To think that I CAN use cold remedies in the office?

[MrsElizabethShelby]

I have been told that I cannot use olbas oil/vaporub in the office due to a staff member who has asthma.

Staff remember sits approximately 40 feet away from me.

I understand no spraying of aerosols perfumes (already a rule) but olbas oil/vaporub to help with cold symptoms? Really?

AIBU to state that I am forced to go home ill if I cannot use things to ease my symptoms.to enableme to work?

I think you should have mentioned the cigarettes earlier.

Use this. It works fantastically and there won’t be any smell that will trigger your colleagues asthma

www.vicks.co.uk/en-gb/shop-products/vicks-decongestants/vicks-sinex-decongestant-nasal-spray

You do know you can die from asthma? My cousin's niece was 23. Died at a bus stop having an asthma attack.
lt's horrific. You're literally watching someone breathe their last if they don't get treatment immediately.
Personally l wouldn't want to be responsible for that.

Bit on the fence here. My DH has asthma and certain paints and aerosols would be triggers. Also very cold weather. Fortunately he doesn't have sudden attacks and anything would build up slowly giving plenty of time to get treatment. A chest infection is not good either. Asthma does kill and the figures are approx 2000 per year die from it. Know one personally who died. Not sure how she can smell it from 40 feet away but if she can and it triggers her asthma then better to be safe than sorry. But the smoking is not good at all and would definitely be exacerbating her asthma I would think. How is she without the triggers and does she be off work a lot with it

You sound very judgy, OP. Yes, of course you can use olbas/vapour rub, but it would be gracious of you not to in this instance.

It doesn’t matter that she smokes. Ok she’s barmy. But you wouldn’t want to be the one, who inadvertently hospitalises or kills her.

Try using saline. It lubricates the mucus membranes, which reduces swelling. The bunged up feeling is caused mostly by the swelling and catarrh is created as a result.

I haven’t used the nasal spray. I nebulise saline. I buy contact lense (100%) saline solution as it is sterile. It tackles bad winter coughs, which can turn to asthma and chronic sinusitis. Since buying the nebuliser 3 years ago I haven’t had one episode of sinusitis and my coughs resolve within approximately a week as opposed to around month.

You definitely don’t need olbas oil or vicks. They are far inferior to my method and never worked for me. I got the idea from hours of trawling the internet when I stumbled across this treatment being offered / advised by the nhs used for people, who have copd to combat colds.

Would you really risk the health of a colleague over something so trivial and where other options are easily available?

Vics and the likes are big triggers for ds asthma even when someone else is using them. As a result we find alternatives it’s not hard

Yabu - if it’s an irritant for asthma then of course you can’t use it in an office with asthmatics. Not to mention they stink to high heaven, so will be annoying non-asthmatic colleagues too. If you are so ill that you can’t face work without them, you should be at home anyway.

Have a Lemsip or get some Oltravine.

So because she smokes she deserves to have a potentially fatal asthma attack since she has lost the right to complain about other irritants? She is stupid for choosing to smoke. But that doesn't mean you therefore have the right to disregard (unecessary) things that you have been specifically told are triggers for her. Would you be OK with being responsible for that just because she is a smoker?

How does the asthmatic use public transport? In winter there could be many people with Vicks on or olbas tissues.

How does she get to work op? She can't regulate the whole population.

People thinking the asthma attacks aren’t that bad led to me being hospitalised because of someone spray deodorant in the office after repeated requests from hr and managers not to. Having a cold isn’t fun but asthma can kill.

Do her cigarettes contain olbas oil or Vicks?
And does she smoke them in the office so they affect you?

I find it triggers my asthma and I found that out the very hard way.

How do I manage public transport? I don't. And I found out I was allergic when waiting for meds in a pharmacy. I've had similar reactions to very strong perfume.

No I can't regulate other people in public but in work I should be able to do my job without ending up needing to be in hospital.

And they're being really stupid smoking but that's not really relevant, stupid but not relevant. Obviously they know these products are a trigger.

I am applying vaporub to my chest at home and/or using a bit of olbas oil on a hanky again applied at home and kept in my bag.

You just actually smell quite strongly, for someone 40 ft away to even know you have it on and in your bag.

(Just to add I no longer work but when I did it was a nightmare during the winter to get people to understand how bad a reaction I could have, until I had one of course!)

because of someone spray deodorant in the office after repeated requests from hr and management

We had this issue on a children’s ward once where one of the mums ignored repeated requests not to spray deodorant on a 4 bay room, where two of the children where already in for asthma! But apparently her need for spray was more important

Be considerate and find an alternative.

You're not going to die of a cold, those asthmatics on the other hand....

YABU
My uncle died horrifically from an asthma attack so funnily enough I take this kind of thing quite seriously. My DH has asthma and I really don't want him to die so I get rather wound up when people are rather laissez-faire about these things
If you hadn't been asked that would be a different matter but as soon as you've been told not to YABU - there are loads of other non irritating options for you, take one of those.

Just to add: (1) she obviously is not helping herself by smoking; however, this does not entitle others to do other things that aggravate her asthma; (2) on the public transport issue - (a) how do we know that she doesn't drive/walk/cycle/take a taxi/etc. rather than using public transport? (b) not that many people on public transport will in general have Vicks/Olbas on them - it's much commoner to use tablets these days as remedies; (c) unless the commute is very long, one's exposure on (say) a half-hour bus journey is much less than spending all day in a confined office space with someone using the products.

@insancerre no, but the stink of her walking past after a fag break bothers me.

@Eliza9919 I have no idea how she gets to work. I don't know her at all. It's a very big open plan office (800+ people) Iv never even spoken to her.

Olbas oil stinks.

Whether she smokes or not is neither here nor there. Even without the asthma there's no need for anyone stinking the office out. Olbas and Vicks are strong smells.

You can't be that ill if some vicks and olbas oil is all you need. If you do need medical stuff to get through the day take some cold and flu, some method throat sweets, decongestants etc if you need to or be off ill.

She can't regulate the whole population.

No, but she can ask for consideration in the controlled environment where she spends most of the day