Hello all,

I have a question..on another forum for MCS..a couple people I chat with drink organic beer or organic wine..I am curious if drinking beers or wines can increase sensitivity?

Thanks
Denise

Hi Denise,

As I understand it alcohol is a toxin to the body and is a burden on the liver with or without preservatives. I havent been able to tolerate any alcohol since becoming ill with MCS. As i found out yesterday when meeting a fellow MCS sufferer we are so completely different with sensitivities he was able to tolerate alcohol in small amounts.

How are you getting on with your flooring situation

Regards

Sarah

Hi Sarah,

I have found since moving to this rental house that I have become more sensitive..the whole flooring situation is way to much for me..and wehave noticed in the last few months that mold has been growing in the bathrooms and window seals..no matter how much we remove it...it comes back..

So our lease is up next month..I am looking for a new house to rent in the country..I now know what to look for in a rental with MCS..as last year I was still new to MCS and didnt know what to look for..so I hope the move helps..

How have you been?

I really hope this helps with your ability to live day to day. Housing is one of our biggest challenges. So good luck indeed with your move.

I have been ok for two weeks and said the fatal words! I dont go out unless I absolutely have to I can be well for a couple of weeks at a time.
This week however I was poisoned by the rubber seals from a new set of glass containers I used for food storage. I have been poisoned by food containers before, plastics, aluminium etc. I can usually taste the contaminant in my food and then not eat it, not this time. After 20 minutes my whole body filled with the smell and taste of rubber in my eyes lungs everywhere and then the uncontrolable shaking and the vomiting which is most unusua followed by the two day recovery.
Apart from this little slip up fine although having been a year or so in chemical free environment I have come to realise my sensitivities are not improving at all. So its on to the supplements.

I am way to early in the day to say if they are having any effect and I cant take the full recommended doses of stuff yet. But when I can and if I do get results I will be singing from the tree tops.

Look after yourself and stay off the vino collapso. In the last year or so I have seen really drunk people (well my partner and or the grown up kids) it makes me glad I cant do it any more!

Good luck with everything

Sarah

Hi dwise,

I was a \"joe sixpack\" for many years when I came down with MCS... I also was exposed to a lot of chemicals at work in the medical profession. Cold soak sterilizing agents (Cidex & OPA) and disinfectants.

In researching MCS, I learned about how regular alcohol use (or solvent exposure) can \"up-regulate\" microsomal cytochrome or CYP-450 enzymes up to 10 to 30 times their normal levels.

CYP-450 enzymes break down a lot of other chemicals besides alcohol, and do it in a very dirty way, releasing a lot of ROS (reactive oxygen species) in the process, causing considerable oxidative stress.

Levels of CYP-450 enzymes that are too high, combined with deficiencies in vitamin or secondary enzyme pathways can lead to \"pathological detoxification\" syndrome, which I feel may be the precursor to MCS in some people.

The supplement \"PPC\" that I rave about in other posts \"down-regulates\" CYP-450 enzymes, and I credit this supplement (along with NAC and a couple of other supplements) with getting my MCS under control.

I'm still working with the toxic chemicals at work, and I can even drink again, although more moderately than before, and I'm sold on supplements for maintaining healthy detoxification profiles.

Good Luck to You in your quest for the cure!

Hi all,

Bill is absolutely right about the cytochrome P450 (CYP-450) system and detoxification. It is basically the first step in a two step detoxification process the body uses and actually amplifies toxins when exposure is chronic. I agree that is leads to pathological detoxification and potentially MCS.

Another link between alcohol and MCS is that the body breaks down alcohol (ethanol) to acetaldehyde - a chemical cousin of formaldehyde which is credited with causing MCS and triggering symptoms in so many cases. It is likely chronic exposure to acetaldehyde could also cause MCS. I believe this to be the case with me.

I was diagnosed with ME/CFS aged 12. This is obviously an illness involving significant immune system dysfunction and in my case led to particularly severe gut infections with bacteria and yeast. Yeast produce alcohol and acetaldehyde as part of their metabolism so if you have a gut full of yeast you chronically absorb acetaldehyde...along with alcohol which in turn is also converted to acetaldehyde on its way to being detoxified. I only developed MCS after my gut problems became so severe I began experiencing hangovers after meals (acetaldehyde is also the major chemical responsible for alcohol-induced hangovers!)

Denise - Good luck with finding a suitable new home. I'm happy to hear you now feel more confident about what you need

Sarah - It can take much longer than a year in a chemical-free environment for sensitivities to diminish (if they are going to at all). It took around 3 years for me although I also credit the use of DHEA for my recovery as well. Good luck with your supplement program and keep us updated!

Bill - Always happy to see you sharing your knowledge. If only the site had another 10 of you!!