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.

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)