MCS?
 

Hi all,

I'm a male in my early fifties.

Over the last 3 or 4 years I have developed a sensitivity for certain types of fragrances.

I love the smell of essential oils. I can handle wet paint, gasoline and cigarette smoke. No problem with that.

What makes me sick are perfumes and synthetic ‘personal’ scents. I can’t breathe when I’m out in public. Lots of people seem be drenched in aggressive perfumes these days. I can smell an overload of it everywhere. It’s suffocating.

Musk based perfumes and ‘powdery’ ones have the worst effect on me. My eyes get sore, I get a headache and feel instantly terrible when I smell that stuff. I can even taste it in my mouth.

I simply don’t understand that most people seem to be not bothered by this.

I might have developed some type of MCS and if that’s the case, well, I’m screwed for life.

Can anyone else relate to this problem?

Castor I'm sorry you experience this I know how frustrating it is. My aunt has this and the precautions she has to take for things is a real strain on her. Detergent, dust, fragrances like you said, walking through a store.

I think what she does to balance the stress from it is to make sure to relax and do the things that bring her balance like nature and angels.

How are you managing it?

Hi Lejonjus,

Thanks for your comment! I’m sorry for your aunt. Wish her well from a fellow sufferer!

Somehow I still manage to do everything I did before, be it limited. Obviously I stay away from crowds as much as possible.

I still love to walk around town, having a coffee here and there, but it’s getting harder and harder to avoid triggers (women and men who are perfume soaked).

Though I’m getting creative in avoiding them (crossing to the other side of the street and things like that), it can be a bit exhausting to live this way. It’s disheartening. I used to socialize way more easily and freely than I do now.

At the moment I’m exploring a few neural plasticity techniques in the hope to find some relieve. Some MSC sufferers seem to find improvement with Faster EFT. See how that goes.

Having a natural tendency for silence, solitude and nature … I’m fine most of the time.

Never knew there was a name for it.

I've become increasingly sensitive to perfumes, colognes and aftershaves. Natural smells like home baked bread, cinnamon rolls, natural flower smells, as long as they aren't to sweet (like honeysuckle) and even farm animal manures are okay.

I and my son can not be around most perfumes, lotions, colognes, detergent, softeners, soaps... The air fresheners, especially the ones that auto-spray in the public bathrooms, oil warming thingy that you plug in the wall. There is the cinnamon smell of the big box store during the holidays. Eyes and nose drip, lungs crackle. We have always been this way. We are allergic to many things. We live in an isolated place. So, we are accustomed to the delicate dance of avoidance.

I have found a few natural products of lavender and sandlewood with just a hint of natural smell that I can tolerate, which is such a treat! :smile:

I hope you find your way. We certainly found ours and really rarely think about it, except for at th store. Good luck navigate! :smile:

Oh, btw, what do all of the initials mean?

I HAD THAT PROBLEM BIG TIME!

My problems began when I helped a Church group clear a field for a new Church. On the property was poison oak and poison ivy. We threw these poisons on the bomb fire and I breathed in the fume. NEXT, during twilight, I mowed over a nest of hornets, wasp, whoever..... accidentally. They stung me probably 100 times or more. THEN, where I was working, somebody let of an insecticide bomb in the close ventilation office working area. I ended up choking on the floor.

Doctor after doctor gave up on me. Finally I found an environmental Doctor. She monitored my blood work, provided me what I needed in vitamins/minerals, etc. and put me on a regime of allergy shots which I took 2 shots once a week. Slowly, I was brought back to 'normal'.

MAYBE THIS CAN HAPPEN TO YOU!

Thanks all for your comments and input. It's much appreciated!

Hi... I could literally smell strong bleach all day long. I love the smell of it. But my husband cant come anywhere near me after he has showered and sprayed all his "things" on ( that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!)..... As I get older I become even less tolerant to more and more fragrant smells. I just can't cope with them. I went down the "candle" aisle in a local superstore and I was in a right state, sneezing like crazy, eyes streaming, nose pouring etc etc. It's getting worse .

I am not bothered any more by smells. I enjoy mixing essential oils, etc. without any problems.

Hi John, I also love essential oils. No problem with natural fragrances.

I love the smell of nature. I love the smell of apple pie and fresh baked bread. I can even smell non-natural stuff like turpentine and thinner without a bad reaction.

It’s the man made perfumes that my immune system reacts to. And I guess the overload of it everywhere caused my symptoms, but that’s speculation.

Australian novelist Kate Grenville wrote a non-fiction book about this issue.