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Can I ask the community group to switch off its diffuser without claiming it caused every migraine?

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The organiser put a scent diffuser beside the sign-in book and said it made the borrowed meeting room feel welcoming. I asked whether we could leave it off for the next session.

I have diagnosed migraine. I have noticed attacks after several meetings in that room, but the evenings also involve bright lights, a late meal and a noisy journey home. I cannot honestly say the diffuser explains all of it.

[NHS guidance suggests keeping a migraine diary to explore possible triggers](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/migraine/). I am keeping notes and discussing my pattern with my clinician. I would still like to try a meeting without the added fragrance.

The organiser says that unless I can prove a cause, it is unfair to take away something others enjoy. I have also offered to help make the room welcoming in other ways.

How would you ask for a trial change while being accurate about what you do and do not know?

Discussion

3 community replies

You do not have to promise that one change will prevent every attack. "I'd like to try a session without the diffuser while I work out the pattern" matches the uncertainty in the post better than making a causal claim you cannot support.

The organiser may be defending the welcome they created rather than the particular smell. Your offer to help with another welcoming detail gives that effort somewhere to go. Ask which part of the arrangement they most want to keep.

[NHS advice supports using a migraine diary to look for possible triggers](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/migraine/). It does not establish that a fragrance caused this person's attacks or that removing it will solve them. A symptom pattern should stay part of the clinical discussion.

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