I am allergic to a lot of the smells at the grocery store.
I still can't stand to walk down the detergent aisle.
C

The only smell I'm really not happy with is the mixture of perfumes that you get when walking by a duty free perfume stop in an airport. :)

I visited an Essential Oil shop and definitely felt affected. Started sneezing from all the competing smells.

I don't know if I'd say it's smells as it is the chemical compound that arrives via fragrances. I'm like a blood hound able to sniff out things the majority never notice. YES, I react to various and sundry smells! Not good, especially considering the world we live in! ;-)

yes, yes, yes!
But I would not say over sensitive, just sensitive. & I think the term Sensitive should be defined as a good thing; except for the periods it is freaking out to warn us & we are in a position of having to remain exposed to toxic environments or situations.....

The nose is the detector for possible danger to the body
ie smelling poisonous water, foods when we humans were a closer part of the environment. We as animals would be attracted or repelled by scent & even before we physically could see the object - ahhh smell that let's find it or smell that let's get outta here.

Now with contemporary molecular structures of pollutants. fragrances, synthetics, petrochemicals, intense agriculture practices, & landscaping literally changing some areas micro climates arenose intakes molecules that our Brain may not register quick enough to be able to prevent passage through the Blood Brain Barrier &/or into the body & an Immune response happens.
Our tongues working in conjunction with Smell are a multi tooled organ as well & 1 purpose of taste is to 'test' ingestants & the ability to expel toxins quickly & forcibly (I use the term toxins as in food that may not be appropriate for a person & may create an immune response or inappropriate digestability not as distinct poison).

I wear large silk scarves when ever I need to go into a normal store so I can quietly 'mask' myself from exposures to fragrances in soaps & cleaners, perfumes & petro chemicals. Exposure means at minimum a bad headache, nausea, & undirected feelings of anger & irritance. Women who work at Von's tell me they 'die' from the headache when a new load of soaps etc are unloaded.
There was a suit long ago in NY Bergdof's when a perfume spritzer spritzed a woman despite she said NO bcz she was allergic to perfumes & the woman had to be rushed to the hospital in anaphylactic shock (a deathly immune response that happens with food ie p-nuts, shell fish etc). The woman won a $!,000,000 & stores stopped spritzing..........

Chanel no 5 was the 1st perfume to admittedly use synthetic fragrances in its mixture in 1921. Calvin Klein's perfumes announced the ability to "grow with wearing" when they came out.
Perfumes (fragrances) have been designed for decades to
1, raise the Blood Pressure so you 'think' you are having a 'good' reaction (bcz it was shown that when we are 1st in love our BP rises at the site of the lover),
2, to remain stuck to other molecules ie Lipids in the skin or soaps & to re-release with heat such as body warmth or a clothes dryer
3, addict a person to a so called scent (wtf are these pretend smells?) so they 'must' buy that product after being brainwashed (bad molecules & bad language can pass through the BBB) that something smells like something they mentally/emotionally relate to ie fresh spring flowers (they Don't really smell like that!)

There is much information on Environmental & Chemical Allergies. I myself have been diagnosed as what they then called a Universal Reactor for over 20yrs. I was exposed to heavy Formaldehyde in the garment industry. Formaldehyde is used in printing fabrics, stain proofing, printing patterns for garment construction etc. Way back then safety precautions were slack....
Edward Kennedy had an 8 yr investigation in the NY garment industry looking for the link between Formaldehyde & Cancer around the 70s. The FDA/worker safety overseer's decided that though the link was obvious in guinea pigs & other lab animals & tests they could Not disregard the use in the textile/garment industries as it would have disastorous results $$$$$$$$

My pet peeve/bitch is the dryer thingys!!! The molecular structure is so small, so intense that it poisons the air for 1/2 a block at least so I can only feel fear for the women stuck inside using them. Knowing I could never get theis across to them I have strong fans that I use out doors to blow the molecules away from by area otherwise I suffer the above mentioned symptoms. Ironically their husbands & male associates have told me , not knowing why, that they leave when there is laundry being done!

I'm actually highly allergic to fragrance. ALL fragrance. My doctor diagnosed it as "severely debilitating rhinitis" which finally got me a referral to an alergist.

Doesn't matter if it's natural or synthetic either and I'll tell you, it totally sucks. It started when I was 20 (I'm now 31) but in the last couple of years it got worse and in the last couple of months, way worse. It now takes me 2-3 days to fully recover from a direct exposure. I'm on claritin, nasacort aq, astelin and then advair and albuterol for asthma. The symtoms start as tingling and swelling in my nose, then it gets painful and then it spreads through the sinuses and wraps around my head. If it's fresh and airborne, it will also affect the soft tissue in the back of my mouth and throat.

The medicines allow me to go out in public and deal with smells from lotions, hair products and whatever else is lightly on people. They still don't help with fresh perfume and I have to hold my breath to go down the detergent isle in the market to get my fragrance free laundry detergent. At this point, i'm pretty freaked out about it. I don't go out as much as I used to. I won't get on an airplane for fear of being trapped with fragrance. I can't find medicine that either prevents it or fixes it. I can only avoid it or run when I smell something. I'll take tylenol allergy sinus type otc med when it happens or i know I'll be around a lot of people. It helps but doesn't stop it. Then I have to sleep and let my body heal itself.

I don't know what the future holds but, techically, this could kill me. Am I going to end up living in a bubble?! Everything is fragranced now. I constantly see comercials on t.v. for air fresheners and body sprays. You'd think we were living in the middle ages and didn't have running water for bathing or cleaning. I went to a bridal shower today and had to leave when the presents were being opened and there were all these scented candles and bath products. I left there 5 hours ago and my face still kinda hurts. I'm almost scared to go to the wedding now because so many people just naturally put on fragrance as part of getting ready to go out.

So, yes, you can be oversensitive to smells.