Scent allergy limits lives
Nebraskan women ‘overjoyed’ with campus attention to scent allergy
By Kenny Sharpe
Dodie Herrmann lives a life unlike most others, constantly worrying that the next time she ventures into a public area could be her last. She shops at a specific time, avoids elevators with strangers, and has watched her husband enjoy quality time with their children, while she sits protected in her home.
Herrmann, who lives in Nebraska, is among an estimated 15 million Americans who suffer from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS).
According to Allergy UK, an allergy charity, MCS is a condition whereby the individual suffers from mild to severe hypersensitivity to chemical compounds, often petroleum based, which are found in everything from hand soap, perfumes, and laundry detergent.
The allergy affects individuals differently and entails a wide range of reactions. For Herrmann, these reactions meant migraines, rashes, and an overall sense of ill health into her early teens, which eventually progressed into the seizures and cardiac arrest that she can experience today, if around any offensive smell for an extended period of time.
“I remember in general that my health as a child was not that good,” she said.
“I always noticed that I was more affected by the smell of car exhaust and scented products such as soaps and perfumes, something which I would later learn in life to be an allergy to petroleum-based products.”
Not fully aware at the time what was responsible for this constant sickness, Herrmann decided to live her a healthier, more active lifestyle in her 20s, hoping to rid herself of whatever was ailing her.
While her health kick showed signs of promise, Herrmann says an incident involving an exterminator escalated her condition and shadowed any advancement she had made from eating well and exercising.
“It was one time after we had our house fumigated that things really started to go downhill,” she said.
“From that time on … I noticed that I was actually reacting to fragrances. I would sit in a room with people who had used something with fragrance [and] notice that my arms would go weak, and my legs would no longer be able to carry my weight.”
Herrmann attributes her condition worsening from a minor allergy to a severe allergy to the chemicals in the pesticide used in her home, along with painting a room in her home with an oil-based paint on a separate occasion.
From this her condition progressed from minor reactions such as headache or confusion, to more life-threatening reactions such as seizures or her even her heart stopping.
“To some people it may seem like a nuisance problem, but the problem will escalate in time. I remember just having headaches, but the more people with the allergy are put in contact with [scented products], the faster it will progress, snowball even,” she said.
Herrmann added that from this time on her sensitivity to perfumes, soaps, and detergents also increased, resulting in her having to become more conscious of her surroundings, as she was experiencing an increased number of reactions, more violent than before.
“[My condition] finally got to the point where I would watch my husband take my children to the movie theatre or out to eat at a restaurant, and I would actually have to stay home. This lasted for a period of five or six years, where I was missing out on hanging out with my children,” she said.
Herrmann says it was her realization that she no longer wanted to miss her children’s youth that resulted in her return to public life.
Still susceptible and at risk, Herrmann says that she has certain things she does to limit her exposure to scented products.
“I now shop at certain times, when there is hardly anyone else shopping. I avoid closed, confined spaces with little room, and try to find myself in situations where there are high ceilings … because there is more room for the scented product to diffuse, lessening my chance of a reaction,” she said.
Herrmann contacted the Muse in response to a story regarding Memorial’s scent-free policy [“MUN says there’s no sense in wearing scents” The Muse, Vol. 58, Issue 18].
She was forwarded the story by a moderator of a Yahoo group for people with MCS. Herrmann says she was overjoyed at the fact that people living without the problem were taking the time to acknowledge those who live with it everyday.
She was equally surprised at the steps that Canadian universities and employers have taken to ensure a scent-free environment for those living with MCS within Canada, and not to expect any such progress in the near future from our neighbors down south.
“Here in the States we are so far behind when compared to Canada when it comes to [MCS]. Only within the last six months has there been the implementation of a partial smoking ban in some restaurants and public places, and there was sort of an uproar over that,” she said.
“I thought, ‘My goodness, what would they do if somebody said something about perfume?’ People are very ignorant about topics like that here,” said Herrmann. “People who still put on a fragrance or use heavily perfumed products need to realize that they are going to take away the life of someone little by little.
“The person with MCS may literally lose their life, and will at least have to limit themselves in what they do, affecting and altering normal daily activities.”