like I say, we rarely make any in the microwave.