Health Advice for Women

If you have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), you’ve come to the right place. I have lots of advice and it’s been a lot of trial and error along the way. If you are just finding out you have MCS the best thing to learn is patience. I’ve figured out I had MCS around 7 years ago and to this day I still keep finding little things to change in my life to help me feel stronger and more energy. Some days are better than others, but I keep thinking how much I have improved in 7 years. My goal is to share what I’ve learned and hope this helps you in your journey to heal.

The latest change I’ve made is in my diet. For years I’ve heard I should give up dairy and I did give up milk for a year. I love milk more than anything, so this was really hard. But just giving up milk didn’t make a huge difference. Two months ago I went on a gluten and dairy free diet! It’s all the rage here in the Boulder, CO area, but being the renegade I’m am, I didn’t want to follow the trends… but I did. As you know getting healthy is the goal, so I keep testing new theories and hoping I will be the healthiest and strongest old women alive. Back to the gluten and dairy free diet, I have to say I feel better. When your body is fighting so many things as it is when you have MCS, you have to slowly start removing the things that cause your body to react. I know it’s helping because when I fall off the plan and eat wheat or dairy I notice the difference. My digestion is better and I’ll won’t bore you with the graphic details.

I’ve removed as many chemicals out of my environment and I eat healthy food, but I didn’t realize some healthy foods just weren’t sitting well with my body.Many people with allergies and MCS are finding they do better eliminating dairy and wheat. You would be surprised at all the alternative gluten free products on the market now. I eat rice bread, rice pasta and rice crackers. Gluten free muffins are pretty aweful, so if you’ve got a good recipe let me know.

We have Cancer survivors and I’m a multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) survivor! I hope my blogs help you figure out how to treat your multiple chemical sensitivity.  I wish I could say I’m totally symptom free, but I now live an energetic healthy life. Multiple chemical sensitivity doesn’t rule my life like it once did. I have great energy every day, hike daily for 45-60 minutes up a mountain and live life to the fullest. I only tell you this because there was a time when I didn’t have energy to go to the grocery store much less enjoy life. I couldn’t go into Target without getting a headache from all the chemicals off-gassing in the store. So…how did I treat my multiple chemical sensitivity?

First off have you figured out you have it? (Read my blog on MCS to see if you have the symptoms) The most important thing is to get yourself in an environment that is not making your body sick or sicker. Initially I really didn’t know what to do and some of the things I was doing to help were actually harmful.

Get all the chemicals out of the place you live and sleep. Here’s your list of things to do:

• Take out the carpet and install ceramic tile - this will be huge. If you have hardwood floors this is good, just get rid of any area rugs in your room.
• Wash all your bedding in plant derived laundry soap. I like the Seventh Generation - Free & Clear products. They are not made with petrochemicals and have no perfume. If you have been using cleaning products made with petrochemicals (Tide, Cheer, ERA, etc.) you will need to wash them 3 or 4 times to get the petrochemicals and fragrance out.
• Get rid of all perfumes and fragrances in your house.
• Switch all your personal products over to fragrance free and petrochemical free. This is hard, so go to your local health food store to find this type of product. I’m talking shampoo, soaps, lotions, sunscreen, anything you put on your body.
• Switch all your household products over to non-toxic, fragrance-free and petrochemical free. Stick with Seventh Generation free& clear if you can find this line. Whole Foods and Vitamin Cottage carry this brand.
• The clothes you wear can be killing you. Most people don’t know how many chemicals are in the clothes we wear. I love to wear my oldest cotton clothes that have been washed a million times! Do you know why, it’s because all the chemicals have been washed out. Don’t dry clean or have a laundry wash and starch your clothes because this will not help. If you have to buy something new, stick with natural fibers like cotton and then wash this new item at least 5 times before you wear it. I probably wash new clothes at least 10 times before I wear them. If I don’t I get a headache very quickly!
• Don’t buy new furniture or anything new if you can avoid it. Everything on the market these days is loaded with chemicals. It’s just that we are so surrounded with them, that most people don’t notice the chemicals until our body is overloaded. Until you can get your MCS under control, you need to control your environment very carefully.
• If you have the choice you should move to a very unpolluted place in the mountains or by the ocean to give your body a rest from the chemicals. Most of us don’t have that luxury, but the mountains are less polluted and your body can get a rest from the chemicals it is reacting to.
• There is a great book called “Creating a Healthy Household” that I used to help me initially turn my house into a safer, less-toxic home.
• Lastly, get as much exercise as you can. Hiking in the mountains everyday has helped me to continue to improve my health.
• Try not to drive your car if possible, the car is loaded with chemicals and puts off exhaust that weakens our body. I now drive a hybrid and it’s much better.
• Here’s a big one that took me a while to figure out. Don’t fertilize your lawn, this fertilizer is so toxic to our bodies and it lingers in the lawn for a long time.
• Don’t have your house sprayed with pesticides for insects, this is going to kill you. Use healthy alternatives to getting rid of insects.
• Don’t use bleach. Initially I thought I was killing the mold which was good, the bleach was killing me!
• Indoor air can be really toxic when all the windows are closed. Spend the money and buy some good hepa air filters. I use Healthy Mate from Austin Air. It helps a lot!
• Get rid of pets if you can. They are a major contributor to indoor toxins and allergens.
• Minimal decoration is best. Remove curtains and just have blinds or nothing on the windows. If you have just bought new furniture, put it in the garage until it can off-gas.
• Don’t park your car in the garage. The toxins from your car go right into the house!

Once I realized I had multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) I was relieved, but not for long because finding treatment for multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is really difficult. The best treatment you will find is to improve your environment, I’ve benefited strongly from lifestyle changes I’ve continued to make for the past 7 years. Unfortunately, there is no immediate cure. Removing the toxins from your environment will allow your body to heal and this is what I started working on immediately. There was a lot of trial and error in my process. I hope in this website I will be able to give you my insight to my process, and that you can benefit from what I learned along the way.

I’m not a doctor, but luckily I have a mind that loves problem solving. Not to sound ultra dramatic, but I was problem solving to save my life, at least a life worth living. My major symptoms were chronic fatigue, headaches, sinus congestion, joint pain, allergies, stomach indigestion and depression. I had about 2 good hours in the day when I felt decent. I had dealt with allergies and stomach indigestion most of my life, but the list of symptoms started getting longer and chronic fatigue was the final straw. I didn’t have the energy for normal functions, much less to exercise and I’ve always loved exercise. Stay tuned for my next article on “How to treat MCS”.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity as described in wikipedia.org:

Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is described as a chronic condition characterized by adverse effects from exposure to low levels of chemicals or other substances in modern human environments. Suspected substances include smoke, pesticides, plastics, synthetic fabrics, scented products, petroleum products, and paints.

Biochemist Martin L. Pall says that that MCS sufferers “report being exquisitely sensitive to a wide range of organic chemicals,” and from 100 to 1000 times more sensitive to hydrophobic organic solvents than normal people.

MCS has also been termed toxic injury (TI), chemical sensitivity (CS), chemical injury syndrome (CI),^[3] 20th Century Syndrome, environmental illness (EI), sick building syndrome, idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI), and toxicant-induced loss of tolerance (TILT).

Could low levels of the substances above be damaging your health? Most people don’t believe it until they are so sick they will try anything. The first time I read this description of multiple chemical sensitivity it was an OMG moment. Below are the symptoms of MCS.

Symptoms of MCS may be mild to disabling. The symptoms are essentially any symptom which the patient finds distressing and attributes to this cause. A partial list of common symptoms include anaphylactic shock, difficulty breathing, chest pains and asthma, skin irritation, contact dermatitis, and hives or other forms of skin rash, headaches, “brain fog” (short term memory loss, attention deficit), neurological symptoms (nerve pain, paralysis, weakness, trembling, restless leg syndrome, etc.), tendinitis, seizures, visual disturbances (blurring, halo effect, inability to focus), extreme anxiety, panic and/or anger, suppression of immune system, digestive difficulties, nausea, indigestion/heartburn, vomiting, diarrhea, food intolerances, which may or may not be clinically identifiable (e.g., lactose intolerance, celiac disease): commonly wheat and dairy, joint and muscle pains, extreme fatigue, lethargy and lassitude, vertigo/dizziness, abnormally acute sense of smell, sensitivity to natural plant fragrance, natural pine turpines, insomnia, dry mouth, dry eyes, and an overactive bladder.

It’s daunting reading through this list, but realizing I had MCS and taking action has enable me to live a sorta normal life. Check out this list below, if you have any of these in your enviroment, get rid of them!

Food

• Tartrazine (a.k.a Yellow #5 or FD&C E102), and other Azo dyes (True allergy must first be excluded)
• Caffeine (may cause migraine headaches apart from MCS)

Environmental

• Petrol or gasoline, diesel and exhaust fumes
• Petroleum-based products, including petroleum jelly, tar, asphalt
• Tobacco or any form of smoke
• Pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and other agricultural chemicals
• Industrial cleaning chemicals, such as dry cleaning fluid
• Formaldehyde and aldehyde
• Glues, varnishes, polishes, paints, solvents, paint-thinners, and volatile organic compounds (VOC’s)
• Bleach, fabric softeners, wool-wash, and laundry detergents
• Perfumes, lotion, after-shave lotion, nail polish, or skin care products
• Air-fresheners, deodorizers and scented candles
• Shampoos, hairsprays and hair care products
• Household cleaning chemicals
• Dishwashing liquid and dishwasher detergent (may cause migraine headaches for those without MCS)
• Marking pens, such as highlighters (significant exposure will cause headaches for anyone)