Allergy? Or something else?

[chloeoreilly]

Hi everyone,

Been really irritated in the throat, eyes and nose the past 2-3 weeks, along with hot/cold flushes and I've tried everything under the sun - nasal spray, olbas (due to my family suggesting a heavy cold), Antihistamines, everything that my local chemist could suggest basically.

But it's not getting any better. I'm sitting in work and my eyes are just streaming down my cheeks making it look like I've been crying. 2 weeks I could handle but in this 3rd week I'm just tired of it due to going to conferences and stuff and being scared that I'm gonna burst out sneezing or coughing.

Please any suggestions?

Thank you.

xoxo

[PaulAllan]

Hi, sorry I haven't got a clue what to suggest. I just thought I would reply to your post so at least you had one reply.

[AliceSquire]

I have had a very similar illness to the one you describe. I have had a bad reaction to artificial smells such as room fresheners, toilet blocks, "Lenor/Comfort" -type products for freshening clothes for many years, so if I get problems, I can usually hunt down the cause and remove it. On this occasion, I quickly found two things which might be the cause: new odour control cat litter and new tablets for my brand new dishwasher. Changed the cat litter and stopped using the dishwasher, but the symptoms persisted and when I went to bed I found the symptoms were getting worse - my nose and eyes were streaming and I was constantly coughing,making my throat very sore. Then one night I noticed my winter duvet, back from the cleaners, lying across the bottom of my bed. As soon as it sunk into my now befuddled brain that that was the probable cause of my discomfort, I was out of bed taking the offending item to another room. It worked, as I had the best night's sleep for about a week and my symptoms started to lessen. Two days later I am still coughing and my nose is still running occasionally, but the improvement is magical! The duvet was not dry cleaned but washed at the cleaners and I have taken it back to have it rewashed in plain water, hoping that will remove whatever was causing my reaction and hoping that come winter, I can use the duvet again. While this was going on I did find that my symptoms lessened when I was away from home but didn't go away.

This problem started when I was in my thirties- don't know how old you are but it could be a new allergy for you. It could be something like having clothes dry cleaned and the chemicals upsetting your system, or something in the air conditioning at work, or an air freshener in your car - it's up to you to sort out what the cause is, but I hope you find it soon. Best wishes

Alice Squire

[kkjp33joe]

it is awful for you and as you have tried all that a Pharmacy could offer. Go to your G.P. or even to a walk in centre if you have one near to you, Explain exactly as you have here regarding your job. Hope that you get help soon,