Sensitivity to soaps, cleansers, etc.

[Toni812]

For the past two months I (completely out of knowwhere) have become extremely sensitive to the smell of all soaps, cleansers, perfumes, etc. I continually smell soap even when not directly exposed to any soap. It creates a burning sensation in my nose, throat, and chest. I have tried different soaps, different doctors, even steroids, and nothing helps. I am getting to the point where I can't stand living. I simply do not know what to do or who to see to help my situation. I have turned from a completely normal person to one who is now in constant pain with this constant burning sensation, headache, even nauseous, dizziness.  No one knows what's wrong or what to do. Please help. Tell me what to do or who to see. Someone must have experienced this before me. I live in Central Florida. I will await a reply.

[FurballsMom]

Wow, I'm sorry I only just found this post.  I have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), and that's what you're experiences sound like to me.  Avoidance is the only thing I know to do with this problem, which is hard in the modern world.  Google this company's name:  Sappo Hill.  They are an environmentally friendly soap making company that makes a great soap that I don't react badly to.  The fat they use is coconut oil.  I recommend the one called NATURAL.  They're all natural, of course, but the one they named NATURAL could even be called "neutral".  It is fragrance free and only has the three basic old fashioned ingredients in it.  The only difference between this soap and the soaps our forefathers made from animal fats is that this one doesn't have any smell whatsoever, not even the smell of coconut.  It is a full fat soap, which is great if you have sensitive dry skin that reacts badly to everything you touch or put on your skin.  There is nothing in it that I would expect you to react to.

And, as for dishes.  I don't get the chest pains, but I'm familiar with feeling ill from doing dishes, even when using dish liquids that are supposedly made for sensitive people.  I started using Seventh Generation Fragrance Free and my skin is happier, but mostly I don't get sick from noxious vapors any more.  There is one called Planet that I've tried in the past that I still reacted badly to.  It irritated my skin.  But, I can wash dishes with this Seventh Generation without gloves (I'm allergic to those cheap latex dish washing gloves that usually yellow, too.  I'm willing to bet you are, too.  It seems to be a common allergy with others I know with MCS, including an older cousin who also has MCS.).  It's not as drying.  I still need to use a fragrance free non-irritating hand lotion for sensitive people if I've had to wash a lot of dishes, but I seem to have dry skin all the time anyway with the MCS.  So, it's still far better than anything else I've tried and failed with.  I tried those expensive blue non-latex dish washing gloves in the past, but I didn't like them.  I've washed dishes my whole life with nothing on my hands and found those things too cumbersome.  My hands felt too still and I couldn't feel what I was doing.  

It took going gluten free, too.  But, along with going gluten free (It matters which personal care products you use, too, as your skin is your largest organ in your body and absorbs gluten in the personal care products you use.  Make sure they are gluten free if gluten is an issue.  It seems to be a common issue with everyone I know with MCS), I changed my dish washing liquid and my laundry powder.  I no longer get the enormous solid blisters of eczema on the heels of my hands that take months or even up to a year at a time to heal.  So, I know this Seventh Generation dish liquid has made a difference for me.

I think it's worth investigating the Sappo Hill soap I mentioned and the Seventh Generation dish liquid I mentioned.  I think it will help you be able to tolerate washing your dishes once again.  If the Sappo Hill soaps are not available in your local natural markets over there in Florida, I'm very certain that it would be worth your buying a whole box of the NATURAL soap cakes and the shipping cost.  I believe there are 10 cakes in a box.  Anyway, before you order online and do that, call around to all your natural food markets and co-ops in your area and see if they have heard of this company.  They are based in Oregon, so I'm not sure how far across the country their products are stocked on the shelves of these stores.  Anyway, ask around, because these are the stores most likely to carry both the Sappo Hill brand of natural bar soap and the Seventh Generation Fragrance Free dish liquid.  If you can't find anyone in your area that carries it, see if they're willing to stock it before you order online.  Then, if you have to, as a last resort, order a box of the NATURAL soap from Sappo Hill.  Just Google the name and you'll find it.  This soap has been a life saver to me with this MCS.  I react very badly to fragrances and vapors and such, too.  I do understand.

I haven't had the chest pain, but I have had my heart start racing and I always get a migraine.  Then, of course, my skin hates the stuff.  The heart racing isn't bad enough to be called Tachycardia, but it's bad enough to warn me to get away from this bad stuff.  I'm aware of how bad environmental illnesses can affect people.  A friend of mine has hypertension and every time she is exposed to toxic soup of people wearing perfumes and fragrances around her, her blood pressure goes through the roof.  It's from her having MCS.  Someone else I've heard of would pass out at her job and have to be rushed to the hospital.  Still another woman I've heard of had kidney issues because of the MCS and being exposed to perfumes and fragrances.  These ones all have to live in a cocoon of avoidance, as do I, or they get very, very sick to where it is life-threatening.  I haven't had life threatening stuff happen--yet--but I've felt very sick and have had the issues I mentioned above.  I have also had asthma attacks from being exposed to too much of this toxic soup.  I've even been chased out of my own apartment from the downstairs neighbor through the bathroom vent from such an excessive use of "air freshener" that I really did nearly end up in the hospital.  I don't know how that fool was still breathing with the amount of "air freshener" he was polluting the air with.

[DCinBC]

I have some sensitivity to soaps.  Since I can remember, when I inhale water vapor from soapy water, I get acute chest pains.  This happens when I am doing the dishes.   My doctor recommended two options, pain killers or...  stop doing dishes.  Neither option was acceptable.  My wife changed brands from a well known brand to a die free, perfume free and scent free Meijer Natural dish soap and I am fine now. Luckily my wife did not give up.  Keep trying different soaps until you find the right one.  More expensive soaps may not be necessarily the right soaps.

DCinBC

[Rediet]

Dear Toni812,

Don't forget to pray. You know he can do miracles. God Bless!