It’s the question I’ve been asking myself for a while and whilst I know people with migraine can be super sensitive to environmental factors. Even though I’m at a good level with my MAV and even on days where it’s not causing me many issues I am super sensitive to smells to the point where I can’t breathe very well. I remember visiting my granny’s house when I were young and she smoked, I can remember how it used to take my breath away even then when I was maybe 7years old.
yeah, I never liked perfumes or strong odored creams, etc. Everyone thought I was weird/ hippy… but now I understand why. I just can’t stand strong perfumes (like that laundry fresh scent, ugh), and other odors like fumes or smoke, ugh, horrible.
A relief to know it’s not just me then!
Even if it doesn’t set off my MAV it seems to take my breath away, my nose is just super dry and almost like blocked with strong smells. It’s weird
And, my second thought after my current attack started ‘it must have been those **** narcissi gifted to me from the Scillies for Christmas’. They had the most overpoweringly sickly sweet scent I have ever experienced (even Him Indoors whose sense of smell is negligible actively complained) and, like a clot knowing how sensitive I am to strong smells, I filled my main living rooms with them. ‘Nuff said?
Absolutely. Apart from hormones, smells were the only other thing that brought on a migraine for me. To a point where I asked all my bridesmaids not to wear perfume. I was a director in musical productions, and it got so bad I asked all the cast not to wear it either!
Plane trips would set it off as no circulated air, conferences that lots of people attend.
I cannot stand walking past someone with strong perfume. Laundry detergents also is quite bad.
It actually feels like inside the top of my nose, near my brain BURNS!!! instant migraine
Me too. Just a whiff of strong perfume or room spray makes me swoon. I’m okay with pure citrus smells but anything musk or patchouli gets me. I used to have a friend who used plug ins all over her house and I had to avoid going there. Fresh flowers such as Lilies get me too, daffodils are safe. When we sold our house in the summer we painted the kitchen and living room etc. to freshen it up and I had to wear a respirator. Like Belindy, when I used to teach in a college I’d sometimes feel really ill all day after the morning Lynx and Impulse body spray attack.
Scents are one of my biggest issues/triggers. There are so many clothes I own that I cannot wear even years later because of something in them that sets me off. Cannot do any scented detergents, cleaners, makeup, moisturizers, shampoos, soaps. List goes on and on. Never had a problem at all before MAV hit. Now I can’t handle any scents at all. People these days now seem to be covering themselves more and more with fabric softeners, colognes, perfumes. What is wrong with just smelling like yourself?!?
There’s a maintenance guy at my local YMCA that wears so much cologne I can follow him around the building even many minutes later and I can smell him from the far side of the pool. It becomes an impromptu contest in holding my breath. Before I even see or smell him, the horizon is oscillating.
Agreed. The times I have said exactly that. I can stand in my garden and smell people driving by in their cars on the road beyond our thick privet hedge and it’s not just my sensitive nose Him Indoors can too. Being in the vehicle with them must be sheer murder
Yep! My other half bought me some Creed and I have to say I love the smell but it’s so strong I can literally smell it on my t shirt even after it’s been in the washing machine! I can cope with that some how though. Perhaps because it’s oil based? Not sure, other smells tip me over the edge though. My nose is doing it right now after the roast dinner I cooked this afternoon! The air purifier is not doing the desired job!
Kier, have you tried an Air Purifier? I know it’s difficult to control outside triggers but I have one and been trying it now for a good 2 months. I can tell that it takes the smells out of the air mostly. I think it’s worth the money - might help?
