I went to town today. One stop was at Menards, a big hardware store. I love hardware stores. They are so much fun to meander around in. Well, I was doing alright until I walked by what smelt like fertilizer--I never did see it, but boy did I ever smell it. I could taste it, it bit into my lungs, and I gasped for air.
I really don't know if one can tell by looking at me, but I feel like my face swells up (around my eyes in particular). Today I also felt like my hands were swelling and I got a random pain in my right arm. The tip of my tongue gets weird feeling. Not only that, the other chemical smells I hadn't really detected yet, suddenly began to stand out and choke me. I really was looking for something, but after a few minutes of this, I had to get out of there.
This is just getting worse.
Later, in the grocery, I walked off while Katherine was considering tomatoes because I had to leave a lady's perfume behind. I often gasp (as quietly as possible) while shopping because a woman walks by and I cannot breathe because of her perfume. Occasionally it happens with a man.
I never did like shopping much (just ask my mom!) and dealing with chemical attacks from a random lady's perfume or walking by the detergent aisle...or passing too close to new rubber or fertilizer just makes it even less of an appealing prospect.
It's not just "fake smells" and fertilizer that bother me. Farm chemicals really do a number on me. I haven't gotten around any yet this year so I don't know if they still cause my meningitis to flare up--but since realizing at some point when I was still in Florida that when I get any farm chemicals on me (or I could say "in me" I guess since if you're out around them you can't help inhaling even tiny bits of them) I end up with a meningitis attack, I have really tried to stay clear of them. When I see the man with the spray machine pull up to any of the surrounding fields, I have been known to not just go in, but to run as fast as I can to the house and get inside before he deploys the booms.
Chemicals. I guess they are necessary in life...but some of us have serious issues dealing with them and we aren't crazy even though, "my arm starting hurting after I got a snoot of fertilizer" may sound like we are. :D
So...if you see me suddenly randomly choke and start coughing, don't worry too hard. I probably just got a whiff some something and I will survive it--even if I have to go outside and breathe deep and cough and repeat this process for awhile.