Hi everyone
My doctor diagnosed me with a cigarette smoke allergy about 5 years ago. Since then I have also found I can have a reaction to perfumes as well as other strong smells such as paint. At its worst my throat closed up so much that I couldn't even swallow water and I was projectile vomiting phlegm. It took weeks to recover from this.
At first I couldn't understand how I could possibly be allergic to cigarette smoke as I had grown up with smoke. My Mum smoked while pregnant with me and both my parents smoked heavily throughout my childhood. When I left home at 17 I lived in a totally smoke free environment for the next 6 years until I returned home to live with my Mum for 6 months. This is when my allergy first started. I can only assume that going from lots of smoke to no smoke and back to lots of smoke is what triggered it.
Since then I have generally found that as long as I keep a regular exposure to smoke whilst indoors (i.e. visiting my Mum once a week) I dont tend to get too many problems. But recently due to various pressures I've not been there as much and I'm really starting to notice the difference. The main problem is travelling to work. The time I spend on railway platforms and walking along the street with smoke drifting at me is enough to cause me headaches, dizziness, nausea and ear, nose and throat irritation. I can counteract these with Beconase but I'm not comfortable with keep snorting steroids up my nose. Nor am I happy with playing chicken with cancer just to keep my tolerance levels up!
Can anyone recommend ways I can either filter smoke out or ways to help my body to deal with the chemicals better?
Grateful for your advice and I'd be interested in hearing other peoples experiences of living with a smoke allergy.
Thanks
RE: Cigarette Smoke Allergy
Welcome to the forums Wickie (why not introduce yourself in the New Members forum ;))
This is an Interesting topic.
From a mind therapies point of view (pop over to the Mind Therapies forum sometime for more info), I am of the opinion that the majority of allergies are your body overreacting to things that it has no need to. For example, someone may be fine eating a particular food for years and then suddenly develop an intolerance or allergy (in some cases anaphalactic (sp?) shock).
What is quite common is that things you experience a lot of tend to get associated by your unconscious mind with the emotions and feelings you experience. So if you have been around smoke a lot whilst feeling stressed or around a stressfull situation, its very likely that your body will exhibit a reaction to smoke in the future based on how you were reacting during a previous time, even if there is no stressful situation going on at that time. The reaction may not necessarily manifest itself in a way which is representative of stress but instead causes your body to react in some other way, in your case your throat closing up. This could be explained by a number of things, but as an example it could be that during the previous negative events (whatever they were) you found it hard to 'speak out' and your unconscious mind is linking all these things together and now Really making it hard for you to speak out when you get the smoke trigger.
Hypnotherapy, or if you're not one for being hypnotised, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) or EFT are all effective ways to deal with allergies as well as many other conditions.
Please feel free to pose questions on the Mind Therapies forum if you'd like more information, or feel free to PM myself or any of the others who hang around in there.
Love and Reiki Hugs
RE: Cigarette Smoke Allergy
Now thats really interesting!
The period when this reaction developed was an extremely stressful one. I moved back in with my Mum following my marriage breaking up and was living with her for the first time in 10 years as well as living with my step father for the first time ever. I don't think I have ever been more stressed in all my life, it was just horrendous! To say I found it hard to speak out really hits the nail on the head.
Tack on to that the fact that my Dad died of smoking related cancer three years ago and I guess you could say I have some negative associations with smoking!
It didn't occur to me for a moment that I might be able to sort this out with mind therapy but everything you have said makes perfect sense and has given me real hope!
I'll certainly check out the relevant forum as you suggest
Thanks
🙂
RE: Cigarette Smoke Allergy
Have cleared someone for allergies to cigarette smoke & perfumes recently with NAET. Or rather perhaps I should say that they coincidentally got better following specific treatments for cigarette smoke & perfumes.
Suspect that the only actual coincidence here is that he's got allergies to exhaust fumes also. Think they're next on the list to address.
Andrew.
RE: Cigarette Smoke Allergy
I also suffer with an extremely bad reaction to cigarette smoke, and my mother smoked a lot when I was a child and in pregnancy. I believe this is what caused me to be this way. I was alwayslike this thoughout my childhood, I had lots of chest infectionsand was constantly ill. The hardest thing for me now is probably theabsolute rage bordering on hatred that I still feel at her for this abusive treatment of me (and yes I do consider it abuse to smoke in pregnancy and around children, it hurts so much). She would not even go outside to smoke even though she knew it was hurting me terribly to have to breathe it. I am so glad to be able to avoid it now and there is no way I would risk going to her house ever again. When she snuffs it and I inherit the houseI cannot wait to get it demolished as it is so disgustingly stinky with smoke in the walls I don't think anyone wouldbuy it, and I will feel better when this is done!My health comes first and I would recommend that you refuse to have anything to do with your mother until she shows you consideration for your health and quits smoking, she should put your health first now even though it is too late for her to make it up to you for the pain she has caused you already.
Good luck,
Lesley