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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

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

162 replies

MrsElizabethShelby · 14/07/2019 16:49

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?

OP posts:

cccameron · 14/07/2019 19:26

Of course YABU. That stuff absolutely fucking stinks. Why on earth should everyone be subjected to that.
So selfish. If you're not well enough to work, go home.

purplecorkheart · 14/07/2019 21:26

@lyralalala I do not have asthma, I would avoid it in case my fellow passenger seated near me may do.

Malvinaa81 · 14/07/2019 21:34

I'm afraid you sound selfish, entitled and petulant.

Those products smell too strong for use in an office, and a person of any sensitivity would understand that.

Winterlife · 14/07/2019 21:38

If you’re so sick you need these products, stay home. I hate it when people come to work ill and infect everyone else.

Mokepon · 14/07/2019 21:40

Massive fucking dripfeed there, OP.
I was totally on the YABU side as we bought an olbas plugin and it really exacerbated DHs asthma so we had to get rid.
Howevee, I can understand totally you being annoyed about it but in posting as you have you've just got everyone's back up.
And now I've got huge splinters in my arse. Cheers for that.😄

dothewalkoflife · 14/07/2019 21:48

Oh for goodness sake, don't be so selfish and petty. Sudafed nasal spray actually works better. You will only have a cold for so long, get some Sudafed for that time. Be grateful you don't have asthma (I am presuming!), a life-threatening condition.

ItsJustASimpleLine · 14/07/2019 21:51

You can buy a nasal sniffer thing of vicks/olbus. I would go with that in all honesty.

I once liberally poured olbus oil all over my bedroom, on a tissue, the pillow it was on me from contact etc as I just could not breathe and I was so tired I just wanted to sleep/breathe. It didn't work out so well though as DH had a asthma attack. Once he had his inhaler we had to open the windows and strip the bed to try to get rid of the smell in the end he slept on the sofa to get away. So it can genuinely be a problem but I'd used loads over a couple of days on tissues which then spread onto the bed etc.

NauseousMum · 14/07/2019 21:55

Olbas do an up the nose inhaler, could that work as an alternative?

HypatiaCade · 14/07/2019 22:04

You can't use strongly scented treatments in an office!! How has that totally bypassed you?

I'm not asthmatic but the smell of olbas oil makes me extremely nauseous.

motherofcats81 · 15/07/2019 00:02

If you’re so sick you need these products, stay home. I hate it when people come to work ill and infect everyone else.

This, seriously. People think they're being good coming into work and then they just make everyone ill. I'm pregnant right now so among the many people who have low immunity and someone coughing and sneezing their germs all over the place can knock me out for two weeks. It's really inconsiderate.

ScaryBunnyPainting · 15/07/2019 01:00

Ah so she might work a considerable distance away from you in the office however to get to her desk (admittedly from smoking which is stupid for an asthmatic) she needs to walk passed you and therefore the irritants which exacerbate her asthma.

I’ve seen people die of asthma (it’s quick and terrifying) and I’ve been hospitalised due to my asthma - including resuscitation. Asthma isn’t just getting a bit out of puff, it is a very dangerous condition which can turn on its heel and kill the most unsuspecting of sufferer incredibly quickly.
Either stop using the products or take it on your shoulders that you could kill this woman.

SagAloojah · 15/07/2019 04:39

YABU, no one needs Olbas oil to get through a day at work if you're well enough to come in. Stop being a drama llama OP.

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 15/07/2019 05:11

Vicks & love and olbas oil are just topical relief.you can achieve the same with menthol lozenges (or Vicks inhaler stick, the fumes won't spread to others with that).

If you are really congested ask in the pharmacy for pseudoephedrine tablets (doesn't need to be sudafed brand) it's really really effective. Don't buy the Sudafed kept on the shop floor, it's phenylephrine and there are doubts it works at all. They sell it because pseudoephedrine has to be kept behind a counter as it can be used as an ingredient in synthesizing an illegal substance, and it's harder to market a product kept behind the pharmacy counter.

AllyBamma · 15/07/2019 05:14

You asked and the vast majority has said YABU. Accept that, since you asked.
If you’re sick enough that you just have to use your remedies then you shouldn’t be at work at all. People who come to work sick are inconsiderate arseholes. People who come to work sick and inflict Vick’s and other stinky crap on everyone (asthma or not) are scum.

ChristmasFluff · 15/07/2019 09:20

As well as asthma, these problems give some people headaches, and would give my son a migraine - which makes him vomit and become disoriented. And as someone else mentioned, pregnant women will be affected too.

She won't be the only one pissed off at you. Stay at home.

Eliza9919 · 15/07/2019 09:21

Scum? Really? Using vicks is what constitutes scum in your world does it?

Passthecherrycoke · 15/07/2019 09:27

I can’t work out how your vicks and obas oil applied at home is so strong swelling someone 40 feet away who you never speak to can smell it

But either way they must be able to. It’s quite annoying and a bit humiliating to be told things like this so I undeerstand your frustration but you can’t go home with a cold.

AllyBamma · 15/07/2019 09:30

@Eliza9919 read the full sentence dear. If you come to work sick (and use your various concoctions), make me sick and then make my child sick... yep. Scum.

KnittingSister · 15/07/2019 09:31

Vicks/olbas oil are not clinically proven, decongestants are...

Passthecherrycoke · 15/07/2019 09:32

She’s got a cold. You can’t stay off work for a cold.

Angech74 · 15/07/2019 09:54

Best thing I use when having a cold is Vicks Micromist. A couple of squirts up each nostril and you can breathe again for hours. It doesn't make a stink (so wouldn't impact on any asthmatics) and then take a couple of paracetamol for any headache. Bazinga!

OddHoleySocks · 15/07/2019 10:03

I know an asthmatic who was hospitalised because he stopped smoking. He was advised by his doctor to cut down, but not to give up as it actually helped clear his airways. Strange but true.

Yabvvu. Your cold does not take precedence over someone's asthma. It's a cold. And those aren't remedies, they don't cure it. They just make the symptoms more bearable.

And fwiw, the asthmatic will suffer more from catching your cold than you will.

Vicks first defence is my recommendation. It really does make a difference. But probably too late this time round.

LolaSmiles · 15/07/2019 10:43

She’s got a cold. You can’t stay off work for a cold.
I think what people are saying is if all someone is taking is vicks and olbas oil then they aren't really that ill and if OP really is genuinely ill then they need to be off work and if they're in the middle then go to work on appropriate medicines.

In any situation they don't need to be stinking the office out with some scented oils.

Passthecherrycoke · 15/07/2019 10:44

@LolaSmiles I was responding to @AllyBamma who was getting slightly hysterical about people coming into work and spreading cold germs

WidowTwonky · 15/07/2019 10:51

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