Chemicals....

[KwanYingirl]

Is anyone out there sensitized to chemicals? Do you have multiple chemical sensitivity?
I'd like to have someone that does, like I do, to help each other sort out if our symptoms are chemical exposure or trauma triggers. I swear I can't tell sometimes.

 

[JEKBreatheandBelieve]

I don't, but I wanted to tell you that I met someone who does and I thought of you when I was speaking with her. I wouldn't have known what she meant by chemical sensitivity if I hadn't read your posts. I hope you can find someone who can support you with that.

 

[Eagle3]

I have that, and you're right, its really hard to tell which is which. I do know if I'm exposed to bleach I get an instant headache and nausea; that is my signpost for a chemical sensitivity. If its really bad, I'll start wheezing, like in the fertilizer aisle of the garden store.

 

[kagamine]

I break out in hives when I use detergent with dyes and chemicals and same for any soaps. I have trouble breathing when there's tons of scented perfumes in the air too. I can't walk the laundry aisle of the grocery store without getting lightheaded. I've been tested for pretty much every allergy and come up with nothing, I'm not sure if it's a psychological thing or a medical thing, but I lean towards it being a combination of some kind

 

[KwanYingirl]

Thanks for posting @kagamine. I was poisoned by darkroom chemicals that were being illegally disposed of. I have asthma triggered by man made chemicals that are everywhere. I have vocal chord dysfunction and can't sing anymore. I break out touching new clothes that are treated with formaldehyde. Everything in my house is fragrance free. I bought a bar of home made patchouli soap and I like the smell but haven't used it yet. Generally I am fine with organic fragrances. I can't go to hotels or anywhere there is tobacco smoke. My world is very small now. You developed a sensitivity to one thing, then it spreads to unrelated classes of chemicals. I saw a neurologist at USC who wrote the text "Chemical Brain Damage". The fumes attack our limbic system like PTSD. I get drunk-like, throat closes up, anxiety over getting away from whatever got into me. Its lonely. It is a trigger. Sometimes I think I'm getting better but end up sick again. What's it like for you?

 

[shandemonium]

What the doctors call "chemical sensitivity" in my opinion is your very developed senses of what is terrible for you (and all humans really).

Sorry I know that's random and a little "woo woo", but wow all I could think of was "this woman can't be fooled by monsanto" lol..

I think us so-called PTSD folks are more intuitive anyway since we had to develop our 6th sense to survive. Sounds to me like your body's intuition is on point!

In a chemical filled world though, what a f*cken bummer and HUGE inconvenience! Your body is just smarter than most people's in my humble opinion...

 

[kagamine]

@KwanYingirl It mostly comes out though my skin, I start itching and usually it's the inside of my elbows, then my forearms and slowly it's all over my arms, down my chest and torso. It's like everything is on fire and if I start scratching it just compounds. Eventually it's like my lungs are on fire, though that comes first if it's an airbourne chemical and it starts out kind of like a tingling and tightness in my throat. The first thing to really trigger that was specifically laundry detergent, which is also a huge trigger in the ptsd sense, it brings me back to when I was a kid and I'd sleep against the laundry machine (For reasons of an unclear nature I stopped being able to sleep in my bed and would wander around the house looking for a soft enough place to fall asleep) I loved the smell of fresh laundry soap when I was a kid because it was a rare thing and it meant my mom was usually in a better place, but as an adult it just brings back all kinds of bad memories. Eventually it was anything that had a ton of chemicals or dyes. I've had bad reactions to a lot of medications because of that.

I find that most of the organic brands are easier to handle, if I have the money I look in health food shops because they usually carry soaps that are better for that than the ones in grocery stores.

It is pretty isolating, it's among the physical symptoms I deal with that most doctors think I'm too young to have and it only exasperates my anxiety about crowded places when people are in close proximity with tons of pefumes on and I feel like I can't breathe. The intensity of it waxes and wanes, when I'm stressed the symptoms are a lot more intense.

 

[KwanYingirl]

Yes I know how you feel!!! My house is my sanctuary and I get really triggered when people wear perfume and then come in. It's all very traumatizing isn't it? And my docs in Boston are the only ones that support me. My family ignores me ( fine with me). My daughter is seriously the only member of my family that has read up on MCS and darkroom disease. It's kind of funny, I belong to a support group for gluteraldehyde victims that is based in NZ. Like this group there are members throughout the world. NZ and Australia are the only countries that have taken it seriously and have enacted protection and support to their citizens.

I bet your skin is reacting to formaldehyde that is in frigging everything. Sometimes I don't know if I'm isolating due to my trauma life or my chemical sensitivity. A researcher at National Jewish Hospital in Denver stated that 85% of people with MCS and reactive airways disorder have a history of child abuse. It's probably higher because so many victims don't reveal their secrets. It's like we were primed for it somehow.

Are you able to work? I am self employed and my office has electric heat and I make the rules about my indoor air quality. Still, I get so tired I can only work a little each day. I keep an extra lab coat there in case I get someone's smell on me. It just sucks.

 

[kagamine]

I don't work right now, for a lot of reasons. I worked retail for a short stint, which wasn't too bad because it was a more new age place with a lot of organic products. But some of the scented incense and the perfumes on the customers were pretty overwhelming. I kind of just took it in stride, I was a teenager working a co-op job and it wasn't as severe then. But my boss did start commenting when I wore t shirts and there were hives and rashes down my arms, or when I'd break into coughing fits. I don't think I'd be able to handle it if I was in the same situation now.

I isolate mostly because of my ptsd, but I don't like public places because of all the airbourne chemicals, so when friends do invite me out I make excuses. It keeps me even more alone.

I was drowned in chlorine pools on multiple occasions through my younger years and I sometimes wonder if that's messed my lungs up, I always figured that's where I picked it up from. But at the same time other people have drowned in chlorine pools without ending up like this so I get paranoid I'm just being overly sensitive. There are a lot of skin conditions in my family so I figured it was genetic at first but it does seem to work like it's directly related to how much stress I'm under. I thought it was just something I had, but it's interesting to see other people with a trauma history deal with this too.

 

[memasgirl]

Is anyone out there sensitized to chemicals? Do you have multiple chemical sensitivity?
I'd like to...

For recovering from chemical sensitivity, check out the Gupta Program or Dynamic Neural Retraining System. The limbic system is the part of our brain that identify and process potential danger. Prior experiences of trauma leave our limbic systems on high alert. Triggers can be both psychological and chemical. The body's response to the triggers result in fight, flight, or freeze actions that are varied in the individual. I suppressed the PTSD events that lead to my chemical sensitivity issues. It wasn't until I partially recovered from the chemical exposures that I consciously realized a traumatic event was the initial trigger.