EiR Blog
A Blog For Those Affected By Environmental And Invisible Illnesses Written By Fellow Survivors
Why many people with MCS/EI may be sick all the time.
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Hi All,
I recently had a conversation with my E/I doctor that made me realize that many MCS/EI people are sick all the time for a very simple reason; they don't have a safe place to sleep. He was telling me that I was lucky because I did have periods of time where I did feel OK. I told him what I am going to tell you now.
I got sick in November of 1991. My primary concern over the years since then was to find and maintain a safe place to sleep. My day is about something like walking through a minefield (can you relate?); trying to avoid the perfumes, cells phones, fabric softeners, computers, TV's, etc. that are everywhere. This is not an easy task. My x-wife and I were married for nine years but lived together for only four. This is probably why we stayed together so long. For most of those years I woke up every morning and started my routine of trying to find a place where my whole family could live. During one of those periods, about a year, I lived alone in the Santa Fe Residence Inn sleeping in the fetal position on a small couch; I could not get near the bed. OK. This can turn into a very long story and I don't want that so my basic belief is, if you are sleeping in a place that makes you sick you will probably stay sick most of the time. When I have a reaction it usually lasts for the remainder of the day and into the night but, usually, by the next morning I am pretty much recovered. So, for those of you who think what I am saying might fit you need to do the work. There is a protocol that I use in identifying places but I can tell you that in Santa Fe it was really difficult to find housing. I have a condo there now but can only be in one of the two bedrooms and not the walk-in closet. My kitchen and one bathroom are partially taped up to cover some of the invisible mold that got in there for various reasons. If I lost the condo I don't think I would look for new housing there.
Best of Luck; we all need it, Harry
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Comment last edited on about 8 years ago by Maff Maff
Hi Harry,
Many thanks for being the first person to take advantage of the blogging system here on The Environmental Illness Resource. The last thing I want for this site is for my voice to be the only one visitors hear! Any registered member can write a blog like Harry has done here. Registration is free and instructions for writing a blog can be found in the 'Help' Menu at the top of each page. It's very straight forward!
In my own experience I guess I have been very lucky. The bedroom has always been a safe haven for me and has never triggered my MCS symptoms. The problem areas for me have always been the kitchen and the bathroom. However careful I have been in removing possible sources of VOCs these rooms still make me ill. Thankfully my MCS is much improved now but for years I had to wear a carbon filter mask when emptying my bladder....now that must have been a frightening sight!
Thanks again Harry, great post on a very important issueI look forward to reading more from you in the future.
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Comment last edited on about 8 years ago by Maff Maff
Hi Harry,
Thank you very much for your post. You make an excellent point about how absolutely essential it is to find a safe place to sleep.
Initially I had to sleep in my garden shed (for 6 years) to avoid being poisoned to death by an offgassing new bungalow. Then the shed was chemically contaminated (maliciously I suspect) driving me back indoors. Fortunately, by then the worst of the offgassing was over - but the house itself (rented) still makes me ill.
Though my 'home' still makes me ill it is the bedtime/night-time part that really wipes me out. I haven't had a proper bed for years as everything I try makes me very ill - very quickly. For the past few years now I have had to sleep on a disintegrating 12 year old corner-unit sofa which poisons me so badly every night that I am reeling and staggering about like a drunk by the time I get up.
The bed part isn't the only problem though. Bedding is just as bad - sometimes worse. I can't find a pillow either. And everything else I try now to lay my head on to sleep (see: [url]http://www.mcs-international.org/vv_chemical_injury/mcs_wooden_pillow.html[/url]) makes me rapidly and quite violently ill.
So, between the bed and the bedding issues, I haven't had one single nights sleep in years that couldn't be described as "chemical torture". This is why I was so appreciative of your post because you hightlight what I consider to be the very worst aspect of MCS/Chemical injury; toxic bedding (other video here: [url]http://www.mcs-international.org/vv_chemical_injury/mcs_toxic_bedding.html[/url]).
The best of luck to you too Harry,
Gordon D McHendry
Founder & Campaign Coordinator
[url]www.mcs-international.org[/url]Like 0