Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Breakthrough!

I learned something very valuable last month: I have a multiple chemical sensitivity.

My whole life I've always been reactive. I was born allergic to about 10 different foods (over time it worked its way down to 1-2 allergies, but this is the topic for another entry.) As a baby I would sit and cry for hours from reactions. I had hives often in my childhood. I almost got held back in school for too many sick days. I couldn't use gray crayons in school because they gave me instant pounding headaches. During my teen years I quickly discovered that many make-ups, acne creams, and lotions really irritated my skin and gave me eczema. Food gave me eczema, but I always assumed I had eaten corn whenever that happened (I thought I was only allergic to corn for a while.) I always felt substantially better when I was on the beach rather than inland (we lived on the coast in Newport, Oregon for many years.) Every time we went to the town of Bend, Oregon I got very feverish and suffered long, drawn-out bloody noses. When I was 18 we had just moved to Bismarck, ND, and there was a large patch of mold in the sliding glass doors of a house we were temporarily staying in. Upon trying to clean the mold, both nostrils bleed such large amounts of blood that I couldn't breath, and I was sure I was about to die from choking on my own blood. Mom held a mixing bowl under my nose to catch the pool of blood I was spilling.

Yes, I know I've always been sensitive and reactive. My parent's response to this was shopping at the local "hippie" stores for my food and skin care. We definitely were not strict about eating organically or avoiding non-natural products (I could fly through a box of Cheese-Its dipped in salsa back then and tried Proactive for acne,) but we shopped at the local co-op and natural foods sections because that is where I was able to find food without corn. We finally found bread, baking powder, deli meat, and so forth that I was able to eat without an allergic reaction! As I grew older and started working as a teenager, I took pride in going to the local co-op for a mostly organic lunch from their deli. I took pride in eating pizza at the local pizza joint that used local and organic ingredients. "Natural living" and "clean eating" was starting to become a normal part of my life style back then. I didn't understand the bigger picture of protecting the environment (which I didn't believe was an issue back then,) living non-toxic (I thought toxicity was an extreme and rare issue unique to power plant workers back then,) or the long-term health effects of non-organic foods. I did know that I felt better when I ate organic brands of foods. I did know that I didn't break out my skin when I used skin care products without parabens, dyes, or waxes. My eyes were slowing getting opened to the world of toxicity back then, and it took until this year (11-12 years later,) to understand it.

Over time, as I grew more aware of dangerous ingredients in food and the health risks associated with pesticides, I switched to eating mostly organically all the time. My husband married me knowing my dietary needs, but I don't think he understood what they actually meant until we started cooking our first meals together. We ate out quite a bit in our first years of married - eating out was my "cheat" time, but I still ordered the safest possible dishes. We slowly ate out less and less over time, and I cooked more and more at home with totally organic and natural ingredients. And yet... we both were gaining weight, getting more irritable, not handling stress as well, and generally were not feeling as well. A few years ago we decided to cut out most gluten, and that solved a lot of the problems. That was just the tip of the iceberg. I, without my husband joining me on this, decided to cut out all dairy. This solved more problems, but still wasn't enough. While some problems were getting solved, others were growing worse. And worse. (I'll explain diet in depth in another post. Or several - it's a big topic for me.)

I'm jumping forward in time to after my break-down last year. I had made a lot of progress with my naturopathic doctor over the 10 months I had been working closely with him. I had lost weight, gained energy, struggled less with chronic fatigue, struggled less with hypoglycemia, struggled less with menstrual issues, rarely struggled with chronic pain (what I was told was fibromyalgia,) raised my blood pressure to a much less scary number (it was very low initially,) cleared up some of my brain fog... I was doing better. All my progress felt very miraculous to me. But I was still complaining about heart palpitations, headaches, menstrual issues, body aches, rashes, and mood issues. He also witnessed me in a couple allergic reactions. He told me he had theories as to what was going on, but needed to observe me first. He also decided to try homeopathy with me. After a difficult interview and an explanation as to how homeopathy works, he determined that I have multiple chemical sensitives.

At first, I was a little surprised. I said, "My mom has that - she chokes up and can't breath around perfume. I don't react like her." He explained. It didn't take long before it started to make sense. Not everyone reacts the same way, or to the same things. We are all unique, and our bodies all operate in their own individual ways. 

Now that I know I'm a highly reactive person, life is making a lot more sense. I used to get heart palpitation issues, achy joints, and headaches pretty often when I was out in public, but I never recognized it as an allergic reaction. My health was so poor that all my issues were convoluted. I couldn't tell where one issue ended and another began. Now, however, between taking a lot of glutathione and his homeopathic remedy, the reactions are becoming much more clear. The fog is lifting. When I'm not reacting, I'm feeling much better! When I do react, it's instant and obvious. What I'm allergic to becomes immediately clear.

And I'm reacting to a lot.

"Scary Chick"

This is the beginning of my journey of living with multiple chemical sensitives! I think I've had it my whole life, but this is the beginning of me learning how to live with it.

I'll leave you with this image that my doctor gave me to share: