Talking Allergies

To those who react to scents ie) perfumes, chemicals etc I agree that we need to educate people more about this topic. I drive a school bus for special needs kids and had to switch my routes because a child was obsessed with a very strong soap (not his fault - that's just the way he is). He was not the problem, the vice-principal was! He didn't believe my "sensitivity" was real and thought I was just being a problem, hence he wouldn't allow the bus company to put the child on another available vehicle. People who work with other people should be aware that not everyone likes (or can tolerate) their scents/perfume!

Pepper, is there any way that you could get a dr.s note? these days a lot of places are going scent-free. doctors' offices, Toronto Symphony Orchestra concerts....

i don't know which school board you work for, but one of the Niagara District School Board buildings have signs up warning people not to wear perfume (not sure if it is the main office in St. Cath. or the office in Alanburg)--one person who works there goes into anaphylactic shock if someone walks into the office wearing perfume.

In other scent-free news:

The Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg is now scent-free. And they are even changing the cleaning chemicals they use.

This from "On the 'Lonely Edge of a Revolution': CMU Leads Way in Trying to Become a Scent-Free University" from the Winter 2006 issue of The Blazer: Canadian Mennonite University Magazine (pages 13-14)

Two young women who attend the university "have a scent allergy, otherwise known as environmental illness or Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)." Reece Ratzlaff, one of the students with this condition, has reactions

how the school is handling this:

--they have signs at all entrances

--they hand out lists to all the students of personal care products to avoid including 'mildly' scented products like Lady Speed Stick along with a list of products that they can buy. (some of which are on sale on campus)

--the university has changed the cleaning products that they use--including bathroom soap. As well, they

If they have to use cleaning products to which the students might react, they warn the students in advance.

Of course, this doesn't completely solve the problem---the university strives for a scent-free environment, but they realize that that does not mean that it *will* be scent-free. (I like this strategy better than invoking the "allergen safe"/"allergen free" jargon.) So the students carry carbon fliter masks with them at all times.

for more info: see the student life section of the CMU web site at http://www.cmu.ca

Thanks for the input Lisa. Our school board seems to be aware of the "No Scents" issue, however, controlling it isn't always so easy. I have Travel Aides (T.A.s) on my bus who are aware and helpful but when there are substitutes, I find they often are wearing perfume/scented after shave etc. and I have to warn them all over again. It still is a relatively unaccepted sensitivity because people want to wear what they want to wear regardless of how it affects others. I now have a sign in my bus that states No Nuts and I've added Perfumes/Scents to that in big letters.

Just wanted to let you all know that this was moved from Allergies in the news to this forum as I think it's more related to Chemical allergies and sensitivies than to allergy news.

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma

That STINKS!
~Millions Report Adverse Reactions to Perfumes and Fragrances~

http://www.cleanerindoorair.org/stinks.htm

I emphatically believe that sensitivities to perfumes, etc. is primarily caused by SYSTEMIC CANDIDAISIS. I had massive overdose of antibiotics, coupled with high sugar/carbohydrate, low protein, low fat diet made CANDIDA YEAST proliferate like crazy in my gut, causing me serious health problems. Candida put off around 96 different toxins, like aldehydes that burden the system terribly. They also lead to food allergies because they cause "LEAKY GUT SYNDROME" where things that should be exiting the body leak into the blood stream and the body starts to attack them.
PERFUME/strong smell sensitivites to me is an absolute TELL-TALE SIGN that a person has Systemic Candida. I am much better able to withstand fragrances, but before I ever embarked on clearing yeast from my system it would almost "kill" me I couldn't tolerate it at all.

i've got the perfume/strong smell sensitivity so i better try a yeast free diet, how long might it take before i notice an improvement?

Oh my, I can't say. Were you ever on a lot of antibiotics??? Does mold bother you???
You may want to find a dr. who can give you a blood test--just so you know where your levels are. Stool samples are an option but the blood is better. My dr. put me on prescription Nystatin which can be toxic. Candex is a supplement I recommend. Pau-d arco can help. Avoiding yeast and molds can help. Limit consumption of any fruit that you cannot peel like strawberries and grapes because they have a lot of fungus(yeast) in them. There is quite a lot to it, but I guess that I did feel better with the perfumes after I got my yeast levels down within normal. I just had lots of other problems (major mold damage in my parents house from a little leaky window that trickled down into the basement behind the paneling and when they discovered it , they tried to clean it but just made all the mold spores airborne---that made me really sick. Plus I was in a building fire and exposed to lead and aesbestos and chemicals and that really bothered my lungs too, Then starting a gluten free diet I overate corn products to compensate and was struck by the corn allergy.....I think once you have yeast you might always have to watch it---I guess that I never healed the leaky gut sydrome right---I am sort of rambling---there is just so much to it. Organic meats and dairy, non chlorinated water, avoiding sugars and too many carbohydrates, taking supplements like Candex, doing intestinal cleansing---chlorophyll, flax meal, psyllium, bentonite, colosan (magnesium peroxide oxygenated bowel cleanser) and other things can help==== but fragrances do bother me still, but not like they did ----I think that with the yeast it is the actual smell or fragrance itself, but with corn---it is more of the corn reactions I get--- I guess it could happen at the same time... I just mean when the smell itself makes you nauseated and all that is yeast. Since most fragrances are made from corn I heard, you could get corn allergic reactions--- hope this made some sense.

I have very bad enviromental allergies so you call it. I am reading The Yest Connection Handbook. Today was my first day of no sugar and no starch. There are tons of great websites out there. Anyway the book is great and it explains it all in laymans terms.

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Karen in Ohio mom of 7
Allergic to tons and tons of food as well as perfumes, scented air sprays and cleaners. Hubby to Fish, ds #2 Shellfish, youngest to Eggplant, potato, Caesin, Raw Tomato & spinach.

FYI, for anyone trying to battle yeast in your body the purpose of low sugar intake is to STOP feeding the yeast. It is also recommended to take probiotics to reculture your gut with beneficial organisms which keep the yeast population down, basically by competing with the yeast for food.

Very low sugar intake is not a forever thing, limiting your food choices even further for the rest of your life. It is a way to starve the yeast population while you reculture your digestive tract with the beneficial organisms you need.

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DD age 9 1/2 -peanuts, nuts,
DD age 7 1/2 - milk, eggs, chicken, peanuts, treenuts, cats, dogs,
DS age 2 1/2
Husband- asthma, eggs, treenuts, fish, shellfish environmental
Self - penicillan, eurithromiacin, mild laytex allergy.

thanks for the comments. i was never on a lot of antibiotics. mould doesnt bother me. my symptoms sound a bit different to what your saying as fragrance never effects my stomach, it gives me sinus pain in the forehead so yeast may not be my problem.

Hey there, do you have any resources on pau d'arco? I've read various tidbits online that claim uses against yeast (candida) as well as other sorts of illnesses or issues of numerous types.

Which form of pau d'arco have you taken?

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Read about pau d'arco on topics such as tea, as well as potential benefits and side effects.

I had heard of venues instituting a "scent-free" atmosphere. I guess my question has always been, how do they enforce it? I'm envisioning someone at the ticket booths who is the certified "sniffer"! Is the patron asked to leave if they are wearing perfume/cologne? Just a couple questions I've always had. I agree, no one wants to sit next to someone anywhere who's doused themselves to the point where you can no longer enjoy yourself! That being the case, I've also been at the other end of the spectrum where their BO is so strong it does the same thing!

Cheers!
-Booker

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Filtrete

B.O. is offensive to me but it doesn't make my head feel like there is a vicegrip on it, nor does it make me nauseous, dizzy and agitated. 'Natural' smells are annoying as are expensive perfume but it is the chemicals that make me ill.

For me, big difference to me for not liking the smell compared to being ill from it. The offensive smells can be out of my nose quickly by smelling something else or removing myself from the area. In contrast, the affects of chemicals, especially when sprayed, will stay with me for 6+ hours.

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me: allergic to crustaceans plus environmental
teenager: allergic to hazelnuts, some other foods and environmental

I'm looking for the day when those scent commercials will be banned as I can't go to anyone house who uses those scented oils, candles, etc. It aggravates my asthma so bad that its just not worth it.

Any cinnamon scented item, I have to avoid like the plague but thats because its extremely likely to turn anaphylactic.

As far as B.O. vs. Reactive symptoms? I'd prefer the B.O. in most cases, for the same reasons already posted. Tightening of the chest and feeling like I'm going to die, is not something I relish and would not prefer it over B.O. However, there was one guy whose B.O. was so bad, that I did have a severe reaction to it. It turned out, I was reacting to his choice of alternative life style, which included scents and the particular thing he loved to smoke. So, B.O. can cause the same reactions, depending on its source.

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Asthma, SHF, GF, EF, Allergic: Meat, Poultry, Laurel, Mustard, Gras, Mallow, Plantain, Flacourtia, Pine family; ETOH, Vinegars, CremeTartar, Cucumbrs, Fenugrk, Most of Lily, Myrtle, Parsley, Nightshade, Composite familys. Pomgrante, Litchi, Starfrt