Hyper-sensitivity to man-made scents?

[LVSteve]

Anybody else experience this? Here's how it works with me. Somebody washes my clothes in a detergent I don't use or lets rip with a (so-called) airfreshener. "Good, see how everything smells fresh?"

Umm, most of the time, NO! Why should something "fresh" smell of anything at all? In these circumstances I often smell something like you get in an autobody shop, that mix of paint, oil and sanded filler. BLECH! A ripe cow pasture is MUCH preferable.

This is not a new thing. Back in the 80s we had a lady at work who used to overdose with a "perfume" called "Poison". They weren't kidding, I reckon two drops of that stuff would clear every roach in a five block radius. The one time we had a sewer issue at work the lady claimed she couldn't smell anything. I think her brain had severed its connections to her nose as an act of self-preservation.

A recently retired coworker (male) used to wear some kind of musk cologne in amounts that would certainly gag a maggot at some distance. My late wife briefly tried the girly version until I informed her that I didn't want her smelling like a mechanical musk ox with bowel issues. The stuff is hateful and definitely triggers a mild allergic response.

I've even bailed on dates because of their scent. It's difficult to show interest and engage in conversation when your olfactory sense is screaming something like "This girl showered in a mixture of mustard gas and Sarin, Run".

I've never smoked or chewed (disgusting habit) so maybe that's got something to do with it. Anybody else get this recoil response to man-made smells?

 

[soFlaNative]

I work in a wastewater plant.
Chock full of man made smells.

 

[arjay]

My sister does.

 

[DWalt]

"This is not a new thing. Back in the 80s we had a lady at work who used to overdose with a "perfume" called "Poison""

About 25 years ago, a very attractive young lady where I worked was also a "Poison" user. For her, it really worked, like "Woweee." Especially if I was in the same elevator with her.

My wife cannot tolerate perfume of any kind and hates to be around other women who use it. I don't mind perfume but I don't get much exposure to it either.

 

[Bill_inBouse]

Yes, in my older years, I've become overly sensitive to smells/odors. I no longer walk down the detergent isle in a store. My best friends wife likes to overdo it with stink-pretty, I had to ask her NOT to wear much when they come for a visit, as it was running me out of the house.
The wife now washes the laundry with fragrance free detergent
So you're not the only one.

But Hoppie's #9 is not a problem....go figure

 

[Tom S.]

I can tolerate moderate amounts, but when people douse themselves and get on an elevator, I start to gag.

 

[Rustyt1953]

My dad was and my brother and I are sensitive to cologne and perfume. Like sharks, we can detect one part in one million.

Movie theaters, school auditoriums and waiting rooms are olfactory torture chambers. We have the curse, anyone that bathes in "o de toilette" will assuredly sit within nostril range of us and breathing becomes difficult.

PS: nothing worse than deoderant/perfume on an unabathed body.

 

[robvious]

once dated a beautiful woman that got some new perfume... asked me if I liked it... I said "NO, it tastes terrible..." the hint worked... she no longer uses any of that stuff around me... coming up on 24 years of marriage... I just don't think it smells nice... and yes it tastes bad... clean is good enough for me... mom was a farm girl... nuff said...

and I do have a co-worker that is ultra sensitive... had to tell a new hire to knock it off with the perfume... just take a shower and use deodorant... he got to go home for the day... the rest of us had to suffer thru it...

 

[rwsmith]

Yes I can....

I'm pretty sensitive. When I was in the choir there was a lady at the other end of the loft (probably six yards) that wore TONS of powder. It tore me up to where I had difficulty singing. I complained and somebody said, "You can't tell somebody not to wear perfume or powder."
I told them that maybe they couldn't but I could.

ESPECIALLY in the choir loft. I have an assigned place. If it were out in the pews, I could just sit somewhere else FAR across the sanctuary.

 

[bigwheelzip]

I'm the Canary in the coal mine. I get sick before other people from odorless things. It's a good trait because the things I sense are dangerous compounds. But when nobody else is affected yet, they think your a nut.

I've mentioned these things here before, like sensing a carbon monoxide leak or an improperly used industrial chemical that triggered a building evacuation when I pursued it with the medical office.

 

[Bullet Bob]

I don't care for it at all these days, but I remember being a teenage boy in a car with other guys on a Saturday night. Yowza!

For some reason I've gotten the last two issues of Esquire magazine. I certainly didn't order it, so I don't know why it's coming to me. I'll read almost anything if it's laying around, and there seem to be some interesting articles in it. But, there's one of those smelly ads for men's cologne in it, like the type that used to only come in magazines for women. It's so bad I just dump the magazine in the trash can at the Post Office.

 

[billwill]

I can smell a banana at 20 paces. Man those this stink and I can taste it no matter how much the misses tries to disguise it. Always hated those things.

If I ever get stranded on a tropical island I'm screwed, bananas and coconuts ...yuck

 

[Squarebutt]

The detergent aisle makes my eyes water. We have his and hers bottles of laundry detergent. Likewise, anyone with too much perfume/cologne gets a lot of space.

 

[DeathGrip]

I can smell a banana at 20 paces. Man those this stink and I can taste it no matter how much the misses tries to disguise it. Always hated those things.

If I ever get stranded on a tropical island I'm screwed, bananas and coconuts ...yuck

Add Mangos to the list.

 

[Jinglebob]

Gardenia perfume. Whenever I smell it I have a sneezing attack. The old ladies who went to my church would pour that stuff on and then slide into the pew next to me. I would have to get up and move, sneezing all the while and interrupting the preacher.

 

[6518John]

I work in a wastewater plant.
Chock full of man made smells.

The girls at my part-time job won't even use a toilet, much less perfume!

 

[gunnails]

Wow that's awful, be better off taking up smoking.

 

[DeathGrip]

Gardenia perfume. Whenever I smell it I have a sneezing attack. The old ladies who went to my church would pour that stuff on and then slide into the pew next to me. I would have to get up and move, sneezing all the while and interrupting the preacher.

Gardenias smell OK from 50 yards away with a strong breeze.

My Grandma used to bring a couple of flowers in the house. Let me explain, This was someone that didn't have AC.

I couldn't stand the stench and it gave me headaches but never complained about the smell until now.

My Dad and Granddad loved mangos. Dad would leave them in the garage. PU!

But, This thread is about man made smells.

 

[LVSteve]

Gardenias smell OK from 50 yards away with a strong breeze.

My Grandma used to bring a couple of flowers in the house. Let me explain, This was someone that didn't have AC.

I couldn't stand the stench and it gave me headaches but never complained about the smell until now.

But, This thread is about man made smells.

I'll bet most gardenia perfume is some lab concoction, nothing to do with the flower.

 

[Tradewind36]

I'm the same way, can't handle perfume, hair spray, smelly dryer sheets, fresh scented air sprays or perfumy detergent. They all make the breathing part of my brain shut down, I can't inhale. Cigarette smoke does the same. I once knew a woman that overdid the perfume, I told her that it was called perfume, not marinade. Needless to say it was our one and only date.