A common question we see asked is: can diffusing essential oils make you feel light-headed? Can using an essential oil diffuser make you feel sick?
Can diffusing essential oils make you feel light-headed, nauseous, or sick?
The quick answer: Yes. Diffusing essential oils can make you feel light-headed. But, there is more to it than that.
When you're new to using essential oils, chances are you are also new to the nontoxic lifestyle. With this comes a period of time where you need to ease your way into using essential oils. You need to start slow.
When starting out using essential oils, think: less is more. Start slow when diffusing to avoid headaches.
How much should you diffuse?
When just starting out, I highly recommend diffusing or applying topically one oil at a time and see how your body responds. The oil will work its way into your bloodstream either through your lungs or skin, and will work its way through your body, helping your cells purge toxins. This is a biologically complicated process.
New oil users should limit diffusing to 15-20 minutes at a time. Then take a break for at least 30-40 mins.
You really don't need to follow the recommendation listed in your diffuser's manual for the number of essential oil drops to use. Many of the diffusers we have suggest using 10-12 drops. That is WAY too much. I've been using oils now for nearly 30 years (started as a kid), and 10-12 drops of quality essential oils is too much for me.
I suggest starting with 3-4 drops if you're using a truly pure essential oil. Be aware that marketing makes all “essential oils” seem pure, even when they're not. The FTC and FDA do not regulate what an essential oil is… only how they are marketed… which results in some shady company claims. A bottle labeled 100% Pure Essential Oil (or any similar variety) is 100% marketing and legally means nothing. That bottle could be pure… it could be 95% diluted… or it could be 100% synthetic. This is why knowing your brand is so important.
If you're diffusing an essential oil and it is giving you headaches or making you feel light-headed, even after following my guidelines of slowing down, look at the brand and do some research.
How to know if your essential oil is pure
This is a tricky task… learning how to identify properly created essential oils. Chances are if you're buying from a large chain store or Amazon, you're probably not buying what you think you are. I have a list of questions to ask companies/brands to ensure you know what you're buying. Too often companies just buy oils from an oil broker who have no idea how the oil was made or if the oil was altered during the transit process.
If a company cannot tell or show you the exact farming, distillation, and bottling process taken to create their oils, then you are safe to assume they aren't selling true essential oils.
Fake essential oils and highly diluted essential oils can cause headaches and dizziness when diffusing, even for seasoned essential oil users.
This is why knowing the company you're purchasing from is so important. Know how they grow the plants… Know how the oils are extracted from the plants… Know how your oils are bottled. Without this knowledge, you're almost guaranteed to be blindsided into buying something other than what you think you're buying.
Companies are seeing the huge profit potential in the essential oil market, which has been exploding over the past 5 years. Many companies are popping up just to turn a profit and then shut down. Many manufacturers are synthetically creating and bottling essential oils to sell in large chain stores.
I like to think of this just like how important it is to know your farmer. You'll have a higher quality of produce and meat if you know your farmer is practicing sustainable farming techniques. The same goes for oils.
Related Posts:
- Beginner Tips for How To Diffuse Essential Oils Safely
- Too Much Oil In Your Diffuser? This Trick Will Help!
- Tips to finding quality essential oils
- Oil Blend Recipes
Did you find this post helpful? If you enjoyed this post, please comment below and share.
Nicole
Where we buy high quality essential oils
We purchase our oils from Young Living and Oshadhi. They both have a wild-grown farm-to-table approach with natural farming techniques that don't involve harmful chemicals and have full control of their oils from the farming phase through sealing the bottles, complete with many quality control testing steps along the way.
If you need some essential oils, we provide special coaching, resources, and support groups for our members. Just head over to our membership page to create an account or contact us.
They can make people REALLY sick, I burnt a hole in my stomach (non-medical term) because my eo person kept telling me every oil I tried and every method should work, at least 1 of them. No way could they make me sick. The “hole” took months to heal. I get nauseous, vomit if around them too long, and also have migraines.
It’s not common but they can make a small percentage sick so please don’t tell people they can’t.
Hi Mia, I’m so sorry to hear you had that happen. Your EO person should definitely know better than to recommend unsafe use and imply that oils should work for what you were working on. Oils can be very powerful tools to aid in wellness, but definitely aren’t for everyone, and not all uses will work the same way for every person. For some people hydrosols or other methods of less potent herbalism work better than oils. I agree that more marketers, bloggers, coaches, and company reps should understand that. I’m a huge advocate for informed consent, and that includes understanding all risks involved to see if it is right for you, and understanding the safety requirements involved.
Yes thank you very much