Hi all,I'm on day 4 of prednisolone and antibiotics for a particularly nasty chest infection, (GP said sending me to hospital was borderline). 2nd course of pred this year and it's only May. Unusual for me as I often don't need any, or only one short blast, of pred in a year. My asthma generally has been deteriorating over the last year and once I'm over this I need a good talk with the asthma nurse.
Anyway, lying here thinking how I can help myself. I'm wondering if my usage of household and personal items will be having any effect on my asthma? I'm a demon with the spray bleach in bathroom and kitchen particularly since covid, (I do air it out after), I use spray air freshener, burn Joss sticks, use spray deoderant, hair spray, perfume,.....now I think about it, lots of that type of product. Has anyone tried cutting all/some of these out? If so, what do people use instead? Thanks for any insights.
Written by
Misscrisps
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
I’ve cut out a lot of things and changed brands on others. I was also queen of the bleach but that was one of the first things to go. However, I have now reintroduced it, but rinse down with cold water to minimise the fumes. Elnett hairspray has gone. I now use Tressesmme ( probably not the correct spelling, but recognisable.) Non scented antiperspirant, non scented soap powder - extra rinse on bedding and tops/dresses. I also changed my washing up liquid - at first I thought it must be the steam that was setting me off, but since I changed it it hasn’t happened. Polish I spray on the cloth and not on the furniture. Same with mirrors. Windows I do with soapy water and a blade. In fact a lot of my cleaning I do now with soapy water.
Anything I put on my body I sniff first. If I’m ok with that I try it out first on my legs.
Initially I dropped everything with a strong smell and all aerosols/sprays. After a while I started to reintroduce “necessary” ones gradually one at a time.
Thank you. So with you it is more the smell than the actual propellent? I hadn't thought of that, I was thinking of aerosols. But I do think it would be worth using your excellent idea of cutting things out and then gradually reintroducing, I had to do that a few years ago with foods (turned out the culprit was wheat). I already use Tresomme shampoo and conditioner so I can easily change to their hairspray. And I use unperfumed wash powder and simple fabric conditioner. I'll be doing some changes once I'm well enough for the shops!
It's totally possible at least some of those will be affecting you! I find a lot of those would set me off, though not all, and it might vary. And of course people have different triggers. But it may be worth cutting things out and then following what Troilus has suggested about reintroducing.
Perfume can be a big trigger for me unless it's old and expensive - I suspect it's the base and that Chanel, Dior etc are using something different from more affordable and/or newer ones. I generally don't wear it unless I'm given a posh one I can handle but it's a major problem when people spray the testers in shops (so if you want to help out your fellow asthmatics, please be mindful of that even if perfume isn't your problem...). Generally 'natural' oils and VOCs are more of a problem for me personally so anything with that is an issue - but others can find artificial ones worse, it does vary.
I find most aerosol propellants/sprays are an issue so I avoid those and ask people to spray in a different room away from me (but not everyone with asthma is affected by those). I use roll-on deodorant myself which I find fine, as long as I don't accidentally use one with a rose or violet or other floral scent that's a big trigger. I never use hairspray myself but something with a non-aerosol spray might work if you need to spray a product on. (I appreciate that's tricky if you have a preferred hair product, so it may end up with a rethink of what you use!)
Incense is a definite no for me because of the smoke, even without the scent - I suspect a lot of asthmatics would find that hard.
If I want to create a scent for any reason or dispel a nasty smell, I use a non-aerosol spray with citrus, which for me is ok, or I would get one of those reed/stick things, or a candle in a 'safe' scent.
For cleaning, there are more lung and allergy-friendly products you can use. I use the Koh system which I know other asthmatics like and is actually very effective as a cleaner. Or there's Method, though since natural scents are dodgy for me I have to be careful with the scents.
Thanks. I always used Paris by YSL but then it got so expensive and is now discontinued so I did move to a cheap copy...I think I'll stop that for now. I'm definitely going to cut out the inscence sticks, as I feel the smoke catching the back of my throat sometimes, .....how stupid of me, because of the lovely scent I've never actually thought of it as 'smoke' before!
I'll have a look into Koh and Method. I think with covid I've been a bit bleach obsessed. Thanks
Yes I find my lungs have expensive tastes in perfume unfortunately, so if you're like me you may not be able to get away with anything cheap! Though with other scents my lungs prefer the cheap version lol (whatever they do to make the cheaper commercial extracts of things like mango and lavender ends up removing the problematic natural chemical for me, even though it does still smell the same).
I find scents a minefield and it's now a lovely bonus when I can appreciate a scent safely! But this is definitely not the case for everyone with asthma.
Great response as always Lysistrata! I never heard of the Koh method before and it looks fabulous. I'm going to try out some of their products. Thank you!
unfortunately what is called a natural scent is usually anything but -it is usually a synthetic derivative so usually " nature identical " but still toxic to both you and the environment.The only natural scents are pure essential oils.( of course many people still are affected by these too)
It's the pure essential oils and the natural fruits and flowers I personally have the most problem with. But I find if the product is relatively high quality, it still seems to have some essential oils or some of the natural product in it (rose, lavender or whatever) which causes problems for me - it doesn't take much!
Products not using essential oils tend to be much safer *for me* and often cause me no problems at all, presumably because they removed, or didn't replicate, whatever was causing my reaction in the original. I realise this isn't the same for everyone as people have different triggers, but for me £1 Radox lavender shower gel (for example) is ok for me to use and be around, whereas the higher-end, better made stuff generally is not as it tends to contain lavender essential oil (same for rose, mango etc).
I can't comment on the environmental impact, any other effects or anyone else's reactions, of course - just how it works for me and my asthma.
I wouldn't even call those 'natural' as nature has not to my knowledge created any plants this with those intense smells. they are unnatural concentrates, thus not o very natural. I certainly avloid them, especially tea tree oil.
dont quite follow your reply? tea tree is certainly a natural scent as are all pure essential oils - just distilled from the plant .Plenty of plants have incredibly intense aromas just growing in the garden. the fact that one element of the plant ( the volatile oil) has been distilled doesnt make it any more unnatural than brewing tea which only extracts certain water soluble components of the plant
The distilling makes it far more concentrated. Yes, of course some plants have strong scents, but if distilled - no longer being 'inside' a plant - I imagine it would be quite a lot stronger. So the substance is natural, but just more concentrated than it would be when still inside the plant. I am fine with sniffing plants, but profoundly wary of essential oils. I rather have the plant in its intended form.
yes absolutely agree - I was really just disagreeing with when you originally said they weren't natural. But also you're not meant to sniff essential oils undiluted.But I take your point that people can still be affected adversely by these
I even get ambushed by the plants! Had several instances of 'oops, that's a rosebush/lavender bush, didn't see it, hello nebs'. It doesn't take much for me, but I imagine it's also influenced by the season (flowering not just pollination, as for me it's the scent not the pollen), what someone's tolerance is, and how much plant is there - people like to plant a lot of lavender, and you can get a hefty punch of scent from rose gardens.
I think that did happen to me........once, though I was totally baffled what it could be as I had been in that area for a good few hours. Nature can be full of surprises.
I cannot be in a room with jos sticks or scented candles nor where air fresheners have been sprayed. I cannot be near spray deodorants nor cheap perfumes or aftershave. I can’t use cheap washing powder nor or fabric softener. Spray bleach makes me cough but I’m okay with pouring thick bleach. I use washing up liquid mixed with water in spray bottles for cleaning surfaces and glass. Cigarette smoke is a no no. I use gel to fix my hair rather than spray. It reads as if you are using quite a lot of products that have strong smells and are sprayed so easily get into your airways. It might make a significant difference to you if you were able to make a few changes to see if things improve when you’re not breathing them in. Good luck! Let us know how it goes?
Thank you. Yes it was only lying here (well, propped up!) and really thinking about it, that I realised how many irritants I may be using. I'm going to make some changes and who knows, it may help and it can't hurt.
my husband used to make a big show of spraying body spray and deodorant in the bedroom and bathroom every morning. He thought he was in the Lynx advert! Incidentally it was Lynx which is a product that causes me problems because it is one of those “cheap” scents. He just did not understand the impact of it on my breathing. I asked him to shut himself in the bathroom with the window open and do it but even so, it was in the air and still made me cough and short of breath so I started to buy stick deodorant for both of us. What a difference! So if you have others in the same house as you, make sure they look after you too.
yes I can relate to that! I have a dear friend who wears some strong perfume and it really cuts my breath if she has it on and the wind blows the scent towards me. Darn nuisance! (The perfume and the asthma, not my friend😆).
I am sensitive to a lot of washing products. I would write down your asthma attacks and the most likely causes for a couple of weeks and you may well start to see a pattern.
Yes I have stopped using most products now especially aerosol sprays. I buy a disinfectant that you can mix with water and put in an ordinary spray bottle and white vinegar is a good cleaner too and the smell soon subsides!
I personally can’t tolerate most cleaning sprays, candles, plug in’s, cut flowers, perfume etc. I react particularly badly when I have an asthma flare up due to an infection: then I have to go out of my way to avoid these otherwise I would just have attack after attack.
I use cream Cif for most cleaning, or just hot water and washing up liquid. I also use e cloths (which you don’t have to use cleaning products with) and am ok with bleach (not spray kind). I use cream type deodorant and just generally keep away from scents and aerosols.
It can be tricky in public places like theatres, cafes etc. I just have to move away if I feel my chest’s reacting (a lot of the time my chest tells me there’s some kind of irritant around before I actually smell the scent). If I see a spray bottle coming out in a cafe I ask for it not to be sprayed and explain why.
My friends and family are aware of this and don’t use perfumes when we’re meeting up. I know it can feel awkward to discuss this, but your health (and being able to breathe 😳 is important and I find people understand this.
Maybe you could try not using these things and see if it helps.
Yes I hate those. I wish they were required to warn like they do with flashing lights - as far as I can tell, it's up to the theatre to provide a warning, and it's not as widely known about as flashing lights triggering seizures. I'd still go 😅 but it would change where I sit if I know it will be there. I went to a play last year which was outdoors and they set off pink smoke bombs at the end - which I wasn't expecting. The outdoors part might be why they thought it was ok, but my canary in the mine lungs still weren't impressed.
Sometimes I get people telling me 'you know it's not real smoke?' Yes, I am aware of that, it's still a trigger in its own right!
The only spray I use now is shower and kitchen cleaners. Neither have bleach as this really sets the asthma off. No aerosols for deodorant etc. There are alternatives. I buy a concentrated disinfectant for cleaning and dilute it in a hand trigger spray, so no propellant. These alternatives work and don’t have an impact on your asthma.
Hi I think u need to phase out some of these things. I can't use polish, spray deodrant anything with lavender in. I damp dust the furniture. use roll on and avoid aerosols etc. There is loads of natural stuff u can clean with. Baking soda, lemon vinegar. Hope u ok soon. Handy hint. Lakeland do a very good oven gel cleaner. No smell even when first using the oven after cleaning. It's magic stuff too xx
My asthma and Small Airways Disease I consider to be moderate. Room fresheners, joss sticks, 'scented' candles, smoke, cheap products with smells (Lush shops I hold my breath& move away fast), aerosols are all an absolute nono for me. Those expensive plug ins , I bought one once to put near the dogs bed & even he choked & gagged so in the bin it went. Lynx mens stuff arrrrgh just awful.
Weirdly Flash bathroom spray with bleach is alright as long as it's a short spray at arms length as is my Lancòme perfume (which I dont wear near chesty ones). I was gifted White Company candles and diffuser kit which are fine - we're all different though.
There are no aerosols in my home. I use Ecover for wash machine & hand wash, vinegar for windows, a small squirt of Ecover wash up liquid in water for kitchen floor, Mum un-perfumed roll on deodorant, Neal's Yard or L'Occitaine shower stuff.
I think banishing most of your list would really help your asthma particularly aerosols and joss sticks. Good luck
Thanks, so many answers all in the same vein! My shopping is going to be overhauled. Funnily enough someone above also mentioned Lynx as a particularly bad one!
Most of what I use around the house is eco-friendly which I find doesn't have a very strong smell (or as many chemicals as conventional cleaners) - it might be worth trying to switch to some of these products as you could end up saving your lungs as well as the planet 😋
I'm fortunate in that I don't react to a lot of chemicals, but I just feel that very strong chemicals and scents can't be good for me anyway.
I've found Ecoleaf is a great laundry detergent and has very little scent. Vinegar makes a great fabric softener and the smell goes once the clothes are dry. If the air is a bit stale or smelly, I open the window - many of the spray or plug-in air fresheners are bad for pets, so I reckon they must be pretty bad for us humans too! If you can tolerate natural scents, you could try spraying lavender or lemon water to deodorise. Or use baking powder.
I haven't used sprays for years and no aerosols since the 80s . No"air freshner" type products either and I rarely require to use my emergency inhaler these days. Soapy water and elbow grease is my go to these days. My asthma nurse cut down my morning and night time inhalers to 1 puff twice a day. I have a check up this week - my first since pre covid in 2019 so it'll be interesting to see how she thinks I'm doing.
I notice that my lungs are incredibly sensitive to absolutely everything when I'm in a bad flare after an attack. My flares can last for weeks and during them, I am much more sensitive than normal to cleaning products, candles, pollen etc.
I have personally found Mrs. Meyers to be a great cleaning product line but it might be too scented for some asthmatics.
Yes, with a vengeance, since it caused me an attack on Christmas Day just over two years ago! I thought I would have to call an ambulance, but managed to deal with it with taking large number of ventolin puffs as per instruction. My attack was caused by cooking fumes and candles. I was a keen joss stick user, no I wouldn't have one o]in the house. Ditto with ANY kind of air freshener, including reeds, but especially the spray variety. I avoid anything in spray cans. very careful with cleaning products, careful to use stuff that works for me (now Koh cleaning range), anything that smokes/burns etc, etc. Just really not worth having problems for`!
Just to add, I am also sensitive to cooking fumes, notably things roasting in an oven, toasting bread, baking, so what I call 'burney' stuff, those things that are meant to get a nice crispy brown surface. I now only very rarely use the oven, always cook on the rings further away from me with the extractor always on. I have got myself a multicooker which is in a different space further away from me. It has paid off. Currently I react on less - long may it last!
For me certain aerosols really affect my asthma, especially air fresheners and plug in air fresheners, ic I go into someones house I have to ask them to turn them off as I can feel my chest begin to tighten up, so the answer to your question about chemicals and air fresheners possibly affecting your asthma is a definite yes from me
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Newbie with worsening Asthma 
Exercise and Asthma - We are Undefeatable 💪
Worsening asthma since taking Fostair, despite peak flow etc. looking fine
