For several weeks, seems like months, I have had nasty breathing problems, swollen eyes while sleeping, to the point of waking up out of breath. And not form any pleasant forms of marital relations either.
Extensive scrubbing, changing pillows, bedspreads, banning the cat, scrubbing the house, cleaning two rugs (most of the house has hardwood floors) failed to clear up the nighttime breathing problems, or the swollen eyes. I'd wake up after a few hours of sleep having a hard time breathing through nose, mouth breathing only. Eyes nearly swollen shut. Move to a different part of the house, 1/2 hr or so later, nose sinuses open up, fall asleep.
Several camping trips sans wife, allowed good sleep, showed no breathing problems. Much discussion with DW about stuff women put on to beautify themselves resulted in an impasse. Could not point to face creams, nail polish, perfume or such stuff.
Finally we came down to hair care stuff. She colors her hair, says no change in that stuff in years.
That did not leave much, so now down to shampoo and conditioner. She noted that she changed shampoo and conditioner brands. She asserted that since she had been swimming, and then just rinsed her hair, the effects of the shampoo or conditioner should have been nil, since the pool chlorine should have nullified any effects.
Finally after much cajoling on my part she agreed to wash her hair, shampoo only, several rinses.
Result, a good nights sleep by me, and her, wake up around 7 am, normal breathing, clear eyes. Think we found the culprit. L'oreal Vive Pro, high gloss conditioner. Did a quick online search for the brand name and "health hazard". Found a hit on web site "Skin Deep" cosmetic safety database.
Plugging in the brand name the site lists this stuff as having a high hazard of 7 out of possible 10. Not good IMHO. DW to her credit immediately $hit canned the conditioner. Now she will try and find something else.
Hope we have a solution. I have never heard of having allergic/chemical reaction to hair conditioner days after another person using it, least of all if it had been several days, a swim in chlorinated pool, rinse. Yet it is exactly what seems to be the case with me.
Maybe just an extreme case of chemical sensitivity. Any ideas
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