Omg...i Might Be On To Something

[CarlaB]

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So-called Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is still a commonly seen clinical condition without much in the way of a confirmatory diagnostic literature. I have treated more than 500 patients with MCS, and have developed the condition myself, but I still haven't found anyone with MCS who didn't begin their illness with mold exposure.

I felt better this morning, but as the day went on, I declined again. Experiencing some diarrhea, so maybe eliminating some of this will help.

Yes, Andrea, three weeks will be over before I know it!

[Rachel--24]

Carla, do you have MCS?

How many people here have MCS.....besides me?

[CarlaB]

I'm sensitive to perfumes. But I don't think I'm anywhere near as sensitive as you are.

My son came home from college last night. He had bathed with a shower gel that morning and REEKED. I got a sore throat, runny nose, started sneezing, and got nauseous. I was so angry at him because he knows that shower gel of his does it to me and he has been forbidden to come in the house with it on.

When I smell someone wearing perfume, it smells worse to me than shower cleaner.

[Rachel--24]

Personally, I dont believe that any *one* type of toxin is responsible for all cases of MCS. For some people mold will be the major factor....but definately not everyone.

I think its a combination of things....environmental triggers combined with genetics.

You cant identify mercury as a cause of all cases of Autism.....same with mold, lyme, EMF's, viruses, etc. They will never be able to pin this on *one* thing....because its just not that simple.

As Dr. Mercola points out, the report cites a specific metabolic impairment in autistic children which may explain why some are more sensitive to environmental toxins including vaccines and the mercury they contain, than others who seem to survive without visible damage.

The implications however go beyond the vaccines/mercury/autism debate. If impairment of a natural glutathione based detoxification mechanism can explain why some people seem to be more sensitive to environmental factors than others, perhaps a solution can be found to multiple chemical sensitivity, a problem that has been "pushed under the carpet" by chemical industry and compliant medical authorities for understandable reasons. Liabilities for the contaminators would be huge were it discovered that the toxins they produce actually do cause illness and suffering on a large scale.

Personally, I think it comes down to biochemistry and an overexposure of toxins (from numerous sources).

Mold has always been around......its always been in our environment. However, nowadays we see more cases of hysensitivity to mold, chemicals and all other toxins......and I believe its because our systems are overloaded (beyond what many of us are capable of dealing with).

It might be one thing that tips the scales....but I think we have to look at our biochemistry as well. If we arent "built" to handle this degree of toxicity...at some point we are going to succumb to it.

I'm sensitive to perfumes. But I don't think I'm anywhere near as sensitive as you are.

Yeah...I think I might be the most sensitive here. Its not all perfumes though...some of them dont bother me as much...I think it depends on the chemicals that are used.

My son came home from college last night. He had bathed with a shower gel that morning and REEKED. I got a sore throat, runny nose, started sneezing, and got nauseous. I was so angry at him because he knows that shower gel of his does it to me and he has been forbidden to come in the house with it on.

Some of the shower stuff can really mess me up. Its unbelievable how STRONG some of them are...and yet for all of those years I wasnt even the slightest bit affected by any of it. It always blows me away how much I could deal with when I was healthy (there were no limitations) in comparison to now. Its just freakin mind blowing!

I get different symptoms than you....I have more swelling, burning skin and eyes, brainfog, blurred vision and mood changes.....not so much sneezing, watery eyes or runny nose type symptoms. My skin seems to get really affected by chemicals....not only with the burning/tingling stuff but also color changes. The more toxic I feel the more pale my skin looks and it can change right before my eyes (from healthy looking glow to pale blotchyness ).

[tabasco32]

Yeah...I think I might be the most sensitive here. Its not all perfumes though...some of them dont bother me as much...I think it depends on the chemicals that are used.

I get different symptoms than you....I have more swelling, burning skin and eyes, brainfog, blurred vision and mood changes.....not so much sneezing, watery eyes or runny nose type symptoms. My skin seems to get really affected by chemicals....not only with the burning/tingling stuff but also color changes. The more toxic I feel the more pale my skin looks and it can change right before my eyes (from healthy looking glow to pale blotchyness ).

Same here Rachel, same here. I hate it when I am at the library like now, and someone sits next to me and they are wearing cheap strong colonge or perfume, no offense but especially elderly people and it's sssooo bad that you want to take them in the bathroom and wash some of it off. I hate that it taste like someone sprayed perfume in my mouth.

I hate colognes like old spice and all those spicey perfumes and sweet ones. All those nasty cheap perfumes that people probably buy at the gas station or the swapmeet. I don't like Avon perfumes either. And you know that cologne from Axe, that commercial where girls are going crazy and running to men with Axe on. Well I will tend to runaway from them. Going the opposite direction. My brother wears that stuff and it's so strong.

By the way, I've been working for about 3 weeks doing catering. I go to peoples houses and set up and cater. I hate it. I'm around too much food and I get so tempted because on breaks we could eat whatever we want and I can't, so I have cake. I know that's not good.

Last week we catered for this woman's convention where Suze Orman was there talking about all this money she has and stuff. There was a lot of acrylic there. About 3,600 women. Talk about smelling a lot of perfume.

[Rachel--24]

Has anyone else here had the organic acid test?

I was thinking that for me I think this test has been the most beneficial of all labwork I've had done over the past 6 years.

ART and other energetic testing is high on my list but I havent found alot of labtests that I would consider "essential".

Obviously Lyme tests and things like that are essential but since I've done ART and other energetic testing I find those results to be more "telling" then the results of my labwork.

As for everything I've done the past several years these are the ones that top my list. I'm basing this mostly on reliability and helpfulness (in my own experience).

ART

Organic Acid Test

CD57

Urine Amino Acids

Virus panels (bloodwork)

Enterolab gene test

I'm predicting that the Genomic panel for detoxification will be on this list <crossing fingers>

These are the ones that I think were essential or important but not necessarily 100% reliable, conclusive or providing enough information.

Lyme tests (Western Blots and IFA)

Co-infection testing

Hair analysis

Provoked urine challenges for metals

CDSA

These are the ones I found to be least reliable or least helpful (for me).

Spectracell (because it doesnt tell me how well my body utilizes any of the nutrients tested)

Food intolerance tests

Enterolab

Parasite stool tests

These ones I'm not sure of as far as their importance overall. They might provide important info. that I'm just not seeing right now....or that will be more useful later on. They are probably useful tests but just dont get to the root of my problems.

Red Blood Cell Elements

Porphyrins

Adrenals

Intestinal Barrier Function

I think the ones that are at the top are there mostly because they are getting more to the root of the problem. CD57 has been helpful in keeping the doctors focused on stuff other than Lyme (YAY!) and virus tests have been good at ruling that part out (so far).

What do you guys put at the top of your lists? What has been most helpful so far?

[confused]

There are so many smells that make me so sick. I cant stand to smell bleach, i cant stand some shower gels, i cant stand perfumes (instant migraine). Im sure I have mcs, and im sure it is from mold.

Is it anyone by lax, my parents are there with a long wait before they fly again lol.

I am feeling worse today, i have an huge pressure in my head. I feel like it can explode at any moment. Im sure it is from the mold in the bathroom.

April.

All of the other vents have been cleaned but that one. It happened cause i have 3 boys who have no idea how to aim in the toilet.

paula

[tabasco32]

There are so many smells that make me so sick. I cant stand to smell bleach, i cant stand some shower gels, i cant stand perfumes (instant migraine). Im sure I have mcs, and im sure it is from mold.

I am feeling worse today, i have an huge pressure in my head. I feel like it can explode at any moment. Im sure it is from the mold in the bathroom.

April.

All of the other vents have been cleaned but that one. It happened cause i have 3 boys who have no idea how to aim in the toilet.

paula

You know what I have learned to Paula, is sometimes, sometimes our minds become so strong that even if it's not affecting us we programmed our bodies to be in defense all the time. So we might think it's affecting us, but it's not. Or it might, just not as bad as we think it is? I don't know. THat's what I learned with me though.

If I see a bag of chips or cookies unopened and I think they are opened I will start to feel sick just because. I don't know it's weird I guess. Our minds are powerful. Or maybe it could be making you sick.

[CarlaB]

I am also most sensitive to cheap perfumes/colognes/shower gels. I think that has more to do with the fact that there are actual chemicals in those, whereas good perfumes were traditionally made from natural essences then watered down with alcohol to make a cologne.

Now I think they are all chemicals.

Mold has always been around, however, these false environments that get no new air have not. Older houses tend to not get mold until people try to make them airtight. They weren't designed to be airtight. My husband works with insulated building materials and deals with things like vapor barriers, etc. He would never try to insulate our house with newer insulations because it could cause mold problems.

It's the air circulation that prevents the mold from growing. My new bed is designed to have air circulation to avoid problems like that. It's obvious my old bed was not ... and now that company has "fixed" the problem by adding chemicals.

I didn't have a lot of testing. I'd say my most valuable tests were the IGeneX Lyme test, the thyroid test, and the Genova Labs test.

[Rachel--24]

Same here Rachel, same here. I hate it when I am at the library like now, and someone sits next to me and they are wearing cheap strong colonge or perfume, no offense but especially elderly people and it's sssooo bad that you want to take them in the bathroom and wash some of it off. I hate that it taste like someone sprayed perfume in my mouth.

I have to agree with you on this. I'm not sure what it is but its mostly the older customers who shop in my store that have the STRONGEST perfumes on.

I usually RUN away from them. Since I'm working at the dairy case for some reason the air circulation "pulls" the scents directly to the refridgeration (where I'm working). The customer might actually be in the front of the store but the scent will be strongest at the back of the store where the refridgeration is. Basically it means that I can smell the perfume way before the customer gets anywhere near me.

I'm facing the cooler when I work and as soon as I smell the perfume I KNOW which customer I will see shopping on the aisle before I even turn around. Its like my body totally remembers the face of each person and the perfume associated with them.

I'm actually really not very good at remembering faces....but these customers (because of the strong perfumes) I definately remember!

Is it because as we age our ability to smell things is less....so older people put more perfume on?? Or is it because the perfumes just have stronger chemicals?? I'm thinking its a chemical thing and I can tell that the scents that younger people prefer are much different from the ones the older people wear. They are totally different. Personally, I like the ones that some of my friends wear and if I wasnt reactive I would be more likely to wear something similar.....but the scents that older people wear are different and not something I would choose for myself.

So I'm thinking that as we age our preference for perfumes changes?? Maybe they go for the stronger stuff?? I dunno but it definately kills me!

Do they have certain prefumes that are marketed more for older people and then other ones that are for younger crowds?? I never really payed attention to that....but WHY are the ones that older people wear so much STRONGER??

[confused]

You know what I have learned to Paula, is sometimes, sometimes our minds become so strong that even if it's not affecting us we programmed our bodies to be in defense all the time. So we might think it's affecting us, but it's not. Or it might, just not as bad as we think it is? I don't know. THat's what I learned with me though.

If I see a bag of chips or cookies unopened and I think they are opened I will start to feel sick just because. I don't know it's weird I guess. Our minds are powerful. Or maybe it could be making you sick.

You could be right. It is kinda like when i thought gluten was my only problem. If i would see anyting with gluten, I would freak out. If the kids came 2 feet by me while eating an sandwhich, i would freak out. Now i could care less about gluten. I have became very careless and have not had an reaction.

I still blame mold for about 60 percent of my health tho. I know i still have other issues i need to address, like the arsenic and candida and...............

Rachel,

As far as the best test i had, i would have to say....................... I know you are going to laugh at this one but i have to say the.........................enterolab test. Now if you want to know why..............................It is cause if it wasnt for that very first test, i would have never came to this forum and i would have never met all of you.

paula

[Rachel--24]

I'd say my most valuable tests were the IGeneX Lyme test, the thyroid test, and the Genova Labs test.

I definately would have guessed that one for you.

[confused]

rachel.

I think older people smell worse cause of the body chemistry. Its like I could put one scent and smell so good and my best friend could put on the same kind and smell like an hooker lol. I also think many old people do not use deodrant cause they dont feel they sweet. Or heck it could be the grandkids are buying their grandparents some really cheap deodrant lol

I remember in college i had an professor in business. She would not let any of us even put on deodrant cause it would make her so sick. It was really hard to not have any thing on at 8 am after an night of partying lol. There was even certain toothpaste that would make her sick. I use to think she was so weird. I guess that came back to kick me in the butt.

paula

[confused]

I was sitting here thinking, How does everyone feel about candles? I dont get sick off of candles. Is it cuase candles have less chemicals then perfumes and such.

Has anyone tried the arsenic clay baths. Im thinking of trying them.

paula

[Rachel--24]

You could be right. It is kinda like when i thought gluten was my only problem. If i would see anyting with gluten, I would freak out. If the kids came 2 feet by me while eating an sandwhich, i would freak out. Now i could care less about gluten. I have became very careless and have not had an reaction.

This made me laugh because I was the same way. Everytime I got a reaction I totally blamed it on gluten....and I could usually find some "exposure" that probably occured.

Yes, our minds are very powerful! Now I TRY to keep an open mind about all possibilities when I get sick. I dont think I ever blame one thing anymore.....because I think for me I just get sick when my system is dealing with too many things (and its from various sources).

Yesterday a customer came through the checkstand and his bag of flour ripped open. OMG....flour EVERYWHERE.

I was kind of laughing to myself because I was remebering how whenever this happened a few years ago my body would totally FREAK OUT and I would definately feel "sick" from the exposure.

I think I was probably more likely reacting to my own adrenaline (which actually does happen to me).

Now I just shrug it off....I could care less that there's flour everywhere and I dont get any reaction at all.

Rachel,

As far as the best test i had, i would have to say....................... I know you are going to laugh at this one but i have to say the.........................enterolab test. Now if you want to know why..............................It is cause if it wasnt for that very first test, i would have never came to this forum and i would have never met all of you.

Paula,

That is totally sweet.

In that case.....I'm glad that you had the Enterolab test too!

...and now I have to go back and edit my post. I forgot about my Enterolab test.

I think I would put it with the "food intolerance" tests...which werent helpful to me....but the gene testing...I might actually put that with my most important tests because it helped me as far as ruling out Celiac.

[Rachel--24]

rachel.

I think older people smell worse cause of the body chemistry. Its like I could put one scent and smell so good and my best friend could put on the same kind and smell like an hooker lol.

That made me laugh.

I do think body chemistry has something to do with it too. Right now I dont think any type of perfume would smell good on me! I just have messed up chemistry or something.

I also think (like Carla said) they put WAY more chemicals in the perfumes and colognes now! The cheaper stuff is probably the worst.

Some of the expensive stuff bothers me too though. My friend at work has one that bothers me...she used to always say "But this one is EXPENSIVE and I got in CANCUN".

I'm like...."So, you paid alot of money for that one but it still stinks like chemicals!"

My nose knows!

She has lots of perfumes but thats the only one she wears that really bothers me. I always know right away when shes wearing it.

I remember in college i had an professor in business. She would not let any of us even put on deodrant cause it would make her so sick. It was really hard to not have any thing on at 8 am after an night of partying lol. There was even certain toothpaste that would make her sick. I use to think she was so weird. I guess that came back to kick me in the butt.

I used to think it was weird when cutomers would read the label/ingredients on foods in the grocery store.

Guess that one REALLY came back to bite me!

Too bad you didnt know of the wonders of baking soda when you were going to her class after partying all night.

Thats what I use now instead of dealing with aluminum, toxic ingedients, salicylates, etc. in the various deoderants. The baking soda actually works BEST anyway.....and its CHEAP!

[Rachel--24]

I was sitting here thinking, How does everyone feel about candles? I dont get sick off of candles. Is it cuase candles have less chemicals then perfumes and such.

Most scented candles bother me. My mom got rid of all her candles when I started staying at her house....they totally bothered me even if they werent "lit".

[CarlaB]

I was sitting here thinking, How does everyone feel about candles? I dont get sick off of candles. Is it cuase candles have less chemicals then perfumes and such.

Yep, candles can bother me, but they don't always. Depends on how I feel when I light them.

I do think body chemistry has something to do with it too. Right now I dont think any type of perfume would smell good on me! I just have messed up chemistry or something.

Thats what I use now instead of dealing with aluminum, toxic ingedients, salicylates, etc. in the various deoderants. The baking soda actually works BEST anyway.....and its CHEAP!

Yes, that is true, body chemistry does play a huge part. I used to work at the makeup counter in the mall. When I was selling perfume, I'd tell someone to walk around the mall with a scent on, then come back if they like it. You have to give it time to react with the body chemistry.

Plus, when people spray it on their clothing and hair, then it will smell stale the next day. I think that plays a huge role in why some people smell worse than others. Plus, they just go and spray it on again the next day.

Umm, trying to picture how to use baking soda as deodorant???

[ShadowSwallow]

I'm in Williamsburg right now, and I feel pretty awful. I'm not sure if it's something I ate, or if it's that I didn't eat really anything until dinner, or if it's me detoxing from the mold.

Birdy

[Rachel--24]

Umm, trying to picture how to use baking soda as deodorant???

Oh....its simple.

1. Dump a little bit of powder into your hand (sometimes way too much comes out of the box though).

2. Spread that under your arm.

3. Dust off the "excess" powder.

4. Put on your shirt and you're ready to go.

Only thing is that the powder ends up on the sink counter. I just wipe it up with the towel my mom has there.....ya know the one thats meant to be "DECORATION".

Thats how I always get busted for using the towel....the white stuff on it kind of gives it away.

But anyways my mom says she can tell that I'm much healthier now because I never have any "odor". I think the baking soda gets all the credit for that.

I think because I'm unable to detox food chemicals (or anything really) through the liver...alot of it comes through skin (or tries to anyway). I'm not really able to sweat very well but the one area that doesnt seem to have a problem is under my arms.

So its mostly after I eat (and especially anything higher in phenols) that I will start to sweat. Its like a constant thing for at least a couple hours after I eat. Sometimes its worse than other times. Its not like normal sweat that occurs when you get hot....its like major water excretion that can be happening even if I'm chilled to the bone.

It pretty much sucks.....but thankfully I do NOT stink.

Dr. P. had asked me about fevers/sweats/chills. I think he was thinking more along the lines of infection but in my case the sweats and chills dont come on out of the blue.....its only after I eat.

I hope one of these days eating will once again be an enjoyable experience for me.

[aprilh]

Carla, do you have MCS?

How many people here have MCS.....besides me?

I used to, but once I started doing things to help the liver pathways, its MUCH better.

As far as testing....i haven't had that much but the most beneficial for me was the Liver Detoxification Test by Genova.

In addition, I had Igenex lyme testing, adrenal testing.....and thats about it.

I still can't stand the smell of perfume, though. It used to make my throat hurt, but it doesn't seem to bother me as much anymore. The thought of it being fillled with thousands of chemicals makes me wonder why people *want* to put that on their skin? Don't get it.

Paula,

When I *thought* I found mold in the basement - i had symptoms too. I'm not saying you don't really have symptoms because you did have a bad mold problem and it probably wouldn't take much for you to react.

When I first went gluten free I kept having symptoms after eating and I just couldn't figure out where it was coming from because the stuff I was eating was gluten free. That totally confused me so many times. I remember making my hubby grill my chicken on a different side of the grill than the rest of the food.

Lo and behold....I had leaky gut so that's the reason I was reacting to so many things.

Now I don't worry about it.

Rachel,

I have been trying baking soda as deoderant lately! I already used it for cleaning and facials.

[mftnchn]

How many people here have MCS.....besides me?

It's weird being in another time zone and all my posts get bunched together...

Rachel, count me in on the MCS.

It started after I got lyme disease, and was really bad for a while. 30 seconds in a grocery store and other stores and I was faint. Especially bad are places like Costco--where there is poor ventilation. I still have problems but not that severe. I have problems with perfumes and like many of you, some are worse than others. My worst reaction to perfume was neurological--losing control of my muscles and becoming spastic. It was scary and horrible. I have trouble with all scented candles, pot porri or anthing like that. Last winter I was at my SIL and starting getting very sick, finally lay on the floor in her living room. Eventually it dawned on me she was burning candles; she put them out but it was way too late.

Sherry

[mftnchn]

What do you guys put at the top of your lists? What has been most helpful so far?

Tests that helped:

Enterolab is the top of my list because it was because of that my celiac was diagnosed, and it may never have been otherwise.

Bowen labs--confirmed lyme

Rosmed--diagnosed sugar digestion problem

Spectracell (the old version), Doctor's Data amino acids, urine (for metals, forget the name of the test), Vitamin D levels for identifying my nutrient deficiencies and high metals

Allergy testing and treatment

ART has been mostly helpful but not enough to rely on totally.

Same with thyroid tests.

Least helpful:

most conventional testing picks up nothing

probably ASYRA

Sherry

[mftnchn]

Personally, I dont believe that any *one* type of toxin is responsible for all cases of MCS. For some people mold will be the major factor....but definately not everyone.

I think mold is a factor for me but not THE factor. I moved into a more moldy environment in '78, allergies worsened after that, then the tick bite and things went pretty much downhill from there. Mold has always been a major allergy problem, and until the last several years I tolerated no amount at all in an allergy shot. I've been able to treat it since moving into a drier climate.

[Rachel--24]

It's weird being in another time zone and all my posts get bunched together...

Sherry, I've always noticed this.....but it took me awhile to figure out that its because you're totally in another time zone!

Rachel, count me in on the MCS.

It started after I got lyme disease, and was really bad for a while. 30 seconds in a grocery store and other stores and I was faint. Especially bad are places like Costco--where there is poor ventilation. I still have problems but not that severe.

Mine is much better too. I think its all about reducing the toxic load and supporting detoxification. Right now I'm not doing anything for support but just reducing the load (mostly avoidance) has made a huge difference for me. The worst stores used to be the ones like Home Depot...but at one point all stores were pretty bad. Now I hardly notice unless I'm having a really bad day.

Least helpful:

most conventional testing picks up nothing

probably ASYRA

Oh yeah....the conventional tests.

I didnt even bother putting them on my list. Ummm...I guess they would be under "totally useless".

Actually, some of them were helpful. I know for sure that I dont have AIDS, MS or some of the other really scary diseases I was tested for.

I never had ASYRA but I didnt figure it would be very helpful....mainly because its too sensitive I think. Everything under the sun would probably come up with no way to really prioritize. I figured it would be kind of confusing. I kind of feel the same about BioSET....just way too many things showing up to be really helpful for me.

I dont know whats gonna happen with the new voodoo lady and I'm still not sure what method of testing she uses but I'm glad theres a list of "priorities" from Dr. P. because I dont wanna be "all over the place" with a gazzillion different possibilities.