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Today I had a powerful allergy attack at work: sneezing, watery eyes, shortness of breath, headache. It began in the late morning and got worse throughout the day. I did not feel better until I got home tonight. I think that my colleague's pungent perfume caused the attack. If it does not recur tomorrow, then I will just forget about it. But if this becomes an ongoing thing, then I don't know what to do. I guess I should go to a doctor but I don't want to have to rely on medication to do my job. I have been working in this space since the spring and have never had this reaction before. I don't want to cause any tension with my colleague and, anyhow, I could never prove that her perfume causes this reaction. I guess if it becomes an ongoing thing I will have to go to a doctor and then HR. Any insight would be appreciated.
If your allergy attack continue, you can talk to your manager first. Your manager can either talk to your colleague or re-arrange your seat. It doesn't make sense to go straight to HR without working out a solution with your manager first.
Ask her to wear that perfume on a certain day so you can see?
Might mention that you liked it.
She wears the perfume every day. I am not even certain that it is a perfume. It has a strong talc smell -- almost like a deodorant spray. So I don't need to ask her to wear it. I can smell her from halfway down the hall.
Today I had a powerful allergy attack at work: sneezing, watery eyes, shortness of breath, headache. It began in the late morning and got worse throughout the day. I did not feel better until I got home tonight. I think that my colleague's pungent perfume caused the attack. If it does not recur tomorrow, then I will just forget about it. But if this becomes an ongoing thing, then I don't know what to do. I guess I should go to a doctor but I don't want to have to rely on medication to do my job. I have been working in this space since the spring and have never had this reaction before. I don't want to cause any tension with my colleague and, anyhow, I could never prove that her perfume causes this reaction. I guess if it becomes an ongoing thing I will have to go to a doctor and then HR. Any insight would be appreciated.
Go see an allergist and get tests for exactly what you are allergic to. This way you will know for sure, and a letter from your doctor will be taken seriously.
More offices have moved to become a fragrance-free work environment, so your request isn't unusual.
So where is the correlation between the perfume and the sudden first-time onset of this discomfort?
I don't know that there is a correlation. I am sitting at my desk right now and feel fine. She usually does not arrive for another 2 hours or so. If the symptoms resume at that time, then I have a pretty good idea that her perfume is triggering my allergies and asthma. If not, it may have been some kind of flukey thing that I just attributed to her perfume because it has a strong smell that I do not like. We'll see . . .
Today I had a powerful allergy attack at work: sneezing, watery eyes, shortness of breath, headache. It began in the late morning and got worse throughout the day. I did not feel better until I got home tonight. I think that my colleague's pungent perfume caused the attack. If it does not recur tomorrow, then I will just forget about it. But if this becomes an ongoing thing, then I don't know what to do. I guess I should go to a doctor but I don't want to have to rely on medication to do my job. I have been working in this space since the spring and have never had this reaction before. I don't want to cause any tension with my colleague and, anyhow, I could never prove that her perfume causes this reaction. I guess if it becomes an ongoing thing I will have to go to a doctor and then HR. Any insight would be appreciated.
I am also sensitive to scents and perfumes.
Over the years I had found that telling someone directly that they are wearing too much perfume is almost like saying "you stink." There are few that will take real offense, but those who do can then be a big PITA.
When someone was near me and swimming in it, I would suffer for a day to see if it is just a fluke, and if not, I would then go to my manager and explain that I need to move my location so I don't have to suffer the headaches and such.
I'm allergic to specific perfumes. And I'm not good at telling the difference between different ones.
Maybe if you get triggered today, you can ask her if she's switched perfume or deodorant or whatever it is she uses? Maybe she has and it's the new one that's bothering you? I'd just tell her that I'm having attacks at the office lately and am trying to pinpoint my trigger. She shouldn't get defensive with you I think?
So you’ve been there since the Spring and she’s been wearing the perfume (or whatever) the whole time, every day? You have a reaction to something one day and you blame it on the perfume?
Seems like a large (and wrong) leap to me. Do you think you developed an allergy to it overnight? I’m confused.
Regardless of the sketchy details, if this were a normal scenario where the person begins to wear a specific perfume and I had a reaction, my inclination would be to just tell my coworker about it. Doesn’t have to be a big deal. Most people are not motivated to bother others so I would expect my coworker to be a human and not wear it anymore. I mean if something you wear wearing gave that reaction to a coworker, wouldn’t you stop? I don’t see a need to talk to a manager.
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So where is the correlation between the perfume and the sudden first-time onset of this discomfort?
