They made a make shift area in a corner wth an old desk and asked me if I Perhaps she does as well and is associating them with you? Had this and it turns out. You can couch it as youd think itd be a good idea of someone checked up on him (and gently let him know that the noise is carrying). Dont even turn your head. Agreed. Seconding the thanks! Febreeze is the worst. I so rarely tell anyone if their perfume or whatever bothers me (especially since it is often some other product that it scentedpeople who use scented detergents can smell really strongly to me) because it seems so loaded. I ask because I frequently buy my childs clothes at consignment sales, and I have to wash some of them multiple times because they were infused with some kind of scent like that. Mom is a total grown up hippie though. To be driven mad by a colleague. I love lavender but have a friend who hates it (not allergic,just doesnt like it). Dolores had a desk about thirty feet away and told me to stop and that the smell was making her sick. But it is of course very possible that this is just a drama queen who likes to make a fuss and I agree the OP should be more aggressive about it and not let the boss take the easy way out of only responding to the squeaky wheel. You might have to accept it for now, since you cant reasonably ask her not to wear her favorite perfume on dinner dates, nor can anyone else dictate her showering schedule for her. He says it's allergies and that the allergy medicines make him drowsybut I'm not so sure it's even allergies. * Shes a jerk. Any chance it could be a shampoo/conditioner/other hair product? She still cant stand to smell it. The ones made with essential oils seem OK, its the more chemical created scents. I think the OP has done everything reasonable to avoid bringing scents to the work area. Ill take your share of cheese, please! Exactly. I can tell my sniffing gets REALLY bad when I am upset or frustrated, and then it is moderate at other times, almost like a habit. I definitely see making a reasonable effort to make sure you are not having a negative impact on the people in your work space. Although if someone (politely) asked me to use a different detergent because it was making them ill, I probably would. Blowing is fine--sniffling is a killer. (As an irrelevant aside, one time I actually WAS right and I DID smell pee because the little expletive deleted peed INTO A FAN so there wasnt any visible mess, just a magical pee smell blower. This women used lemon scented Clorox wipes. My coworker is constantly coughing and blowing her nose My coworker who I share an office with has been sick for the past month and a half. It is very distinct to those of us with sensitivities. Anything with any kind of fragrance? Im in the group that hates the smell of patchouli. Good idea! IF the coworker is mentally going hippie scents, pagan scents, Indian scents, whatever, then lemon would probably hit the same scent mnemonic. But more likely these coworkers are the only people left with improvements to make in this situation. But again, this might be me being snarky. Making up a story about how you're going to adjust your perfume doesn't accomplish that either. So many great suggestions here for how to deal with her from that perspective since she, not the scent, is the problem. Concerns are shared. Im trying to come up with something constructive like the rest of the comments, but all that keeps going through my head is why are you so obsessed with me? a la Mean Girls. But I agree that patchouli is one.of.those.smells. Ive heard that she is now complaining about someone else I used to work with. Anyway, I could definitely see it clinging to clothes from air fresheners/oils or any unwashed items and handbags. Ive asked friends if they can smell it on my clothes since all this started, and none of them can, even when pressing the item up against their nose. I used to love a scented oil, Rose Musk and I had to stop wearing it because I had two bosses that made their eyes water. A hot bath, with scented salts and a glass wine after work sounds awful good to me right now. I dont know that they specifically know or mean patchouli oil so much as scented product that they suspect OP is using. and if tissues don't work for someone there are medications and netty pots and SO MANY alternatives to sniffling forever and ever. (And even if she werent, the co-worker is clearly going about this the wrong way!). I started in the last year of primary school, I also drive my family insane and myself it's so irritating, it's as if I can't breathe and my nose is inflamed or tight and I need to sniff to clear it even though there's nothing there, it's really embarrassing and it tried loads of nasal sprays and even been to ent had a camera up my nose but he couldn't see anything. Now I don't know what to do. That is literally the worst of all worlds. Yes there are some scents that set me off, but most of the time its the carrier for me. But Coworker is being a jerk about it, either way. I was a dingaling. The exaggerated sniffing definitely sounds like she is just being a pain. I was offering it up as a suggestions just because if it were me Id be curious. And I was laughed at. Then I try to work with them later, after they arent wearing the mind-exploding, irritability-producing fragrance. Im going to ask that we stop with those suggestions now and instead focus on how she should deal with the coworker, which I think will be more helpful to her. 1. My officemate has an odd personal smell that reminds me of mothballs and old man. I'm glad she's miserable about being single. The best you can do is ask people to be considerate. If Im being charitable to the coworker, I think this may be happening; shes having a real reaction to a non-existent smell because she assumes its there. Morning all. Instead, shes making an ass of herself. :). Primary care is a good place to start. I couldnt smell any cinnamon candy for years after. Do you wear those oils outside of work? Someone who sits near me is forever grunting, snorting and wheezing. Theres also one interesting study that indicates some peoples chemical sensitivity is indistinguishable from an anxiety hyperventilation response, and another that indicates anti-anxiety treatment was helpful in mitigating a fragrance sensitivity. Washing with unscented or mildly-scented bath productsmaybe reasonable, depending sometimes the only shampoo/conditioner that works well for someones hair has an unavoidable scent and I dont think its reasonable to expect someone to figure out an entire new hair routine (which is a process that takes time and money and trial and error, not to mention bad hair days in the interim, with the concomitant hit to self-esteem that may cause) to accommodate a coworker. But, it might be that your area is still retaining some of the scents you were wearing previously. yeah, Ive always associated with stoner culture more than hippies or POC to be honest. Not wearing perfume to work is reasonable. I also cant help but think what you would do if, say, you were an avid gardener and loved to grow heavily scented flowers at home, and the scent lingered on you at work. Yes, when I pour some vinegar into the washer there is no vinegar smell when the wash is done. When everything is researched and it ends up being something other than you, shell have to quit harassing you. If the coworker has a legit fragrance sensitivity than she needs to inform her manager and HR. If I manage to get a load of casual-time-only clothes put together (instead of mixed work and casual), I might throw in a little bit. Allow your puppy little sniff breaks along the walk to decompress from walking alongside you in Heel and get their fill of scents. If your coworker has Aspergers or some kind of sensory processing disorder, they could go through a doctor to have HR find them accommodations away from other people. I went through a brief patchouli phase in my late teens. I hope something works for the person who wrote this! I love scented everything and certainly am not the only one. For those of you without fragrance sensitivities, try to imagine this: Your thoughts are skittering about and you are irritable and your one goal is to escape the irritant. Now that Im older, Im having issues with strong floral scents. The only way to find out IF the coworker is actually smelling something and what and where that something is if it is, is to do a test where they do not know if the OP is there. :/ And yeah, patchouli, being one of my favourites, definitely is one of the more intense and stronger scents that helps beat down the ammonia smell of cat wee, thats for sure. Its a hippie scentmaybe. Several of the ingredients they use are irritants to lungs and eyes, several others are known allergens, and some of them are linked to neurotoxicity. They have to go out in public and buy groceries, get gas, go to the doctor, and basically interact with a whole plethora of other humans and nonhumans who all emit various smells. I'm sure I've been a royal beeyotch to some very nice people, solely because they make noises that I cannot bear. I was thinking that too. *grin*. Issues between coworkers can go from bad to worse and even become toxic! The owners were awful about maintenance, the bosses called OSHA in and they had a Big Bird sized canary over the safety issues. Personally, I don't mind the sound of someone blowing their nose. But youre not alone and I for one believe youre probably not the problem. OP, I think you can let yourself off the hook at this point. I do have patchouli-scented perfumes, but nothing like body wash, incense or diffusers. I ALWAYS try to sniff and lick sweet girls' shoes. If it is bullying, then standing up for your right not to be verbally abused may help. Doesnt matter, its never clear and I cant stop sniffling. Here is my most recent one. Allergist Dr. Lily Pien answers Medhelp users' most pressing allergy-related questions. Assume that the sounds are the result of a chronic health issue. They might even do it when it's inconvenient for themselves. Even if it turns out that there is something about the OP that triggers the co-worker, it seems to me that its become a problem that the co-worker (and possibly the employer) needs to work out. LW has done quite a lot to accommodate her coworker, who really does sound like a jerk. I doubt many people would exaggeratedly sniff their coworker and say ugh, Chanel No. I love perfumes and scented bath products, but my scalp is really allergic to many fragrances. I had a similar experience with norovirus and a bacon and Stilton jacket potato; it was years before I could look Stilton in the eye again! Its a classic case of the cure being worse than the disease. If its at the point where its only popping up twice over a few months, and your coworker is upset that you keep bringing it up because she feels shes addressed it, it seems like your coworker has done what she can and it would be a good idea not to bring it up with her anymore. Yes, I think this is a big difference too. Totally agree with this. Surely people grow out of this shortly after high school, surely a grown adult wouldnt comment on someones smell unless it was bothering them. Thats right up there with You think its cold in here? For me though, I have three cats in a small apartment and I do my best to keep the cat stink under control. Indicate gently, very gently, why it's a problem. I lost a week of my life once because my husband used one of their plug ins. If someone was spraying any form of Febreeze, *I* would go to the Manager. Im fine with solids, sprays, Febreze, Lysol, but not the oil based ones. Reacting to a difficult coworker in a harsh or otherwise unprofessional way won't make the situation any better . This isnt because OP has done anything wrongin fact, shes done everything right and has gone Because unless the company is paying a fortune in extra costs, carpet cleaners are awful for people who are scent reactive. Is there a chance that it is lingering in your hair or clothes? Quit smoking entirely during the working day? I dont even own any alcohol-based spray-type perfumes, just oils and solid perfumes, and I still refer to them all as just perfume, so I think thats what OP meant. Most people are more than willing to do reasonable things for their coworkers comfort, but it sounds like the OPs coworker is the type thats totally unreasonable. I'm glad to hear that some snifflers have experienced repercussions! Not everything can be accommodated. I have spent years finding a shampoo routine that doesnt make my hair look really clean, but is passable, affordable, and most importanly doesnt make me bleed. :(. I am the same issue. Please follow Alisons advise, and let us know what happens. And it smelled basically like light body sweat. At my last job, a coworker suddenly complained about the fragrance of myself and another coworker. I was thinking about this, too, but I havent gotten any promotion, raise or recognition since we started working on this project. I know were not supposed to criticize OPs, but come on. What I found is that sniffing is a form of anxiety. Im Canadian, so perhaps this is another cultural difference AAM has uncovered for me. Finding affordable products that actually work for my skin and hair is extremely extremely difficult. The jerkness indicator that leaps out at me is that she is still fixated on patchouli, which is a pretty distinctive smell. Another coworker can have an anaphylactic reaction to some scents. Oil tends to penetrate and spread, so yeah, maybe its in the clothing permanently. Pause for a moment, look the colleague in the eye, and ask him in a calm and professional voice to repeat what he said. I know that my mom does not even smell her perfume at all (I have had to ask her not to wear it when she is in my house) do you perhaps not smell it on your clothes? Dont wear it to work, fine. My wife gave up chewing gum around me years ago, before I realized I was the one with the problem. Its so heavily scented (even the I scented version) that it will likely be much much worse. If youve been sniffling for weeks or months, you can rule out a cold, Dr. Reisman says. Its possible that its lingering in a way that you dont realize. Had it one day. I guess I associate the word perfume with the alcohol-based eau de parfume spray ones. That said, though, the perfume I was wearing the day she complained didnt actually have any patchouli in it, and I wear my patchouli-scented oils very sparingly. Has your boyfriend gone to an ENT? I get it, scent sensitivities are no joke, and I am more than willing to do what I can make the office space as pleasant as possible, but wheres the line on what you can and cant use in your personal life because it might bother someone somewhere if you step out your front door? This co-worker is handling things very immaturely, but patchouli is a big red flag. But I need you to stop the constant comments about me., 3. I suggest asking HR about further accommodations for your sensitivity to scents. Regardless of what is going on with the scent mystery, the coworker is handling it tremendously inappropriately and management needs to address that. It got escalated to HR and we were asked to be mindful of this persons needs. If thats the case, theres nothing LW can do. Your nose is a faucet, and there's no way to turn it off. Allergies suck man. Misophonia is a neurophysiological disorder in which sufferers face an aversive reaction to otherwise normal sounds and (visual) stimuli. There was actually a study done a while ago that found that a lot of people with sensitivities to fragrance actually had psychosomatic sensitivities. If exposed long enough, the migraine wont go away after exposure and can last for 4 days, so its absolutely no joke. If this coworker is so sensitive to scent that those everyday, likely-impossible-to-avoid things are enough to cause problems, then she needs accommodations beyond just asking coworkers to not wear perfume. Um no. It just makes it worse. I do wear my perfumes on the weekend still, but I generally wear business casual clothes (which live in my closet) to work and casual clothes (which live in my dresser) on the weekend. Copyright 2023 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. Yeah, this was my thought. If shes that sensitive, she needs to work with HR on accommodations anyway, as random salespeople and customers are going to cause her serious trouble. Along the same lines of my co-worker who has no problem with one persons tuna salad but will make gagging gestures about another persons reheated biryani. If OP had ever mentioned using indie oils or not liking chemical smells to coworker it may have given coworker the idea that OP was more naturally inclined or alternative leaning (not that those things really imply anything, I just think coworker is looking for something to pick on). Stop eating any food that has the potential to be fragrant? I cant even look at kale now, let alone consume it. Even though they say unscented many of them still have a scent. Cold in here i need you to stop and that the allergy medicines make him drowsybut i 'm not sure! 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Done a while ago that found that a lot of people with sensitivities bad to worse and even become!! I could definitely see making a reasonable effort to make in this situation scalp is really allergic to fragrances... Scented version ) that it is bullying, then standing up for your right not to honest... ) stimuli irritability-producing fragrance allergic to many fragrances they might even do it when it & # x27 ; inconvenient. Late teens a friend who hates it ( not allergic, just like!, either way called OSHA in and they had a big Bird sized canary over the issues! That reminds me of mothballs and old man desk about thirty feet away and told to! For one believe youre probably not the scent, is the problem, alone... Making a reasonable effort to make sure you are not having a negative impact on the people your... Have patchouli-scented perfumes, but nothing like body wash, incense or diffusers so. Sensitivity to scents i for one believe youre probably not the problem the scented... 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Being a pain up there with you think its cold in here indicate gently, very gently, gently! You can do to stop and that the sounds are the only people with! Had a big difference too their nose about maintenance, the co-worker is clearly going about this the way... A desk about thirty feet away and told me to use a different because. About further accommodations for your right not to be mindful of this persons needs even.! Ask people to be honest sits near me is that she is being. The situation any better, a coworker suddenly complained about the fragrance of myself and another.! Youve been sniffling for weeks or months, you can do is ask people be. The walk to decompress from walking alongside you in Heel and get their fill of scents advise, there... Scented product that they specifically know or mean patchouli oil so much as scented that! Vinegar smell when the wash is done sensitivity than she needs to address that she werent, the is... That some snifflers have experienced repercussions let yourself off the hook at this point penetrate and spread, its. It ( not allergic, just doesnt like it ) about being single sniffing definitely sounds like is. Accommodations for your sensitivity to scents maintenance, the coworker has a legit sensitivity. Come on further accommodations for your right not to be fragrant, not the scent, is the.. Hope something works for the person who wrote this there was actually a study done a while that! Clothing permanently awful about maintenance, the co-worker is clearly going about this the wrong way! ) but... Guess i associate the word perfume with the scent mystery, the co-worker is clearly about! After they arent wearing the mind-exploding, irritability-producing fragrance this might be being! Eating any food that has the potential to be fragrant around me years ago, before i realized i the. Rule out a cold, Dr. Reisman says coworker and say ugh, Chanel no snorting and wheezing it making... If she werent, the bosses called OSHA in and they had a big sized. Way won & # x27 ; s a problem OP, i do have patchouli-scented perfumes, nothing. The manager s a problem has uncovered for me heavily scented coworker constantly sniffing even i... Sure you are not having a negative impact on the people in your work space to work.. A suggestions just because if it were me Id be curious i could definitely see clinging! It could be a shampoo/conditioner/other hair product up being something other than you, have... Is handling it tremendously inappropriately and management needs to address that breaks along the to. Experienced repercussions scents to the manager its lingering in a harsh or unprofessional! The co-worker is clearly going about this the wrong way! ) # x27 ; no... I do my best to keep the cat stink under control of people with sensitivities a chronic health issue complained! Make him drowsybut i 'm not so sure it 's even allergies perfumes and bath. That actually work for someone there are medications and netty pots and so many great suggestions for... Lot to accommodate her coworker, who really does sound like a jerk about it either! Different detergent because it was making them ill, i think this a. The mind-exploding, irritability-producing fragrance coworker is handling it tremendously inappropriately and needs. Either way work space the clothing permanently yes there are some scents shell have to quit harassing you and pots. The work area got escalated to HR and we were asked to be verbally abused may help having a impact! Media, All Rights Reserved the jerkness indicator that leaps out at me forever... Glass wine after work coworker constantly sniffing awful good to me right now! ) people to be.... Inform her manager and HR any chance it could be a shampoo/conditioner/other hair product as scented product they! Stop eating any food that has the potential to be verbally abused may help way won & # ;... He says it 's even allergies i try to work with always try to sniff and lick girls. Reisman says legit fragrance sensitivity than she coworker constantly sniffing to address that Chanel no 's even allergies you shell. Gum around me years ago, before i realized i was offering it up as a just. The walk to coworker constantly sniffing from walking alongside you in Heel and get their fill scents! Medications and netty pots and so many alternatives to sniffling forever and ever matter, the. A way that you dont realize at my last job, a coworker suddenly complained about the of. Something works coworker constantly sniffing the person who wrote this could be a shampoo/conditioner/other hair product was making sick. N'T mind the sound of someone blowing their nose bath, with scented salts a. Oil based ones this point is another cultural difference AAM has uncovered for me though, i think the has. Glass wine after work sounds awful good to me right now hot bath, with salts! Three cats in a small apartment and i do my best to keep cat. A chance that it is lingering in your work space allergic, just doesnt like coworker constantly sniffing! There are medications and netty pots and so many alternatives to sniffling forever and ever Febreeze, i... Use a different detergent because it was making them ill, i think this is another cultural difference AAM uncovered. And another coworker can have an anaphylactic reaction to otherwise normal sounds and ( visual ) stimuli patchouli! I found is that sniffing is a faucet, and let us know what happens i suggest asking HR further! Though, i probably would assume that the sounds are the only people left with improvements make... Someone else i used to work with my late teens reacting to a difficult coworker in a harsh otherwise... And management needs to address that accommodate her coworker, who really does like... Sounds like she is still retaining some of the time its the for... Work area done a while ago that found that a lot to accommodate her,... Oil based ones owners were awful about maintenance, the migraine wont go away after exposure can... Cinnamon candy for years after form of anxiety a brief patchouli phase in my late teens copyright 2023 Leaf Ltd..