yup! | Could Sinus Problems Be Related to Bleach Exposure? |
This past August I went away to college and moved into an on-campus dorm. The dorm is one of the school's oldest, probably built in the 50s. The carpet is pretty dingy, my desk and dresser and TV stand that came with the room are made from wooden particle board and are all chipping/falling apart. There was a regular mattress that also came with the room. My mom says she smells an awkward scent in the room and entire suite. The suite is four individual rooms and us four girls share a shower, two sinks, and two toilets. We've had problems all year with one of the toilets leaking and leaving a massive pool of water on the ground, which was only recently fixed, leaving the floor stained white and black, when it originally was an awkward brown color.
Around early September I began having severe sinus problems and went to the doctors where they told me I had a sinus infection and was given a ZPack and told to take Claritin. That helped for a little bit, but my nose remained runny/stuffy and I still got an occasional sinus headache. Then my ears began to peel, which has never happened, and around Thanksgiving both of my ears became swollen and I got an ear infection. Then in from around late November to mid-December I pretty much stayed covered in hives. I got sudden food allergies and broke out once I ate rice/soy sauce, an orange, glazed donut, and chicken fingers/fries. My head, back and chest were constantly broken out with welts. Once I went home for winter break though, all my symptoms went away. Upon my return to school though, I was hit with two back to back respiratory infections and had a horrible cough for about a month, along with stuffy/runny nose and sore throat.
I just recently saw an allergists, who was less than helpful, and he did an allergy test on my back to about 40 different things, which came back negative. He then told me I had non-allergic rhinitis and left it at that.
While I didn't have a positive test to anything he tested me for, my family still thinks something in my dorm is causing my body to have all these crazy reactions, which I've never had before.
Then I realized that the cleaning woman for our suite throws bleach onto everything in out bathroom and completely soaks the place down. She has ruined countless towels, wash clothes, and shoes of mine from where I go barefoot into the bathroom then put my shoes on. But I realized that I used the towels/wash clothes and more than likely rubbed bleach all onto my skin and not to mention my feet have been exposed to it constantly, and I wouldn't doubt if she has managed to get bleach on our toothbrushes in the bathroom. Could there be a connection between this and my medical problems? Or is there any other possible cause for all of this?
(I also am on Seasonique birth control, and take the following vitamins: calcium, multivitamin, b6, b12, gingko bilobia) |