How does this work? You can deal with the scent of a flower but not the scent of a flower concentrated into perfume? Or are we talking about fragrance in general, as in the fragrance of coffee?
MCS is a pretty complicated disorder that I'm still learning about, and is only recently being recognized by the medical community as actually existing. Basically, I don't have reactions to anything actually natural, like animals, pollen, or food, etc, and can safely use essential oils. My body (immune system+ other stuff) can't handle the toxicity of artificial chemicals, so over time it has become hypersensitive to such things. If unmanaged by limiting exposures, it progresses into more severe reactions to a larger range of chemicals (gas fumes, bleach, cigarette smoke). Multiple areas of the body are affected, such as respiratory, circulatory, nervous system, and even digestion.
In a country obsessed with putting artificial fragrance into EVERYTHING on top of the large amount of chemicals already in use, this makes my life a rather delicate balance of trying to remain a functional person, while also not being bedridden and/or hospitalized by some stupid air freshener or someone's perfume.
And sorry about the "general discussion" topic in the Intro thread. I'll leave it at that and try to continue any further commenting somewhere more appropriate.
I'm happy to chat via PM if anyone feels so inclined.
Thanks for the warm welcome! And for all the cookies.
*grabs glass of milk*
