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Sometimes my throat swells most of the way closed, which feels similar to the intensely sore throat that usually precedes the nasal congestion stage of a cold for me.
Not counting colds - I don't think it swells quite as much with a cold? - this has happened to me maybe an average of (I think) less than once a year for the last 12 or 13 years.
I'm fairly certain the reaction is caused by perfumes, but perfumes and perfumed cosmetics have so many ingredients that I can't really be sure which one(s). Lavender is a suspect, but I am exposed to lavender a lot of times when it doesn't happen (this could be because it's a small concentration and doesn't go in my nose and mouth enough, I guess). Most of the times have been caused by perfumed stuff actually on my face - the first time memorably by smearing a streak of Bath & Bodyworks hand sanitizer that hadn't fully dried on my hand accidentally on my cheek next to my nose, and the second-latest time by a Body Shop cream face cleanser with a billion ingredients. (The reason I suspect lavender is because the only time when perfumes weren't involved, it happened after drinking a cup of herbal lavender tea.) (My mom used to have lavender soap in the linens though, and I guess it made me sneeze maybe, but it never caused a big bother. That I know of.)
Anyway, I thought I was getting better at guessing but today I was almost certain I was getting sick, but then my throat started feeling almost all the way better so I guess it was an allergic reaction after all. Depressing. And maybe I should see a doctor or something about it.
Not counting colds - I don't think it swells quite as much with a cold? - this has happened to me maybe an average of (I think) less than once a year for the last 12 or 13 years.
I'm fairly certain the reaction is caused by perfumes, but perfumes and perfumed cosmetics have so many ingredients that I can't really be sure which one(s). Lavender is a suspect, but I am exposed to lavender a lot of times when it doesn't happen (this could be because it's a small concentration and doesn't go in my nose and mouth enough, I guess). Most of the times have been caused by perfumed stuff actually on my face - the first time memorably by smearing a streak of Bath & Bodyworks hand sanitizer that hadn't fully dried on my hand accidentally on my cheek next to my nose, and the second-latest time by a Body Shop cream face cleanser with a billion ingredients. (The reason I suspect lavender is because the only time when perfumes weren't involved, it happened after drinking a cup of herbal lavender tea.) (My mom used to have lavender soap in the linens though, and I guess it made me sneeze maybe, but it never caused a big bother. That I know of.)
Anyway, I thought I was getting better at guessing but today I was almost certain I was getting sick, but then my throat started feeling almost all the way better so I guess it was an allergic reaction after all. Depressing. And maybe I should see a doctor or something about it.
