I also cannot walk through a perfume area in a department store. Cannot stand scented candles if they are in a small store area. Cigarette smoke bothers me if I walk into an enclosed area where people are smoking (and I used to smoke years and years ago). The laundry area in the grocery store does not bother me at all. Musty orders do bother me.

You said everything i needed to say and kept me from having to use
these weary hands. I would expect because of th SS i can not use any
cleaning produts without gloves. Billyee are your hands very dry,some
times wet or cold. All this just adds to my whatevers.. Sue

Sue,
To answer your question....my hands and pretty much all over skin is very dry. My fingertips in the winter dry out so badly that they crack. And I don't do dishes. I have a sweet husband who does those. The only thing I can contribute this to is the Sjogren's. Last winter we were trying to poke me for a blood draw and stuck me 12 times in the fingertips trying to get blood. Just all dried out. I personally think that is what is wrong with my fingernails.

Billye

Friend both say my lovely soft hands of mant years are dry,very dry.
You know,i got married at 19 and my sweet husband always did the
dishes..Now Bob does them and Dr. John has pitched in as well..And
Daughter- in- law loved me because both son's do the dishes.. I use
dove soap on hand and face,,but can use noting with mineral oil,petroleum
products. Anything that has helped you??? Now i do blood tests for
diabetes everyday,which can give a nume feeling on your fingertips,
especially. But after i or 2 pokes he should of stopped and got someone
who new what they were doing...No excuse for that,at all. Sue

Seems a little strange that so many people with neuropathy are sensitive to various things. When the article came out describing these people being hypersensitive to all of these chemicals and things, I read that and thought these people were crazy. They were moving to out of the way places where they were not exposed to the various chemical odors in the cities. They were living in the woods and some insisted they were getting better as a result.

They were also using various products that were described as being environmentally safe: soaps, cleansers, things with almost no odor do them, wearing only cotton or silk-natural fibers. One woman I read about moved to an area in Australia that must have been pretty much uninhabited and stayed for a year, at which time her health had improved.

Maybe we should start a commune somewhere...

Cathie

It's not only that I find these scents/odours unpleasant, but I find I am unable to tolerate them. I don't get headaches and such, but when I need to buy laundry powder I run down the isle holding my breath, grab the powder and run back to the neutral zone.

It's like my body is unable to tolerate or process the smells, and it wants to physically reject. I had this one client come into my office with some tube of hand lotion she was slathering on her hands from Avon. I felt like tossing her out of my office from the word "GO". I was choking,couldn't breath, felt ill inside my guts and then I got very very crancky!!

I hate AVON!! LOL!

Wow, I would not have believed this had I not read it with my own eyes. You guys have described me so well. The worst scent for me is the orange cleaners. My lungs freeze, I can feel the orange scent in the air before I smell it. The feeling comes from deep within, I start coughing, then my breathing slows, I start gasping for air--it's a horrible feeling. Some vanilla scents do it too. The Glade Plug-ins are villians for me. I love mystical stores, yet the incense is too much for me to handle. Bath and Body Works is a favorite store for me, yet some scents will have my eyes watering in seconds, then my eyes tear like heavy crying for well over an hour--it's terrible. Some soaps and lotions burn my skin on impact. It's weird, I can lather it on my hands, yet the minute I touch another part of my body, instant burn and I can't get it off me fast enough. This gets worse all the time.

I never connected it to neuropathy. I just figured it had something to do with my celiac disease and my other intolerance's, which is still possible too. What we have to deal with!!!!!!

Regarding Bath & Body Works - they have a store in the mall where I walk in the winter time and I have to move to the opposite side a few doors away going by that store. My husband likes the smell that emits from the open doors, but I can't stand it. Way too much in an enclosed area! I, too, never associated all this stuff with PN. Glad it was brought up. Next time I go down the laundry isle at the grocery store I am going to be more observant to see what smells are there as I can't remember this bothering me.

Ugh... 12 sticks trying to get blood, Billye. That is awful... You poor thing...

I had forgotten about the effect stuff sometimes has on my lungs, but then I supposedly have asthma. I think that some of these fragrances have a petroleum component in them. Eucalyptus (spelling?) is another one...

About the artificial fibers? Even if my shoes are leather, the insoles are not. Those make my feet hurt nearly up to my knees. I mentioned that to Jakatak once, since he had so much trouble with burning feet. I was never able to find out if he had considered that, since he was wearing dress shoes/socks every day. This sounds crazy, but the insoles even bother me if I have on socks too...

As far as clothing goes, check out some of your stuff and see if it has Spandex in it. How do your bodies like that??? Mine does NOT like Spandex in anything... I am not talking about exercise wear here, even underwear has it and some T-shirts and socks...

Anyone else notice other wierd stuff like this?

Cathie

How odd i have been thinking about a Commune for sometime..
My oldest son Ryan lived for 6 months in a commune in Haw.
he has a problem,and he got very healthy,the good food i don't
know,but he felt wonderfull,So i will put Hawaii on top of the commune.
Oh Ryan has Asthma,and a love of Hawaii...HE HE Oh i could ask Dr. friend
to come,he has a bad case of the cute's. Ok Cathie after your surgery
you put a place on the list,and pass it on.
I just found out no PT hospital untill next week i'll be healed by then..
but will know how you are. Yea!!!ouch... Sue