[sadie_sabot]

I am currently trying to come to grips with the reality that i have chemical sensitivities. in particular, recently, paint fumes and any kind of perfumes mess me up. Like, physiclly sick and my brain sort of stops working.

anyone have any info on how to figure out what's up with this? how to counter it?

 

[fourgrtkidos]

No advice right now. But wanted to offer a hug. I have three family members and two children who suffer with this. I will find my info in the file and post tomoorow.

 

[pilesoflaundry]

Wow I don't have it that bad but I do have mild sensativities.

s Any kind of overly perfumed shampoos and other stuff makes my throat burn and my nose itch and I get a headache and feel nauseaus around chemical cleaners.

 

[Aurora]

I am a little sensitive, but it has been getting worse. I get heartburn and feel "crawly" all over when I smell things.

My Uncle and cousin have it really bad. They have major resp. problems and hives and my uncle thought he was having a heart attack(it was just a reaction)and have since moved out to the middle of nowhere in Montana on a little piece of land. They built a little cabin, dug a well and have no electricity. They grow their own food and pretty much shun the modern world. They have been out there for the last 5 years and are doing a lot better. Sounds nice to me.

I am sorry.

 

[MamaMonica]

I'm sorry you have this! I also have chemical sensitivities. I spend a lot of time outdoors and use only natural cleaners in the house. I get out of areas or crowds fast with perfumes, new carpet etc. Fortunately, I'm not working outside the home now. I had problems in a few of my workplaces.

My chemical sensitivities have decreased in recent years because I've been out of the workplace and have made some dietary changes that helped a lot.

Good luck!

 

[pilesoflaundry]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aurora I am a little sensitive, but it has been getting worse. I get heartburn and feel "crawly" all over when I smell things. My Uncle and cousin have it really bad. They have major resp. problems and hives and my uncle thought he was having a heart attack(it was just a reaction)and have since moved out to the middle of nowhere in Montana on a little piece of land. They built a little cabin, dug a well and have no electricity. They grow their own food and pretty much shun the modern world. They have been out there for the last 5 years and are doing a lot better. Sounds nice to me. I am sorry.

I get the crawlys too!! I never thought it was chemicaly related it bugs the heck out of me, and I've been battling hives for the past 6 months

. Maybe I need to see the allergist to find out what I am allergic to.

 

[sadie_sabot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by monnie My chemical sensitivities have decreased in recent years because I've been out of the workplace and have made some dietary changes that helped a lot. Good luck!

tell me more!

what kind of dietary changes?

it's been a heck of a week; I've had to leave work early every day b/c they're painting. if I'd known ahead of time I couldve taken a vacation or something, instead of wasting my time to go to work, work for half an hour, leave and be sick the rest of the day.

ah well, at least this experience has pushed me to finally start to try to figure this stuff out.

 

[MamaMonica]

I took gluten out of my diet- wheat, barley, rye and things derive from that. I don't know if this works for others- but I was gluten intolerant and after removing it from my diet, it takes a lot more chemical exposure to bother me.

I read somewhere that yeast (candida) can also make chemical sensitivities worse- not sure if it actually causes them.

 

[vwmama]

I'm right there with you. I've been chemically sensitive for years but didn't realize what it was or that it could get worse and spread to other things. It got pretty severe after my c-section. I thought I was going to have to move to the woods without my family as I couldn't tolerate anything inside my own house, my car, or pretty much anything. I have taken 6 months to try to heal myself and detox and do as many things I could find to help me tolerate life. I find new buildings and old musty ones also are bad, as well as most shops, anything scented, and tons of other stuff, esp driving in traffic...

If you have candida probs or leaky gut syndrome I think it causes allergies/food intolerences which make your immune system weaken and then you find it harder to tolerate chemicals. I have been trying to figure all of this out as my problem was so devastating. If you keep going about life without trying to lessen your chemical load it will only get worse. I wish I had known that before I let a bunch of things get out of control. I have tried numerous things to try to get this behind me, email me if you want to know what I've tried.

 

[mamagranola]

I'm all ears....

My oldest ds (8 yo) has serious chemical sensitvities. Gasoline fumes are the worst and those stupid temporary tatoos. I just try to limit his exposure, which isn't too hard since he is homeschooled. But occasionally we pass someone wearing way too much perfume or enter a building with brand new carpet and he falls apart. His stomach hurts, he gets super-sensitive emotionally, and highly aggressive. It's scary to watch. I've had him on the Feingold program, but it is a lot easier to control what he injests than what he breathes when he's not at home.

I'm interested in how candida or gluten could be contributing to his environmental sensitivites. Does anyone have a link or some other resouces?

 

[MamaMonica]

I wish I had a link on the gluten, but don't. I just noticed that after I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance and removed gluten from my diet (gluten intolerance is very underdiagnosed), I could suddenly be around perfume and notice it but not have my eyes burning and a pounding headache- this carried over into other things. Of course, purely anecdotal.

In the Yeast Connection by Crooks, he talks about candida making environmental sensitivities worse.

 

[ChristieB]

I've been dealing with chem. sensitivities for yrs. Fortunately they are much less now. I attribute that to yrs. of working on my immune system, diet, moving to the forest in the middle of nowhere (I find I feel best in pine trees -- not sure if it's the pines or if there's something that grows elsewhere that doesn't grow in the pines -- a real mystery), living in a trailer then a house, both that we made with products we knew I could tolerate, and then pregnancy (I'm soooo much less sensitive since pregnancy, it's wonderful).

I'm sorry you're dealing with this! It's truly life-changing. Vwmama said,

Quote:

If you keep going about life without trying to lessen your chemical load it will only get worse. I wish I had known that before I let a bunch of things get out of control.

I totally agree! It is so important to clean up your home environment and diet as much as possible, and avoid as many other things as possible. It can get soooo bad if you ignore it (and sometimes even if you don't). I've known people who are homeless because of it. We were briefly, but it didn't last long (thanks to dh!!).

I don't know where you live, but if there's an environmental medicine dr. in your (greater) area, it's worth it to go see them. They can help you figure out what to avoid and how to do that, sometimes they can help you "recover", and they can test for and treat other problems that may be contributing (like candida). I know there's a website to help you find one in your area, but I can't remember it right now.

If you have any questions, please ask. It's hard to think of all the info you might need, but if you ask specifics, I can probably answer most questions (and I bet others can answer, too).

Christie

 

[Lindy]

My son has very serious chemical sensitivities. Part of the problem is that we live in an area with lots of mold, but he had some problems before we moved here. Our doctor says that some people just need more vitamin and minerals than others and more than the recommended amounts. We see and environmental illness doctor. You can find one at www.aaem.com.

His recovery has included getting rid of the mold in our house. Staying away from chemicals at all costs, all organic food, 4 day rotation diet, vitamin and mineral supplements, and doing saunas with an infrared dry heat sauna twice a day.

Oh and filtered water for bathing and glass bottled water for drinking.

And nuetralization and provocation therapy (allergy shots)

Thats all I can think of now. It has been a huge challenge but it is working.

Good luck

 

[Lilcrunchie]

I have some that i've noticed in recent years. I try to cut out cleaning products (use mostly vinegar, baking soda, etc.), and I'm very bothered by new carpeting, etc.

My mom is sensitive to perfumes, fabric softeners, soaps, detergents, most RX medicines, etc.

THis is info from a practice near me that I may switch to. They do a lot on chemical sensitivities/environmental illness. They are DOs with homeopathic training...

http://www.woodmed.com/allergy.htm

 

[Lindy]

Great website Lilcrunchie.

 

[tinybutterfly]

Me,too. Have had for about 7 years badly enough to change my life...before I had little symptoms that I was confused about, but didn't know what was causing them. Diagnosis a long story, but after finding out what it was ( from my husband, then family doctor) I read everything I could. Allergic to the Twentieth Century was excellant, but can't remember the author. Also Sherry Rogers has some books on this topic. Our Little Place is good starting place on the web. Also MCSurvivors. Just google those. We moved as my husband got transeferred and that alone was a huge help. We had been living in Kanses City near a Ford plant and the air smelled like spray paint most days. We are in a semi-rural location now, in a house with mostly hardwood floors, with electric heat and stove and a detached garage. Have changed what we clean the house with, personal products, laundry products, etc. You all know the deal. For awhile I got so bad I couldn't read books anymore, couldn't go outside and spent so much time in bed just trying to breathe...am much better now and so thankful.

I am really sorry you all have this,too, but at the same time always feel better I am not so alone. Seems like so many people have this problem and I dont understand why it isn't accepted as a REAL medical issue. Bye. tinybutterfly

 

[MamaMonica]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinybutterfly For awhile I got so bad I couldn't read books anymore, tinybutterfly

I've had this problem for years- sensitivity to the printing in books, mags and newspapers. Everyone thinks I'm crazy. My eyes water, throat burns and if I keep reading the paper if escalates to asthma. We cancelled the paper about 15 years ago. I can't read a NEW book that hasn't aired out.

It got better in the last year and so I forgot about the problem, then a combo of a bad cold and pollen set if off last week again.

I am going to look for a doctor of environmental medicine, thanks for that link.

On the electric heat- since moving to a house with a furnace, I've had nothing but problems in spite of cleaning the air ducts. The gas stove also bothers me.

I hadn't linked these to chemical sensitivities- which I thought of as perfume, carpet fumes and cleaning products. Need to lok further- thanks for the info.

 

[mamabeard]

hello! i have chemical sensitivities too. i first started noticing them when i was 18 and worked as a housekeeper in a hotel. after that i switched to only using natural cleaning products, and then didn't really have any reactions until a couple of years ago while cleaning out my apartment and using several different commercial cleaning products. i had to go to the hospital because i could hardly breathe. it was so scary.

my reactions are mostly to cleaning products, but i get the same throat-closing reaction to permanent marker (which ironically, i used to love the smell of) and have with a few other unidentified floating odours (i live in an industrial area so who knows what crap they're using, and how much i breathe in daily).

i was diagnosed with candidiasis last year, and was unsuccesful at getting rid of it. i am going to go on the diet again someday. who knows if it's exacerbating this, but i hope that's what it is. funnily, i always think of myself as having a great immune system since i *rarely* get sick. hmm.

anyway, here is a cool website i just heard about. it gives a description of almost every known chemical, and its toxicity. so if you see something in an ingredient list that you don't know about, you can just look it up. www.scorecard.org.

 

[ChristieB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by monnie On the electric heat- since moving to a house with a furnace, I've had nothing but problems in spite of cleaning the air ducts. The gas stove also bothers me. I hadn't linked these to chemical sensitivities- which I thought of as perfume, carpet fumes and cleaning products. Need to lok further- thanks for the info.

Sometimes it's the natural gas itself that's a problem, and sometimes it's the mercaptan that's added to give it an odor (as a safety precaution, so you'll know there's a leak). Interestingly enough, mercaptan is also used in perfume! (At least according to one of my environmental docs) Mercaptan is something I was verrrry sensitive to. Fortunately, in recent years (since pregnancy) I haven't been so sensitive to it. Of course, there are plenty of other nasty things in perfume, too!

Quote:

For awhile I got so bad I couldn't read books anymore, couldn't go outside and spent so much time in bed just trying to breathe...am much better now and so thankful.

I was there, too. In fact I had to fill in my Social Security disability papers with a pencil (and for short periods of time, because of the printed paper), because ink pens bothered me so much. I also remember that there were a few months when I spent most of my time in bed with the air filter right next to my head. Man, that was awful. It was a very long road, but I'm so glad things are better now. So glad to hear you're much better now, too! It's nice when your hard work and all those major changes pay off.

Christie

 

[Peppamint]

Just wanted to say hi!

I'll be back to share and read all your posts! Gotta go post and see if I can get spider bite help for ds.

Definite chemical sensitivities here!