Iron and Acne

What an obnoxious winter so far! We've had about 60" of snow in just over a month. It's been a blizzard almost every Monday! Between the snow blowing, shoveling, roof raking, salting, being unable to leave the driveway for days waiting for snow plows to free our street, and trying to get hours in at work... you get the picture, between all of this I've been rather burnt out and exhausted. It's been actually very hard for me to even move some days due to the burn out. Instead of working on Part 3 of my mattress series, which I'll finish up soonish, I'm going to write about something a little easier: iron and acne.

My naturopathic doctor had me start taking pasture raised liver capsules 3x a day about a month ago. He wanted me to simply try eating liver first, but my tongue couldn't handle it and it made my stomach churn a bit. If you can tolerate liver, more power to you! The reason for the liver is to raise my iron level. Without telling him, I tried taking Black Strap Molasses with 29 mg of elemental iron. I've tried taking iron in the past during my teen years and it did help me feel way more stable and in control, so I decided to try it again to see what would happen. What happened was that I didn't feel any different at all (except for a little sugar high at times, and my yeast issues increased), but my lab values showed much better numbers:

End of 2015, Iron at 66:



If you go by Stop The Thyroid Madness's book/ support group, I was too low:




So after one month on those iron pills, my iron and CBC looked better than ever (almost everything was actually in range for the first time in years):



According to Stop the Thyroid Madness, my labs still are not optimal here, but they look much better.

My doctor received this lab and sounded a bit confused, and I told him I was on the iron. He wasn't happy with me. And THIS is why you listen to your doctor! He explained that I was "pushing" my iron without all the co-factors, which I understand to mean is disruptive to other minerals and nutrients in my body. He said if I'm going to push my iron I need to do it with all the co-factors, and the best way to do that is to take pasture-raised liver.

I've been on the liver for a little more than a month, but I have not had new labs drawn yet. I would like to do so soon so I can see what is happening. What I can tell you is that it's working. Taking the iron pills did not change how I felt. Taking the liver is changing how I feel. I haven't felt anemic and faint since taking them! I've felt weak from not being able to breathe well, low blood sugar, and maybe even low blood volume, but not the anemia-like weakness. I feel strong even while fatigued and exhausted. I'm not used to feeling strength below the tired.

There have been plenty of side effects, though. The liver pills are certainly stirring up my liver, which is not in great condition. I've had lots of rashes, acne, nasty prolonged PMS, and a much heavier period. This makes sense considering the liver does help make sex hormones. It also is the first detoxer in the body. My stirred up liver is pushing toxins out through my skin, causing the rashes and acne. Add hormone issues to acne issues and I get super acne issues. It's not been fun. The majority of this acne has been under my jaw near lymph nodes, which also makes sense to me.

So what do I do about acne? What helps?

STOP EATING SUGAR! Sugar does nothing positive for the body, only negative. It's highly acidic, makes the pancreas and liver work overtime, feeds bad bacteria and yeasts, feeds infections, penetrates a weak gut lining, usually goes right into fat storage, causes hormonal imbalances... and the body tries to detox it through the skin.

Figure out your food intolerances. For me, dairy and grains both gave me acne and I didn't figure that out until I first went gluten free for a year, then dairy free for a while. My skin improved so much. Then I met my doctor, who had me cut all starches, grains, dairy, sugar, moldy foods, and nightshades.  I stopped getting acne except around my period, and it cleared up very quickly after my period started.

Okay, got those down? Good, now what to do about acne that defies preventative causes:

Aztec Indian Healing Clay mixed with Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar as a mask:

The darker areas are where it went on heavier. I simply pour about a quarter sized amount of clay in to my palm then pour just enough vinegar in my palm to make it fizz and turn into paste. Then I rub the paste in my hands and spread it all over my face and neck. I let it sit for 20 minutes, then typically shower to wash it off, but a wet warm cloth to scrub it off will do. It pulses my skin in the process, and after I wash it off it feels like my skin is breathing. The vinegar leaves my skin pink/ red for about 20 minutes, then my skin looks so refreshed! This stuff sucks junk out of pours with a magnetic bond. It feels amazing. The vinegar feeds the skin nutrients and kills bad bacteria. I love this stuff.

Note: French Green Clay is supposed to be the best kind of clay for acne, but I haven't tried it.

Desert Essence Blemish Stick

This is one that I reserve for bigger, more painful acne that I want to get rid of faster. It does work well, but it's a bit drying and irritating to my skin. It features tea tree (and this brand makes a high quality trustworth tea tree, it's not a knock-off or low quality version that other brands use.) Tea Tree is antibacterial and it does help clear up rashes and acne for me. I use this brand's tea tree soap for rashes. It does work, I just have to be careful not to over do it.

Badger Balm Beauty Balm

I'm a huuuuugggeeee fan of Badger Balm products in general. They're mostly organic and use safe low doses of extracts and essential oils that are strictly for a purpose, not a fragrance. I can't tolerate their orange oils, but I've done very well with all their other aromatherapy products, when I don't tolerate many essential oils in general. I typically stick to their unscented line anyway since I don't care for fragrances anymore, even when I don't react to them.

This beauty balm is ultra moisturizing, but doesn't clog pores. It has seabuckthorn, an oil known for healing skin blemishes. I find that this balm is anti-itch, soothing, cooling, very moisturizing, and noticeably healing. I when I'm broken out I use it as my face moisturizer, let it soak in for 15 minutes, then apply my Lauren Brookes Cosmetiques or Mineral Fusion make up.


Organic India's Amalaki
Make sure you're getting enough real whole food vitamin C. I really like Organic India's Amalaki, which is rick in vitamin C and has the ability to pull out oestrogens. Basic abscorbic acid (what's used for "vitamin C" in synthetics) is often made from mold, yeast, or with high VOC chemicals like formaldehyde. It's also incomplete - it needs bioflavanoids to complete the vitamin C, so why not just take a whole food version that doesn't have to be reconstructed?

I keep reading about Camu Camu being a great source of vitamin C too, but I like the alma berry (Amalaki) better because it has the oestrogen balancing effect.


Additionally:

• Eat your fats: drink bone broth, eat coconut oil, drink collagen, eat gelatin, eat the fattiest cut of steak, eat avocados, use real butter, etc. Your skin and brain need good healthy fats in order to function. Make sure you're feeding yourself what your skin needs.
• Drink organic fair trade green tea (certifications are important since non-organic green tea can contain high amounts of fluoride, aluminum, and pesticides.) It's a natural antioxidant. Then press the used wet green tea bag against your acne!
• Get chiropractic adjustments. Freeing up nerves that can't communicate well due to a spine that's out of alignment can significantly increase circulation in your body, and better blood flow means faster healing.
• Use a pimple popping tool for the ones that are ready to pop. In my experience, popping the ones that are ready with this tool doesn't leave scarring or bleeding.

Let me know in the comments if you have more good advice!

Latex Mattress Review Part 2: The Bed and Bedding Review (Updated!)

If you read part one of my review on my new latex mattress, you will have learned the need for choosing a natural non-toxic mattress. I encourage you to at least skim that post before reading this view, because this review is based on my need for a natural bed.In this review I'll cover 4 bedding items I bought from Sleep On Mattress: The Pillow, Foundation, Mattress, and Mattress Pad. In the upcoming Part 3 I'll discuss other pillows, sheets, and blankets. Bedding should not be as complicated as it, but because it is, this review deserves 3 parts to cover it all!

The Pillow: Malouf Convoluted Contour Latex Pillow
(Click the link to see the pillow on the company's website)
Yep, the name is a mouthful, as my husband was quick to point out, but bear with me! After too many dollars and too much neck pain from buying several different pillows online, I decided to try something novel: going into an actual store and trying out pillows before I bought them! The problem is that I can't step foot into most stores without getting sick. Thankfully for me, Sleep On Mattress is a store in Bismarck, ND, where I live, that caters to people like me. They offer natural synthetic-free bedding, and they're located in a mall that isn't heavily scented (like most malls are - I normally would never dare step foot into a mall.) I learned about them because they advertised their organic latex beds through the health products store I work at, Terry's Health Products. Amazingly, the very first contoured latex pillow I tried in the store ended up being a winner! It's a Malouf pillow, but done right (I tried others of this brand first, which I'll get into in Part 3.) It is made from natural talalay latex in a polyester case, so I removed the polyester case and replaced it with an organic cotton zippered case:

I love this pillow. So. Much. One side has a higher loft than the other and it's contoured, so it supports my neck if I'm on my back or side and it doesn't put too much pressure on my ears. It's soft and supportive without being hard and firm, meaning that it keeps my head at the right height and angle all night, whereas other latex pillows I tried let my head sink down to the mattress or didn't let my head sink in at all.

The latex on the pillow falls apart very easily, and that is my only complaint. It needs to be treated gently. Sorry folks, this will not work in a pillow fight. In simply switching out the cases I lost lots of small chunks of latex. You can see in the photo that some of the points are missing. I haven't had any problems with losing latex since then, and it hasn't affected how comfortable and supportive the pillow has been for me.


The FoundationI do not have a brand name on this foundation, my apologies. This was the hardest part of purchasing the new bed. Let me back up a bit. My husband was willing to try a new mattress if it meant improving my health, but he did not want to lose the frame we already owned. It's an upholstered queen size frame with a built-in head board that looks very nice. I also like it, so I agreed we could keep it (even though it's all synthetic and probably has plenty of flame retardants, it's old enough where it has off-gassed, the mattress doesn't actually touch the frame at any point, and we hardly ever lean up against it.) That meant we needed to buy a traditional foundation to support the mattress, because the frame is meant to hold a foundation.

(Latex and Memory Foam mattresses cannot use a box spring. They need to be supported by a foundation with no more than 3-4" between each slat. The mattress will wear out too quickly on the wrong type of foundation or on a box spring, because they'll allow the mattress to sink in when it should never sink in at any point.)

I looked into a couple of different options: a Savvy Rest Insert without any synthetic material concerns (sold by Sleep On Mattress), a much cheaper basic wooden foundation with a removable synthetic cover that had flame retardants (I don't have a brand name on this) (also sold by Sleep On Mattress), and a solid wooden Amish foundation that was on sale on Amazon.com. If money were not a barrier, I would have chosen the Savvy Rest Insert without question. It really was the right choice for us, but our finances said otherwise. The basic affordable wooden foundation with the removable cover made me a bit nervous - did the wood absorb some of the flame retardants? For someone without MCS it would have been a great option. The Amish foundation on Amazon looked like it would fit my needs very well, but there were just enough reviews cautioning me against buying it. Then we were presented with a new option: Sleep On Mattress had one metal and wood collapsible foundation for sale. The price was right at $130, it appeared to be right for our needs, and it was easy to transport because of the collapsible frame. My husband chose to go with it. Sleep On Mattress does not normally carry it, but I bet they can order it for you if you're interested.

The foundation has been working just fine, but if I were to make the decision over again, I probably would have tried to convince my husband to get the Savvy Rest Insert instead.


Setting this foundation up was not at all as easy as it was supposed to be. This photo shows the foundation after we opened it up from the collapsed form. We then attempted to put the two horizontal support bars on. The idea is that the end of the bars go into holes - they should slide right in. The reality is that the fit was very tight and they required a cloth and a hammer to force in.



Then we inserted the wooden boards across the top. The ends of the boards have plastic caps with two little pegs in them. The pegs go into holes in the metal frame to support the boards. 3 of these pegs were broken off. The construction was fairy poor on these pegs, and I wouldn't be surprised if most of them break off in tearing down the foundation - if we ever do that.





We then put an old sheet over the top of it as the cover. It came with a synthetic flame retardant infested cover, but the cover came separately so we simply didn't put it on.

Even though the wooden slats are flexible and look thin, the foundation has worked well. It is supporting our 150 lb latex mattress.

...But it's also a bit squeaky. This was my greatest concern when buying a metal foundation, and it proved to be a bit of an issue. The squeaking is only on my side of the bed, and I only hear it when I get in and out of bed. Thankfully it never squeaks once I'm already on the mattress. A wooden foundation can squeak too, but squeaky metal tends to be higher pitched and it echos through the rest of the foundation.


The Mattress: Sleep On Mattress's own Latex Mattress

The mattress we chose to go with is Sleep On Mattress's own brand of a 9" Dunlop Latex mattress with an organic cotton and wool casing. The wool is the fireproofing that brings it up to industry standard, so they didn't have to add synthetic flame retardants. They have it manufactured for their own store. They explained to me that they were searching for a natural latex mattress comparable to Savvy Rest (an organic latex mattress company that's top tier), but with a lower price tag. Making their own ended up being the most economical, and the mattress is therefore more affordable than the Savvy Rest. It is normally $2,000 for the queen size, but in exchange for this review I was given a reduced price. If you are interested in this mattress, but are not from Bismarck, don't despair! They will ship!

I was told that they are in the process of making different models of their own store brand of latex mattress, some with gel and foam added in, and with different heights. So if the mattress we bought from them doesn't sound right for you, ask about their other models. The owners are interested in working with you to find what you need instead of pushing their agenda on you. They'll help you find what you need, and they do understand the issues between natural and synthetic mattresses!

When we purchased the mattress I expected this review was going to be very easy to write. I expected within a week I'd be able to write all about it with ease, but that hasn't been the case. 3 weeks later and we're still trying to make a decision on the mattress! This isn't a bad thing, and I'll explain:

First and foremost, is the mattress solving my MCS problem? Was it worth purchasing a natural mattress to better my health? YES! On the old memory foam mattress I regularly fought a rising heart rate every night I went to bed, and if I couldn't fall asleep before my heart rate skyrocketed, I'd be doomed to toss and turn and take even more herbal sleeping pills to try to knock myself out. I regularly had stress dreams and nightmares. I would often feel high anxiety as I was trying to fall asleep and again when I woke up. I experienced more fibromyaliga pain in that bed than anywhere else. I also had more skin rashes when I slept in that bed.

I haven't had a single nightmare or stress dream since sleeping on this new latex mattress. I have not experienced the skyrocketing heart rate on most nights (but I had the problem on a few nights after a food reaction or being in a public place where I was reacting.) I'm waking up feeling peaceful, not on high alert. The fibromyaliga pain has been greatly reduced, and I'm feeling it more after eating the wrong foods and not so much in bed. My skin rashes are reduced, but not gone (but there are other causes, such as the mycotoxins in my body.) Yes, I feel SO MUCH BETTER on this mattress, and my sleep is higher quality.

Secondly, is it comfortable? Yes... The floor model of this mattress was softer than the one we received. The floor model was about right for us, in that it was firm enough to give support, but comfortably soft around pressure points. My hips and shoulder sank in the right amount. The mattress we received was definitely more firm. It didn't let our pressure points sink in much, and my husband and I both woke up stiff and sore for the first week. The longer we sleep on it, however, the softer it gets. We've had it for 3 weeks and both of us are less stiff and sore, and I'm feeling my hips and shoulders sink in further. At first we were seriously discussing buying a topper to soften it up. Sleep On Mattress offers a soft dunlop latex topper in 2" or 3" that is of the same quality as the mattress itself. We chose not to purchase the topper because the mattress continued to soften up. It's still not as soft as the store model. I went back into the store and tried it out and I could immediately feel the difference. It is, however, finally feeling comfortable for me. If my husband decides it needs a topper then we'll go with a 2", not 3", because we both like a slightly firm mattress. 3" would probably soften it up too much. All we would want from the topper is softer pressure points.  (Update: we bought the 3" topper, and it's so so so so much better than expected: please see my review of it below.) If you're the type of person who needs a firm, but comfortable and cozy, this mattress will probably be perfect for you. It's not nearly as firm at the floor, thankfully, but if you feel best sleeping on the floor then you're probably not shopping for a mattress anyway.

One adjustment I had to make to reduce my shoulder pain on the new mattress was lift my pillow up a bit. I'm a side sleeper, so a little more loft was all it took. I did this by adding a homemade organic cotton pillow under my latex pillow. I made it a while back to try to add loft to other pillows I was trying to make work for me, but that failed because the pillows I was trying to make work were simply wrong for me. I made the pillow very flat, so it only adds about half an inch, but that was enough in this case. I'm noticing that as the mattress softens up with use the pillow is starting to feel a little unnecessarily high, so it might continue to soften up enough that I no longer need to use the second pillow.

Third, how easy was it to set up? Well, let me be clear: this is a 150 lb mattress that comes compressed and rolled up into a tube. It's not easy to transport due to the weight and awkward length. Once it's unrolled, it's like trying to move a queen sized piece of Jello that weighs 150 lbs. Once the mattress is set up, leave it set up. Don't plan to move it. My husband and I were able to carry it out of my truck, up the stairs, down the hallway, and into the bedroom. By "carry" I mean slide on the carpet as much as possible. We were able to unroll it, get a full encasement allergy cover on it, and then get it in place on the bed. Nether of us are that strong. Neither of us want to do it again. But it was well worth it, and we quickly forgot about the hassle after a few nights of sleeping on it. And if setting it up yourself really bothers you, have the guys at the store do it for you. ;)

It came in an awkward box:



It was plastic wrapped to keep it rolled up and compressed:




Removing the plastic made it quickly decompress and unroll, before we could control the process. First thing we did was slide this allergy protector on it, which was the biggest pain of all. I'll explain which allergy cover I got in Part 3. We had to lift the mattress and pull up the cover an inch at a time, which was very tedious and difficult. I forgot to get a photo of the mattress before the cover was put on, so I pulled back the cover for this photo so that you can see the organic cotton and wool casing. Notice how the mattress falls like jello off the end of the foundation to the floor:

Set up and made our bed (forgive all the clutter, we had to push our stuff out of the way to set up this bed). As you can see, it's thinner than most mattresses. Our former mattress was 12" thick, and this is 9" thick. Big difference! We're closer to the floor, we don't have to jump up onto the bed to sit on it, and best of all, we're not stretching out our sheets! We have deep mattress sheets, but even they would come untucked on our old mattress. Our blankets hang further off the sides of this bed, which means we no longer have cold air attacking our legs in the middle of the night!

Final verdict (which I will update in another few weeks to see if it softens up more):

The mattress was worth it! While I would prefer it to be a bit softer, it is comfortable now that it's had time to soften up. I love that we have the option to add a latex topper of the same quality if we choose to soften it up more. The latex feels better than the memory foam in that I can adjust my sleeping position on it easily, whereas the memory foam mattress wrapped around my shape a bit too much to make it easy to move. I love that I'm getting better, deeper, more restful sleep on it! I'm not reacting to the mattress at all, so my body can actually relax at night!

If you're intrigued by all the benefits of this mattress, but the firmness worries you a bit, Sleep On Mattress does sell other latex mattress options. They carry a Talalay line that has some synthetics, but is mostly natural. They also carry the top-of-the-line Savvy Rest mattresses, which are certified organic latex mattresses. They had a couple options in the store to try in this line, and they have different feels. Again, this store is awesome because they will work with you. And they do ship! You don't have to live in Bismarck to buy from them!

UPDATE 12/22/16 - Latex Topper:The mattress continued to soften up and my body began to adjust to it. I actually found it to be comfortable and would have been happy with it as it was. My husband, however, still found it to be too firm, so we ordered the 3" soft topper. He decided against the 2" because he wanted to make sure we bought the best topper and not take a chance on a thinner model that might not have been enough for him.

I'm being sincere when I say that the mattresses was comfortable before the topper. But I'm also being sincere when I say that the topper is an AMAZING addition! I was worried it was going to soften it up too much, but this latex is amazing in that it softened it up a lot for my husband (who is obviously heavier than I am) and didn't soften it up much for me. The topper is very supportive, but lets pressure points sink in easily. I was worried about losing support by going softer, but I didn't lose any support while gaining pressure point relief! I stated in the original post that I needed to prop up my pillow so that my shoulder wasn't squished on the original mattress. I do not need to prop it up now. This topper lets my shoulder sink in the perfect amount and my head rests perfectly on the pillow. My husband went to the chiropractor, finally, and got rid of his back pain (for now - he needs go to regularly.) So he can say for sure that this mattresses and topper is not giving him back pain. He's sleeping very well, waking up feeling good (not stiff and achy like on the mattress before the topper), and is actually starting to compliment the bed!

This topper is normally about $400. Don't fear the price tag: it's worth it. Remember that latex can last 15-20 years if you take care of it. Most mattresses only last about 5-8 before you really should look into replacing them. So investing an additional $400 into a bed that is safe, healthy, won't make you sick, very supportive and comfortable, and very long-lasting is an excellent deal.

The ONLY thing I'm a bit sad about it is that we now have a 12" mattress + topper. Many of you might think this is better - it all comes down to preference. My husband likes the height better. For me it just makes it a tiny bit more challenging to put my sheets on. They are now a snug fit. I'm only 5'5", so I have to jump up a bit to crawl into bed.

I, of course, have photos to share:

It came in a much less awkward box. They were able to fold the topper in half before compressing it and rolling it up, so the box was actually very manageable. I could carry it up the stairs into the bedroom myself.


I was able to unroll it on the bed because because it wasn't awkward, unlike the mattress. The mattress was difficult to set up, but this was very easy.


It unrolled folded in half. What you can see in this photo (which I forget to get a good photo of for the mattress itself) is the organic cotton cover. This is the exact same cover (and type of latex) as the mattress has.



It does add some height, as you can see. You can also see how much padding it gives in order to soften up the mattress. Thinner versions are available (they're also cheaper), but I think it's good to see what the full size looks like when making a decision.

  (Sorry, excuse all my pill bottles in the background. I meant to clean up the bedroom before taking photos, but I only had enough energy to set up the topper.)



The Savvy Rest Cotton Mattress Pad:

I didn't purchase this with the mattress. I understood the benefits of it, but I thought the allergen cover might be enough for my needs. What changed my mind was reading up on how to care for a latex mattress, and I kept seeing that body sweat and heat can slowly deteriorate latex over time. I want this mattress to last me as long as possible (I've read 15-20 years when cared for correctly,) and I decided that I really don't want to have to wash the allergen any more often than necessary because it is such a pain to get on. The mattress pad is very easy to take off and wash, and it will collect any body fluids that get through the sheets. What really put me over the edge and made me buy the pad is when someone told me that they had a latex mattresses that molded. This really confused me, because latex is naturally mold resistant, and that was one of my biggest reasons for choosing latex over another natural mattress. She was not using a mattress pad. I wouldn't be surprised if the latex wasn't molding, but body fluid that got into the mattress was molding. She had mold toxicity in the past, and mycotoxins do sweat out of out of people with mold in their bodies. Either way, this made me decide to buy the topper. I do have a mycotoxin issue in my body, and I don't want mold to grow in my new safe mattress.

The topper is very nice: it's 100% undyed organic cotton with a stitching pattern to keep it from bunching. It is made slightly over sized so that it has room to shrink after washing. I washed mine in cold water with plant-based non-toxic detergent, and then I dried it by draping it over two dining room chairs and placing my air purifier under it. The air purifier creates quite the breeze on the high setting. Even after washing it properly, it did shrink to exactly the same size as the mattress. So that wasn't a problem, and it was very easy to care for.

I thought it might add a soft layer to the mattress, but it did not. At first it actually made the mattress more firm, but that was because I tied it too tight. After loosening the grip of the ties the mattress felt the same as it did without the pad.





Thank you for reading my review! Comment with any questions, and I'll be happy to answer them. You can look forward to Part 3, which will be on the bedding (blankets, sheets, etc) in a week or so. Let me get past Thanksgiving first. :) (Update - that might come after Christmas. This month is too stressful for me!)

Thank you so very much to Robert and Mike at Sleep On Mattress for this amazingly healthy mattress and for your wonderful high quality service! I've really enjoyed working with you both, and I cannot recommend your store enough!

Latex Mattress Review Part 1: Addressing the Need for a Non-Toxic Bed

This is part one of a two part blog review on the new natural latex bed in our bedroom. Part one is about the need for a non-toxic mattress. Part two will be the review of the mattress we chose.

Did you know we spend, on average, a quarter of our lives sleeping? That's around 25 years in bed. When we spend such a significant amount of time in one place, shouldn't we make sure it's a healthy safe place to be? Then you should think about your bed.

4 years ago, when my husband and I moved to North Dakota, we needed a new bed. An old spring mattress was left for us to use, but it was giving us backaches that made it too unhealthy to keep using. So we did what any other poor young couple would do: we went searching for the most affordable new bed. We ended up deciding on a Paula Deen 12" thick memory foam mattress that was on sale at Big Lots. The mattress, foundation, and plush upholstered frame cost us a combine total of $500, which is relatively very affordable. The bed was very comfortable. It was firm in all the right areas, but let pressure points sink in comfortably. No more backaches!

... And then we fast forward a couple of years. Every time I laid in the bed at night to fall asleep my heart rate would slowly increase more and more. If I didn't manage to fall asleep before my heart rate got too high, my heart rate would be the reason I couldn't sleep. I started tossing and turning more and more. I would experience more fibromyalgia pain in that bed than anywhere else. My health was deteriorating enough that it was difficult to know if the bed was causing the problems or if other health problems were causing my problems. I eventually had to quit my job due to chronic illness. I was in chronic pain, fought severe chronic fatigue, and lost a good amount of brain function. I ended up spending most of my time in bed, where I could not improve.

I have a condition called "Multiple Chemical Sensitives," or MCS for short. It's also known as Environmental Illness (EI) or 20th Century Illness. It can also be a part of Sick Building Syndrome, which generally refers to mold (but I do have mold illness too - that's another story.)  What this means is that when I encounter synthetic chemicals in the air, such as perfumes, cleaners, paint, cigarette smoke, car exhaust, flame retardants, and so on, my body has an allergic-like reaction. I have several types of reactions: heartburn, headache, severe sudden fatigue, gut ache, skin rashes, fibromyalgia flare (widespread pain in my muscles and joints), blurred vision (sometimes vertigo), rapid heart rate, difficultly breathing, sinus infections, tinnitus, nerve pain, and more. I react more strongly to synthetic chemicals than most other people, but that does not imply that healthy people are not affected by the synthetic chemicals. Many people with this condition refer to themselves as "canaries," referring to the Canary in the Coal Mine. We get hurt by these toxins before other people do, and we see our reactions as warning signs to those who are healthier. The implication is that even healthy people who are exposed to too much of these synthetic (and sometimes natural) toxins will eventually have health problems from the exposure.

Our memory foam mattress, as comfortable as it was, was made from 100% synthetic chemicals. We purchased this mattress before I developed full MCS, and I question if it was part of the reason that I developed MCS. Something to consider is what the University of Rochester found in a sleep study. They found that the body clears out toxins from the brain during sleep. If our body uses sleep as at time to clear out toxins, isn't it counter productive to be sleeping on a bed that is full of toxins? In my case, after many dollars and tests later, we've discovered that my body's normal detox pathways do not function well. I do not make or use gluathione well, the body's master antioxidant (which binds to things the body considers toxic and pulls them out through our bowel). Imagine the scenario in which my body is unable to process toxins normally, and then I sleep on a mattress full of toxins for years. The toxins would build up in my body because it can't keep up, right? That would cause health problems, right? Yes, my thoughts exactly. I can't prove anything, but I have good scientific reasons to believe this was the case. Now imagine you, a hopefully healthy person with a normally functioning detox pathways in your body, regularly polluting your body with toxins. You eat artificial ingredients in your food, apply synthetic ingredients to your skin and hair (your skin absorbs most of what you put on it into your blood stream,) you wear clothes treated with formaldehyde and flame retardants and made from synthetic polyester, you breath in car exhaust and cigarette smoke while in public, you encounter artificial fragrances on other people and in the stores you shop in, you're surrounded by synthetic cleaning products in your work place... and then you go to sleep on a synthetic mattress. How much do you expect your body to take until all of these regular daily exposures wear out your body and cause health problems? What if you could sleep on a non-toxic bed that allowed your body to actually detox during sleep, like it is meant to, instead of fighting more foreign toxins?

"Heather Stapleton, an environmental chemist at Duke University, says there's simply not enough data to determine whether low levels of these chemicals will eventually make people sick. "It's the dose that makes the poison," she says. "If they're not getting out, maybe it's not a problem—but we don't know. There are plenty of lab studies that show that these compounds are harmful. It's just a question of what levels people are exposed to.""

What is memory foam made of and do we really have proof of its toxicity? Due to the fact that I could easily write a whole book on this topic, I'm going to point you in the direction of people who have already written on this topic:

1. http://www.sleepjunkie.org/are-memory-foam-mattresses-safe/

"Memory Foam & Polyurethane Foam Components

• Polyols – the binder/bulk ingredient. Usually composed of petroleum oil-derived ingredients, but may also include botanical sources like soy or castor beans.
• Diisocyanates – the reactive ingredient. Reacts with the polyols and blowing agent to produce a flexible polyurethane foam. The most commonly used sources are MDI and TDI, which alone in raw forms can cause respiratory and dermal sensitization and may be carcinogenic. MDI is regarded as the safer and less toxic option, and is known to be the least hazardous organic isocyanate. The primary hazard with these compounds is during manufacturing; after reacting they are inert but can offgas.
• Blowing Agents – introduces carbon to create the foam. Used to use CFCs, though today manufacturers may use water, HFC or other agents."

2. https://savvyrest.com/info/does-memory-foam-contain-toxic-chemicals
"So what are those “additional chemicals”? What do we know about memory foam?

1. There have been legal consequences for memory foam companies which claimed their products are free of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
2. Some memory foam mattresses contain toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde, benzene, and naphthalene.
3. Memory foam contains isocyanates which (according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) can cause irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and skin.
4. Exposure to isocyanates can lead to chest tightness and asthma. According to Yale University, continued exposure to isocyanates can lead to “regular asthma, and asthma attacks that are triggered in many environments, not just by isocyanate exposure.”
5. Isocyanates contain compounds classified as potential human carcinogens (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)."

3.  http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/12/30/mattress-toxic-chemicals.aspx

"Why Flame Retardant Chemicals in Your Mattress Could Be Dangerous

The primary filling material used in most conventional mattresses is polyurethane foam — a highly flammable petroleum-based material. Because of its high flammability, polyurethane foam must be treated or wrapped with fire retardant chemicals.
Flame-retardant chemicals have been linked to serious health risks, including infertility, birth defects, neurodevelopmental delays, reduced IQ scores and behavioral problems in children, hormone disruptions, and various forms of cancer.
The risks may be especially dangerous to children, as research revealed that children born to women who were exposed to high levels of PBDEs during pregnancy had, on average, a 4.5 point decrease in IQ.⁴ Such children are also more prone to hyperactivity disorders.
Remember, these chemicals don't "stay put" in the mattress. They migrate out and collect in house dust. As a result, an estimated 90 percent of Americans have some level of flame-retardant chemicals in their bodies.
Long-term residents of California, which was the first state to use flame retardant chemicals, tend to have far higher levels.
This is no small concern. Flame retardant chemicals have even been identified as one of 17 "high priority" chemical groups that should be avoided to reduce your risk of breast cancer.⁵
Adding to the conundrum of using flame retardant chemicals, when on fire, objects doused in flame retardants (yes, they can still catch fire) give off higher levels of carbon monoxide, soot, and smoke than untreated objects.
These three things are more likely to kill a person in a fire than burns, which means flame retardant chemicals may actually make fires more deadly."

It's a lot to consider, and a lot of this probably sounds like a conspiracy theory. Companies can't make products that are harmful, right? There's regulations to prevent toxic products from being sold, right? It's not that simple or easy. We live in a consumerist society where synthetic chemicals are considered safe until proven harmful, and who is going to take the time, resources, and energy to test all the new chemicals being invented?

So, knowing what you know now, do you think it's a good idea to consider purchasing a non-toxic mattress? That leads us to the next question: what does non-toxic mean? For me, in my condition, it means one specific thing: made from natural materials without any added synthetic chemicals. In my case natural materials do not cause me to react (I am allergic to many natural things, but that's an entirely different issue.)

There are several different options of non-toxic bedding: organic or natural cotton, wool, down, dunlop latex, or talalay latex. Each option has a different price point, comfort level, and function. Each option has different advantages and disadvantages. For instance, organic cotton mattresses tend to wear out quickly, even though they're the least allergenic. Wool mattresses tend to last longest, but they're most expensive when you want one that offers good support. Talalay latex is known as a softer latex than Dunlop, but it generally goes through a more synthetic processing to make, making Dunlop more natural.

I chose to go with a natural dunlop latex mattress for several reasons. First, my naturopathic doctor introduced me to the latex pillow and it worked very well for me, so I knew I'd be safe with a full latex mattress. Second, it's the most similar to memory foam, which is what we were used to sleeping on. Third, it's the most economical for our needs. Most importantly, Robert from Sleep On Mattress in Bismarck, ND gave me an offer I couldn't refuse on a natural dunlop latex mattress. His offer was the best I'll ever get and it came at the right time.

I will review Sleep On Mattress and the pillow and mattress I bought from them in Part Two, but here's a sneak peak of the process of setting it up (we were able to get a natural cotton allergen cover on it, which is always a good sign of a good mattress):





For further information, I highly recommend these detailed and scientific documentaries:

Stink!

Toxic Hot Seat

Tea Gelatin Recipe

Some of you who know me in person have been asking me to share this recipe for a while, so I apologize that it's taken me so long! Fighting fatigue makes it hard to keep up with the world, sadly!

This one is super simple, hard to get it wrong. I decided to try making my own gelatin because I remembered how nice it was to eat Jello when my digestive system wasn't feeling well. I figured that it shouldn't be hard to make an organic version without all the food coloring, fillers, and sugar. My experiment worked!

Tea Gelatin

What you need:

-Two 12 oz mugs

-1 glass container that can fit 24 oz of liquid

-2 tablespoons of grass-fed gelatin (I use Vital Proteins.)

-3-6 tea bags or equivalent of loose tea (My favorites have been Choice's Lemon Lavender Mint, Frontier's bulk Rooibos tea, Tuli's Cinnamon Rose tea, and Numi's Gunpowerder Green Tea. The Rooibos mixes well most of these other flavors.)

Optionally, you may also use:

-Lemon juice (for sweetness and flavor, but don't pair it with green tea because it can draw the aluminum out of the green tea leaves, according to both my chiropractor and this article.)

-Nut milk (I used coconut milk, but only a light amount or the fat films on top of the gelatin.)

-Organic vegetable-based food coloring (I haven't done this)

-Organic non-sugar sweetener such as stevia or xylotol. (I have not used sweeteners in this recipe, so I cannot testify as to how well they work.)

-Possibly extracts for flavor, but I have not tried this yet.



Recipe:
1. Put 2-3 bags of your choice of tea in one of the mugs and fill it with filtered water. Let it sit, covered, in the fridge for 24 hours. Alternatively, you can use hot water to brew the tea and then place it in the fridge to cool. The goal is to make a strong cold tea. If you want to add lemon juice or nut milk for flavor, add it to this cold tea.

2. Once the cold tea is ready, make hot tea in the other mug. I use 2-3 bags in this mug too, as the flavor needs to be strong. Let it brew for about 6-7 minutes, long enough to steep, but not long enough to cool down.

3. Remove the tea bags from both mugs.

4. Stir in 2 table spoons of gelatin to the hot tea. Keep stirring, try to avoid letting it gel onto the spoon. If you want to add a sweetener, add it to the hot tea while you're stirring in the gelatin. I have never used sweeteners in this, so let me know how it works if you try it.

5. Once dissolved, pour the hot tea into the glass bowl. Then pour the cold tea into the bowl. If you wish to use safe organic food coloring (I will NEVER advocate using synthetic food dyes since they are extremely dangerous to your health), add it in now. Stir gently, just enough to distribute the coloring.

6. Cover the bowl and put it in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. The reason I suggest a glass bowl is so that you can see when the gelatin has set. It should be solid.

7. Enjoy!





Note:
Keep in mind that tea has medicinal properties. You're also making a few servings of gelatin. Even though it might be tempting, you should be careful eating the whole batch in one sitting, especially if you're using tea with caffeine!

Also keep in mind that this is not a meal replacement. It is high in protein, but it's not very filling. Treat it like a snack or something you can get down when you're feeling sick.

Synergy Organic Clothing Reivew

I discovered Synergy Organic Clothing a few months ago, and when I discovered them my first thought was, "Why hasn't anyone told me about them!?" This is an organic cotton clothing company that is GOTS certifed. They have stylish unique clothing unlike other organic brands on the market. They're not your basic t-shirt and yoga pant company, which many organic brands tend to be. They have actual retail stores in California, but also sell on their website and through Amazon. Ethos Collection has also featured some of their clothing.

To be clear, I can't afford their clothes. I can't work much due to my illness and sensitivities, and my husband teaches at a state college. We're not rich, and our budget is limited. I won't be able to buy any of their clothing at normal price. They have had some incredible sales, though, making their clothing very affordable. When it comes to clothing, I'm very opportunistic. I only buy organic, so I only buy when it's on sale or clearance. I've been able to slowly build up a decent wardrobe that is *safe* for me to wear this way.

A few months ago Synergy had a special in which you paid $20 + shipping for one last-season article of clothing, but you didn't know what they would send you. I took the bait. They sent me this adorable summer dress (please excuse the poor lighting - it's the only full length mirror in the house and it's in the room with the worst lighting):

The dress is super cute and it's so me! The only problem is that I ordered it in a medium and it's about as tight as possible. Normally I'm between a small and medium, but after this experience I read some reviews and I learned that Synergy tends to run small.

I'm 5'5", between 135-140 lbs (I fluctuate a lot), and tend to be a size medium or size 8 in American sizes. According to their website size chart, I will fit a medium very snugly or a large a bit loosely. I'm right in between sizes, which is quite irritating to work with.

So this month they're having a fantastically massive sale. Except my sale was even better: until October 11th they took an extra 50% off the sale prices with a special promo code. It was the best organic sale I've ever seen. I'm sure they were losing money on it. I'm sure they're going to offer this type of sale again, so it might be worth signing up for their emails. I took the bait again, only I ordered everything in size large. I'm less impressed with the company after this recent purchase. Let me show you through pictures...

I thought I was buying this top:


I ended up with this:



I didn't think I was getting a dolman top. In fact, the model photo makes it appear that the cut is entirely different from what I got. I nearly returned this because I'm not a fan of dolman cut sleeves, but I decided to make it work for me since it was so inexpensive. It's a bit loose in some areas and a bit snug in others. I'm not sure how this would actually fit on someone carrying more weight than me - I'm very confused by the sizing. It looks a bit too big on me, but then when I reach my arms forward the cut of the sleeves pulls the back so much that it feels a bit snug. This was a disappointing buy. I would be curious to see how much different the medium would have been on me.



I thought I was buying this dress:


I ended up with this:




This dress is interesting. It did shrink in the wash. When I first pulled it out of the packaging and put it up next to me the length was down to my mid calf. Not exaggerating. This was LONG. After washing it shrunk to just under my knees. I have a long torso with short legs, generally wear a petite pant, so I expect dresses and skirts to be longer on my legs than intended. The skirt portion of the dress fits about right. I have large hips, so I tend to need roomy skirts and pants. The top portion of the dress is a little large, but not too big. It does not fit the way it does on the model. The edges of the long collar curls under itself all the way to the seam at my waist. It's not a flat edge as shown on the model. The shoulders are a little too roomy, but not so large it looks bad. I think I needed a medium top with a large bottom to this dress. Sigh. Part of that is my body is weird, but I think the company needs to alter its sizing.


I thought I was buying this tunic:


And I did get it:


Yay, this one has no issues! It's as expected! It is a little too large in the shoulders, but just barely. My only complaint was that it didn't come in green. I have a dress code at work of either solid green or solid black shirts. I've been looking for a green tunic, but oh well. I really love this top. A lot. It's super comfortable, is the right length to cover my generous hips for modesty sake, is a cute color, and is safe for my chemically sensitive body!

The pants:

The bootcut yoga pants I'm wearing in these photos are from Fisher's Finery. Click the link to go to the pants I bought. They're made from bamboo with organic cotton. They won't work for many of you because they do have spandex in them. They don't seem to bother me, thankfully. In this case I thought I was buying their charcoal color, but they sent me black. I typically don't wear black due to my light skin color - I just don't like black on me. Black dyes also tend to be the most irritating to people with sensitive skin. I wasn't happy about them sending me the wrong color, but I haven't reacted to them and they're incredibly comfortable, so I just kept them. I ordered a size up purposefully so that they wouldn't be skin tight. I didn't want them to show off my butt. As it turns out, the large is still form fitting and shows off my butt, but they don't feel tight against my skin. There is some give to them, which I like. They work perfectly with my new Synergy tunic. ;)  You can read my review on Amazon. 


So... in conclusion...
Overall I really like Synergy Organic Clothing. I think they're doing a wonderful thing by making GOTS certified organic cotton clothing in stylish feminine designs. They're countering the fast fashion industry with well-made clothing designed to last. The fabric should hold up, and the style will look good as time goes on. As someone with MCS I really appreciate this company making safe stylish clothing that is more affordable (even at full price) than many other organic clothing brands.

My only complaint is their sizing. Ideally, check them out at their California retail locations so that you can try on the clothes before you buy. I will hesitate to buy from them again simply due to the odd sizing, but if I can manage to loose another 10 lbs then I think all of their mediums will fit me (when losing 10 lbs would mean going down to a small in other brands, like PACT.)

I do recommend. Check them out! Just take careful measurements of your body before placing an order. :)


(Thank you, Mom, for taking the photos!) ;)

Stink! Movie Review and Link to Watch it for Free

https://stinkmovie.com/

I've been looking forward to watching Stink! for at least a year now, but I haven't had access to it on any of my streaming accounts. For the month of October, 2016 it's streaming for free. Just click the link above and watch it right on the website for free.

Why are they streaming it for free? Because it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and nothing says you support breast cancer better than Susan G. Komen, right? After all, the "charity" raises money by selling perfumes, lotions, clothing, shoes, hair products, and more all containing known human carcinogens and endocrine disruptors, known to cause breast cancer. Yes, you read that right. Susan G. Komen raises money and support to find a cure for breast cancer through products that cause breast cancer... with whatever is money is left after salary. This movie is meant to educate you on how to avoid getting breast cancer by avoiding those ingredients that are known human carcinogens.

Stink! is another in a line of documentaries about the actual science and politics behind using untested, unregulated synthetic chemicals in the majority of the products in our country today. I can't say "in our world today" because most other countries actually regulate these same synthetic chemicals and refuse to allow them to be used in their countries. Because they're not proven safe. Two great documentaries that came before Stink! are The Human Experiment (by Sean Penn) and Toxic Hot Seat. The Human Experiment was a very basic, not hard hitting introduction to the problem of untested, unregulated synthetic chemicals that are not proven safe being in most of our everyday products. I was happy it was made, but it won't convert any skeptics. Toxic Hot Seat focuses on the rate of sickness and death in firefighters since flame retardant chemicals have been added to all of our furniture. It was a bit too long and too dense, as if it were an actual PubMed study in film version, but it goes to show how much there is to say on the matter and how complicated the politics are. Even if you just watch the first 30 minutes of it you'll have enough information to make better furniture choices - it's that hard-hitting.

But Stink! is easily my favorite of them all so far. It's by a father and husband who lost his wife to breast cancer and wants to protect his two daughters from developing cancer too. He bought his children pajamas from the store Justice for Christmas, but when they opened the pajamas they were assaulted with a powerful smell. He wanted to know what the synthetic smell was, so he made many phone calls to Justice and they refused to tell him what ingredients are added to the clothing or for what purpose. So he sent the pajamas to a lab to be tested, and the results showed synthetic chemicals that are known human carcinogens and actually banned. The movie goes from there, exploring the dangers in perfumes, cleaners, body care products, car wash, clothing, furniture, etc. He shows interviews from C-Span in which John Kerry and other well known politicians grill people in the chemical industry. He personally interviews politicians and those working in the chemical industry. He personally interviews the CEO of Justice who refuses to apologize or acknowledge any dangers in his clothing line. You'll come to understand the politics very well. He did an excellent job in this film!

So please, for your own health and for the health of everyone around you, please watch this film. It's FREE for the month of October. You can't tell me you're too busy to find time for this movie in an entire month. You can't tell me you're not interested, because if you're alive you need to be interested in this massive assault on human health. Why am I so passionate? Because cancer isn't the only illness that these unsafe synthetic chemicals cause. I personally have been affected. I have a disease called Multiple Chemical Sensitives that's at the heart of my chronic illnesses. I have a difficult time going in public without getting sick due to all the toxins people wear and are in most buildings, meaning I can't just go on living my life normally. It's impossible.

Autumn Update

I have so much I could share on this blog, but I've been completely exhausted! Autumn has settled in and it's messing with my sleep, making my bones ache, causing me inflammation all over, and giving me anxiety. I've had to work harder than I'm used to over the past couple of weeks between my actual job, traveling to Minnesota, and work that has to be done at home. Yesterday my body rebelled and told me to stop. I was so exhausted that even eating took too much energy, and I got a fever while eating each meal, followed by some unpleasant time in the bathroom. My body didn't want to spend any energy on digestion. Eating was so draining that I was feeling very faint and had to lay down for a few hours twice.

I'm finding that every autumn I get MUCH worse very suddenly, like hitting a brick wall. While my friends are celebrating the pumpkin spice, all of the colors on the trees, their new fall boots to pair with their leggings, all the festivals, and the cozy hot autumn drinks, I find myself a lot more anxious than normal and in chronic pain again. I'm finding that I'm more argumentative and direct with people, when I actually had a relatively good summer with lots of joking and laughing. My whole mood and personality changes. It's the only seasonal change I'm hyper sensitive to. Winter is actually easier on me, despite the intense negative temperatures that are normal here in North Dakota, but I do feel much more depressed and low than I do during Spring and Summer. I'm clearly living in the wrong state.

I do want to share a few quick things, and they're not necessarily related:

1. This one is for people with mold toxicity, the rest of you can skip reading this one. I'm learning that I need to clean my toilet bowl much more often. After months of trying to decide if this is what's going on, I've determined it has to be the cause: my urine is full of mycotoxins, and I believe the mycotoxins are why mold grows in my toilet bowl so quickly and easily. The toilet hasn't flushed well in the past couple of years, often times I have to flush twice. I think it doesn't flush everything down, which leaves mycotoxins floating in the bowl all night. If any of you have also experienced this, please leave me a comment!

2. I decided to try the Julian Bakery Paleo Bars. The ingredients appear to be safe for me, and a bar that I can actually eat is amazing for travel. It's very appealing. The problem is that even though the sugar content is very low and they use stevia, these spike my blood sugar like nothing else. My blood sugar went from 98 to 160 after eating one of these! I felt awful! This bar doesn't always give me that bad of a spike, but the fact that it can do this is scary. Also, even though it uses chocolate extract I still get a sulfur reaction from these. I can't tolerate sulfur foods, and chocolate is high in sulfur. The taste is actually kind of addictive, which is the problem for me and why I've had more than one. I tried one of the egg white protein bars and it was disgusting - horrible! It had the texture of Laffy Taffy, where I kept chewing and chewing and chewing and it wouldn't break down, and that whole time I was chewing a nasty sour flavor. Not good. I do not recommend.

3. I wish I could love Epic Bars. They're doing a fantastic job at bringing correctly-raised and nutritionally good quality meat to the market. They're using a variety of animals, everything from beef, chicken, and pork to salmon, venison, and wild boar. The problem is that everyone single one of their bars has either fruit, pork products, or too much black pepper. I can't eat sugar in any form, not even fruit. I can't eat pork. I can't tolerate much black pepper. I was at Whole Foods a few weeks ago and found their new Venison bars. The only problem was that it was black pepper flavored, but I decided to give it a try anyway. A little bit of black pepper every once in a while isn't bad for me. Well, the bars are about half meat and half black pepper. I can see people really enjoying the bar, but wow, that was major black pepper overkill for me! I did eat the whole case of them that I bought, but slowly and only when I felt strong enough to handle it. They're tasty! But what it means is that there is still no single Epic Bar that I can eat, despite them being a grass-fed and pasture raised meat brand. Frustrating!

4. Eating a Whole Foods salad for breakfast for a few days in a row really doesn't work well for me. So many raw vegetables, and the meat isn't anything special. It's also turkey, which can make me tired. My poor body doesn't like raw vegetables. :(





I hope to post more soon!