Could you be allergic to your husband?

... and shampoo, wine, even your home — thanks to an alarming condition plaguing thousands

ANTONIA Brindle was keen to make the best impression at her business lunch but before she could manage so much as a ‘hello’ to the man in the sharp suit beside her, her throat began to tighten and her eyes stream.

Much to her embarrassment, Antonia, who runs a marketing company, had to make excuses and flee to the loo. After 15 minutes, it was clear she was going to have leave altogether.

‘I was in trouble as soon as I sat down,’ says Antonia, 45. ‘I could smell the aftershave wafting over from the man next to me but it was an important lunch so I just hoped against hope that I would be all right.’

Aftershave, although not every brand, can contain a raft of chemicals which trigger a series of unpleasant reactions, meaning many women’s partners have to be careful about even their cosmetics — ‘My fiance Paul has thrown out countless bottles,’ says Antonia.

She can suffer hives, wheezing, and itchy skin, for which she takes four antihistamines a day — they cannot prevent an attack but can help to calm the symptoms.

‘I have problems with everything from washing powder to Chardonnay,’ she says. ‘I struggle particularly if someone has a new carpet; either the fumes or the fibres in the atmosphere get me started.’

Antonia is not alone in being allergic to modern life. More and more people are developing multiple chemical sensitivity ( MCS); reacting to perfumes, cleaning products and other chemicals found here, there and everywhere.

‘We are seeing an increased number of people, especially women, developing reactions to everyday products,’ says Andrew Wright, Professor of Dermatology at the University of Bradford. ‘We are now exposed to so many chemicals on a daily basis, and since people have different thresholds of sensitivity, it can be difficult to predict a person’s level of intolerance.’

SOMeof the culprits are readily identifiable. Take methylisothiazolinone (MI); in 2013, it was routinely added to moisturisers, sun creams, shampoos, even baby wipes, to prolong their shelf life, yet it triggered skin rashes and irritation. In 2014, eU scientific advisers called for MI to be outlawed in all cosmetics designed to be left on the skin, and for it to be dramatically reduced in rinseoff products like shampoo but it was never banned. Instead, the cosmetics industry removed MI from most leave-on cosmetics but left it in wash-off products.

‘MI is everywhere,’ says Professor Wright. ‘Though it is not toxic, it can cause significant reaction; something I see a great deal of.’

Allergy occurs when the body overreacts to substances that are harmless to most others. A skin prick test is usually the first port of call when trying to identify an allergen: the skin is pricked with a tiny amount of the suspected cause to see if there is a reaction.

Another well-known irritant is paraphenylenediamine (PPD), a substance widely used in permanent hair dye, textile or fur dyes, dark-coloured cosmetics, temporary tattoos, photocopying and printing inks, black rubber, oils and greases.

Jo Gordon discovered she had an intolerance to PPD four years ago, after she had been dyeing her hair for more than 20 years.

‘I decided to dye my hair darker and bought an over-the-counter product I’d used before,’ says Jo, 46, who works for an entertainment agency.

‘The next morning my head had swollen and my eyes were reduced to slits. I rushed to the doctor and was put on steroids for two weeks. It was terrifying. I had never experienced anything like it.’

Jo, who lives in Cheshire with her husband Steven, 51, a corporate financier and three children, now pays £125 a time for a hair stylist who specialises in allergy-free dyes. But she has reacted to an increasing number of shampoos and cleaning products.

‘A few months ago, I tried an eyelash colourant, a minuscule amount which didn’t appear to have anything in it that would affect me — I research ingredients online — and I had the most enormous reaction.

‘ My face was on fire and I couldn’t breathe. I was rushed to hospital and put on steroids for a month.

It took six hours for the initial reaction to die down. It was so bad that I developed shingles in my eyes which was horrific. I couldn’t eat, the side of my face was purple. I had terrible pain in my eyes, face and neck.’

Now Jo uses only chemical-free or hypoallergenic products: ‘The problem is, how can you tell if product formats change? It is like living on a knife edge.’

It is the unpredictability of such allergic reactions that causes concern. eight years ago, Nikki Bennett, 41, began experiencing random reactions to washing powder and shower gel, suffering Jo Gordon: ‘My face was on fire, I was rushed to hospital’ itching skin and nausea. Then, while she was on holiday in Malta, two years ago, after using a suncream she had applied many times before, her body exploded in a riot of blisters from head to toe. ‘It was absolutely awful and I was in a miserable state for the rest of my holiday; the whole trip was ruined,’ says Nikki, who lives with her husband Matt, 40, in London.

‘A doctor there gave me a double dose of strong antihistamines but I spent most of the trip lying inside under a soaking towel trying to calm my skin. It eventually did settle down but what worried me is the fact this had never happened before.’

Since then, Nikki, a property manager, has become intolerant to a range of cleaning products, air fresheners, and perfume: ‘The worst thing is that even if I’m careful about myself, you can’t legislate for contact with other people. Sometimes it can be embarrassing. Last year Matt and I went out with friends for my birthday. As we sat down in a lovely pub I could feel my skin coming up in hives and my eyes started streaming.

‘It was probably from hugging one of my friends and coming into contact with their perfume or make-up that had set me off. I had to go home.’

Nikki now takes 120 mg of antihistamine every day but has to double the dose if she gets an unexpected reaction. Antihistamines cannot cure her condition, merely provide relief.

Herdoctor has been unable to identify the root cause. ‘I do my best to monitor what I use and what I am exposed to and I try to keep my distance from people — I’m not into hugging and kissing,’ says Nikki.

Some, like hospital co-ordinator Mary-Grace Milner, 46, resort to even more extreme ways of tackling the problem. Six years ago, she developed reactions to a variety of products and eventually drew up a list of about 400 products that she should avoid, from carpet cleaners to deodorants and toothpastes.

After taking a cocktail of drugs to manage her vast range of sensitivities Mary-Grace, who is married with one son, decided to try an alternative path.

‘I spent five months on drugs which left me feeling so ill and I lost 2st. So, after doing research, I realised the chemicals in drugs could be making me feel even worse and decided I needed an entirely natural approach.’

Becoming vegetarian, eating only organic foods, removing all chemical products from her life, together with acupuncture and visits to a homeopath, have given her a new lease of life.

She uses only natural products such as hemp soap or bicarbonate of soda for cleaning her home in rochford, essex, and uses only chemical-free products from the Faith In Nature range on her skin. She tries to avoid places she knows will have chemicals such as the cleaning product aisles at the supermarket.

‘I now feel at a peak level of fitness. I work, I’m active, I play tennis. It’s incredible; a few years ago I could barely get out of the front door,’ she says.

Meanwhile Antonia Brindle, and many other women, do their best to thrive in a world in which allergic reaction could happen at any moment. ‘I don’t like the lack of control,’ she says, ‘but I stay cheerful, work hard and make the best of it. That’s all you can do.’