Hi,
Do any of you get certain symptoms when you go in a store that you do not get at home?

When I was in K Mart, I started sweating -- wet hair like I had been jogging, sweat showing on my shirt. . . . The ac seemed set to a high temp, but I did not notice anyone else sweating. This happens every time I go to that K Mart. I try to limit my time there to once a year because they make me mad.

The grocery store causes my nose to run.
I try to hurry through so that I can get to the check out before I have to start seriously wiping my nose. (I'm fairly sure that no one is paying attention to me, but if they were, they would see something not very pretty.)

Did you know that in my part of the South is is rude to use a tissue to wipe your nose in public?
You have to go to the restroom or outside -- or hope that no one is looking. :0

I used to think being hot was related to CFS -- body not regulating right. . . . Or to my meds.
Now I think I night have a sensitivity or allergy to chemicals in the store or a / c system
Sweating in various stores has been going on for years.
The runny nose in that particular grocery store is fairly new.

This adds up to another good reason to stay home as much as possible. When I do go outside I can try to be in open spaces.

I wish that businesses cared about their customers a little bit.
Ok. That was a whine. Sorry.
I realize I can choose where to spend my money.
Maybe I should try other grocery stores and see if I notice any improvement.

I'm sort of back on my vegan diet from last summer -- One complete day so far.
The last time I did this, I went through a detox of sorts after about a week.

It's a good way to loose weight -- nothing to eat really except healthful foods -- that's what I tell myself.
I decided to stop using stress and my teeth issues as reasons to not eat mindfully.

M.

You know Mari I have this problem too, it's like Winn Dixie, Super Walmart and Publix for me. I get a runny nose and sneezing so I think it's like an allergy to the cleaning stuff or something else in the air, it's not every time I go out to each of these stores, but almost each time. I didn't really think about it until reading your post, but it's definitely affecting me too.

yes but i have other issues... including migraine and hypersensitive hearing to (like some odd "dog call"-like frequencies, used in certain alarm systems etc. ears=PAINN.)

so you were overheating but noone else. do you get enough water (could it be you)? OTHERWISE
do the lights bother you in there?
do you have ANY other symptoms, esp. dizziness, nausea, or any other strange sensation whatsoever? they make you mad huh? is there a reason for that, to do with the store management/organization/anything concrete, or is that a mood change that comes about?

that sounds like an allergy to me. it could be something as simple as a mould in their AC system. the fact that the place is newish makes it odd, but if their is stagnant liquid in their AC system... mold grows fast, spores are airborne. have you reported it? you should. i would probably have the outright balls to make passing comment to a receptive looking customer - or one that sneezed in my vicinity - saying i always got sneezy there, and see what the response might be. it might not be just you. but you might be PARTICULARLY sensitive to allergens, in which case, if there isn't much present, it may be below others' thresholds and they will not have symptoms.

another possibility - are you cold in there? when i go out in the cold - as in winter - nose starts running. happens to many. but if others do not have symptoms... hmmm... temperature hypersensitivity. i'm more in tune with the allergy notion, but from what you mention below.... not sure.

you can kick me now. have you ever been screened for epilepsy? simple partials can be very subtle and be triggered by unusual light or heat exposure. department store lights are notorious baddies.

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no i didn't and i lived there for well over a decade, granted not in your particular area, and there can be differences. however, as a matter of general comfort, i treat bodily fluids with discretion and sensitivity in public. they feel kinda private. i don't know where i "learned" this. and it follows some cultures will be more explicitly sensitive than others.

but rude or not, with a flagrant sneezy cold and no way out of wherever you are... well... better to use a tissue to catch than let fly on what- or whomever might be within airborne reach, i say, ! sometimes it is almost impossible to be elegant. i mean, if my nose is running, do i let it run (yuck), sniff it up (yuck) or wipe (rude)? so then i just use my common sense, do the best i can. we must sometimes choose the lesser "evil" and if you think about it, this isn't really "evil." it's nature. bathrooms are not always within reach of sneezes and you can blow out an eardrum if you try to block a sneeze once the pressure is up.

fyi in case you like chinese, i read that it is rude to blow nose at table in chinese culture. i think blowing is different to gentle dabbing (drying) but not sure.

Dear Waves,
I appreciate your reply.
I get sweaty every time I am in that K Mart and I get a little angry at management because my perception (have no idea if it is right) is that I am spending money in a store that is being cheap about A/ C. It sounds silly to get annoyed. But getting annoyed / mad helps me remember not to go back to the store.

Getting the runny nose in the grocery store is a new symptom -- the store is not new.


You are right. I could ask another grocery store customer -- or at the very least be observant. I guess I have been too caught up in my discomfort to think of reaching out to others.

I did mention to a cashier in the Kmart back around Christams that the store was too hot and that I would not be back. She said that she had heard A/C complaints from other people. My stupid friend said there was no need for me to complain to the cashier. So my friend and I had a stupid converstaion right there in which I explained I was being polite and was not blaming the cashier, merely expressing displeasure about the store. Every one in the store from top to bottom is aware of the cashier's role as the representative of the store to the customers.

And no, I am not going to deal with management to express my issue. I want a seamless shopping experience -- not one that requires extra steps like dealing with more people than I would normally have to. I'm better off staying home and not spending any money anyway. I went in there to buy a stupid bathroom scale that hubby had broken when he was cleaning a few weeks ago.


Re epilepsy:
Yuck!
I have no idea if I have that.
I did have one of those tests with the wires on the head and the flashing lights sometime around 2004-2005. The pdoc / neuro scheduled the test to because I was complianing about paresthesia. He said I was fine except for one thing.
He asked me if I had ever been dropped on my head as a baby. There was an anomally on one side (perhaps left side) of my head. He said not to worry about it.
I did also have a series of MRIs to look for anything strange. That series was normal I was told.

M.

Mari I worked in a Supermarket for 14 years. Some Supermarkets keep things clean,and some don't. The Health Department will inspect stores from time, to time.

You can tell if a Supermarket is clean by what you see on the floor coming out from the backrooms. If you see dirty wheel marks from the floors most of the time,it's probably not clean enough. If you see soot accumulating on the vents in the ceiling of the store,there's a chance that the vents are totally filthy,and the air isn't healthy. Also you are probably allergic to some of the chemicals all around. Me too.

I seem to stay warm,and uncomfortable where ever I go. I seem to have allergy attacks quite often. Sometimes when I get in my car,I fog up the windows in certain weather conditions.

I have allergy attacks in the shower sometimes. It's not due to mold,because I keep my shower clean. I've also got three small air purifiers in the bathroom. In other parts of the house, I've got 4 Ionic Breezes. BF

Dear Friend,

This is helpful.
Thank you.

Maybe I will get back to you after I go to that grocery store again.

And I will remember to check out the marks on the floor to the back rooms.

Almost all the air ducts in any building in FL have black spots of mold -- that's how my work place is.

M.

that was an epi screen. you're "officially clear." No event reports, negative MRI (no lesions, appropriately formed and placed structure) and normal EEG (the wires and flashng lights). However not all epilepsy is detected by normal EEG.

That is why i asked about whether you experience other sx.
you confirmed no unexplained mood change which is good.
i hope the same is true with sx... that you don't have any.

And do other people notice it in the other stores?

But if you don't have other sx you sound fine. You know, maybe the stores in your area are just trying to save money and run their air low. notice about other symptoms and whether other ppl seem hot, whenever you do inside big stores esp with those tube-bulb overhead lighting.

there was even a study done years ago that reported that a big chunk (dunno % any more) of stores, sp. carrying food items, ran their air too low. it's hard to compete with the weather in your area. so it could be an economic thing.

also remember some ppl just sweat more easily than others and there is absolutely nothing wrong with them. there are endocrine differences but even very simply, electrolytic differences, between individuals. it didn't occur to me before, but if you were dehydrated you would feel hot, but not sweat easily. so perhaps it is even that you are healthier - at least adequately hydrated. and many people perhaps have a higher sodium intake than do you. that would cause them to retain water, sweat less.

............ as for

what you did qualifies as "you reported it" in my books. that wouldn't fly in this country, here they seem to want everything registered mail and triplicate, or wouldn't care, or... whatever, but in the US the business model includes a better/smoother customer service system.

and... reporting it/telling cashier counts as "reaching out to others" in my books too. good for you for letting her know.

~ waves ~