I have been reading a lot about Multiple Chemical Sensitive and was really shocked by what I found. This site a some good info on it.

http://www.ourlittleplace.com/mcs.html

I would love to hear what you guys think of this.


I have been fighting an awful headache with nausea over the last 2 days that Midrin & Imiterx didn't not help.



Here's a good list of SX I found...

Symptoms of MCS may be mild to disabling. The symptoms are essentially any symptom which the patient finds distressing and attributes to this cause. A partial list of common symptoms include anaphylactic shock, difficulty breathing, chest pains and asthma, skin irritation, contact dermatitis, and hives or other forms of skin rash, headaches, "brain fog" (short term memory loss, attention deficit), neurological symptoms (nerve pain, paralysis, weakness, trembling, restless leg syndrome, etc.), tendinitis, seizures, visual disturbances (blurring, halo effect, inability to focus), extreme anxiety, panic and/or anger, suppression of immune system, digestive difficulties, nausea, indigestion/heartburn, vomiting, diarrhea, food intolerances, which may or may not be clinically identifiable (e.g., lactose intolerance, celiac disease): commonly wheat and dairy, joint and muscle pains, extreme fatigue, lethargy and lassitude, vertigo/dizziness, abnormally acute sense of smell, sensitivity to natural plant fragrance, natural pine turpines, insomnia, dry mouth, dry eyes, and an overactive bladder.
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Oh, I'm pretty sure that I have multiple chemical sensitivity. I cant walk down the chemcal aisle (where they keep all the cleaning products) in a grocery store without getting a headache or feeling sick.

If I need something from that aisle, I have to do it quickly and without breathing.

The cleaning lady that cleans our house bought a new floor cleaner for the kitchen. She knows that I have scent allergies. Her new floor cleaner was supposed to smell like almonds. I thought it smelled icky and then had to open all the windows because it was making my headache yesterday worse, and my eyes were burning.

I've told her that I cant have flowery scents or mostly any scents used in the house. Told her next time she wants to try a scented cleaning product to let me smell the bottle first (outside)

About the only scented cleaning product that I can stand is Orange Clean, and even that has to be in small quantities. Oddly enough, bleach doesnt really bug me much as long as it's in small quantities.

Perfumes on the other hand...before I went atheist, I had to quit going to church with my dad when I was in my early teens, because the old women would come to church just totally embalmed in their perfumes. Asking the church to request that people to use moderation in their stinky stuff didnt help.

I will never understand the people who think that spraying an entire can of Axe on themselves smells good. They're a walking toxic cloud! It's actually dropped me to my knees a few times when I've been in a store and some male child has gotten in to the cans of Axe body spray and decided to sample an entire can of it on themselves. That's enough for me to want to call the HazMat squad to come out and hose down the place.

Once, I was in a grocery store back in the mid90s when teenagers thought it was totally hilarious to skate thru a store spraying a can of Mace everywhere. That actually happened to me twice, at two different stores, but the first time was the worst.

I've never gotten a direct spray of it, but when you walk into a cloud of Mace that someone sprayed about 30 seconds before, it's still enough to drop you to your knees and make you temporarily blind and unable to breathe.

Yep, definately have MCS here. 1st symptom was sudden intolerance to alcohol(no more Kahlua for me), and now I get dizzy/nausea/brain fog around cleaners, perfume, new carpet, paint, etc. I can actually taste car exhaust(yummy). I also have 4 lesions so have MS also, seems like they are related somehow with me, as all symptoms started about the same time.

Take care, Diana

"One of the biggest offenders is PERFUME and other scented products. Did you know that many of the ingredients in your perfume are the exact same ingredients found in GASOLINE??!! I didn't either! The scary thing is that the perfume industry is NOT REGULATED at all - they can put any number of chemicals in fragrance without revealing what those chemicals are - or how they affect humans. We humans are all participating in a giant "lab experiment" against our knowledge and against our will, and it's making some of us VERY sick."

I am very sensitive to fragrances too, and have been for many years. I have lots of allergies (I guess that's what they are), but my worst reactions are to perfume and mold. I can smell mold from about 20 ft away from the source!!

Even as a teenager, at my first "real job", I had to ask one of the managers if he would please not cut through my area of the shop because I would have a headache for hours from his cologne. It's not all fragrances, but some are particularly bad for me.

Some kids got into my convertible car with their AXE a few years ago, and I couldn't even drive it for a week. I had to have it detailed and leave the lid off for that long before I could even get back into it.

I know some people hate the smell of smoke, and kick up quite a stink about it . . . but it doesn't bother me. It's the people with perfume and cologne that I get irritated about.

Cherie

No I don't.

But my gf is really bad.

I also saw a news story on this guy who is. He has a little cabin out in the woods somewhere and even with that he sleeps out on the porch.

I couldn't imagine being that sensitive to chemicals.

I got my hair cut a few weeks ago. There was an old lady at the salon getting her "do" redone for the week. I had to sit outside while she was in there because her perfume was so horrible. After she wafted away, went back inside the salon. Thought it would be ok.

Well, on the way home, I about froze my dad to death because apparently she was OOZING perfume. Everywhere she'd sat or touched or was near was just greasy with the stench. I think it made it's way into my pores like Venom did to Spider-Man and wouldnt let go. (opps...my inner nerd is escaping...)

I went home, changed my clothes, took a shower and I could still smell it! My mom washed my clothes, and the stink must have been stuck in my nose, because I swear I could smell it for days, and my car still had it for a few days after that.

I hate perfumes.


They dont do this anymore in the stores here, but does anyone remember walking into department stores and getting "maced" by the women trying to sell perfumes. The ones here never asked before spraying, they'd say "dont you just Looooooooove this wonderful scent???" *SPRAAAAAAAAAAY!!!* and everyone within a 20 mile radius collapsed to the ground like someone released a canister of V2 nerve gas.

I think some of those perfume commandos are directly responsible for some of my scent allergies.

My Mom used to have a huge sensitivity to perfume - gave her a horrible headache. Bacon used to do the same thing - she couldn't eat it or smell it or she would be in bed for a day.

My sister that just passed away also had chemical sensitivities - she had to use a special brand of face wash, cosmetics, etc. She also could not tolerate perfumes or any kind of scents (candles, room fresheners, etc.).

Myself and my other sister have no reaction to scents - we both use perfume (although sparingly - heavy scents make me nauseous) and other scents don't seem to bother us.

I also have experienced this problem. I can't handle going into candle stores or stores that sell bath and beauty products. I can't handle anything flowery. Spicy smells (candles) are ok. When they wax the floors at school or paint, I have to leave it makes me so nauseated and then I will have a headache. I love my 80 year old mother dearly, but when she visits I have to open the windows in my house/car due to the hairspray and flowery lotion she wears. I mainly buy nonscented products, but do like vanilla perfume (use lightly) and lotion. I hate the perfumed inserts they put into magazines. I throw them awy in the store if there is a magazine I want to buy. My cleaning lady mainly useds pine sol and glass cleaning products that I can tolderate.

I'm allergic to fabric softener, so it took me forever to find one that I can keep around without giving me a headache, let alone use - lol. I use the dryer sheets by bounce that are free of any other chemicals. Even then I have to keep a sharp eye out to make sure they don't get stuck in my clothes or it's hive heaven for me.

Wonderful allergy I got from my dad.

Well this weekend I tried a little test, I got rid of all the air freshers, washed all my clothes & bedding in fragrance free soap, no fabric softener. Did not wear perfume, didn't clean with chemicals. Bathed in fragrance free soap and shampoo and was feeling better, headaches were way less. Went to Lowes because DH needed some wood and got a awful headache after just 5 minutes in the lumber department.