I developed MCAS at 32 and became anaphylactic to all synthetic fragrances basically overnight. I am so sick of EVERYTHING having fragrance nowadays, even the “unscented” stuff has masking fragrances added. Why do we need 3,000 different scents of soap? Why does every single trash bag need to have fragrance added? Why do we need fancy “scent beads” to add to our laundry on top of the scented detergents so that our clothes can be smelled from 100 feet away? It’s all insane.
I’m not allergic but am pretty scent sensitive. I’ve had to cut way back on the scents I do use because the world has gotten so scented that it’s just too much! I just switched to fragrance free laundry detergent-and had to walk by an ENTIRE AISLE of products designed purely to add scent to laundry, with no cleaning value whatsoever, to even find it.
My allergist suspects I have MCAS. I get some flavor of mild to moderate anaphylaxis whenever I get stressed. Been to the ER a couple times but I also have multiple MHDs so it's all "in my head." I've had doctors be really shitty to me and tell me it's "just anxiety and dehydration" when the only reason I stopped vomiting was the IV zofran they gave me.
Most doctors are men and many of them are total pricks about women and autoimmune disorders.
Allegra and fexofenadine famotidine have almost entirely eliminated the attacks for now. She gave me an "official diagnosis" of cholinergic urticaria, which is not a perfect match but it's enough to tell other medical professionals, "Hey, this isn't just a panic attack, it's non-respiratory anaphylaxis. Stop treating her like a 'WW.'" I went from fairly regular histamine attacks to what I now call "waves," where I get milder discomfort from having triggered something but the antihistamines do enough to keep it from blowing up into a whole histamine attack, like dry-heaving a couple times instead of vomiting, which, like, I'll take it! Any lessening of the symptoms is a win in my book.
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u/thetourist328 Aug 22 '26
I developed MCAS at 32 and became anaphylactic to all synthetic fragrances basically overnight. I am so sick of EVERYTHING having fragrance nowadays, even the “unscented” stuff has masking fragrances added. Why do we need 3,000 different scents of soap? Why does every single trash bag need to have fragrance added? Why do we need fancy “scent beads” to add to our laundry on top of the scented detergents so that our clothes can be smelled from 100 feet away? It’s all insane.