From Cathy Joyner, Duncanville, Texas

My allergy specialist, Dr. Jay Gartner, told me that my particular sensitivities to colognes, perfumes, aftershave lotion, and some pesticides is partly hereditary. As I get older the worst it gets. Out of nine family members, my mother, one sister, and one brother have the same problem. Plus the husband of one of my sisters has asthma from the fragrances of colognes, perfumes, and aftershave.

When I am around these items, I get asthma. My bronchials close shut and I start wheezing and am unable to breath right (I can breathe in but not out). My glands in my throat and at the back of my head swell and I get migraine headaches. I am not able to move my head to the right or left.

I take asthma medication when I have an attack. The medicine is taken by an inhaler that puts the medicine directly into my blood stream so that my bronchial will relax enough to open up. This takes about 3 to 5 minutes. I don’t like taking this because it make me very nervous—I shake inside and I lose concentration. So at church services I am not able to concentrates on the sermons or even someone talking to me. It takes about 2 hours for the effect of the medicine to stop making me shake inside.

My sensitivities restrict my daily life. With some colognes, I get a terrific headache and can't think. I go into a panicky stage. After I've left the area for 15-20 minutes, the headache goes away. Other colognes give me asthma. They all make my glands in my neck and the back of my head swell and hurt. It takes several days for them to go down. Sometimes I can taste the cologne.

I avoid going where there are a lot of people. I cannot go to a grocery store or Wal-Mart store by myself. I have to have someone go before me to let me know if someone in the isle is wearing a cologne. If they do, I go elsewhere or hold my breath until I have passed that person. Sometimes I have had to leave a movie theater. I cannot go to a movie that has just been released, because the theater is too crowded. I have to wait until it is almost time for it to be replaced with another movie.

Restaurants I can handle sometimes if it is not real crowed. There have been times we have had to move into a different area of the restaurant. We ask for a waitress or waiter that has no after shave or perfume. We usually go to restaurants that know about my situation and they have been more than happy to accommodate us. They put us where less traffic comes by. We have three restaurants we go to where they know us personally.

At church, I love to fellowship, and I miss it terribly since I have to be in a fragrance-free room away from everyone. I hope someday I can once again sit be the main hall with everyone else and fellowship.