Hi, I am 35yrs old and have just been diagnosed with MCS-do you have any advice-we have been told to only eat organic whole foods and no wheat or yeast or dairy products:ohmy:

We have been exposed to mycotoxins for almost 2yrs in a brand new house-we moved our May 07. Please help-I feel very depressed and don't know how to handle all of this:(

Hi Wendy,

Thanks for posting. I'm sorry to hear you're having such a rough time.

Hopefully this web site and others like it will help you to see at least that you are not alone. Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is becoming very widespread despite substantial efforts to dismiss this from various quarters.

Who has diagnosed you and given you the advice about diet? It sounds like you have found someone who recognises MCS which is a good start.

I have suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome since age 11 and also developed MCS around age 20. Like you I was extremely depressed at first as more and more seemingly insignificant things started to make me extremely ill. Thankfully I have now been free from MCS for a number of years (touch wood).

Unfortunately getting well is not an easy process but I hope the fact that myself and others have done so will give you hope. For around 2-3 years I had to get rid of all fragranced products from my life which meant no chemicals in my home and having to wear a carbon filter face mask whenever I went out or had company. This was character building to say the least! But the fact is that I can now tolerate fragranced chemicals again without getting sick. Obviously I still don't use them at home and try to steer clear whenever possible but I can go out and about just like anybody else again without having to worry. I'd therefore recommend that you avoid being exposed to fragranced chemical products and other volatile organic compounds (e.g. vehicle exhaust, cigarette smoke) as much as possible. I was single and living alone so I appreciate this can be much easier said than done for people with families.

Other things I would recommend you look into with an MCS aware doctor or other health professional are diet (inc food sensitivities), gut dysbiosis, leaky gut syndrome, liver detoxification, and hormone levels (particularly adrenal,thyroid and sex hormones). You can learn about all of these things on this web site and elsewhere on the web.

Please read all of our MCS articles here: www.ei-resource.org/articles/multiple-ch...ensitivity-articles/

I also cannot recommend highly enough a book called 'Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: A Survival Guide' which was written by a university professor who researches and teaches on the subject. She has interviewed hundreds of MCS sufferers and compiled tables with the most effective treatments that these sufferers reported. Amongst the very top incidentally are 'avoiding chemical exposures' and DHEA supplements. DHEA is an adrenal hormone that is depleted by prolonged stress whether that is mental or physical (such as illness). Incidentally these are the two treatments which I credit with my own recovery.

Please see more about the book here: www.ei-resource.org/environmental-illnes...y:-a-survival-guide/

I hope some of this is of help to you and hasn't confused you too much! Please get back to me here if you want to ask ANYTHING.

Best wishes,

Maff

Hi Maff,

Thanks for the recommendations, I will definitely buy the book.We have already cut out any perfumed/chemical product inc handsoap,shampoo,laundry deterg-everything and I already wear a mask as if I don't I get very bad headcahes,my throat closes up and I becone dizzy and disoriented.We became ill from a new home that is growing mold producing mycotoxins-I went to the hospital 7 times between moving in Nov 05 and moving out May 07-they had no idea what was wrong with me and thought I had tumors etc.As you can telll from my user name I am originally from the Isle of Man an I had never heard of mold making you sick-I was around mold all the time-you know damp,old buildings are not are in the UK;)

Anyway we have started a yeast,dairy and wheat free organic diet, which of course my children hate- my 11yr old is showing symptoms of bcoming MCS she is also sensitive to smells/chemicals and yeateday aftergoing into a card shop, became dizzy and disorientd-it rightens me that she is now starting to sufer-what can I do to help her before she gets as bad as me, I have also began to get pains in my stomach afer I eat-is that MCS too?? Is my immune system startingto reject the food?

Thanks,

Manxie.

Yeah the symptoms kind of force you into avoiding things and wearing masks don't they. A lot of research suggests that MCS is the result of parts of the brain becoming highly sensitized to volatile chemicals. This theory explains well why we tend to become sensitized to such a wide range of chemicals and also why avoiding them for a period of time allows sufferers to regain tolerance.

When you say \"new home\" do you mean it was a newly built house or a new home to you? Reason I ask is because newly built homes contain all sorts of things that off-gas powerful chemicals....carpets, laminate flooring, new furniture, fitted kitchen units, paints and other finishes etc. This all adds up to produce a highly toxic environment that can last years after the first owners move in. Of course, mold can also be highly toxic, as you have learned.

In terms of symptoms from food it may be a reaction to chemicals (preservatives, flavourings etc) but it sounds like you have removed these from your diet. Otherwise it may be the result of food sensitivities or what's known as 'gut dysbiosis' where the balance of bacteria in your gut is disturbed. Basically MCS and all the other conditions we cover on this site boil down to problems with the immune system and toxicity. These can have various impacts on digestive function.

It sounds like you are doing all the right things for yourself and your daughter but I'd suggest you read as much as you can on this site and others as well as from books (I know this is hard when you're ill and have a family!) so you get an idea of how everything ties together. You really need to work with a doctor who recognises MCS or a nutritional therapist who can take a full history and order specialized tests to look for the root causes of your problems (e.g. allergies and sensitivities, gut problems, nutritional deficiencies, detoxification problems etc). If you get to the bottom of things now I am sure your daughter will recover quickly and be able to get on with life without too much disruption.

I was diagnosed with CFS/ME at age 11 and ignored all my mum's efforts to help me with special diets and things throughout my teens. If only I had listened I would have saved myself a lot of suffering. I really hope you can get this across to your daughter without upsetting her too much.

You can find a qualified nutritional therapist in your area on the following web site: http://www.nutripeople.co.uk/

Take care,

Maff

Hi Wendy,

No matter what you eat - organic or not - foodstuff is full of mold. I grow my own and I know firsthand that it cannot be avoided. Mold is everywhere. Hulda Clark's books say to pretreat ALL grains with powdered Vitamin C in the soaking water for 5 minutes to detoxify the mycotoxins, then cook with a pinch of salt to raise the boiling point to kill the mold.

The key here is to get rid of the mycotoxins which is completely separate from killing the mold. You can kill the mold by cooking but the mycotoxins are still there.

Here's the part that is just a plain nightmare for MCS. If chemicals (mycotoxins are chemicals too) were not enough to contend with then you add food allergies, food sensitivities and food intolerances.

I've found the Blood Type diet to be the only effective thing for me and if you are Type O then you will find that you should avoid Corn.

Guess what almost all Vitamin C is made from?

Corn.

You can get some that are made from Peppers, some made from Citrus and some made from Cassava. I use the kind from Cassava with no side effects.

Make sure that it is Buffered because you don't want to rot your teeth.

You can treat your basement with Borax (if you can tolerate it and if you have basements in the UK)

Try a protein and vegetable diet (no grain no starch) for a few days to see if the brain fog clears. If it does then you might have a microbial overgrowth in your intestines. I first read about this in Mental and Elemental Nutrients by Pfeiffer published in 1975 but the technique was pioneered by Robert Hegner in 1924.

If I can think of more I'll send it.

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the headsup on DHEA. I had been using lypholized animal glandulars for adrenals, then I read that many protozoa, bacteria and virus can survive low temperatures. I may have been adding to my burden even though I couldn't function without the pills.