Do your muscle aches worsen when you
breathe the air from a newly installed carpet? Do you go into brain fog after waxing the
floor? Does going down the detergent isle in the grocery store contribute to your fatigue?
Do you find that you have a headache after walking past a home that has been newly sprayed
by pesticides? Are you not as attentive while driving after pumping your own gasoline? Do
the odors from air fresheners, hair sprays, fabric softeners, perfumes, lotions, and
scented candles seem too strong and make you want to avoid them at all cost?
If you answered yes to many of the above questions, then you are chemically
sensitive. Having sensitivity to multiple chemical sources is a common symptom of CFIDS.
Everyone eventually develops chemical sensitivities; it’s just a matter of degrees.
LIMBIC SYSTEM
What causes the chemical sensitivities? Speculation that the limbic system of the
brain is involved. The Hypothalmic/Pituitary/Adrenal axis is affected by CFIDS (the exact
mechanism for the cause is not known, but is an intense focus of current research). What
is known, is that chemicals, often below the level of noxious odor level, can exacerbate
our symptoms.
DISCERNING CAUSE OF SYMPTOMS
Many of us with CFIDS feel so bad all the time; it is difficult to tell if
something like a chemical may be contributing to our symptoms. How can you tell if
chemicals in your environment are causing your symptoms to be worse? The process of
finding out what causes us to worsen and what we need to eliminate from our life is a form
of two-by-four learning! (You know, the kind that occurs when we hit ourselves between the
eyes a few times with a board!) The most effective way is to clean up our environment.
That means eliminating as much of the "chemical load" we are exposed to every
day. Make a list of the chemicals you breathe, apply to your skin or consume in the food
you eat. Then try to eliminate as much of them as possible.
When we limit our exposure to chemicals and odors in our environment, our CFIDS improves.
Also, when we "clean up" our environment, we can become more discerning as to
what chemicals are causing us to be worse. Our reactions are more immediate and more
clearly linked. For instance, when I am exposed to the smell of fiberglass I have an
asthma attack. When I am exposed to cheap perfumes, I get an immediate headache, etc.
After a while you begin to put a symptom with a specific chemical exposure. And, our
reactions are all different and individualized.
CHEMICAL ELIMINATION
When we recognize that a given chemical causes a specific reaction, we begin to
gain control. We can have control over our symptoms by controlling our exposure to those
few chemicals. We can go from a situation where everything causes us to react or worsen,
to only a few things that cause minimal symptoms. When we know what the enemy is, it is
half the battle. The rest of the battle is to control our exposure.
ALTERNATIVES TO CHEMICALS
What happens when we eliminate the chemicals from our lives? What are the
alternatives? Well, a lot of scent-free products are available now. Also there are many
natural products that can be substituted. We may not be able to eliminate toxic overload
from chemicals in our environment, but we certainly can limit them. And, limiting can be
liberating!
MCS TREATMENT STUDY
A treatment evaluation survey of 305 individuals with Multiple Chemical
Sensitivities (MCS) was conducted at DePaul University during the Spring of 1995.
Participants rated 63 different treatments based on their own experience.
