Scent allergies

[cimorene]

The first time I became aware of being allergic to anything except metal (infection after ear piercing at age 7), I was in college and I accidentally got a smear of Bath'n'Bodyworks juniper-scented hand sanitizer on my face. Half a day later, my throat had swollen so nearly closed that I felt it rubbing against itself on the inside whenever I swallowed. It lasted almost a week, I think.

The next time that happened was years later, but it's become more frequent with time. Today's reaction is at least 2nd since the start of 2013, for example, but I'm pretty sure it hasn't even happened a total of 10 times in the last 12 years. The severity varies, presumably depending on how much of the allergen is involved. It's never been worse than the first time or caused any trouble breathing, but it is about equally painful to the sore throat portion of a cold, sometimes worse. It's constant for a few days and varies from slightly less irritating than a typical PMS headache to "AUGH I HATE EVERYTHING".

The only time it's happened that didn't involve a scented product actually in contact with my face, it was from drinking a lavender herbal infusion. Even though using lavender-scented soaps have never irritated me to my knowledge, lavender oil is my prime suspect for that reason. I'm aware that it is often used as an ingredient in other scented products, without necessarily being represented on the label, and it was also the second ingredient in the second-to-last product that caused an outbreak (a tea tree oil mask from the Body Shop in June).

I've also noticed my nose becoming way more sensitive to odors as I get older: not that they smell stronger, but that they're physically irritating, with like a kinda burning sensation or instant sneezing; and then I panic, fearing another one of these throat-swelling reactions. This is usually due to somebody near me, or in the elevator before me, wearing too much perfume.

Among other things, this has engendered a burning hatred of the way products everywhere are scented, both from second-hand contact and because I now prefer to buy unscented things JUST IN CASE, even though the vast majority of scented toiletries don't cause any problems, but finding unscented toiletries varies from impossible to difficult. And also it has led to me probably glaring at strangers in public who have obviously been bathing in perfume.

I know people take stuff like Claritin daily if they're allergic to dust or pollen or w/e and I know people take some other something if they're, say, allergic to cats and coming to our place for a party. But is there an OTC medication you can take *after* your allergic reaction? Because I can't see taking preventive measures for such an unpredicatable and infrequent occurrence.

Comments

[kellyfaboo]

benadryl can be used after onset of symptoms effectively. But it typically makes people soporific. Also if you've had an anaphylactic reaction once it can be wise to get a prescription for an epipen.

[cimorene]

Huh. I guess I'll see a doctor about the whole thing then, can't hurt.

[kellyfaboo]

The epipen is for time when you are thinking, "I think my airways are actually closing" or the link because the side effects are a doozy. However, having one may alleviate some of your anxiety about unintentionally running into a trigger.

But you really should speak to an allergist. And keep some Benadryl in the house.

Some people with severe allergies to specific things find benefit of taking a maintenance med (claritin, allegra, etc) year round or starting several weeks before they think they'll have exposure to the allergen.

[cimorene]

Unfortunately my exposures seem to depend on accidentally getting products on my face. On the one hand, in theory you could prevent this by being careful about touching your face, but it's obviously not foolproof... on the other hand, Bath Products are Everywhere and it's hard to predict.

This time it was cuticle oil, which doesn't smell offensive in general and which I've used several times before on my hands... and then I guess there was some extra on my fingertips that I was unaware had not fully absorbed when I went to bed and I accidentally touched my face in my sleep. - Since I didn't even suspect the product previously, it seems like the logical conclusion is to be safe I should never put anything with any scent on my hands, but I am actually already fairly careful about that and usually buy expensive scent-and-color-free hypoallergenic moisturizer from the state-licensed pharmacies.

Hence if I wanted to take preventive medicine I'd basically just have to take it all the time I think. :|

[kellyfaboo]

You officially have the most annoying allergy ever. Especially because maintenance meds can loose their effectiveness over time. It is interesting that you don't develop Eczema from skin exposure, but you do get tissue issues when it is next to your face.

I can't have eggs for breakfast. (Or any meal) I can have eggs in things like cake, cookies, bread but not as the primary ingredient. But that is pretty easy to avoid (if annoying). Scents and essential oils are another ballgame.

Good luck.

[james]

I have to take the maintenance allergy meds, and what I find works is to take claritin (well, the store brand version) for 6 months, then for about 3 days I take it in the morning and zyrtec at night (again, store brand - so much cheaper). Then for 6 months I take the zyrtec. It means that for about a week my allergies might be annoying me more, but the rest of the year I'm good.

Also, on a side note, this works for taking OTC painkillers as well! When the ibuprofen doesn't seem to be working, I switch to acetemetaphin or aspirin.

Also, hi, random person babbling at you.

[fairestcat]

Benadryl can be taken after a reaction and can be very effective at reducing swelling/inflammation from a reaction.

My big scent culprit is rose, which like lavender gets used as a base in a lot of scented products.

[cimorene]

Thanks!

Oh man, bummer. I think rose is even more popular than lavender! >_

[james]

If you can get a prescription, then I really like fluticasone for "today my allergies are killing me." It's a steroid nasal spray and I use it about twice a month -- using it for 2-3 days when things get bad then stop when they get back under control.

I do take claritin every single day, because I am allergic to grass and trees and pollen and air. The nasal spray is for things like "oh crap, today they're cutting the lawn at our apartment complex." I'm also allergic to perfumes and hair sprays and the like, by which I mean I am essentially allergic to air.

I wouldn't say that it provides instant relief, but it is a good short term nearly instant relief (like, it works within a couple hours).

[cimorene]

Thanks for the rec! I'll make a note to investigate when I see the doctor.

[harpers_child]

benedryl comes in both pill form and tab like those breath mints form. i find that the tab form doesn't make me sleepy like the pill form does. (i possibly didn't explain that well.)

[cimorene]

I get what you mean... those sort of... foil pack tablet thingies that are capable of dissolving on your tongue? I think my sister's Claritin was in that form...

[mirabella]

I use Claritin after, not as a preventative measure. Benadryl knocks me out, and Claritin seems to work fine to just treat symptoms.

Allergies suck. My love of smelly floral things is matched only by the inability of my respiratory system to tolerate them. And don't get me started on patchouli; I have family members who are still traumatized.

[cimorene]

All the pleasant associations for scented things, which I used to quite like - although I wasn't like an addict - were wiped out by all the very unpleasant memories involving enclosed spaces. Now my knee-jerk reaction is AUGH HELP, which isn't very conducive to enjoyment/relaxation :/.

[retrofit]

There are some other old-skool antihistamines that are very effective very quickly, like Benadryl (diphenhydramine hydrochloride, b/c brand names sometimes not so helpful internationally), but that cause less sleepiness, for some people.

Like some of the others here, I take Claritin (loratidine) daily for pollen allergies. It doesn't work well as quick-relief for me - many of the newer allergy meds are metabolized a little more slowly. The other problem is that it's a take-one-every-24-hours med, but it's only effective for about 13 hours, for me.

Benadryl works as a supplement, but knocks me out, and that effect lasts for a good 6-10 hours. So lately I've gone back to an antihistamine that was popular in the 1970s & 80s - chlorpheniramine maleate (Chlor-Trimeton is US brand name). Only good for 4 hours, but -damned- effective for me, very good quick-relief, and much less sleepy than Benadryl.

[cimorene]

Are these prescriptions or OTCs? I mean I definitely am planning to see a doctor now anyway, but I gather there is a lot of OTC allergy medication out there. I still am not exactly sure if they have Benadryl in Finland, but there's bound to be something similar at least.

[retrofit]

These are all OTCs in the US.

The chemical formulation marketed as Benadryl (diphenhydramine hydrochloride) is one of the most effective, most old-skool antihistamines, with very few side-effects beyond the sleepiness, but man is that a whammy. So much so that a lot of OTC sleep aids include it, and doctors sometimes recommend it (in -small- quantities) as a temporary sleep aid for kids. I can't imagine it wouldn't be available in Finland.

I don't know if chlorpheniramine maleate would be available in Finland, it's not all that popular here, though most drug stores stock it. It's also pretty old school, though the chemical family is pretty different from benadryl. For me, one of the bonuses is that it has some mild documented anti-anxiety effects - it's chemically related to SSRIs, but has years of data on safety because of its use as an antihistamine, and seems to have pretty much standard-for-antihistamines minor side effects. It's not marketed for the SSRI effects, though, because since it's already out of patent, the research needed to get it approved for that use in the US wouldn't be profitable for a drug company.

Sorry, I kind of nerd out about this stuff. My allergies are bad enough that I have to take stuff often enough that I want to know as much about my options as possible. And also I am an intellectual property wonk.

It may be there are some other options available OTC in Finland - I know there's sometimes really effective drugs that never get marketed in the US because approval is so weird. (And vice versa, apparently.)

[morningfine]

They sort of do--the Benadryl they sell here is acrivastine which has the benefit of not knocking you out but may or may not be as effective otherwise. I've had good luck with ebastine, but I'm at worst mildly allergic to some animals so no idea how well it does for more severe reactions.

[cimorene]

Oh, that might be too bad, from some of the things other people have said about the drowsy kind being effective with minimal side-effects aside from sleep. (Plus when I do have cold-related congestion, the problem is usually biggest at nighttime when I can't take pseudoephedrine anyway.)

[krait]

they're physically irritating, with like a kinda burning sensation or instant sneezing

This thing! This thing has been part of my life since I was pretty young - notably, some people's perfume can cause me to leave the room, because if I don't, the burning odour will gradually become a burning sensation in my sinus linings.

I'm not nearly as bad about it as my mother is, at that. She uses perfume-free detergents, etc. I'm mostly just picky about smells (I don't like a lot of body lotions/candles/etc., but it's more often a matter of taste than of impending pain... though sometimes I wonder if the one influences the other) with a few Big NO smells scattered in.

There's one men's cologne that was wildly popular for a while, and it was in the Big NO category; some kid on the school bus wore it, and once or twice he sat in the seat in front of me and I had to move; I still couldn't breathe by the time the bus arrived at school. (I don't know that kid's name or the name of the cologne, but I hate them both to this day.)

[cimorene]

Hah! I remember that cologne! Or possibly I'm remembering a different one, idk. But yeah, glad that is less frequent now.

And like you, sometimes it's a matter of taste with perfumes, but I do think it's related because I remember a time when perfume was only the very slightest irritant to me in terms of taste, before it started making my sinuses burn. Now I'm primed to suspect perfume so it's easy to take a dislike even if it's not physically hurting me.