Perfumed candles also give me a problem, but if the weather is warm, and my allergies are not in sensitivity mode, I can burn the scented ones.
Also, sometimes allergies do manifest themselves later in life. I used to never have a problem around cats until the last 25 years, (I am now 60)and now I know if there’s a cat in the house without ever having seen the cat. My throat starts tickling, and my eyes begin itching and watering.
Well, I do not know if it is age related or just living here in this valley. My late daughter was in a Girl Scout play about the history of this area many years ago. The Indians called it the “Valley of Illness” so maybe they knew something way back then that we are learning today.