Reactions to colognes

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boyago

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I have a friend who I shared some soap with who liked the smell and started asking about colognes. He was looking for advice because he likes cologne or at least the idea of it but says when he tries to wear it he has a reaction where his "throat tingles and starts to close up". I know very little about fragrences and reactions to them (which I stated). But does anybody have any advice for this fellow?
 
Yes - to stay AWAY from anything that causes your throat to tingle and close up. Classic anaphylaxis symptoms. If he wants to use colognes, I hope he consults a doctor first to get an expert account of what is going on.
 
Yes - to stay AWAY from anything that causes your throat to tingle and close up. Classic anaphylaxis symptoms. If he wants to use colognes, I hope he consults a doctor first to get an expert account of what is going on.

Yeah, and while he's telling me this he has my soap under his nose and is breathing deeply. It made me a pretty nervous.
 
Ah. Sorry, I didn't understand enough of your situation; you're wondering what your liability/responsibility is to this guy.

I have no idea is there's a connection between his problematic colognes and your fragrance oils. Other than having him tested for allergens, and making a comparison to the ingredients in the fo's, then the only other recourses for him are to use fragranced soap and risk a reaction, or abstain.

A lawyer would probably tell you to not give him any more scented soap.

He knows he reacts to some colognes, and is already wondering about fragrances in the soap....and ultimately it's his choice to use it or not.

As a friend, I would feel the need to be honest and state my concerns about his safety, and my liability. As much as I believe in a person's right to handle their own affairs (not preaching to a diabetic who's sitting in front of me eating a pile of pasta, etc), I also believe in my right to protect myself.

Allergies are tricky things - most notably - a person who doesn't have a reaction to a soap at first....can develop an allergy the second time. Or the third. Or a year later.

If this were my friend, I think I'd only offer unscented soap to him, until he gets some professional advice.

Good luck to you; I don't envy you this situation.
 
I wasn't so worried about the liability issue just was kind of worried for him. It's somebody who tells you they are always getting bitten by dogs but they want to pet your dog. Your dog is a good dog but if someone is always getting bitten by dogs they shouldn't go around petting dogs.
I was more just interested if this was a common thing and if there were any common ingredients I could tell him to avoid or run past someone more qualified.
 
If I were you, I would have him write and sign something like the following:

I, ____________, have been advised by __________________ , on ________to only purchase unscented soaps and products due to possible allergic reactions. I hereby absolve ____________ of any responsibility for any reactions that are caused by my purchase of scented products.(If anyone has an attorney friend, they could re-phrase it.)

It will not completely absolve you of any responsibility, but it will at least help him understand the seriousness of the situation.
 
For the 20 years I've known him, my husband Chuck is sensitive to some airborne contaminants. His throat closes up and his voice turns odd -- it gets slightly hoarse and the pitch goes up. As soon as he gets away from the problem, his symptoms immediately go away. He never has systemic symptoms, meaning symptoms distant from the exposure site such as headache, swelling, hives, faintness, etc.

Some fragrance oils and colognes trigger this reaction. EOs seem to be pretty safe, at least the ones I've tested on him so far. Any smoke of any sort -- wood fire, cigarettes, cigars, burning leaves -- is also an issue. Whenever I get a new FO or try a new EO scent blend, I put a drop on a tissue and ask him to whiff it lightly. If his voice turns funny, the product is out the door, no matter how nice it smells. Even small % of a scent he's sensitive to will trigger his reaction. Given all this, it's weird that he loves his pine tar soap. As smoky and pungent as PT smells, you'da think it would bother him, but it doesn't.

I'm not remotely saying your friend is like my husband, but if he happens to have something similar to Chuck's sensitivity, he's probably not in any great danger compared with someone who does have a systemic allergic reaction. He needs to test his fragrances cautiously. It may be that some fragrances are fine while others are not, but there's no way to know that without testing each one. Maybe put a drop of new cologne on a tissue, sniff that for awhile, and see if his symptoms appear.

After this many years, Chuck and I have gotten a clue about some things, but we've never figured out specifically what chemicals will trigger Chuck's reaction and what will not, so it's kind of a guessing game when encountering new scents or other airborne things.
 
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The problem, boyago, is that allergies tend to worsen with repeated exposure. So, while your friend may not have any more than throat tingle today, tomorrow(without warning) that could be a full blown anaphylactic reaction. Or, conversely, he could have that same reaction for the rest of his life(like DeeAnna's hubby). You just never know. This is why medical folks tend to freak out when someone says their throat is closing up when they are exposed to something, the throat closing up is a warning. One that should not be ignored.
 
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