Something Strange Happened To Me

[hairball]

Have you ever had something like this happen when you quit smoking? Here's my story. This happened about 2 months after quitting.

I love Pine-sol cleaner to do my floors. I've used it all my life. I ran out of it when I quit smoking and took up vaping. I had some Mr. Clean that I was using until I ran out of it. I bought some more Pine-sol since it is my favorite. 2 months after quitting analogs, I was cleaning on a Saturday and mopped my floor with Pine-sol. My mood changed from good to horrible in a matter of seconds. I started snapping at everyone around me for no logical reason.

My hubby was outside and yelled at me, as he needed some help with the mower. I went outside yelling at him, but within a few minutes, my mood changed back to normal. After helping him, I went back inside and instantly, the mood was back. My poor daughter caught the wrath of it. I just couldn't stop myself from yelling when normally I'm a soft spoken person.

Again, hubby needed help so I went back outside. Mood changed again.

I told my hubby what was going on, as I started crying, about how horrible I had been to our daughter. I couldn't really explain what was happening. I hollard at her to come to the window. She did. I told her to open all the windows and blow a fan across the kitchen floor. She did this. I waited about 30 minutes before going back inside. Mood somewhat returned but not as bad as before. I noticed that as the smell died off, so did my horrible mood.

I know they both thought I was nuts. My daughter kept saying, "But you always cleaned with this." I did but something changed either with Pine-sol or me. I'm not sure which, so I decided to test my theory out.

I took a cup of it to the garage. Closed myself in, poured it onto the concrete, mopped about a 6 foot circle, and stood in the center of it. BLAM! Mood was back again. I ran for the door, went outside and sat down. Within a few minutes, mood was gone again. I began to wonder if it was a bad bottle or something along those lines. So I bought another bottle from another store. Again, went to the garage and repeated the above a week later. Same thing happened yet again.

I told my family about it. They both suggested that due to my sense of smell having increased greatly over the months, that I can't handle the strong smell.

Is it possible? Has anyone ever experience something similar after they quit smoking? Something that set you off that normally wouldn't?

I am still using the same bottle of juice as I was back then when this happened so I know it isn't that.

Do you think it is related to having quit analogs? I'm dumbfounded by it. It's not my nature to act the way I did. I had no control over mood. What the heck happened to me?

 

[TWISTED VICTOR]

Wow, I s'pose it's possible. I've had the exact same reaction to that scenario, but that's just my natural reaction to house cleaning .

 

[hairball]

Wow, I s'pose it's possible. I've had the exact same reaction to that scenario, but that's just my natural reaction to house cleaning .

LOL...house cleaning does suck but I don't mind it. Only thing that will make me mad is having to pick up someone's dirty socks off the floor. Then they get a good stern talking too.

 

[FreakyStylie]

I get that way with bleach. I don't really enjoy pools because the chlorine just makes me feel weird. It could very likely be due to your smeller starting to work again. Another possibility could be connected with smoking while you cleaned too. If you would smoke while using it, your brain could be craving how you used to take in the fumes before. IDK

 

[hairball]

I get that way with bleach. I don't really enjoy pools because the chlorine just makes me feel weird. It could very likely be due to your smeller starting to work again. Another possibility could be connected with smoking while you cleaned too. If you would smoke while using it, your brain could be craving how you used to take in the fumes before. IDK

That would make logical sense since I smoked while cleaning. In facted, I was a heavy chain smoker.

 

[FreakyStylie]

That would make logical sense since I smoked while cleaning. In facted, I was a heavy chain smoker.

I just did a quick search of alkyl alcohol ethoxylates in Pine Sol and found that the alkyl chain affects the receptors in your brain in a very curious way in relation to nicotine. Without going in depth, you probably won't be able to use Pine Sol for quite some time. It, basically, can trigger your receptors in an aggressive way. I'm glad you brought this up, because it is very interesting!

 

[nicadd]

Wow, that's really weird. I could see your (now) more sensitive sense of smell causing you to react negatively, as I'm having that trouble with bananas, but the mood change is freaky.

 

[shanagan]

FreakyStylie, what a great and interesting find!

I was only coming along to say that I have a perfume that I can't wear - it's like reverse aroma-therapy or something, I love the smell... but get cranky if I attempt to wear it. (Pre-vaping days.)

I have a heavy pine-sol scent in the house right now after pouring some down a laundry room drain, and so far no averse reaction.

Hey, whoa... Not long after I stopped smoking I stopped drinking a particular rum that I like (whaler's vanilla) because again, I seemed to be getting cranky instead of mellow when I drank it. Wonder if there's a connection there? (I guess I should point out that when I drink, it's generally 2-3 drinks tops, and Whaler's has a lower alcohol % than most rums, so it shouldn't be a "mean drunk" issue.)

 

[Toritha]

i love pine sol this sucks lol I'll have to stop using it i guess or end up having my family call those guys in the white coats and padded van to haul my tushy away

 

[FreakyStylie]

Put it this way: There are thousands of chemicals added to cigarettes to manipulate your experience in order to sell more cigarettes. It is no real wonder that we will all experience some sort of adverse reactions to common household products for quite some time after quitting smoking. I'm sure, as our brain chemistry begins to normalize, we will lose these adverse effects.

Take, for example, ammonia. It is common in cleaners, and used often by many smokers. Ammonia is added to cigarettes to free the bound nicotine molecules to make them easier to release the nicotine. (When this is done with ....... it is called freebasing.) It would not be at all implausible that the smell of ammonia could arouse extreme withdrawal symptoms.

 

[trouble2k]

So, this is why I have become such a wreck at keeping my house clean? I just thought I was getting lazy
At least now I have an excuse when the family/friends come over. "I couldn't clean before you got here because it may have caused me to go into an unrational frenzy due to all of those addictive chemicals they put in my analogs."

On a less sarcarstic note: Thank you Freaky for reserarching and pointing this out. With all of the the manipulation that was done to our cigs by BT over the years, I guess we don't really know what we're up against until we get there. Hairball is lucky and noticed that something was wrong. I wonder how many of us will miss the warning signs?

 

[Denrock316]

You know I cleaned our bathroom with Pine-Sol the day before yesterday, I pretty much went into a rage like the incredible hulk minus the turning green part. I was very short tempered when I was younger but have been quite mellow since about age 25. I'm 36 now, I guess now I know why I've been short tempered at times lately. Maybe I better try to avoid cleaning with anything that has ammonia in it for awhile. Thanks for researching this it's incredibly interesting and helpful to know.

 

[Nightseer]

This is why I'm such a fanatic about my cleaners-I use a lot of vinegar and orange oil, baking soda, lemon and water. I learned a long time ago that cleaners will cause my mood swings (I'm severely bipolar) along with headaches and a few other side effects. Oddly enough, when not using cleaning fluids, my mood swings a very rare anymore, even though I stopped taking my meds years ago due to horrid side effects. According to my doctor, this is well-documented, btw....

 

[Automaton]

This is a really interesting thread. And thanks, FreakyStylie, for doing a bit of homework for us.

I know that I have randomly become extremely sensitive to certain foods, chemicals, and substances over the years - and a new sensitivity is almost always kicked off by a major event. Quitting smoking would qualify.

Nightseer's suggestion is a good one, maybe looking into natural cleaners would be something worth doing.

Don't feel too bad about it - you didn't know you were going to react the way you did, and sometimes we forget that our brains sometimes do things without our permission like any other body organ, and all we can really change is what we're doing, not the reaction that happens.

 

[hairball]

i love pine sol this sucks lol I'll have to stop using it i guess or end up having my family call those guys in the white coats and padded van to haul my tushy away

You should be okay if you haven't had anything weird happen to you yet. It was the first time I had used it in 2 months which was also the first 2 months that I had quit smoking and was using Mr. Clean instead.

 

[hairball]

You know I cleaned our bathroom with Pine-Sol the day before yesterday, I pretty much went into a rage like the incredible hulk minus the turning green part. I was very short tempered when I was younger but have been quite mellow since about age 25. I'm 36 now, I guess now I know why I've been short tempered at times lately. Maybe I better try to avoid cleaning with anything that has ammonia in it for awhile. Thanks for researching this it's incredibly interesting and helpful to know.

I used to be short tempered as well when I was a teenager. As I got older, it all changed. I'm really pretty mellow. I'm wondering if it is now a chemical reaction in me due to the strong smell. Onions, for instance, really bother me now when they never did before. I used to be able to practically rub the juice in my eyes without a tear forming. Now I can hardly stand to be in another room when my daughter cuts one up. Doesn't cause a mood swing but sure makes my eyes burn.

 

[OldDragon]

Don't know why, but something makes me want to say - new mod sold at vap stores, nose plugs....

 

[hairball]

Don't know why, but something makes me want to say - new mod sold at vap stores, nose plugs....

LOL....an aspirator the feeds you chocolate banana vape.

 

[Wilvin]

I have only been vaping a short amount of time, but I use pain sol to clean the floors and did the floors the other day. No strange moods while mopping or after. Have to see if this happens as time goes on, or with anything else.

 

[kellogg]

I think I will go mop one of my bathrooms with pine sol and see what happens.

I'll report back in a little while.