I've always been a sensitive person:) This was not tolerated well when I was young, and I was told that I was very difficult & to basically shut up. It was the 80's and people like me just had to adapt, usually by hiding our needs (and hiding who we really were too). In my 20's, I notice that I often couldn't keep up with other people. If I didn't sleep, eat well, if I poisoned myself with alcohol or cigarettes, I FELT IT! I started to need more and more alone time, and I had no idea why. Being around people for prolonged periods of time was just exhausting. But I was young, full of childhood trauma and I had zero boundaries.
The new age gurus will say that 'sensitivity is a superpower!', and I never really felt that, because being sensitive just meant that I was different, high maintenance, and unable to keep up socially. On paper, sensitive people ARE difficult:) But I don't think it's the sensitivity that's the issue, it's that we were never taught how to deal with it, how to respond to it. Sensitive people have to learn to take responsibility for their 'superpower'. We do this by observing & being conscious - then choosing our reaction. Once you can control your reactions to sensitivity, it can feel like a superpower. You are like the canary in the coalmine - you know when you are eating/breathing something that isn't good for your body, you know when you need to leave an area, you know when energy is negative or low. You can then try to point these things out to others if you are feeling gracious and have the patience to explain in a kind way, which I have never excelled at. I have not used my superpower well and have been too critical with it - I will work on this:)
For instance, I cannot stand chemical fragrances. But the person I love most, my teen daughter, loves slathering on the chemicals! My reaction used to be one of total criticism and even forbidding those things in my house, and I saw that I was pushing my child away from me & hurting her feelings as well. Exposure to these things is not some immediate sentence of poor health, your body is always working towards homeostasis. It is always moving inside - pushing things through, cleansing tissues & blood, trying to work towards balance. Sometimes there are situations where you choose to deal, because you love someone or because you have no control (like the disgusting smells in medical centers or Walmart:)). That's when I play a game called: ignore it. If I sit and focus on it, I'll make myself miserable. Instead, I focus on everything else BUT that smell. I have learned to do this well enough that I can exist near these scents and become numb to them. I used to think I had no control over my reaction to these things, but I have learned that it's a mind game (that takes practice!). It's kind of like when you are just craving something, but you accept that you can't have it at the moment. By the time you get it, you are no longer craving it - it feels something like that.
It also helps to not succumb to all or nothing thinking. I spent many years thinking any low energy situation I had to be in was going to be immediately bad/draining. There are all sorts of mind games you can pull out in such situations, but I'll admit that I still avoid such things if it can be helped, which saves me a great bit of time & energy. I also thought that any exposure to any degree of toxicity was going to take me down! People are exposed to so many chemicals all the time, and yet.... THEY ARE STILL ALIVE! Mind-blowing! I'd say the only way you might worry is if you have a bowel movement once every week or 2. That is a very slow-moving system that cannot 'eliminate' fast enough. Sorry to be 'gross' - but a daily bowel movement is your friend for health. And if you are not experiencing that, you could also be experiencing all sorts of 'emotional stuckness' (like not facing reality, scared to leave a situation or person, etc). Stuck bowels and stuck emotions are related IMO. Milk of Magnesia is your friend if so!
I have a 120+ year old house, and the prior owner grew up in the house & lived in it into old age. For unknown reasons, this owner did not update anything since the 60's! The old asbestos tiles on the outside of the house had never been painted once! So, a couple summers ago I began the arduous task of scraping, caulking & painting. I started to notice an odd sour taste in my mouth every time I worked on the house. I concluded it was asbestos dust (or lead paint dust from the exterior windows). Another occurrence was when I was filling the gas can for my lawnmower, and accidentally sprayed gas all over myself. It landed on my arm & leg, soaking into my skin as I was several minutes from home & running water. My mouth immediately had that 'taste' - a sour chemical taste, which lasted over a week. It tasted like what you would think gas tastes like, but similar to the asbestos taste. Rather than panic I saw these substances as 'passing through me'. I took action where I could, then trusted my body to do its processes. I used a clay tooth powder to scrub my mouth/tongue anytime I had that chemical taste (your tongue will actually expel toxins; it doesn't just absorb things!) - this felt really good to do & I feel it helped a good deal. I ate more fiber in the way of fruits/vegetables & drank adequate water - this had me avoiding dehydration, which you do NOT want if you are detoxing substances. Drinking water has never been enough for me though, I need fiber to feel truly hydrated! The fibers & phytochemicals in vegetables are the 'cleansers' of food (and the movers of the digestive system). I slept more and took naps if my body wanted them. Sleep is one of the most healing things you can do for yourself with toxicity exposure - physical and mental! I also would rinse my skin off periodically when scraping my house - just come inside & rinse of my face in the kitchen sink - as well as my eyes and rinse out my mouth. I blew my nose, and there was dust (my nose would bleed after breathing this stuff too. Yes, I wore a mask for some of the scraping, but it was really hot and I couldn't breathe well in the mask so did not always wear it). I used my power of sensitivity to find ways that would help my body, and each time I was just fine within a few days (the spilled gas took a week before I stopped tasting it in my mouth). I used sensitivity to realize something unpleasant was 'in' my body. Maybe this is just common sense, but I am proud of myself for not panicking & letting fear take over like I used to (which can really drain others).
Sensitivity can really be useful when navigating this world. I do believe us sensitives are meant to be canaries in the coalmines. Non sensitive people can be more numb, and do not always realize that something is off. You get alot of eye rolls & looks of annoyance when you are sensitive:) But hang in there, because you're not crazy. This world is a bit 'off' and it's okay to feel that.