I have 2 doctors notes. HR, labor relations did nothing. My symptoms are headache, nausea, aching sinuses, sore throat. I’ve gotten the royal run-a-round, bounced from department to department.

I work for a (I thought) progressive CA state school/hospital. If I were in the clinical side of things there would not be an issue – as people are forbidden to wear scented products, but since I am on the academic side of things and not in the clinic, there is nto concrete rule.

I couldnt see the employee health because it was environmental, they refered me to Environmental Services and my personal physician. Now I am waiting for the air quality assessment to be published so I can make an appointment i nthe employee health department. People dont reply to email. HR said to keep reporting it, but it took them 1 month to get back to me.

I suffer everyday. I love my job. It is a new person who wears too much perfume and the air vents make the scent pool in my cubicle – go figure. I have many cup of open coffee ground to absorb the scent, but it does nothign for the chemical and I suffer just as much.

You would think that with 2 doctor’s notes, and environmental study, a trip to HR this would be settled, but it drags on… The mgmt gave me a time frame of 6-9 months for a resolution of this issue – I am in pain everyday and I can tell that I am getting more and more sensitive to chemicals, even ones that didnt bother me a couple of months ago.

There has to be a law about this. Please help!

To deal with any allergies, it’s best to avoid them. My mom forbid things in my diet, I wore a funny hat for the sun (my mom made them herself, they were usually 90’s dayglo). My mom put me on claritin at one point (I turned into a devil child from all the speed, and I never want to take it again). Pretty much, it was easy to avoid those things.

I had lots of allergies and these allergies aren’t prevalent in my life anymore. I don’t get hives anymore, red dyes don’t make me hyper, etc.

I would gladly have those allergies instead of the ones I have now.

It started early this year (9 months ago). I started getting bothered by fragrances. Then cigarette smoke (I smoked for two years!) followed by a handful of chemicals.

What I’m allergic to is everywhere. It’s on nearly everyone. I cannot ever get away from it.

My quality of life has been going in a downward spiral. I have been getting chronically sick about once a week. I don’t ever want to go out. I avoid half of all stores. I cannot go to parties anymore. The worst, travel is no longer a stress reducer, it’s not worth it to go on vacation anymore.

My house and all the products I use are of course fragrance free. I’ve stopped drinking any form of alcohol (it stated to make me really sick). Most recently I have started to alter my diet.

I’ve done a lot to change my life around, but the fact remains I cannot avoid fragrances. There is no way short of wearing a mask everywhere I go. I can’t stop breathing, and I don’t want to stay at home 24/7.

It’s a terrible terrible thing to happen to any person. I’ve become very resentful and angry because of it.

Is it right to direct these anger towards companies that produce fragrances? What are these companies? What can I do to make them change, or failing to do that, screw them over?

Oh, well….