Guest guest Posted November 22, 2006 Report Share Posted November 22, 2006 > I was visiting family over a long weekend and staying with my sister-in-law who is allergic to preservatives and has also had a growing problem with asthma. The obvious culprits for her are artificial fragrances and air pollution. She is doing very well in coastal South Carolina. I don't use anything synthetic and am careful when around her, especially staying at her house. On the last day of our visit I used some lotion that is scented with essential oils. She had an immediate reaction to whatever was in the lotion. I am sure I have used the lotion frequently before in her presence and in her house. Here are the EOs I used. Has anyone had any experience with these and asthma? > > Lemon, rosewood, atlas cedarwood, sandalwood, carrot seed and patchouli. > > Thanks in advance to all the wonderful experts on this forum. > > Elise > There are increasing reports of asthmatics reacting badly to fragrance, but this is the first one I know of that entails essential oils. The most likely candidate of the oils you list is lemon, because limonene has been shown to be mildly irritating to the airways, and this could trigger a reaction. Asthma can be triggered by irritants or allergens. Some breakdown products of limonene and linalool oxidation are allergenic on the skin, and dermal and inhalational allergies are linked. Do you know the relative proportions of the oils? Tisserand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 22, 2006 Report Share Posted November 22, 2006 Good morning - I was visiting family over a long weekend and staying with my sister-in-law who is allergic to preservatives and has also had a growing problem with asthma. The obvious culprits for her are artificial fragrances and air pollution. She is doing very well in coastal South Carolina. I don't use anything synthetic and am careful when around her, especially staying at her house. On the last day of our visit I used some lotion that is scented with essential oils. She had an immediate reaction to whatever was in the lotion. I am sure I have used the lotion frequently before in her presence and in her house. Here are the EOs I used. Has anyone had any experience with these and asthma? Lemon, rosewood, atlas cedarwood, sandalwood, carrot seed and patchouli. Thanks in advance to all the wonderful experts on this forum. Oh, and I managed to bring back four bottles of 190 proof Everclear. It seems to be readily available in South Carolina. Elise --------------------------------- Sponsored Link Mortgage rates near 39yr lows. $510,000 Mortgage for $1,698/mo - Calculate new house payment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 22, 2006 Report Share Posted November 22, 2006 EDITED TO CORRECT TOP POSTING! Asthma reaction Good morning - I was visiting family over a long weekend and staying with my sister-in-law who is allergic to preservatives and has also had a growing problem with asthma. The obvious culprits for her are artificial fragrances and air pollution. She is doing very well in coastal South Carolina. I don't use anything synthetic and am careful when around her, especially staying at her house. On the last day of our visit I used some lotion that is scented with essential oils. She had an immediate reaction to whatever was in the lotion. I am sure I have used the lotion frequently before in her presence and in her house. Here are the EOs I used. Has anyone had any experience with these and asthma? Lemon, rosewood, atlas cedarwood, sandalwood, carrot seed and patchouli. Thanks in advance to all the wonderful experts on this forum. Oh, and I managed to bring back four bottles of 190 proof Everclear. It seems to be readily available in South Carolina. Elise --------------------------------- I would suspect the cedarwood first, very volatile projecting oil, very aggravating to respiratory tract nova Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 > > There are increasing reports of asthmatics reacting badly to fragrance, but this is the first > one I know of that entails essential oils. > Tisserand > --I have a friend with asthma for whom many essential oils trigger asthma attacks, the worst I think being geranium & lavender, but not the only ones. And another friend who gets attacks from being in the presence of rose oil-- or the flowers themselves even, if they are fragrant. Judith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 There are increasing reports of asthmatics reacting badly to fragrance, but this is the first one I know of that entails essential oils. Tisserand Dear , as a perfumer I have a daily reminder with my colleague at work that even natural essential oils can trigger asthma in persons who suffer from the disease, even those essences known as a cure for it such as lavender. I have noticed that unlike allergy so other substances, these crises are caused yes by a certain typology of essences, but above all by their quantity in the air. If the intensity is low there is no crisis. While most synthetic fragrances and incenses always cause a crisis in my colleague, his reaction to essential oils vary from a day to an other. Some days he likes the smell of lavender (true and Hybrid) and sometimes it causes a crisis. It is possible that when pollens to which he is allergic are present in the air his sensibility becomes exacerbated and includes a range of essential oils smells. I have used with success on any persons (and on myself) the essence of Geranium to stop and cure on long term use some forms of asthma and all the allergic reactions that I have encountered included skin allergies and allergies to venoms. I have not found yet this property listed in aromatherapy books but I found it so stunningly effective that I use geranium almost exclusively for it (see the formula and properties at http://www.profumo.it/perfume/prodotto.asp?pid=130 & lang=en <http://www.profumo.it/perfume/prodotto.asp?pid=130 & lang=en> ) AbdusSalaam Attar www.profumo.it <http://www.profumo.it/> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 Tisserand <tisserand@...> wrote:Elise wrote: Has anyone had any experience with these and asthma? > > Lemon, rosewood, atlas cedarwood, sandalwood, carrot seed and patchouli. > > Thanks in advance to all the wonderful experts on this forum. > > Elise > There are increasing reports of asthmatics reacting badly to fragrance, but this is the first one I know of that entails essential oils. The most likely candidate of the oils you list is lemon, because limonene has been shown to be mildly irritating to the airways, and this could trigger a reaction. Asthma can be triggered by irritants or allergens. Some breakdown products of limonene and linalool oxidation are allergenic on the skin, and dermal and inhalational allergies are linked. Do you know the relative proportions of the oils? Tisserand My first thought was the limonene as well. But she uses lemons quite a bit in cooking and often uses lemon peels in her drinks in the evening. (I know it's different eating something than inhaling it but you'd think there would be a reaction when she prepares the peels.) I had also been using a soap, handmade, that I purchased recently. I thought it didn't have a scent when smelling it in the shop but on use it showed a persistent but light citrus smell. Now I'm thinking it might have been the citrus *fragrance* in the soap and the lemon in the lotion plus lemonade made fresh the evening before all stacking up on her. We were there due to a death in the family and she had had an extremely stressful number of weeks beforehand and was entirely due for some kind of meltdown. Anyway - thanks for all the comments. I'm also still going to look into the other ingredients. Elise http://www.tambela.com --------------------------------- Cheap Talk? Check out Messenger's low PC-to-Phone call rates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 At 04:36 PM 11/23/2006, you wrote: >We were there due to a death in the family and she had had an >extremely stressful number of weeks beforehand and was entirely due >for some kind of meltdown. > >Anyway - thanks for all the comments. I'm also still going to look >into the other ingredients. > >Elise >http://www.tambela.com Elise -- I think you pinpointed it right there. Stress is the greatest trigger of asthma. In the fragrance-phobic society we live in, of course someone would point to a scent. In this case I strongly disagree with the scent trigger, since she had so much previous exposure, and place it on the stress. Anya McCoy Anya's Garden of Natural Perfume http://anyasgarden.com Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild http://artisannaturalperfumers.org Natural Perfumers Chat Group / Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 Anya <mccoy@...> wrote: At 04:36 PM 11/23/2006, you wrote: >We were there due to a death in the family and she had had an >extremely stressful number of weeks beforehand and was entirely due >for some kind of meltdown. > >Anyway - thanks for all the comments. I'm also still going to look >into the other ingredients. > >Elise >http://www.tambela.com Elise -- I think you pinpointed it right there. Stress is the greatest trigger of asthma. In the fragrance-phobic society we live in, of course someone would point to a scent. In this case I strongly disagree with the scent trigger, since she had so much previous exposure, and place it on the stress. Anya McCoy Anya's Garden of Natural Perfume http://anyasgarden.com Artisan Natural Perfumers Guild http://artisannaturalperfumers.org Natural Perfumers Chat Group / My first thought was that this was basically a reaction to the stress - like migraines occur after the stress is over. I think it was mostly a meltdown and the lotion I was wearing had a strong enough scent that she keyed in on it. But I'm looking more into the lemon and rosewood as likely triggers as well, maybe they're tolerable on normal days but not so much on a bad day. She was in pretty bad shape for a couple of days even after I left. Thanks, Anya, you confirmed some of my suspicions. And congrats on the perfume sales! Elise http://www.tambela.com --------------------------------- Everyone is raving about the all-new beta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 Anya <mccoy@...> wrote: At 04:36 PM 11/23/2006, you wrote: >We were there due to a death in the family and she had had an >extremely stressful number of weeks beforehand and was entirely due >for some kind of meltdown. > >Anyway - thanks for all the comments. I'm also still going to look >into the other ingredients. > >Elise >http://www.tambela.com Elise -- I think you pinpointed it right there. Stress is the greatest trigger of asthma. In the fragrance-phobic society we live in, of course someone would point to a scent. In this case I strongly disagree with the scent trigger. Anya, I agree with you here. As a person with asthma I would add to that the fact that sometimes a smell that reminds me of something I am allergic to can cause my lungs to seize up. For instance, I wheeze when I am around cigarette smoke, of course, but I also wheeze when I smell a hint of smoke on someone's clothes. I suspect that a natural fragrance could cause this type of reaction in a person who is reminded of synthetic fragrance. I don't rule out the possibility that some people are allergic to natural perfume components but I think there are many possible explanations and stress is a major factor as is diet, proper rest, etc. Recent Activity 11 New Members 2 New Photos 1 New Links Visit Your Group Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 Hi everyone, there was an article on asthma in the NYTIMES today. I skimmed it...here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/28/health/28seco.html? _r=1 & adxnnl=1 & oref=slogin & adxnnlx=1164741242-QS+IYTJgwYetmlPFCMfjGQ basically, summary is this: wow, this is a huge mystery we still cannot solve, but here, let us tell you the history of all the usual suspects that have been blamed throughout the past 40 years and how the myths about these have all but been debunked. They do not mention perfume, but I suppose you could lump it under the words: *AIR POLLUTION*...right? Anyway, worth a read, and there is a link to a study released by the WHO last week. Happy reading, my own personal philosophy is that the liver is full and cannot process more and that a liver flush is in order when these things surface so much. Exercise and a good healthy diet can (imho) help a great deal. xoxoxox Libbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbyyyyyy...*under the mistletoe* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 28, 2006 Report Share Posted November 28, 2006 Anya, I agree with you here. As a person with asthma I would add to that the fact that sometimes a smell that reminds me of something I am allergic to can cause my lungs to seize up. For instance, I wheeze when I am around cigarette smoke, of course, but I also wheeze when I smell a hint of smoke on someone's clothes. I suspect that a natural fragrance could cause this type of reaction in a person who is reminded of synthetic fragrance. I don't rule out the possibility that some people are allergic to natural perfume components but I think there are many possible explanations and stress is a major factor as is diet, proper rest, etc. Andrine's addition: , Anya, All, I have to agree. I know that when I'm stretched to the limit and there's a migraine lurking, all it takes is the slightest little whiff of a synthetic (perfume, shampoo, household product, even diesel exhaust) and it's like skewers shooting up my nose straight into my sinuses, and, WHAM! Instant migraine. So it's highly likely that all the ducks were in a row waiting for that last little stressor (in this case, that whiff of scent -- probably didn't matter if it was natural or not at that point, it was just that there was something else in the air and that was the final trigger) and the asthma attack came on. I know that usually these days (since I've made a concerted effort to de-stress my life), I can walk down the cleaning products aisle at the grocery store and my reaction is just " Sheesh, what a stinky bunch of junk they have here. " So I pick up my natural, unscented laundry soap and get out of that aisle while not breathing too deeply. No headache. But on a day when the stress is there, if I took one breath through my nose in that aisle, I'd have a reaction and end up with a headache. I find that not breathing through my nose on those occasions helps a bit, since it's my sinuses that start the reaction rather than my lungs. Andrine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 29, 2006 Report Share Posted November 29, 2006 Hi Everyone - Thanks so much for your input on my sister-in-laws asthma reaction. I'm going to synthesize all your answers and send them on to her. I am glad to hear from many that stress is a big contributor to asthma and hopefully this will help her as well. She generally doesn't have any problems in South Carolina and isn't dependent on her medicines there (unlike Ohio). It was pretty upsetting for her to have such a strong reaction while in South Carolina. I think I can tell her that she doesn't need to worry about reacting to natural products generally, that this was probably a one time thing. I sure love all the knowledge on this list! Thanks again - Elise http://www.tambela.com --------------------------------- Everyone is raving about the all-new beta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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