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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to want to ban all so-called perfumes, or force the manufacturer to label them with POISON- NERVE GAS in big red letters on the front....

16 replies

AirSupply · 31/07/2009 17:17

I wonder if there are any other mners who have this problem, which is becoming so all consuming that it is taking over my life, and really restricting my activites.

I have always been a bit sensitive to strong smells, and have had migraines all my life. But over the past few years the use of 'perfume' in all areas has rocketed and everywhere I go I am assailed by the stink of chemicals. I have a headache every day now, and am often nauseous from the effects of these VOCs etc that are put into everything nowadays.

I have a house full of teenagers most of the time, and the stuff they spray on themselves really makes me ill. I can smell this stuff from 100 metres away, and the effect it has on me is immediate. Headache, nausea, feeling faint. It's not as though the scent is pleasant either, all I get is the chemical thing and then the physical effects.

I have had to give up dancing and several other activities because more and more people are using these products. Confined spaces are a nightmare...planes, buses, offices etc. Even if I just walk past someone in the street I can sense these smells. Any place I go where there is an 'air freshener' means three days in bed for me with a horrendous migraine. Asking to have a window open is met with looks as though I am a loon, or the reply that they don't actually open at all.

I am sitting here typing this with a headache because some friends of my son have come round and are all trailing a cloud of toxic fumes. (The so-called Lynx-effect)!

It is extremely difficult to buy washing powders, cleaning stuff and any household product that does not contain these poisons now. And they ARE poisons.

Is it me? Or is it them? And what the Hell can I do to get back to a normal life? Short of walking round wearing a gas-mask a la Michael Jackson, I am stumped.

OP posts:
RumourOfAHurricane · 31/07/2009 17:20

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hereidrawtheline · 31/07/2009 17:26

I knew someone like this as well, and I am a migraine sufferer though not triggered by smells as such. Aerosol being sprayed in the room with me does give me an asthma attack though.

I understand how pissed off and fed up you are but there isnt anything you can do about it from a manufacturing POV. You are in a minority and the whole world will pretty much carry on as they please. I for one wear perfume and love scented oils/candles at home. You should be seen by an allergist and any other doctor who can help you to try to stop it on a medical side because you have pretty minute chance of stopping it on a social side.

I would however think its fair to make your house a no-smell zone... hard to enforce with guests but with your own children should be a no brainer, it was with the lady I knew who was like this. And all her close friends and family knew not to wear anything when visiting her. She attended a small church and they even asked the whole congregation to not wear them so she could enjoy services.

sarah293 · 31/07/2009 17:29

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BetsyBoop · 31/07/2009 19:21

You have my sympathy, certain perfumes trigger headaches & sometimes migraines for me too. Not fun.

I had to beg a woman I used to work with not to wear Opium as I ended up going home with a migraine more often than not when she wore it. She was shocked, but we are still friends 15yrs later (and no longer working for the same company) so I guess she got over it

slng · 31/07/2009 19:43

Perfumes make me sneeze nonstop and people think I have H1N1 and avoid me... Or perhaps they just avoid me anyway ...

LeninGrad · 01/08/2009 04:47

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RubyBlueberry · 01/08/2009 17:07

Try a herbalist, mine sorted my migraines within a month and mine were triggered by strong smells, and the type of smells that make you blink (IYKWIM)

LeonieSoSleepy · 01/08/2009 21:11

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nellynaemates · 02/08/2009 00:13

YANBU. I don't get the extremity of reaction that you do but I react to most perfumes by sneezing, running eyes etc. and I hate it!

Washing powders are one of the worst but I find that my clothes don't come out clean if I don't use bio stuff, and despite my symptoms I like them having that really clean washed smell. It's very stupid of me I know.

If I clean the bathroom I have blocked up nose and running eyes all day, good excuse for poor housekeeping!

OurLadyOfPerpetualSupper · 02/08/2009 00:19

You can clean the bathroom with white vinegar - longs for a bit but doesn't linger, and no headache.
Or lemon juice.

themoon · 02/08/2009 00:22

A friend of mine has successfully desensitised herself by having accupuncture.

StarlightMcKenzie · 02/08/2009 00:28

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OurLadyOfPerpetualSupper · 02/08/2009 00:41

I'm surprised more people don't vom in Lush -it's a stinking nightmare hellhole.

sherazade · 02/08/2009 11:37

you poor thing.. although mind you YABU 'coz my touch of pink perfume makes me feel like i'm a normal woman post two children..all over again (well, that, ironed clothes, and a shower!)

AirSupply · 02/08/2009 13:53

OMG!!!! @Starlight....and they wanted you to pay!!! I totally agree with OurLady...it is a stinking Hell-Hole.

I am glad that I am not the only one who suffers..but very sorry for all you others who are afflicted in this way.

Oddly, 'proper' perfumes don't affect me. I love Chanel no 5 etc etc.

It's the newer , cheaper, 'Woolworth's Finest' as my mother used to call them, and the Lynx type with chemicals that do the real damage.

I think it's the chemical based perfumes that are the problem, not the natural perfumes. But of course the natural ones will be more expensive to make I imagine, so hence the nightmare of the chemical s**t that assails us everywhere.

OP posts:
ilovemydogandmrobama · 02/08/2009 14:49

I have to use unscented everything (washing powder, washing up liquid, soap etc)

If anyone could please find an unscented Lynx for DP, I would be soooo grateful

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