Chemical sensitivity?

[davidthegnome]

I've been noticing lately that when our dryer is running, I can smell our dryer sheets very strongly, in almost any room of the house, yet no one else seems to have this problem. That is, it doesn't bother my parents or my sister or anyone who visits. So I am uncertain whether this may be an allergy or chemical sensitivity. I seem to have the same problem with other smells, such as oil, different colognes and deodorants and laundry soap.

A therapist has suggested it may be chemical sensitivity. I am wondering if this is something serious enough to worry about and whether or not there is any way to reverse it. Or maybe it's all in my head? I don't think it is, because I smell these things more strongly than others and it tends to increase my anxiety and at times has given me headaches.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

God bless you all,

Dave

[beadbabe]

I would say it is definitely an adrenaline heightened sense of smell. I get this. In fact my first panic attacks 18 months ago were triggered by dizziness and a weird smell inside my nose. I still don't know what it was but I think I could actually smell the blood vessels in my nose because I never get it at any other time.

That was scarey and it has happened since then too. Adrenaline increases the alertness of all our senses... Very weird but if adrenaline heightens our sense of hearing we become sensitive to noise (especially background noise - eg telly, radio, kids arguing) and it can be very disorientating, and stressful. I think this is why lots of us feel worse in supermarkets and shopping malls. Not only because of acute hearing but also our visual senses are overstimulated making us feel dizzy too because of all the lighting and colours in these places.

I don't think I would go down the road of chemical sensitivity but just put it down to having heightened senses. Good under certain circumstances but unfortunately not good most of the time!

[RLR]

Okay, once again, this forum is not for response by the general forum group and I would ask you to please take note.

There is no such thing as an "adrenaline heightened" sense of smell and the fight or flight response does not improve olfactory senses. Please remember that the people posting inquiries to this specific forum are seeking medical information from qualified physicians. While your desire to help and provide input to other members and guests is admirable, the innacuracy of your statements is only adding to their confusion.

Lastly, medicine is not a presumptive science based on what seems plausible.

To the question or concern, the term for what you are experiencing is known as Hyperosmia and is experienced by many persons with both anxiety disorders and depressive disorders. Many persons have more commonly observed or experienced symptoms of Hyperacusia, which is extreme sensistivity to sounds and commonly arises from a hangover, but more commonly associated with migraineurs and again, the mood disorders.

Your experience does not suggest any association with chemical sensitivity of any form, which would more be the case if you were developing contact dermatitis (skin eruptions) from these products rather than sensistivity to their smell.

You'll be fine and the phenomenon usually dissipates over time, but in some cases it has been predominant for long periods of time and merely suggests a variant of normalcy for those individuals affected.

[Quirky]

Okay, once again, this forum is not for response by the general forum group and I would ask you to please take note.
.

RLR - I am sorry and have deleted my reply. I did not realise this was in a forum thread for you. When I log on I go to active topics since last visit and look for things that interest me. When you do that all you see is titles not what section they are under. There is no way of knowing what forum it's on, it's not clear at all. Ok it is at the top of this page if you scroll up but it's not on the page of active topics and once I click on a topic I read it and don't look at the top to check. I have done this twice now but never mean too. I am so sorry and will try and check in future.

Lisa

[RLR]

I appreciate you replies and understand your position in the matter. Hopefully, something can be done to provide better clarification of this forum apart from the others.

Please know that I do not wish to impede the great support that all of you provide, but we also want to be certain that no one is misled by postings to certain forums that are identifed for special purposes.