Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Confirmed: Walmart Sickness is Real, People

Are you sick of me complaining about "Walmart Sickness?"

Do you think it's just a sham psychological illness?

Did it just take me 4 trial and error attempts to spell psychological? Hello, it's like rhyme or hymn...anytime you put 4-5 consonants in a row, it's pretty much ASKING to be misspelled. (And yes, Y's are consonants...according to Pat Sajak)

Well, for all of you doubters out there, I was completely vindicated yesterday when my eye doctor confirmed that Walmart sickness is real.

I was talking to him about how I get motion sickness so easily and how it seems to have escalated beyond cars (My mom used to have a favorite field driveway she'd turn into on the way to Sx Falls to let me spew) and spinning rides (my childhood friend just brought up on facebook this week a favorite memory she has of me puking after riding the Tilt-a-Whirl at the county fair).

My motion sickness has now transferred itself to airplanes, looking quickly between two objects, and shopping. Yes, shopping. I explained how moving down the aisles and looking at all the merchandise on display makes me motion sick. Same symptoms, same misery.  But I also mentioned that it seems to be much worse in Walmart. I can spend over an hour in a Kohls or even a Target and have no problem, but about 20 minutes in Walmart can leave me leaning on my cart in the 3-deep checkout seriously considering abandoning it to run out for some fresh air and possibly a good hurl.

When I mentioned Walmart, he immediately said, "Oh yeah, it's the lights."

JUSTIFIED!

He said they use overhead lights with Argon which is a gas that I know nothing about, but ehow does. He said it has a very subtle flicker--so subtle that most people don't even register it consciously but that some people have a sensitivity to this and it causes them to have headaches (yes!) and feel sick (bingo!).

The lighting had been one of my theories. Here were the other ones in the running:
  • The combined smell of in-store Subway and cheap new clothes
  • The physical exertion of running the equivalent of two football fields to get the only 2 items on my list: deodorant and diapers
  • Peopleofwalmart.com
  • The frustration of always picking the line that includes someone buy 64 jars of baby food.
I feel strangely better now that I know the cause of the problem. As Ray Zalinsky once said,"Great, you've pinpointed it. Step two is washing it off" Which is a problem. I guess I'll just have to wear my dark glasses the next time I have to do a diaper run.

I should fit in just fine.

UPDATE: I just saw my eye doctor IN Walmart tonight. Coincidence?

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes it's real...i have been taken out of walmart by paramedics and rushed to er a dozen times in the last 2 years because my heart rate drops e,treemly low.ill often times have seizures along with that.we went to the mayo clinic in Rochester mn and I was told about the lights affecting many people.this is real and no joke.the mayo is the best medical institution in the USA look them up.

Unknown said...

My wife has left Wal-Mart on several occasions and after arriving home the onset of nausea and vomiting soon follows, mind you its not everytime but it has happened and the one common denominator has been the visits to Wal-Mart.She also suffers from migraines so maybe the lights bring on the illness?? Definitely a real thing.

Unknown said...

Im also having this issue. I get sooooo sick after about 20 minutes in Walmart. I get hot then i start feeling nausuas , then i have to leave. A few times i have vomited all over in my car , driving home to get to my bed! 😟

Unknown said...

This happens to me too much it happend last night, it's the most gut wrenching sick I've ever had

waxcontrol said...

My wife and I have noticed we repeatedly get sick after going to walmart or other discount type stores. We come down with some kind of virus with light fever or feverish feeling, headaches, dizzyness etc. We use hand sanitizers and avoid touching our faces. Doesn't help. We noticed that many of the clientele Walmart and discount stores attract are the trailer trash of society, not clean or healthy people. Not ALL of them,but most. Ive seen people coughing like crazy and not covering their mouth, picking their nose and putting their hand right back on the carts etc. Dirty people who look like they havent showered in two weeks and emerged out of their 1970 filthy single wide to go to the store with their government issued food card. We are going to do a test and go to a higher level grocery store or other high level department stores and watch for a difference. We believe it's the trailer trash of society that is the problem, not the actual store.

Anonymous said...

I don’t do to Walmart much, but ever time I do, I have to leave within 10 minutes. I get dizzy, eyes hurt and have chest events. I have to stay away. It’s the lights I am convinced.

Anonymous said...

Waxcontrol... if you feel this way, why did you go “ REPEATEDLY’? It is the lights... and if you really feel that way...I hardly think doing a test, as you say will not make a difference to any one who wants to read your comments...REPEATEDLY...I’m laughing

Anonymous said...

Glad I know now. I thought it was the air. So glad it's real so I can tell my husband. I noticed sometimes when i would say i felt sick in there he would sigh. I would go somewhere else but our town doesn't have any choices.

Anonymous said...

i always come home sick after shopping at walmart. my throat hurts, i am nauseous and feel fluish. It happens if i stay too long at dollar tree too. My husband and i think it is all the offgassing of products from china. we are changing our shopping to exclude walmart and find alternative ways to purchase.

Unknown said...

I am so glad to hear that I am not the only one I really thought I was crazy but when I go into Walmart especially at night it makes me physically sick

Unknown said...

My third visit today in 2 months and my body feels hot and I get nausea and headaches

Unknown said...

Is there a real test to provide this is real ?

Unknown said...

I always feel sick after I leave Walmart and while I'm in it! Glad I'm not alone

Anonymous said...

I’m glad I am not the only one that gets sick in Walmart. Every time I go there, I get nauseated & hot ��!

Joysain said...

Also you may be sensitive to formaldehyde, it's in fabric, artificial scents, and such which adds another layer to feeling horrible.

Anonymous said...

I have had that problem I thought it was heat exhaustion. I get sweaty.rapid pulse fell like I'm going to pass out dizzy and nauseous. Now I know ty

Katrina said...

Last year, I started getting anxiety oftentimes when I would go to Walmart. At first, I thought I was being paranoid about wearing the face masks for COVID, but after I stopped wearing them, my symptoms still remained the same. My family and I visit a Walmart Supercenter where they sell everything, and since we live so close to it, we often go there up to three times a week, or so. However, something ALWAYS happens to one of us whenever we're shopping. Whether it's muscle aches, fatigue, chills, nausea, anxiety, or headaches and even hallucinations, we end up feeling very sick. The only time we feel relief is when we're about to leave. The atmosphere in there is dense and barely breathable, not to mention the peculiar smells of chemicals that always linger on the carts. The combination of those bright LED lights hanging from the ceiling, along with the fumes from the strong cleaning products they use are LETHAL. The best thing to do is to wear dark sunglasses to block out those dangerous beams from damaging your central nervous system. PROTECT YOURSELF!

Anonymous said...

Hello. So I have to say this has been going on for about 2 years for me! Walmart is one of the many stores that trigger symptoms. I get flushed, dizzy, headaches, heart palpitations, tenors and sometime nauseous. This happens in many department stores and other larger grocery stores as well. It’s from people being sensitive to modern technology. It’s destroying our nervous system! Wi-Fi, large amounts of electricity, cell phones (when you’re in a larger store there’s a lot of people and almost everyone has a cell phone) which omits radiation and then we have all of the toxic chemicals coming from all of the cleaning supplies, etc. It’s just going to keep getting worse once we go up to 6G and higher!!!!

Anonymous said...

Do you think maybe they are releasing something through the air? I mean with everything else going on, it wouldn't surprise me. I mean think about it, Walmart is one of our only stores to shop at, to get everything you need at once. Kind of gives you something to think about.

Anonymous said...

I started having attacks in Walmart in April 2023.It starts with watery left eye and headache, then numbness of left side and slurred speech. I went to ER cause I thought I was having a stroke! Thank God it’s not a stroke, but every time I go to Walmart no matter what location it triggers an attack of the same symptoms.

Anonymous said...

Get checked for nuerocarfiogenic sycope

Anonymous said...

Get checked for neurocardiogenic syncope