I can sit on the synthetic couch and car seats. I go out into public. I can now wear my wedding bands (they burned my finger before). I can now wear shoes! I also go outside without my face mask. I attribute this to IV glutathione treatments. It only took 3 or 4 treatments for my environmental sensitivities to go away for the most part. I had about 22 glutathione treatments, before I stopped due to the expense. The last one was in November 2009.

IV glutathione is not cheap, but it was well worth it. Unfortunately, oral glutathione is ineffective. If you would like to try this treatment, look for a doctor of functional medicine, or an integrative doctor. The regular type doctors might just tilt their head to the side like a confused dog, and say huh?

I still have systemic candida, thus still have a ton of food issues. I have heavy metal toxicity, which causes the candida. Iv chelation was too hard on my system. Oral chelation also made me very ill. So I have to find another way to get better.

I am so pleased to no longer live the life of a hermit.

Mary


NOTE:
I have read a lot about various subjects and I feel everything on my site is true, but I am only human. We can only see things from the view of our own eyes. Your view may be different, so if you have ways to get well that work for you, by all means keep doing it. I can only share my personal experiences.

If I throw something out there that is totally new to you, you might want to research further before you act on that information.

MCS Sites ---- updated March 28, 2009

Articles ---- updated January 2, 2009

Miscellaneous Links ---- updated November 30, 2010

Toxic Chemical Lists ---- updated March 28, 2009


Coping with MCS

Non Toxic Products that I Use ---- updated January 6, 2009
added some pet products, cotton mask, sewing oil, and garden stuff

Guides to Non Toxic Products ---- updated March 28,2009

Catalog Lists ---- updated May 2005

MCS Buttons, Posters, Signs, and T-shirts ---- updated April 2009

Non Toxic Homemade Recipes ---- updated April 2009


Healing the Body

Healing Recipes ---- updated November 2007

Body Diagnosis

Cause of my MCS ---- updated January 08, 2010

My Journey to Wellness ---- updated December 2010

What I Am Doing to Heal My Body ---- updated ---- May 2008

The Moral of this Story if there is One ---- updated December 2010





Other Pages on This Site

MCS Organizations ---- updated March 27, 2009
Many of these organizations have websites that contain tons of links.

Non Toxic Recipes --- updated December 30, 2007 ---
cleaning and personal care recipes that I use

Non Toxic Catalogs --- updated Feb 2006 ---
Cotton clothes, gardening supplies, household items, wood toys, cotton mattresses, kitchen supplies, organic food, organic fabric, etc.

My Shopping Mall --- updated April 2009 ---
These are web stores where I personally shop.

Kid's Fun Stuff --- updated Jan 2006 ---
Recipes for play dough, clay and that sort of thing

Recycling --- updated February 2007 ---
How to reduce buying, reuse items and where to recycle things

Reference Section --- added April 2006 ---
One of the things I used to I miss about not being able to go into public, is going to the library. I used the web now to look up what I need to know. This page has links to reference materials that you would find in the reference section of the library. I have also included other useful information sites. Feel free to let me know about your favorite informational sites.

Home Improvement --- updated September 2007 ---
I have added this page back. It is a mostly list of items I should have done to my house because of having MCS. Some for health reasons, others for aesthetic reasons, the rest are just regular maintenance items. I believe if one spends all their time at home, the home should be a relaxing place. Someone once criticized me for asking for donations of any of these items. I offered to test the items for tolerability by a severely chemically sensitive person, ME. I would report results on my site, positive or negative. I can not deal well with criticism, so I removed the page. No one ever took me up on the offer so it is a mute point. I mostly added this page back to give you an idea how many items need to be replaced due to MCS. This is financially impossible for most, including me. I am sure I have missed a lot of items too. Some are for my sanity (like reading material and aesthetic items). Being home bound is MCS related, so sanity items are still pertinent. Feel free to submit me to one of those fix it up shows. I see no other way of ever getting wood floors throughout the whole house, and replacing all particle board furniture.

Gardening --- updated April 12, 2009 ---
I have listed some of the sites that have helped me the most with my new hobby of gardening. This page is a work in progress. I will mark this page as updated when I add more gardening links. Maybe one day if I get motivated, I will add some pictures of my garden, which is mostly wax beans, black eyed peas, carrots, rutabaga, and radishes.

Free Sewing Patterns --- added July 07, 2009 ---
I have had my sewing page on-line since 2003, just never have linked to it from my MCS site.

There are almost 1000 free on-line patterns listed on my sewing page. They are very well organized. If you are having trouble finding something in 100% cotton in the store, or on-line, please look on the page for a pattern. If you do not know how to sew or are too ill to do so, perhaps a friend or relative could make it for you. I would love it if I had I friend like that. I really hate to sew. I know, I know, why do I have a sewing site? I started to find free patterns on-line, for my own purposes, and decided to share them, but this whole thing got out of hand. I guess I am a tad Obsessive-compulsive. Ok, more than a tad.

Heavy Metal Page --- added December 31, 2009 ---

June 24, 2010 I have had 13 IV heavy metal chelations so far. I have had to stop doing them because they make me so ill. I get severe anxiety and panic attacks. Because of this, I was going to delete this page. But I will leave it because it can still educate you on the effect heavy metals can have on a body. If you do choose to chelate yourself from heavy metals, go slow and be careful. Discontinue any product be it an IV or a natural substance that makes you ill. IV DMPS and EDTA and IV C make me ill as well as oral chlorella. Each person is different, just be very careful.

If you need to Contact Me

Read or sign My Guest book

or just send me an e-mail form

If my site has helped you in any way I would love to here about it.

If you just want to chat, I am here for that too.

April, 2009

I fixed or removed all dead links on this page.

When I add new links to a section, I take that opportunity to check all the links in that section for dead links, or links that go someplace other than where they are supposed to go. This is the only way I know of to even attempt to keep up with the constantly changing web world.


How to remove internet ads
I am sending you to my sewing stuff site, so that I don't have to repeat the same information twice.
Please hit back arrow to get back to this page.

Environmental Illness - Our Little Place
Definition, coping, fragrance info, de-tox baths, articles, resources, book list, non-toxic guidelines, tons of helpful links, etc

MCS for Beginners (archived)
Definition, symptoms, triggers, resources, coping, personal tips and ideas, etc

The Wall of Personal Testimony - HERC
Personal stories of many that have MCS

Resources for the Chemically Injured, Chemically Sensitive or Environmentally Ill - Lassen Technology
Articles, books, building info, carpet, catalogs, clothing, definitions, doctor and dental resource list, food, making a safe room, labs, lawyers, support groups, pest control, product lists, etc.

Chemical Injury Survivors of Minnesota
Great description of MCS and what we go through. Their photos are worth a thousand words. A great link to introduce the un-informed to MCS.

May 2004

Chronic Neuroimmune Diseases Information
Articles, info about fragrances, cosmetics, latex allergies, MCS, housing, etc.

MCS Resources - Rocky Mountain Environmental Health Association
Support resources, housing + travel info, product resources, health + disability info, etc.

Nova Scotia Allergy and Environmental Health Association
Coping with MCS, allergy cooking recipes, book reviews, advice on making your home and garden less toxic, disability issues, articles, fragrance info, pesticide info, etc.

March 27, 2009

Dr Rapp's site
what to avoid, tips, links to environmental doctors


More MCS links can be found on my MCS Organization List

Scents Are Not What They Seem - NEAEHA
- "Fragrance Chemicals as Toxic Substances"

Poison in the Grass - Chem-Tox
- The Hazards And Consequences of Lawn Pesticides

Birds at Risk from Garden Pesticides - Rachel Carson Council
- "Are individuals responsible for "taking" or killing migratory birds with (lawn) pesticides guilty of breaking the law?"

Radiation Ovens - Association for freedom of choice and Free information
- The Proven Dangers of Microwaves

MCS Under Siege - Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients
- Chemical companies paying big bucks to try to get MCS to go away

Toxic Ingredients - Vaccine Information, Wendy's Story
- Vaccine's Toxic Ingredients and how they affect us.

The Next Industrial Revolution - Environmental Wellness
- "The model may be in our own backyard" --nature.

Why Shoes Make a Normal Gait Impossible - Parents for Barefoot Children
- Well see, there is one good thing about having MCS!

(some of us can't wear shoes due to toxic chemicals used to make them, and toxic leather tanning process)

May 2004

Sodium Fluoride used in Fluoridation is NOT Pharmaceutical Grade - Fluoride Action Network
- "...obtained from the scrubbing system of the phosphate fertilizer industry"

Finding Tolerable Clothing or Fabric - NSAEHA
- "Sensitivity to clothing chemicals leaves many of us feeling like ragged Cinderellas waiting for a fairy godmother to appear!"

June 2004

School Environment - Healthy or Hazardous? - Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients
- the toxic environment in which we expect our children to learn!

Drugs, Stoned by Prescription - KOS Publishing
- "In Canada and the US (drug) research is primarily funded by drug companies whose contracts always contain gag clauses preventing researchers from reporting negative findings, should these occur... Interestingly, these same companies also make the pesticides, which cause all of the diseases in the first place, either directly by ingestion, skin contact or inhalation, or indirectly by dangerously depleting the nutrients in the foods. What an amazingly effective business strategy! ... Always assume the drug prescribed is toxic unless proven otherwise."

Salts that Heal and Salts that Kill - Cure Zone
- Unrefined Sea salt is good for you, denatured table salt is not.

July 2004

Economies for Life - Yes" Magazine (archived)
- "Living economies are made up of human-scale enterprises locally owned by people who have a direct stake in the many impacts associated with the enterprise."

Billboard Control: Fighting Visual Pollution - Scenic America (archived)
- "While some may think billboards are harmless, their negative effects on our health and our safety have been documented."

August 2004

The Seven Essentials of Recovery - by Debra Lynn Dadd
-"You can recover from multiple chemical sensitivities on your own, without modern medicine. Indeed, the antidote for this illness is to remove your body from modern life, and let it heal naturally."

December 2004

How We Become Chemically Sensitive - Health and Certainty (archived)
-"...Simply by overloading the waste management system."

Electromagnetic Field Poisoning - Craig Reese (archived)
-"Some of the worse offenders are: computers, T.V., stereos, clocks, electric blankets, hair dryers, electric ranges, microwaves, fans, heaters, any electric motor, florescent lights, etc."

Moldy Material - Health and Certainty (archived)
- What to do about mold

March 2005

The Problem with Pressure Treated Wood - Raw Food Info
-"Pressure treated wood, also known as copper chromium arsenate (CCA) wood is a wood that has been placed in a vacuum where all the water and air is removed, then the wood is injected under pressure with chemicals."

Formaldehyde Toxicity - Grisanti (archived)
-"Symptoms associated with exposure to formaldehyde fumes include mucous membrane irritation, upper respiratory tract irritation, eye irritation, skin rashes, itching, nausea, stuffy nose, headaches, dizziness, and general fatigue."

How to Legally Avoid Unwanted Immunizations of All Kinds - Mercola
- It is actually very simple. Just write a letter stating you object to immunizations for religious reasons, get it notarized and give it to the school nurse. This has to be done each year. This works as I have done it with my daughter.

The Oiling of America - Weston A Price Foundation
- "Animal foods containing saturated fat and cholesterol provide vital nutrients necessary for growth, energy and protection from degenerative disease ..."

I would call MCS a degenerative disease.

The Fluoridation Fiasco - Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients
- "We would not purposely add arsenic to the water supply. And we would not purposely add lead. But we do add fluoride. The fact is that fluoride is more toxic than lead and just slightly less toxic than arsenic.""

May 2005

Polio: The virus and the disease - The Web Inquirer
- There is evidence that polio is actually caused by pesticides. Polio is now occurring more and more in third world countries where we ship the now US banned pesticides. Polio is still occurring in the US, but doctors just diagnose it as something else to make patients think the vaccine is working. They make tons of money on vaccines.

...WNV (west Nile Virus) epidemics occur annually in air-polluted petrochemical regions (such as eastern New Jersey and St. Louis) during the warm spring and summer months... and these epidemics don't spread infectiously to other regions."

Food For Thought: Malcolm Beck (archived)
- Some Observations on the Relationships Between Soil Health and the Physical and Mental Health of Humans

Pushing up Daisies: Malcolm Beck (archived)
- We used to decompose into the earth from which we came, but sadly, not any more!

Other Malcolm Beck articles (archived)

Hospitalization for the Chemically Sensitive Patient - A MCS site
- guidelines for hospital staff

The Murky World of High Fructose Corn Syrup - Weston A Price Foundation
- " HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) has the exact same sweetness and taste as an equal amount of sucrose from cane or beet sugar but it is obviously much more complicated to make, involving vats of murky fermenting liquid, fungus and chemical tweaking..."

"Consumers trying to avoid genetically modified foods should avoid HFCS. It is almost certainly made from genetically modified corn and then it is processed with genetically modified enzymes."

Agriculture and Nutrition - Weston A Price Foundation
- " When crops grown for high production produce less nutrition, it would be logical to think that animals bred for high production would also produce less nutrition."

Finding Health Close to Home - Weston A Price
- "Anonymity tends to bring out the worst in people. It is much easier to put out inferior products, even unhealthy products, when you cannot see the people they affect."

Dec 2005

Natural Gas and People with Chemical Sensitivities - Medical-Environmental Report
- "The use of natural gas is recognized as one of the most important sources of indoor air pollution and sensitizing agents. There is evidence that the use of natural gas appliances has an adverse effect on human health. Furthermore, it is known that individuals with environmental sensitivities react adversely in the presence of natural gas and its combustion products. Natural gas contributes to the development and exacerbation of chemical and environmental sensitivities."

How Nature Cures - Doctor Yourself
- "When we begin to see germs more as scavengers trying to clean up refuse, as opposed to being little deadly gremlins out to get us, we can begin to take confidence that nature does heal and that our body will clean itself of the roots of illness. If your body is clean and healthy, germs are irrelevant. There is a lack of conclusive proof that germs are the primary cause of any disease. The bibliography in this book lists references that show that malnutrition, medicines and wrong living are more basic, underlying roots of disease. "

Hidden Allergens in Foods - Allergy Advisor
- lists ingredients that may indicate the presence of eggs, dairy, soy, wheat, peanuts, or fish

Poison for Profit - Red Flags Weekly
- " The same chemical companies that produce toxic chemicals also produce prescription drugs, veterinary medicines, a wide array of medical products and imaging technologies, hold cancer treatment and medical device patents, and a produce a staggering assortment of over-the-counter palliatives. "

What's Wrong with Food Irradiation? - Organic Consumers
-Irradiation covers up the increased fecal contamination that results from speeded up slaughter and decreased federal inspection, both of which allow meat and poultry to be produced more cheaply.

Dec 2006

People With Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Are Becoming the New Homeless - E Magazine
- Stories of those that have to live in their cars or mobile trailers, to try to escape toxins.

I thought hyperbaric oxygen might be a good idea until I read this article
Problems associated with use of the hyperbaric chamber in sports - Project Air
-" Why would there be problems using the hyperbaric system? The system is totally cut off from the outside atmosphere. A natural ion count of 5000 ions per cubic centimeter can be measured in nature. This count can fluctuate but no matter where we go, there are ions. In the hyperbaric tank the ion count would be zero. There is no natural or artificial way to produce ionization in the chamber since the corona discharge from an ionizer would cause the oxygen to ignite. Every human being must have ions to survive. It is this reason why the hyperbaric system is so dangerous."

Teflon – Is it Good or Bad - Dr Rapp (archived)
- "It lasts indefinitely in the environment and it never breaks down, even in the human body."
- "here are thousands of substances that can be found in typical sewage sludge, including any of the 100,000 or so chemicals produced and used in industrialized nations, many of which illegally end up in sewers. "

Dec 2007

Sludge - Anarac (archived)
- "...the municipal waste industry hired a public relations firm named Powell Tate, who re-named the waste as "beneficial biosolids", to be used for fertilizers, and dust suppressants to be spread on farmers' fields and country roads. The EPA then reclassified sludge from "hazardous material" to "compost"."

The Sludge Scam: Should Sewage Sludge Fertilize Your Vegetables - Riles
- " In Rutland Vermont, 24 months after spreading sludge on his 99 acre farm, dairyman Robert Ruane's cow's started getting arthritis and milk production dropped from 18,000 pound per year to 14,000 pounds per year. Over a two year period, 66 cows died. "They told me how much money it was going to save me on fertilizer.""

fasting to cure depression - Health Freedom News
- " There may be other ways to cure depression, but if any of them work, I’m sure its because they are close to the “give nature a chance” school of thought." Words of the author


Dec 2008

I know this article has little to due with MCS, but it is very informative.
True cause of world hunger - Anuradha Mittal
- " There was no shortage of food, but the people were too poor to buy it. So what did the U.S. and other countries, like Australia, do? Smelling an opportunity to unload their own surplus wheat in the name of "food aid," they gave loans to Indonesia upon the condition that it buy wheat from them. And Indonesians don’t even eat wheat."

January 02, 2009

Pollen and Mold Guide - Men's Health
Lists places, times of day and weather conditions where the pollen count is the highest and the lowest.

Soft Drinks - Tuberose
"The soft drink usually contains the following components: phosphoric acid, caffeine, sugar or aspartame or saccharin, caramel coloring, carbon dioxide, and aluminum. Ingesting a soft drink does not cause any immediate warning such as stomach cramps, vomiting, or diarrhea that would normally occur when a poison enters the body. Instead, there is the energizing feeling of caffeine, the sweet taste of sugar combined with the sour taste of phosphoric acid, and the playful feeling of the carbon dioxide bubbles. Those ingredients cause imbalances in the body systems that result in debilitating diseases that show up after many, many years of abuse.."

Soft Drinks: America's Other Drinking Problem - Weston A Price Foundation
"Drinking sodas, especially on an empty stomach, can upset the fragile acid-alkaline balance of the stomach and other gastric lining, creating a continuous acid environment. This prolonged acid environment can lead to inflammation of the stomach and duodenal lining which becomes quite painful. Over the long term, it can lead to gastric lining erosion. Another problem with sodas is that they act as dehydrating diuretics, much like tea, coffee and alcohol. All of these drinks can inhibit proper digestive function. "

Safe House Tips - CHEC

Healthy House Check Lists - CHEC

Resource List for Pesticide Alternatives - A Better Way - IPM Solutions (archived)
- list or resources for alternatives to pesticides (books, periodicals, sources of beneficial insects, organizations, articles), MCS links, safer products, affects on wildlife, list of safer places to stay while traveling

Web Sites Pertaining to Housing and MCS - The Garden (archived)
Places to live or vacation, safer building ideas

November 2004

Burning Issues
- "Burning Issues provides public education about the medical hazards of exposure to wood smoke and other fine particulate pollution. Smoke from residential burning of wood and coal, wood burning restaurants and outdoor burning of wood, leaves, crops, tires and debris is permeating our neighborhoods, resulting in high ground-level concentrations of toxic air pollution."

March 2005

Plastic: A Problem of Global Proportions - International Plastics Task Force
- "As plastic is non-biodegradable, toxic and not recyclable in the true sense of the word, the need for an international coalition against plastic waste is paramount."

Trade Secrets - PBS Program
- "Trade Secrets reveals how the public's right to know the truth about thousands of chemicals that surround us has been compromised."

Connective Disorder Site
- A well researched, easy to read site on ways she has found to overcome most of her health issues using natural means. I highly recommend this one. Contains info on the following conditions: scoliosis, fibromyalgia, muscle tension, insomnia, TMJ, pain, nose bleeds, MCS, etc.

This women noticed that her son did not react to chemicals as much if he avoided chemicals in foods, especially school lunches.

Understanding & Accommodating People with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in Independent Living - ILRU
- An on-line MCS book

May 2005

Organic Directories - Organic Consumers
- web sites that list organic sites.

Score Card
- find out who is polluting in your area

March 2006

The Healthy Flooring Network Guide to Healthy Flooring
- lists flooring alternatives

Mercury and Nature - National Wildlife Foundation

Old Timers Page - Walton Feed (archived)
- the way folks used to do things

The Safe Playgrounds Project (archived)
- is there arsenic treated wood in your back yard?

A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home - EPA

California Department of Health Services Indoor Air Quality Info Sheet- Mold in My Home: What Do I Do?

Epilepsy and Diet - Dogtor J
- avoiding the offending foods helps epilepsy (in dogs and humans)

The Hypoglycemia Health Association of Australia
- articles about hypoglycemia, depression, food allergies, serotonin, diabetes, etc.

Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Foods - Food News - PDF (archived)
- lists foods that you should always buy organic

List of KOS Health Articles (archived)
- The inside story on various health topics including: asthma, the cancer industry, autism, prescription drugs, GMO foods, modern medicine, MCS, organic food, etc.

January 2, 2009

The Dangers of Natural Gas - Alkalize for Health
A personal story on how an undetected natural gas leak just about ruined her and her family's lives.

The Breast Cancer Deception - Natural News
"This report that exposes the scam of today's breast cancer industry, revealing how conventional breast cancer detection and treatment programs are actually designed to ensnare women into a very harmful (but highly lucrative) system of toxic treatments that will only cause permanent damage to her health."

Safe and Effective Natural Control of Flea, Ticks, Bed Bugs, Lice and other Pests
"Products intended to kill fleas and ticks can also poison pets and the people who handle them."

Managing Fleas Without Poisons
"Flea control insecticides are a hazardous group of chemicals. Looking at twenty flea control chemicals, over two-thirds are neurotoxic, and almost that many have caused reproductive problems in laboratory tests."

November 30, 2010

MCS Legal Help
This site is of an attorney with 30 years experience in handling disability claims. He developed MCS in 2001 and had to close his office as he was not able to tolerate going there or going to court hearings. Since that time he has developed a home office based practice where he focus on helping people all over the country who are having problems getting disability due to MCS and related conditions.

42 Common Toxic Chemicals and their Effects - Rowatworks (archived)

Glossary of Products with Hazards A to Z - EPA

Chemical Glossary -Lifekind

Soy Alert! - Weston A Price Foundation

Health risks of chemicals labeled Danger, Warning or Caution - CHEC (archived)

Toxin Technical Information Index - Total Environment Centre (archived)

June 2004

MCS Chemistry For Non-Chemists - MCS for Beginners

List of Fragrance Chemicals- Immune Web

Household Product Database - National Institutes of Health

March 2005

Fabric Softeners Equal Health Risks from Dryer Exhaust and Treated Fabrics - MCS World

Nov 2005

Skin Deep - Have your personal care products been assessed for safety?

March 28, 2009

Chemicals in the Household - EPA

Carpet Chemicals - Natural Home Products

The Toxins in Cigarettes - Cure ZONE

Dakota Free Lip Balm   non toxic - produced by a MCS person.

To get a 10% discount off any Dakota Free product:

go to Dakota Free order any product that you need, then enter 10%MCS into the comment area of the order page.

January 2012

Baltimore Soaps and More    She specializes in soaps with no essential oils, dyes, or anything artificial. I tried the 100% olive oil soap, and it did not bother me a bit. Perhaps, you can contact them and mention your particular allergies, so you can find the soap suited to your special needs.

Produced by a chemically sensitive person.

Un-Petroleum Jelly   Use like Vaseline, but has no motor oil in it!

The Solution    full strength as a shampoo and 1:3 with water to clean with

Widu Wooden Hair Brush    Has a wood handle, removable wood bristles, no glue.

Bentonite Clay - instead of toothpaste

Most toothpaste has toxic fluoride and I can't deal with it anyway.

The baking soda, that I was using was beginning to give me a rash. I think it is because I am high in calcium according to my last hair analysis (who knows?). Before the baking soda, I used peelu powder. That gave me a rash as well.

When selecting a clay to use for my teeth, I picked one that was higher in magnesium than calcium since I was low in magnesium on my last blood test. I have no clue, but had to pick one someway. There are a lot of clays out there. And yes it tastes like dirt. Baking soda was not all that yummy either. If you can't use anything a wet tooth brush will have to do. I might go to that soon.

December 2010

Now, I just use water to clean my teeth. I could not find anything that did not irritate me.

Paper First Aid Tape   I use this with a cut piece of 100% cotton T-shirt as a bandage

Toms of Maine Unflavored Dental Floss    naturally waxed with beeswax, Carnauba and Jojoba waxes, also contains a few herbs

Natracare feminine products   The grocery store kind of feminine products are so irritating.
   The regular kind are made from synthetic fibers and usually have masking scents, UG!
   can be purchased from Goldmine Natural Foods

Organic Essentials Cotton Balls    normal cotton balls have added chemicals

Organic Essentials Cotton Swabs    ditto

Macadamia nut oil   for dry itchy skin
   any organic non-solvent extracted cooking oil or fat will do.

Nov 2005

Edge Unscented Shaving Gel    my hubby uses this.
   I am sure it has toxic stuff in it, but at least it is unscented.


Cleaning

The Solution   Very concentrated all purpose cleaner - works out to 9 cents an oz. great stuff!
   I use this for my laundry too.

Cal Ben Dish Washer Powder    Only kind of soap based dish powder that works and I have tried about all of them. It contains some chlorine, so I hand wash most of the time.

Cal Ben Dish Soap   Has a hint of coconut, feels nice on hands

Bi-O-Kleen Glass Cleaner

20 Mule Team Borax   to clean the toilet
   can be purchased from Vermont Country Store


Food and Kitchen Stuff

Steel Wool   instead of SOS pads

Natural Salt   instead of denatured table salt. I prefer the Peruvian salt. It comes from the mountains verses the ocean, so has less chance of containing heavy metals, plus I prefer the taste.

Natural Cellulose Sponges   For cleaning - normal ones are plastic and contain chemicals

Frontier Organic Spices   instead the, irradiated grocery store kind. You can get these at your health food store.

Pyrex Glass Food Storage   instead of plastic

Wide Mouth Glass Canning Jars   to store my homemade beef broth

1 Quart Wine Decanters   I use as a water pitcher, I bought mine at a thrift shop


Cotton Items

E G Smith Cotton Boot Socks   It says 100% cotton on the site, but the label says 99% cotton.

They are so yummy though. So thick and warm and go all the way up to my knees. They do not bother me despite the 1% spandex. I believe the spandex is only in the elastic at the top, and it is covered in cotton. I sleep in these because I get cold feet at night.

I will fix this link when they start making them again. There factory has shut down temporarily. (I hope)

Organic Cotton Towels   Need to stay away from the formaldehyde in traditional cotton

Organic Cotton Sheets   to avoid formaldehyde (wrinkle guard) and toxic flame retardants

100% Cotton Barrier Cloth Mattress Sack   to block some of the toxic bedding materials from reaching me
  can also be purchased from AEHF

100% Cotton Ironing Board Cover and Pad

Heating synthetic fabrics and foams release toxic fumes into the air, and deposit them into the clothes that you are ironing, and your lungs.

Organic Cotton Bath Mats    instead of vinyl lined polyester

January 6, 2009

I Can Breathe Organic Cotton Face Mask - When pollen and mold is really bad, I also stuff cotton balls into my ears. This mask helps but it does not block all pollen. I need to find something that does, since gardening is all I have to do to keep me from going nuts.

December 2010

Thankfully, my MCS is gone, so I no longer need these masks


Household Stuff

Jojoba Oil

To oil hinges.

Never use jojoba oil to oil a sewing machine. I used to do that and it gummed up the machine. It is fixable if you have done this. Either bring it in to a sewing machine repair shop to be thoroughly cleaned, or take the machine apart and clean it out yourself. We did both. The repair shop barely got any oil out, so my husband sat down with the machine and a lot of q-tips!

BioShield Wood Stains and Finishes   Most of their products have a nice citrus scent.

Dry Iron   Has a stainless sole plate without the toxic non-stick finish of most irons.

I love this iron. It does not has a steam feature. There are no steam holes to get clogged up. The iron seams to get hotter than normal irons, so I don't miss the steam. When I need steam I mist them with a spray bottle. The iron is small, light and pointy, making is easier to get into small areas.

January 6, 2009

Sewing Machine Oil - scroll almost all the way to the bottom

Pharmaceutical Grade clear oil made by an Australian company. It does not stink, or smell at all. It does not make me sick. Not sure what it it made of, but I am pretty sure it is not a natural oil. It works great, my machine flies now. It used to crawl along when gummed up with the jojoba oil.

Here's their website helmar in case you want to ask them questions.


Pest Control

Leather fly swatter    flies

Yard and Garden Stuff

Charcoal Chimney   instead of lighter fluid

Whole Foods Real Hardwood (lump) Charcoal   instead of charcoal briquettes with chemical additives

... it seems from the above review there might be a better brand out there. If you know of one, please let me know.


EZ Digger   instead of herbicides

January 6, 2009

Natural Beginnings Seed Starting Mix - most starting mixes contain synthetic fertilizer and often Styrofoam pellets. This mix contains: coconut coir, worm guano, perlite, and mealworm guano.

Compost Sifter - Made of metal and wood

Garden Goggles - to keep pollen and garden dirt and mulch out of my eyes.


Pet Stuff

April 2005

Swheat Scoop Natural Cat litter - clumping cat litter that is safe for kitty.

for more info:
cat litter a deadly convenience
list of clumping litter alternatives

Dry pet food is so not good for animals. It is as bad as dry breakfast cereal is for humans. But every attempt we have made to wean our cats from dry food, has resulted in one or both cats to stop eating entirely. Then they have to go to the vet to be re-hydrated and force fed. Both have almost died because of this.

Cats will starve themselves if they don't like the smell. If a kitten is started on raw meat to begin with, it won't be a problem getting them to eat it. Cats tend to like what ever they are weaned onto, and hate most everything else. Dogs, tend to eat anything you put in front of them, even if not food (shoes, carpet, their own poop, etc.).

November 2007

In the summer of 2005 we got a Corgi. He loves the ground organ meat sold by burgundy pasture beef.

In the summer of 2007 our 9 year old cat named pumpkin, died of kidney failure. He was very fat. We tried to get him off the horrible cat food (Iams and Fancy Fest) he and the other cat were on, but both would have rather starved than the give up the highly addictive processed pet foods. The dog eats dry dog food in the morning since hubby feeds the dog at that time. He gets the raw organ meat at lunch and dinner. He and my daughter refuse to touch the raw pet food. It "is" on the gross side. I would rather the dog not eat breakfast cereal for dogs but, this is out of my control.


for more info:
do dogs and cats need grains?
the truth about dry pet food
what's really in pet food (archived)
all about raw pet food

January 2, 2009

Orijen dry dog food - grain free dry food made from local free range chickens and local vegetables

We had to switch the Corgi onto a better food since the food we had him on (Nutro sensitive Stomach Formula) was making him very ill starting in Feb, 2008. He drank huge amounts of water and was getting us up 2-3 times nightly having to pee.

I thought, he might do better on a grain free formula. While searching for a grain free food, by accident I found out that many dogs were actually dying from the same thing our dog had and Nutro food was to blame. Here's a few links describing the problems others dogs had while eating Nutro food:

Why I don't feed Nutro dog food anymore

String of Illnesses Afflicts NUTRO-Fed Pets

A string of mostly negative ratings of Nutro food

Discussion of Nutro / Natural Choice Dog Food Products


After having him on the new grain free food for 3 weeks, he was still needing to pee all the time. I knew I should probably give the new food more time to heal his body, but I was desperate and exhausted, since my husband and I had been getting up multiple times at night with the dog, to let him out. So I gave him a herbal product called Tinkle Tonic and within 3 days, he started to get up only one time at night, and after a week he did not have to go out at all at night. I gave him the drops for 1 more week, but since it has diuretic properties he started to have to go out again at night, so I discontinued the tinkle tonic.

Orijen dry cat food - grain free dry cat food

Ziwipeak canned cat food
Grain free canned cat food made from ranch raised meat and wild caught fish from New Zealand

After reading about all the horrible ingredients that go into pet food, I thought I would give changing cat foods one more try. But this time change the food very slowly. So far so good. We switched her over to Before Grain dry food by 10% a week, and by the 3rd week she was beginning to act like a kitten again. She is 10 years old. She has been completely switched over for about a month now.

At about the half way point of switching her over to the new dry food, she started to stick her nose up at the fancy fest canned food, so I began switching her over to Before Grain canned food at about 25% a week. She did experience a few de-tox symptoms, like vomiting and runny stools, but for the most part, the switch went well.

After I reordered a whole case of Before Grain canned food, she decided she did not like it now. The new food was much dryer and grainier. So I mixed Before Grain canned with Ziwipeak canned food that I was also trying with her and she loves the combination. Hopefully, I can wean her off the Before Grain canned, since the Before Grain is 100% tuna. Cats are not supposed to eat that much fish. Apparently, fish is missing certain nutrients that cats need.

March 2009

Kitty is now eating Orijen dry and wet cat food like the dog. She likes it better. I think we are over the hump now. I think she has forgot all about the old yucky foods.

Guide to Choosing Less Toxic Personal Care Products - HEAL.

Less Toxic Cleaning Products - HEAL

Resources for the Chemically Injured - Lassen Technology

Guide to Less Toxic Products - NSAEHA
homemade formulas sprinkled in

Unscented or Mildly Scented Products Generally Tolerated by Most Persons with MCS - CND.

Non-Toxic Alternatives to Common Household Products - CCAT. (archived)

March 2005

Safer Products for Home and Personal Care - HERC

Resources and Shopping for the Chemically Sensitive - MCS World

March 28, 2009

Debra’s list
select a category on left menu, you have to scroll down a page or two to see it

Non Toxic Catalog Lists

Non Toxic Product Catalogs - MCS Help Site
Cotton clothes, gardening supplies, household items, wood toys, cotton mattresses, kitchen supplies, organic food, etc. - I have not used most of these.

My Personal Non Toxic Shopping Mall - MCS Help Site
These are web stores where I personally shop. Most are family run and environmentally conscious.

Building Materials - Lassen Technologies

Various Catalogs - Lassen Technologies
Personal care, masks, curtains, bedding, tents, garden supplies, clothing, mattresses, supplements, building supplies, filters, kitchen stuff, etc.

Cotton Clothing Catalogs - Lassen Technologies

Organic Food Catalogs - Lassen Technologies

EI Resources - scroll about half way down - Share Care, and Prayer
exotic foods, air filters, masks, bedding, clothing, beds, heaters, etc.

MCS Resources - Our Little Place
Personal care, building materials, bedding, cleaning, garden products, pest control, cotton clothes, filters, furniture, masks, cloths, mattresses, etc.

MCS Product Resources - Massachusetts Association for the Chemically Injured
air filters, organic foods, bedding, fabric, furniture, clothing, masks, saunas, tents, etc.

Less Toxic Products - MCS NYC (archived)
Personal care, cotton clothes, household items, cleaning, bedding, building supplies, etc.

no perfume buttons and a door poster - Our Little Place

no fragrance (poster) - No Fragrance PDF

beware of occupant! - chemically sensitive occupant known to bite stinky people! (signs) - zona's zone

the sweetest smell is nothing at all (poster) - The Lung Association

MCS posters - Artists with MCS


Other Stuff

MCS patches - Crafty Delights

MCS T-shirts - Zona Zone

Its the Chemical Stupid (bumpers stickers) - Ohio Network for the Chemically Injured

Nov 2005

Organic Garden Please Do Not Spray (sign) - Peaceful Valley

November 2007

Pesticide Free Zone (yard sign) - The National Coalition for Pesticide-Fee Lawns

Pesticide Free Yard (yard sign) - Thurston County Washington Public Health and Social Services

Pesticide Free - This area safe for children and pets and other living things (yard and garden sign) - Willy Frog

April 3, 2009

refrain from wearing perfume sign - MCS Advocacy PDF

chemical free zone sign - MCS Advocacy PDF

The way I did it, was to boil 2 oz of lightly pan roasted whole barley (not pearled) in 1 quart of water, then simmered for 20-30 minutes. Then I strained and tossed out the barley. I drank 1 cup of barley water about 4X a day.

Un-roasted barley has a laxative effect. If you suffer constipation, do not roast it. The way to pan roast is to put the whole barley in a dry pan. Heat over burner, shaking the pan every now and then to keep from burning, 'til it is aromatic.

I drank it room temp and stored it in a glass container. I gained 12 pound in 3 months. It also improved my mood a bit. I feel the reason it helps you to gain weight is not the calories, but the mineral content of the water helps to heal the intestines and you absorb your nutrients better. I am gluten intolerant but this did not bug me. I think since the actual barley grains were discarded maybe the gluten got discarded too? I am only guessing on this, so if you are gluten intolerant, please ask your natural doctor.

Whole barley is not readily available in health food stores. So, I purchased mine from gold mine natural foods . I chose the buffalo black barley because it is an heirloom variety.

November 2007

I have been thinking just recently, that the carb content of barley, must be the reason that it helps you to gain weight. Grain is used to fatten up cows for market. I also think this barley water must have gluten in it, if barley has gluten. I think the reason that I was not bothered by the barley water was because, I have trouble with grains (due to my hypoglycemia), and am probably not gluten intolerant, per se.

Powers of the Taheebo tree

It is supposed to strengthen the liver, and be good for lots of other stuff, like infections, candida, cancer and parasites.

If you choose to try it, make it weak. Full strength, it can be too strong for folks like us. I make it with 1 teaspoon to 4 cups of water and low boil it for 20 minutes then take off heat an let sit for 1/2- 1 hour and strain. I drink room temp as it is supposed to be more effective this way. It can make you very tired due to de-tox effects, so start slow.

I only used this a few years ago when my candida was acting up. I stopped using it when it began to make me loose weight. That is the last thing I need. I drank it daily for a few months.

The quality of the tea is so bad in health food stores, that is is totally ineffective, so look here to find a good source Purchasing notes...for Pau D'Arco (taheebo) .

Tongue Diagnosis - Al Stone L. A. C.
- an introduction to how to diagnose health problems by looking at your tongue

Fingernail Diagnosis - Care2
- nails reflect the condition of the inner body

Diseases that show up in the fingernails - Essortment
- "our fingernails are a window to our bodies' health"

What your face says about your health - Bebest (archived)
- face diagnosis

Chinese Face Reading - Positive Health
- face diagnosis

January 2, 2009

How to Perform Muscle Testing - Allergy Scape
This site shows you how to muscle test for allergies.

Kinesiology - How it Can Work, How it is Often Misused - MCS Allergy Help
How to test yourself for allergies.

April 8, 2009

Interactive reflexology maps of feet and hands - Dorling Kindersley Book
Maps of hand and feet.

I believe if the area indicated by the map is painful, there is a problem with the corresponding organ. Most areas of my feet used to be painful if pressed on that area. Now, hardly any areas are. To me that indicates that my health is improving. I guess I am doing something right.

Pulse Diagnosis - Institute for Traditional Medicine
"Pulse diagnosis is one of the original set of four diagnostic methods that are described as an essential part of traditional Chinese medical practice"

Urine Diagnosis - Wrong Diagnosis
Medical conditions associated with different urine colors

Body Diagnosis - Dog Woman Blog
Body Diagnosis - hands, nails, skin, mouth, gums, eyes, throat, heart, legs

In the United states Chinese doctors mostly perform acupuncture. This is sad. I don't feel this the best way to help a patient. I tried it. It can be relaxing, reduce pain and allergies, temporarily (for a few hours or sometimes days). Acupuncture seems to block symptoms much like drugs do.

The underlying problem should be found and addressed. Because regular and alternative doctors are unwilling or unable to help us, we are left to try to diagnose ourselves, like with methods in this section. Every once in a while I check my state of health using body diagnosis. I am doing a lot better. Mostly what I have done to accomplish this, is to eat better, and get plenty of sleep.

I believe that going down the wrong road has lead me down the road to illness. I feel by selecting better paths now, will send me on a journey to wellness. It has been a rocky road, but I am healing, slowly. I hope, some of my discoveries, might help you too.


PROBLEM:
When I was a baby and child, I suffered from almost daily leg pain, that the doctors could never figure out, ear, hearing problems, lots of horrible colds, nose bleeds, and I was a fussy eater, probably due to unknown food allergies.

Wrong Path #1

1. antibiotics
2. aspirin
3. ear tubes
4. tonsils out
5. leg braces

1. more aspirin
2. more antibiotics
3. cough medicine with codeine for 2 months
4. not fond of fast food, but learned to eat it

1. allergy medicine
2. paxil
3. chiropractor
4. aspirin

1. more antibiotics
2. they doubled my zoloft
3. food based supplements by way of a natural nutrition doctor

1. valium
2. neurontin
3. aspirin
4. neck brace
5. more chiropractic

1. more chiropractic
2. neck brace
3. TMJ splint
4. acupuncture
5. NAET allergy treatments
6. thought field therapy
7. NET (neuro emotional technique)
8. aspirin and tylenol alternating every 2 hours
9. physical therapy
10. colon, liver, and kidney cleanses
11. colonics

1. ditched all the doctors (traditional and alternative)
2. ditched all prescription drugs. (except the zoloft.)
3. ditched all over the counter drugs (namely pain killers)
4. ditched all processed food and supplements (not that I could tolerate them at this point anyway)
5. I get rolfed when my muscles are tight and after dental appointments.
6. I only eat Real food.

   pasture raised beef, organic beets, green beans, broccoli, peas, winter squash, spring water, home made beef broth, and sea salt
   (would eat more foods but allergies and digestion problems prevent it at this time)

1. I rarely have any pain, but I do get a little stiff sometimes (pain, a sign of poor circulation)
2. My scoliosis has improved --(My shoulders are even and I have almost no back or neck pain.)
3. My mood has improved (mood reflects liver health)
4. My muscles are no longer flabby
5. I gained the weight that I so desperately needed to gain. (up to 112 now)
6. I rarely get infections or colds
7. I do not get nose bleeds as often
8. I am not thoroughly exhausted all the time
9. I rarely have reflux (for me reflux is a sign of constipation)
10. My body is warmer
11. My feet no longer hurt all the time
12. I rarely get facial acne
13. My digestion is a lot better
14. BM's are better
15. My hair is growing back in since I stopped neurontin
16. I have gained the fat in my face that I lost tapering off neurontin
17. My skin tone and color is better (skin and hair reflects state of health)
18. My eyes are clearer
19. My vision is a little better (poor vision a sign of liver problems)
20. My lips are returning (thin lips means poor digestion)
21. The darkness between my lips and nose is going away (dark upper lip area, sign of poor digestion)
22. The acne on my back gone! (back acne, a sign of liver problems)
23. Way fewer rashes

1. MCS
2. food allergies
3. depression - much less (depression sign of poor liver health)
4. anxiety - not much though
5. obsessiveness - it is much less now
6. hypoglycemia - seems worse (hypoglycemia - adrenal glands weak)
7. insomnia - but much better now (insomnia - poor liver health)
8. hearing problems when background noise is present (poor hearing - weak kidneys)
9. buzzing noise in ears
10. poor peripheral vision in the right eye
11. poor eye coordination
12. memory problems - a little better now (poor memory - poor liver health)
13. confusion at times, but much less
14. receding gums - does not seem to be getting any worse (caused by neurontin and toxic body)
15. sensitive teeth - almost gone (caused by receding gums)
16. fast growing plaque (caused by neurontin)
17. rashes (caused by weak immune system)
18. constipation - not constant
19. fatigue - sometimes worse than others
20. I lost the moons on my fingernails - but not my thumbnails (no moons - weak thyroid)
21. Half my eyebrows are missing (a sign of weak thyroid)
22. Puffy under my eyes (a kidney thing)
23. Peripheral Neuropathy type symptoms
    Parts of my body go numb or are in pain, if I sleep on a seam or a sheet wrinkle
    I get nauseous
    I get very cold
    These symptoms started after I started neurontin

I still have the same symptoms to overcome.

2009 - age 47

Here's the Good News:

I have added the following to my diet: rutabaga, carrots, and an occasional cooked radish. When my garden is producing, I also eat, fresh black eyed peas, lima beans, wax beans. I can't eat these beans dried or canned, and they are not available fresh or frozen.


Here's the Bad News:

1. My hair is falling again since I began tapering off zoloft in January 2009.
2. I am also having back acne and strange dreams, which is also related to the zoloft taper.

I fell from a ladder in October of 2007. I sprained and strained muscle in both feet. I was unable to walk for 6 weeks. This fall caused more than pain.

1. My outdoor allergies are horrible. I had to start using a cotton face mask. It helps but only a little.
2. Each night I get post nasal drip if I even went outside for a moment that day.
3. I wake with rashes on my chest over my sinuses and sometimes my whole body itches.
4. Takes till 1 AM or so to fall asleep.
5. I can't seem to wake up before 10:30-11:00 AM, and sometimes at late as noon.
6. Increased allergies are causing my nose to bleed.
7. Digestion seems slower now
8. Trouble reading at night

My feet stopped hurting about November 2008 so I hope that means my body in now not so stressed so maybe my added symptoms will take a hike.

December 8, 2009

2009 - age 48

1. I no longer have MCS (well it has cleared up to the point I can sit on couches, I have ditched my face mask, and I am wearing sneakers and I am going into public again)
2. I am no longer on zoloft
3. Post nasal drip is only after I am exposed to a lot of pollen

I accomplished these things by getting IV glutathione and nutritional drips at a healing center in California.

I still have health issues to overcome but the two major hurdles are out of my way. (zoloft and MCS)

Here are my remaining issues:

1. anxiety
2. depression
3. obsessive thoughts
4. trouble thinking
5. easy to upset me
6. buzzing in ears
7. dizziness and/or head fog
8. candida
9. fast growing plaque (candida)
10. adrenal fatigue
11. hypoglycemia (adrenal fatigue)
12. stiffness from stress (adrenal fatigue)
13. insomnia (adrenal fatigue)
14. exhaustion (adrenal fatigue)
15. lack of appetite (adrenal fatigue)
16. food allergies (adrenal fatigue)
17. rashes when exposed to garden plants (adrenal fatigue)
18. don't hear well
19. can't see small print and sometimes words get blurry
20. poor peripheral vision in the right eye
21. no fingernail moons(no moons - weak thyroid)
22. Half my eyebrows are missing (a sign of weak thyroid)
23. back numbness is much less now when I sleep on a seam or 'try' to use a pillow
24. and all the crap caused by heavy metals:

    trouble spelling, trouble digesting, poor immunity, poor memory, numbness, tingling, weakness, allergies, easy to startle, fear, emotional, low self esteem, trouble deciding, timid, thinking of suicide, hearing and vision problems, constipation, thyroid problems, nausea, thinning hair, loss of taste, learning problems, hormone problems, detox function shut down, restlessness, apathy, low blood pressure, chronic viruses and parasites, lack of interest in life, feelings of hopelessness, extreme negativity
    

June 24, 2010

2009 - age 48

After the healing center got me off my zoloft I got delayed severe withdrawal symptoms, after two months. So I had to get back on my zoloft, and 2 other drugs to control the withdrawals.

Now back on drugs the following symptoms are now gone

1. anxiety - almost gone
2. depression
3. most obsessive thoughts
4. trouble thinking
5. easy to upset me
6. dizziness and/or head fog
7. stiffness from stress
8. insomnia
9. exhaustion
10. back numbness
11. can now sleep with a pillow
12. easy to startle
13. fear
14. nausea
15. restlessness
16. apathy
17. feelings of hopelessness

I still have the following symptoms though:

1. constipation
2. buzzing in ears - tinnitus
3. candida
4. fast growing plaque
5. adrenal fatigue
6. hypoglycemia
7. lack of appetite
8. food allergies
9. rashes when exposed to garden plants
10. don't hear well
11. can't see small print and sometimes words get blurry - have glasses now
12. poor peripheral vision in the right eye
13. no fingernail moons(no moons - weak thyroid)
14. Half my eyebrows are missing (a sign of weak thyroid)
15. trouble digesting
16. loss of taste

I believe processed food and medications are the major cause of MCS. Once weakened by poor nutrition and toxic drugs, the body is much more susceptible to the toxic chemicals the world throws our way. I believe this is why when exposed to the same chemicals, once person will get terribly ill and the other will seem unaffected.


Once I was weakened by processed foods, prescription and over the counter drugs, I was made worse by:

Man made chemicals in pesticides, cleaning potions, and personal care products
Not drinking enough pure water
Lack of exercise
Not enough sunshine
Not getting enough sleep
Dental work
Minor surgeries
Supplements
Eating food I did not know I was allergic to
Having a baby when too weak to do so - it drained me
Concussion

I slammed my finger in a car door, then I got tired and tried to lay down, but did not make it to the couch, (was trying to make it to the bed) and I fell head first into the corner of the coffee table. This is what my daughter tells me. I don't remember anything between the feeling tired and waking up a minute later on the floor. The day after the concussion, I was allergic to almost all foods!

Four car accidents in a row - I never had time to heal between accidents
Colon, kidney, parasite, candida, gall bladder cleansing
Colonics
More stress than I am capable of handling, given my depression, and weakened state .

Basically anything that depletes the body further. (poor nutrition, illness, injury, stress, and toxins)

1. water
2. sleep
3. exercise
4. sunshine
5. food
6. avoidance of supplements
7. dangers of mercury fillings

Water is so necessary for the cells of the body to function properly. If the body does not get enough pure water, the bodily fluids, urine, blood, lymph, etc., become extremely concentrated and toxic. If too much is consumed, the fluids will become too diluted and weakness will result. Water is best taken 30 minutes before meals or 1-2 hours after a meal. Water with meals will upset the digestion. It is also best to drink it room temperature. The body will have to heat up cold water and cool off piping hot teas. This will weaken the body. Water is also necessary for good bowel movements. More information of the healing power of water can be found in this book:    Your Body's Many Cries for Water .

In June 2004, I started to drink Mountain Valley Spring Water in glass bottles, instead of filtered water from BYOB Water Stores . I think Mountain Valley Spring Water tastes great! The first few days, it was like I could not get enough of this water. It was like this was what my body was looking for all along and it was making up for lost time. But I did level off after a while and now drink normal amount. The same thing happened to my husband. He drank a lot of it at first too. But now he thinks the water tastes too minerally for him and went back to the filtered water. I think this is common. Deficient people need minerally water and the more robust folks need the cleansing qualities of filtered water.

I have read to avoid drinking distilled water, because it is toxic to the body. I think this is because it is totally devoid of minerals and leaches them from your body. Not good!

May 2008

Here are some articles about the dangers of drinking distilled water:

Early Death Comes from Drinking Distilled Water
Miraculous Messages from Water - scroll down to see a picture of ugly distilled water.

Personally, I think even filtered water is depleting to the body. Even my husband, who used to like BYOB filtered water, is now drinking tap water. I have been told that filtered water is dead.

Back in 1997 I brought two bottles of water to be muscle tested at my kinesiologist. I did not label (except with a 1 and a 2 so I knew which was which) either bottle so he would not know which was which. I did not look while he tested so I did not know either. The highly filtered BYOB water tested weak for me, and the tap water tested strong. I was not going to drink "Tap" water! So I continued to drink the empty water. I should have listened to my body, and stopped drinking the filtered water. In 1999, I began to drink "Rain fresh" brand water, after I tasted it my acupuncturist. It is reverse osmosis water with added oxygen, so still an empty dead water. We switched to mountain valley spring water, after we moved and rain fresh was no longer available. The water tastes great! It may take a while for my body to remineralize after 7 years of drinking dead water.

The earth provides water with the minerals a body needs, so I believe that is the best way to drink it. It is too bad that most don't have access to fresh mountain streams. If you can not afford spring water, it might be beneficial to add a touch of sea salt to your water so you can at least be getting some electrolytes when you drink. Add the salt according to taste, your body will tell your when it is the right amount. Salted water has a softer feel in my mouth. I like it a lot better.

Given a choice, my dog prefers rain water, to tap, filtered or even spring water. Animals are usually wiser than we are. My potted plants and veggie garden also prefers rain water. Maybe one day I will take my dog's advice and get some rain barrels.

Country Water Action: Thailand Promoting Rainwater Harvesting, Preserving Rainwater Jar Culture
We have asphalt shingles, so roof collection would not be a great idea.

Recently, I discovered that I was not getting enough water. I thought that I was drinking plenty of water, but the only thing it seemed to accomplish was to make me pee. So I drank less, to see if I felt less tired and weak. I felt terrible. So I tried something else. Instead of drinking a full glass of water at a time when I felt thirsty, I drink 1/2 a glass at a time. Oh my gosh, all the difference in the world. Now, I digest my food way better and I am not running to the bathroom all the time. I think drinking too much at once was upsetting my electrolyte balance. My kidneys were very busy dumping water to make things right again, and I was still dehydrated.

I found that drinking a full glass of water when I first get up (sleep is dehydrating, and so is taking a bath) is very helpful. I read in these articles

summary of the book: Your Body's Many Cries For Water
Profound Life-Giving Therapeutic Himalayan Crystal Salt - Shirley's wellness cafe

that salt and water are needed to make Hydrochloric acid (HCL) for the body to make HCL, which is needed for digestion. I avoid drinking for at least 1 hour after meals so that HCL is not diluted. After supper, I try not to drink to much water after supper because I found it is hard on my kidneys to drink at night. Each person needs a different amount of water to to feel well, so use your own body as a guide. When the weather is hot, or I am more active, I drink more water than usual. When I garden, I get so tired and sometimes lightheaded. I find if I drink water while I am outside, I feel a lot better.


Sleep The liver cleans the blood between 1-3 AM each night and the gallbladder is the most active from 11 pm - 1 AM. The blood is cleansed by the liver all the time, but at night it is really focused on this task, by moving a large volumes of blood to the liver. It is best to eat at 6 pm or before, and here is why: After food is ingested, it takes 3 hours (5 hours or more if you eat a large meal or you have slow digestion) for the food to leave the stomach, then 3 more hours to move from the small intestines to the large intestines. Now that puts us at midnight. If we add one more hour for slow digestion and we are now at 1 AM. If food is consumed after 6 PM, the liver thinks: "you want me to digest your food tonight, not clean your blood". Among the many tasks the liver performs, the liver creates digestive enzymes. Plus, when food is eaten, more blood will go to the intestines to help the intestines digest the food. Now, the blood it is supposed to be in the liver isn't it? If the body is busy digesting your food when you should be sleeping, you will not get much sleep. Because the body needs to be sleeping to do its best job of de-toxing, I try to be in bed by 10 PM.

A wealth of information on how the liver functions, the cause of food allergies, and a few other things like that can be found at this site:   www.sensiblehealth.com

I did try the cleanses that are on her site, but they made me loose too much weight, 30 pounds, and I was only 123 lbs to begin with. I spent the next year, trying to put it back on.

I think if I tried cleansing again, I would use much lower doses, and go very slow. Right now I am using food to attempt to heal me. The liver uses saturated fats and animal proteins to de-tox. They are also use to build and repair the body.

The body regenerates at night. It performs tasks such as: repairing damaged cells, growth in children, reorganizing memories, resting the brain and muscles, as well as de-toxing the blood and cells. It is important to sleep during the night not during the day (like if you are a night owl and go to bed at midnight or later) because these functions occur naturally at night.

May 2008

After reading Doctor Wilson's book called Adrenal Exhaustion, I also try to lay down in the afternoon to recharge my batteries, which are getting quite low at this time. I don't feel tired at this time, but when I lay down, I feel like saying ahhhh.

I remember when I quit working to be an at home mommy (about 18 years ago), I thought the best part of not working, is to be able to lay down when ever I wanted to. Gee wiz, you would think I could think of a better reason. I guess I have had adrenal exhaustion (eastern medicine calls it: kidney yang deficiency ) for a long, long time.


Updated July 2005

Exercise helps to move the blood, thus bringing more nutrients and oxygen to the cells. It also moves the lymph fluid. The lymph fluids have no pump like the blood does. Exercise also causes deep breathing, allows sounder sleep, builds muscle, improves mood, increases physical stamina, and assists in digestion and elimination functions. The liver and kidneys will filter the blood of more toxins if the blood is moving.

Stagnation of the body fluids is much like a scummy pond that does not flow. The body has 5 organs devoted to ridding itself of toxins: the skin, lungs, liver, kidneys and the bowels. In the Chemically Sensitive, the bowel, the liver and the kidneys do not work so well anymore, so exercising is all the more important. Excessive exercise can be harmful though. It can deplete the body of vitamin A and fats, which are needed for energy and de-toxing. I also believe that most of us with MCS are malnourished, due to much of our nourishment going to de-tox functions. So, we must be very careful not to overdo things. I often overdo and I do pay the price, mostly with exhaustion and depression. Here are some symptoms of malnutrition

I used to go to the chiropractor at least 1-2 times a week until he ticked me off one last time! (there is a point here, really) He said, "If you would do something about your problem (MCS) then maybe you would improve!". So I did. I stopped going to all doctors (except the dentist)! I am the boss of my own healing now, and I think I am doing a much better job of it.

I have tried so many therapies, most of which did not help, or made things worse.

Here's the list

orthopedic doctors (leg braces as a child)
md's (antibiotics, aspirin)
stomach doctor (stomach meds)
arthritis doctor (he gave me a huge bag of pain pill samples and said find out which one works, jerk!)
chiropractors (thousands of adjustments, neck traction, orthotics, neck brace, X-rays and more X-rays)
trigger point therapy
psychiatrists (antidepressants, thought field therapy, EMDR)
environmental doctor (P&N testing, homeopathics, vitamins)
nutrition doctor (vitamins, acidophilus, flax oil, flax seeds, homeopathics, parasites herbs)
hydrogen peroxide therapy
acupuncture (NAET, pain therapy, NET)
counseling
supplements of my own choosing
iridology (more for diagnosing problems by looking at the eyes)
herbs
dentists (got mercury fillings out, cavitation surgery)
color therapy box
massage to relieve pain
TMJ dentist (TMJ splint)
ion generator
physical therapy
liver, colon, and kidney cleansing - Lost 10 lbs with colon cleanse, and 10 more with kidney cleanse. (I did not need to loose weight!)
chi machine
barley water to gain weight - gained 12 pounds in 3 months doing this - barley water recipe
rolfing/cranial sacral - got rid of TMJ pain entirely!
colonics - this made me severely constipated for at least 6 months and weakened me terribly
whole food diet - no processed foods at all.
sunshine
exercise - walk and Y-Dan tape
fresh air
spring water in glass
colloidal silver to control systemic overgrown candida - temporary use only
taheebo to control candida

November 30, 2010

getting off my zoloft at ATMC in 18 days. - Threw me completely off kilter.
--- Now I am back on drugs. I hate them, but they keep me sane.
IV Chelation at ATMC and TIFM - made me have terrible panic attacks.
IV glutithione injections at ATMC and TIFM - MCS vanished almost completely in 3 weeks

The items in bold, I feel helped me.

Y-DAN   is a series of gentle stretching exercises I do in the morning before breakfast. Sleeping is dehydrating, so I drink 1-2 glasses of water (that's how much I loose after visiting the bathroom in the morning) first. A lot goes on while we sleep. The liver cleans the blood all day, but more so at night, so up to 70% of the blood is in the liver between 1-3 am. Doing Y-Dan will help to get the blood circulating again. When I am cold, I move around and I feel warmer. In addition, exercise encourages bowel movements, by exercising the bowels. Since morning is nature's time to eliminate, this is a good time to exercise. Eating breakfast first would just shove more food down there and bowels move better when not compacted.

Sometimes I am kinda pale in the morning, but after I do the tape, I usually get my color back and do not feel so sluggish and stiff. It also seems to help my mood. If I am still pale, I know it is time to get rolfed. If I skip just one day of the Y-Dan, I am so stiff and if I skip two days, then the constant pain that I used to have, returns, and the next time I do Y-Dan it is painful to do.

Actually, now I can skip a few days and the pain does not return. I must be getting better. But I do get constipated and sometimes depressed, when I skip too many days.

I learned Y-Dan very slowly. I had had 4 car accidents in the period of 2 years, so I was in quite a bit of pain. Even just putting my arms above my head was painful. I only added about 2 movements (exercises) a week, and ended up skipping those that were just too painful or exhausting, and stopped when I got too tired to go on.

As time went by, I could do more and more of the movements without so much pain and fatigue. And I eventually added the movements that were just too painful to do before. If putting my arms over my head was painful, I just raised them as high as I could get them. There is this one exercise where I had to touch the floor with my fist, yea right! I just went as far as I could get and one day, low and behold, I did it, I touched the floor. I could not even do that as kid!

I believe Y-Dan is helping to improve my scoliosis. I have no more pain, unless I skip the y-dan for a few days. My shoulders are now even, and my head no longer tilts to one side.

When the weather allows and I feel up to it (emotionally and physically), I take a walk in the sun. Sometimes I just go around the block and other times I end up walking 20 minutes. I find I feel so much better if I have gotten outside that day, even just for a short time.


Sunshine feeds every cell of the body and it is nature's de-toxifier.

The sun helps the body to: regenerate the cells of the eyes, energize the body, improve the mood, kill cancer cells, make serotonin, melatonin (melatonin is made from serotonin in response to darkness), make vitamin D and makes plants grow. It can help us in much the same way that it helps the plants to grow and the outside air to smell fresh.

We need at least 1 hour of unfiltered sunshine a day to stay healthy. It is very important to avoid sunscreen, sunglasses and prescription glasses while outside, because all these block UV rays. We have been told that UV rays are harmful, but consider the source - the sunscreen and sunglasses companies!

I think 1 hour is probably optimum, but if I get out for only 5 minutes, it is way better than no time at all. I have noticed that walking in the sun is way more effective than just laying out in the sun. Maybe if I just sit in the sun the vitamin "S" (vitamin sunshine) just stagnates on the surface and if I move around, the sun finds its way into the cells. I know it is not just the exercise that makes me feel better, since I do not feel near as good if I walk after dark.

The best time to grab some beneficial UV is between 10am and 2pm (more UV rays then) That might be a great time to grab only 5-10 minutes to avoid that sunburn, and sweating half to death if you live in a place like Texas as I do. To assist the pineal gland to make its hormones, the sunlight must enter the eyes. For the cholesterol in the skin to make vitamin D, the skin must be uncovered. Making enough vitamin D through sun exposure in many parts of the world is not possible, especially if you have dark skin, so best to look for a good dietary source, such as cod liver oil.

May 2008

I have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and trouble sleeping. I have found early morning sun, is very effective in helping me to be less depressed during the day and to sleep better at night. I think it is because the sunlight is a different color in the morning. The reason does not really matter. Morning sun also helps that left over morning melatonin, (making me still sleepy), turn into serotonin, so I feel more awake. Nice warm dandelion root tea also makes me feel better.

updated - April 10, 2009

We have installed, an electronic balist and full spectrum lights in the kitchen. The new lights do not have a flicker and don't hum at all. I appreciate that, but was hoping it would help me with my depression, but it hasn't.


A few good sources of the health benefits of the sun can be found in these 2 books:

Health and Light - John Ott
Light: Medicine of the Future - Jacob Liberman

and the following articles:

Full Spectrum Light: Energy and Health Builder - PPNF
"Sun phobia arose after investigators anesthetized animals, propped their eyes open and shined intense UV light into them. There was retinal damage. "

Sun - Friend or Foe? - Dr. Craig Reese (archived)

"Ultraviolet light needs to pass through our eyes so that the pineal and pituitary glands are stimulated which helps in the production of important hormones like Serotonin and Melatonin. "

April 10, 2009

Healing Cancer With Light - Healing Cancer Naturally
"Light is the basic component from which all life originates, evolves, and is energized. Light and health are inseparable. Because we have managed to disconnect ourselves from the sources of light with our fluorescent lights, indoor lifestyles, glasses, contact lenses, sunglasses, tanning lotions, flesh foods, processed foods and even cooked vegetarian diets, many of us suffer from chronic “mal-illumination.” Like malnutrition, “mal-illumination” deprives us of a level of nutrients and rhythmic stimulation that is essential for living as fully healthy humans."

Facts of Light - Price Pottenger Nutrition Foundation
- "Light is like food. The wrong kind can make us ill and the right kind can keep us healthy."

Seeing the Light - Price Pottenger Nutrition Foundation
- "...stories of spontaneous remissions from cancer, achieved soon after patients threw away their sunglasses or tinted lenses and soaked up the healing rays of the sun."

Healing Power of Sunlight - Shirley's Wellness Cafe
- "The sun is the source of energy for all plants, and indirectly, for all animals. If the sun causes cancer, man wouldn't be here today. Contrary to popular belief, sunbathing actually helps heal cancer of the skin while sunblock increases cancer risk. "

Full Spectrum Sunlight and Inner Health - Second Opinions
"There are neurochemical channels from the retina to the pineal and pituitary glands, the master glands of the whole endocrine system that controls the production and release of hormones. This regulates your body chemistry and its growth, all organs of your body, including your brain, and how they function."

Health Benefits of UltraViolet Light - Jaguar Enterprises
"A study published in the prestigious medical journal Lancet and a Russian study found fluorescent light rather than sunlight promotes melanoma, proportionately to the time of exposure."

Medical Benefits Supporting the practice of Suryayog (archived)
"Sunlight speeds the elimination of toxic chemicals, including metals and pesticides. "

John Ott, light pioneer - Find Articles
"...when a drop of human blood is placed on an ultraviolet transmitting microscope slide and then placed directly in front of a video display terminal for five minutes, it will cause long-chain clumping of the red blood cells... "...

"...we think this problem is due to the magnetic fields magnetizing the iron in the hemoglobin, causing them to have a polarity that makes them line up just like a bunch of little magnets. "However, we find that getting the person outdoors or seating them directly in front of our full-spectrum lighting with ultraviolet reverses the condition. The ultraviolet seems to be an important factor in breaking up this clumping."

Athlete's Foot, Toenail Fungus, and Similar Repugnant Topics - Doctor Yourself
"When we were finished with our swimming lessons, we were a lot dirtier than we ever got at the "Y." We sat on the ground in the sun and quickly put our socks, without time to dry our feet, before catching the bus back to camp. No disinfectant in sight, just the occasional cow cookie.

Immediately that summer, my athlete's foot went away.

Looking back, I think it was the sunlight that did it. Fungi in general and athlete's foot fungi in particular love shade. When we swam outside and dressed outside, the sun got to our toes. Sunlight did what sanitation couldn't. "


Updated March 1, 2005

Processed food, feed-lot meat and dairy and all chemically grown food are the #1 way to illness I believe.

When we got internet access, I hunted for a connection to all my problems. I knew there was a reason and a connection, I just had to find it. I lived on the internet a few years until finally I put it all together, especially after I ran into the The Weston A Price Foundation Site in 2001. This site has so much great info, that I decided to purchase a book written by the founder of the Weston A Price Foundation. Sally Falon's book, Nourishing Traditions , has done a great deal for me to help me in my journey to be well. Part of the book contains recipes for whole non food industry foods, but the first part is devoted to dispelling the myths of the food industry in an entertaining style. Much of this same information is located on the website, but I have trouble sitting at the computer for long periods of time. It makes me sorta dizzy, irritable, and keeps me from sleeping at night.

I discovered that the food industry has been very busy brainwashing us for its own purposes. They have been lying to us since they learned to develop fake foods. They tell us to eat, lots and lots of processed grain, no saturated fats but to use canola oil and margarine instead, etc. Truth being, we should eat the exact opposite: plenty of saturated fats in the form of animal fat such as butter, cream, whole milk, fats and fatty meats from pasture raised animals. Coconut oil, and palm oil being saturated fats are good but the vegetable oils such as corn, sunflower, canola, and soy oils are bad. Olive oil is high in mono unsaturated fats, so I believe it to be a compromise. I can't tolerate it though. They suggest soaking all whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds to remove phytic acid and to avoid white flours, white rice, and soy (high levels of anti nutrients and plant estrogens. Excessive estrogen makes little girls develop at extremely early ages like 8 years old. It sometimes does not let boys mature at all.). Soy is not meant for man or beast.

The Weston A Price Foundation, along with its newsletter   Wise Traditions   are non profit so they can be free to be totally honest about dispelling the myths of the toxic food industry. In June 2001 (now age 40), I began to eat eat whole foods in their natural state. I am unable to eat all the things that are mentioned in the Nourishing Traditions book, due to my food allergies. I actually eat closer to a caveman diet. I eat lots of meat, veggies, but no milk, grains, fruit, nuts or seeds. Each person has their own tolerance for things like milk and grains. I think it depends on how worn out your adrenal glands are. Mine is shot. Probably from all that sweet tea and zoloft. Antidepressants are stimulants. Stimulants are very bad for the adrenals.

Updated June, 2005

Animal fat has the cholesterol (and other types of fats) that your body is craving. Your body is made up of cholesterol and will make it if you do not eat it. It makes it even if you do eat it. This is why if you stop eating fat you crave bread. The body can make cholesterol from carbs and sugars. But carbs tend to hang around as fat. More on this in this article More Proof Good Fats Help You Drop Weight

In the past, it seemed that, sometimes no matter how much I ate I didn't feel satisfied. I rarely have that problem now. I add quite a bit of the fat which rises to the top of my broth, back to my soups. When making my broth, I try to not to let it boil. If it gets too hot the broth will not jelly up after cooling it in the refrigerator. Adding fat makes the soup taste a lot better, and I am eat less since my hunger is satisfied earlier.

I do feel that a big part of my improvement is due to abandoning all processed foods (even processed organic food) and factory farmed meats. Factory farming is not only inhumane to the animals it is inhumane to us. You are what you eat and you are what your animals eat as well. If your animals eat grain laced with antibiotics, hormones, meat from other animals that died of disease, chicken dung, municipal garbage, feathers, cardboard, restaurant grease, expired grocery store food stuffs, and bubble gum including the foil wrappers, then that is all in the meat, and you are eating all that too. Since the animals get very ill on these horrible diets, the meat is far from nutritious. Many of the animals can not even walk because they are so weak!

Actually, factory raised animals are expected to be sick! The humane way of raising animals is to let them eat from pasture that way they were designed to. Ruminants (grass eating animals) get very ill on grain. They can't digest it, and many of the cattle die due to this. The feedlots have to give the animals tons of antibiotics, antacids and other meds to try to keep them alive long enough until slaughter. The meat lady I get my pasture raised meat from, said "if they kept the feedlot animals for about 1 more month, they would all die. They just can't survive on what they are feeding them."

I purchase my pasture raised beef, lamb, chicken and eggs from local ranchers at

Burgundy Pasture Beef  and  PaiDom Meats

Locating non feed-lot meat, and raw dairy is not as hard as it used to be, one only has to visit   Eat Wild   and   Real Milk   to locate a source anywhere in the United States and Canada. We get our organic produce from my local health food store.

The health food store is generally not a safe place to buy personal care and cleaning products. The products may have names like green this or organic that, but if you check the ingredients you will find a whole bunch of no nos from the Toxic Chemical Lists . Many of the health food stores are being bought out by the same folks that own the toxic old grocery stores. This is such bad news. This puts in danger our ability to purchase non toxic food and other products.

I can only give you the tip of the iceberg on all the things that are out there on a good traditional diet. Here are a few links so you can really understand what the processed food industry would rather you did not know!

Weston A Price Foundation

Low cholesterol: overlooked health risks

The Paleiolithic Diet - contains an alternative food pyramid

Introduction to the Palio Diet (caveman diet)

Guts and Grease: The Diet of Native Americans
- Has a picture of a beautiful Navajo Native American

Factory Farm Project


Updated April 2, 2005

Supplements can seem to help in the short run, but even if made from natural ingredients, natural vitamins contain chemical fillers and preservatives. If you want to know about all the yucky stuff that goes into most of your "natural" supplements read   Dietary Supplements - What the Industry Does Not Want You to Know .

Supplements are fractioned foods, and 90% of all supplements contain ingredients that make MCS worse. Fractioned foods are those no longer in their whole natural state, for example: egg whites, white flour, white sugar (is separated from the food it came from), brown sugar (it is mostly white sugar), corn syrup, white rice, fruit juice (missing the pulp), powdered milk (missing the fat), low fat and skim milk, veggie juice, most supplements except maybe cod liver oil (it's whole), and anything from the food industry in the form of processed food.

Processed food consists of almost anything in a bag, box, jar, bottle or can. Processed food has been so manipulated that it is not really food anymore. The body does not know what to do with fractioned foods, but it does the best it can. If sugar is ingested, the body will need to steal from something else that than was eaten to digest the sugar. If an organic apple is eaten, everything needed to digest the apple is in that apple. Nature really knows best. More on fractioned foods can be found in the book   Nourishing Traditions

I took supplements for two years under the guidance of a natural nutrition doctor, and although they seemed to help at first, in the long run, I felt so much worse. Supplements can create vitamin/mineral imbalances. Personally, I developed allergies to many of them. So, I have turned to food to heal me as I have found herbs to be much too strong for me. Herbs should only be used short term anyway. They can also create imbalances in the body if used too long. I use herbs rarely, but when I do, I will boil them as a tea, so I can control their strength. I believe, herbs in pill form, are more like a processed food.

Man can not even come close to guessing the amounts of vitamins and minerals that the body needs. Why guess, just eat organic, biodynamic, or pastured animals in their natural state and you will do a lot better than mega dosing on vitamins. Some chemically raised oranges have been found to have no vitamin "C". The crops will only contain nutrients that the soil contains and chemicals deplete the soil. So, I am not sure what is worse, what the chemically raised produce has in it, or what it does not, namely nutrients.

Unfortunately, even organic foods can be low in nutrients, if it is not grown in a sustainable way. I read that produce that tastes the best, ends up being the most nutrient dense. So seek out sources of fresh produce, and compare the taste. A man in an article which I read, used a brix meter to test quality, but his grandkid's, taste buds were just as good an indicator. The kids liked the foods best that were highest in brix, not even knowing the brix numbers.

The Pottenger cat study, proved that cat dung from cats that were fed processed foods, produced sickly beans, verses the healthy bean plants from cats fed a optimum diet (for cats) of raw meat and raw dairy. Some compost and manure products at the garden store are pasteurized, thus killing everything bad and all the good guys too. Micro-organisms in the soil make the plants healthy.

Updated July 2005

Mercury Fillings I started to get my mercury fillings (the ADA likes to call them silver fillings so they won't sound toxic. The metal colored fillings are about 50% mercury, 30% silver and the rest other metals) replaced in November of 1998. I had the second quadrant removed in April 1999, but I was unable to tolerate the removal procedure very well. I got depressed each time. I now believe that the chelating supplements caused this. De-toxing too fast can cause depression and cleansing is hard on a malnourished body. I decided to give mercury removal a rest for a while then, in March 2004, I had to get that nickel crown replaced due to a cavity under it. I went ahead and got the filling beside it replaced as long as that side of my mouth was numb. I used no supplements that time. Other than a lot of fatigue, I was fine.

In June 2005, I got the last quadrant of mercury fillings replaced. I am so glad that is over with. I caused me to be very fatigued and stiff. Since then, I have been rolfed a few times. It helped me to loosen me up after all that stress and pain. The numbing medication so did not work much. I think a good part of my exhaustion may have been due to numbing medication, getting stuck in my mouth tissues. The rolfer worked on my mouth to rid my body of all that numbing medicine.

I think that I have pretty much gotten over that experience, but so far, I have not noticed any difference in my health.

More on the toxic nature of dental materials can be found at:
Health Hazards of Mercury

Also, mercury can cause
suicidal tendencies   (archived)

Updated May 2008

Dandelion tea once in a while. I eat the roots too. Helps digestion and the the liver.
No processed or canned foods, not even ketchup.
No sugar or caffeine.
No supplements
Avoid all foods that that make my candida or hypoglycemia worse or that I am allergic to:
all grains, dairy, fruits, nuts, seeds, potatoes, fish, etc.
I use lots of homemade beef broth
I drink spring water stored in glass.
I eat only whole foods:
pasture raised meat, organic frozen or fresh veggies, garden veggies, and damp sea salt.

Last meal at 6 PM. Eating later, keeps me awake all night.
No computer after supper as this keeps me awake all night.
Bed by 10 PM. The later I go to bed the harder it is to fall asleep
Sleep at least 10 hours each night (read 'lights out' book)
Lay down a few minutes, during the day if I feel tired (I need to work on this one)
Less TV and computer. Both interfere with sleep, and are addictive. (needs work too)

Try to go outside each day. Morning sun is the most healing.
Y-Dan in the morning.
Walks in the sun (5-30 minutes depending how I feel)
Exercising with 1 pound weights (like lifting my arms over my head with them when I am stiff)
I get rolfed when exercise is not helping anymore

I avoid taking a bath right after eating, it upsets digestion
I avoid going to bed with wet hair, it blocks energy flow to rest of body
I avoid toxins like the plague
I avoid negative people
I avoid all doctors except to get my zoloft and get out of jury duty
I avoid over the counter medications like pain medication, and cold medicatons and prescriptions like antibiotics (they kill good bacteria in the gut). If I get an infection I take garlic.
I get my teeth cleaned every 4 months since plaque builds up quick.
I open the window on nice days (and pollen level is low), to clear stale air and so computer EMF's don't bug me so much

When I fall short of these goals, I try not to beat myself up to much about it. Doing some of these things is better than doing none of them.

May, 2005

And I do fall short of my goals often. I do not get outside or exercise every day. This causes me to be depressed, constipated, lack energy, and have insomnia. I sometimes go to bed after 10 PM. Seems the later I go to bed, the harder it is to fall asleep, and get up the next morning. I also eat at 7 PM once in a while, then I can't sleep, and also wake up with crud in my eyes. I often get up way too late, probably because I ate and/or went to bed too late. This causes insomnia since I have not been up long enough to be tired. And getting up too late, also seems to make me constipated. I spend way too much time on the computer. Being on the computer seems to cause me to loose track of time, which keeps me from eating on time, and drinking enough water. Using the computer after after dinner, keeps me from sleeping at all.

I go through periods where I practically watch no TV. During these times, I feel so much better. But when I am not feeling well or I am depressed, I watch more TV. I read that depressed people watch more TV. I think it might be because they are not motivated to do much of anything else. Unfortunately, TV makes depression worse. It also seems to cause insomnia and constipation. It does for me anyway.

Both the TV and the computer mess with the function of the pineal gland, probably produce bad energy fields, keep me from getting anything else done, causes insomnia and lack of exercise. Ever notice how still folks are watching TV or sitting at the computer? I read that you use up less calories watching TV then if you were sitting in the same chair just staring at the wall. I think this is because being mesmerized by the TV, slows your whole system down. Not moving all day will certainly cause constipation, which I believe is a major problem contributing to MCS. It seems like making one little mistake messes up everything else.

As long as we are talking about constipation...


Things I have noticed that help with constipation:

1. Be up in the morning - like before 9 am.
   
   Digestion and elimination are more efficient in the morning and become more and more difficult as the day goes on. Bowel movements occur most naturally in the morning. If you are not up, you may have to wait til the next day.
   
   
   
2. Do not eat after 6 PM.
   
   The body is gearing up for repair and de-tox at night, not digestion. Food eaten at night tends to just sit in your gut, giving you a belly ache, and making you fat! At college, I once had breakfast at 3 AM with friends. It was a big breakfast. I got so nauseous and did not sleep that night. I decided to never do that again!
   
   
   
3. Eat bigger meals earlier in the day. Make supper a light meal.
   
   Your body has a circadian rhythm, and digestion is a early day thing. But on the other hand, if I skip supper entirely to avoid the constipation thing and to sleep better, I get cold, and do not sleep well. I have read that it does take energy to sleep. A lot goes on while you sleep, so you do need fuel.
   
   
   
4. Do not eat more than the stomach can hold.
   
   If you eat too fast as I tend to, you tend to eat too much. It takes the body about 20 minutes to realize that you fed it. If you wait til that amount of time before you go for seconds, you may realize, that you are no longer hungry. If you eat too much, there is just too much food in your stomach to empty into your intestines. If your intestines have all they can hold, the remaining food sits in your stomach and can cause reflux if you bend at the middle or lay down. And you will not sleep. I tend to be less depressed when I eat lighter meals. This leads me to think constipation causes depression.
   
   
   
5. Do not eat large meals too close together.
   
   It takes like about 3 hours to get the food out of the stomach and into the small intestines. If you shove more food down before the stomach is empty, well, you get constipated. This tends to happen to me when I get up too late and try to squeeze 3 meals between 11 AM and 6 PM. I get hungry due to my hypoglycemia and think I will starve if I do not eat 3 times. On those days I try to eat only 2 times.

   It is better to eat the same time each day, but I am not perfect and have to learn to accept that.
   
   
   

6. Stop eating or greatly reduce intake while extremely constipated
   
   If you have a stopped up drain, don't add more stuff. Same principle. Going for a walk helps too.
   
   
   
7. Avoid long periods of total inactivity - like watching TV or computer use
   
   Exercise makes the villi of the intestines move, which move the bowels. If you stay still all day, well so will your waste. But I bet you will still eat, so then you have a situation as bad as eating too much at one time. Compacted food in your gut!
   
   I feel it is better to do normal activities like walking around the house and not exercise per say like going out for a walk, then to sit still all day like at the computer, and think you can erase that by going for a 1 hour walk. Don't ask me how I know that! I have found Y-dan to be effective in promoting a bowel movement.
   
   
   
8. Avoid constipating foods.
   
   These might be different for each person. You should take notice of what make you go and what constipates you. For me, the constipating foods are: nuts, dry beans, green beans, grains, starchy veggies like potatoes, and parsnips, and over cooked food which would include canned veggies (they are cooked to very high temps so they will keep forever).

   Most raw things, although I can't digest them well, tend to make things move faster as well as most veggies and all fruits, especially applesause, prunes and and figs.

   Flours can act like glue in the intestines. We all learned how to make paste in elementary school. (flour and water) So bread is not a good thing to eat when constipated.

   Bitter or pungent foods are a good thing to try when constipated, like broccoli, cabbage, celery, and bitter herbs like dandelion.

   Personally, I use one of the following to help things move along: beets, carrots, cooked radish, cooked dandelion root, or brocolli.
   
   
   

9. Eat more animal fat
   
   I save the fat that rises to the top of my homemade beef stock and add it back to my soups. I have never enjoyed eating the fat on the edge of a steak, but the rendered fat tastes good to me. I am allergic to butter, and milk, and hardly ever fry food (which would require some sort of fat). So, adding fat to my soup is the only way that I can think of to get fat into me. The soup tastes better too, since I can not thicken it with flour. Fried food can upset my tummy, and cause me to have bloody noses. Frying foods increase their thermal nature to hot and tends to dry me up, this is what causes the bloody nose.

   In order to digest fat, bile is needed. When you eat fat, bile is excreted into the intestines to break it up. Bile is a natural laxative. If you eat no fats, bile does not move. Bile is made from cholesterol. The bile hardens and clogs the bile ducts, forming gallstones, in both the liver and gal bladder. Gallstones are from not eating enough cholesterol, not from eating too much.
   
   
   

10. Get outside in the morning everyday, even to sit and stare
    
    Some how this greatly increases chance of a BM. Early morning sun is the most effective.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities is a sign of a weak tired body. I believe it is mostly due to lack of sleep, a hectic lifestyle, and a poor diet. Avoidance of toxic substances will avoid symptoms, but will not cure the liver. Changes must be made in lifestyle to strengthen the liver so it can heal the body. I believe the body will rid itself of toxins on its own without a liver cleanse (those made me worse), after the liver is strengthened again. A weak body knows it can not handle the energy it would take to start dumping toxins into a already weakened elimination system.

I believe the major change should be in eating more the way our bodies were designed to eat, and to get off all drugs (slowly if of the addictive sort!). Eat more saturated fat, less grain, and no processed food at all (which would include all sugar, artificial sugars, table salt, white flours, pasteurized dairy and fruit juice, and almost anything in a bag, box, can, bottle or jar). Saturated fat being bad for you is yet another myth propagated by the vegetable oil industry. They had to convince the public that saturated fat was bad, so we would buy their products. The Weston A Price has a great list of dos and don'ts here they are:

Dietary Guidelines

Dietary Dangers

The fact is, that health has declined since everyone has cut back on fat in their diets. Americans are fatter and dying from heart disease, strokes, and cancer at higher rates now. We are also suffering from more and more horrible chronic ailments such as Multiple Chemical Intolerance, Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Lupus, Allergies, MS, Diabetes, Alzheimer's, Osteoporosis, Depression, Panic Disorders, Obsessive Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder, Autism, AIDS, bla, bla, bla. Many of which were unheard of before processed foods and fake fats appeared.

Weston A. Price searched the world over for healthy people with straight healthy teeth, and never found them in "civilized" areas. He only found them in remote areas untouched by processed foods and the modern world, and the majority depended mostly on animals for their sustenance. These folks had straight teeth with almost never a cavity, no mental disease, and almost never any physical disease or malformations. Of the indigenous folks that were total vegans (no animal products at all), he found a greater incidence of dental carries and physical deformities. But, he did find healthy vegetarians, that consumed milks, cheeses and eggs. He found that, only a small amount of animal products were necessary to ward off illness, and congenital defects.

More about Weston A Price

I find it truly amassing, that the works of Weston A. Price are largely unknown to a great many of us. But we all know who Louis Pasteur is. He is the nut who invented a away to kill all the beneficial bacteria in milk to make it very unhealthy to drink. He also found out a way to give many children, autism, and mental retardation, by injecting various pathogens into innocent children! Maybe someone should find a way to get Weston A, Price into the school textbooks, and Pasteur out of them!

Saturated fats protect the liver from toxic substances and enhance the immune system. Fats have many more benefits that are explained very well in this article The Skinny on Fats

Listening to the food industry's idea of healthy eating has gotten us all into this mess. The food pyramid was bought and paid for by the grain lobbyists. Eating 11 servings of grain a day, will make you fat enough to sell at market. Anyway, don't get me going.

When I read "Nourishing Traditions", it all made sense to me. The things you hear on TV or read in most magazines about what to eat to be healthy, are designed to make someone a lot of money not make anyone healthy.

I almost forgot, home-made beef broth is a big part of my healing from MCS because, Gelatin rich homemade broth helps the liver to de-tox. I eat so much soup, I think I will turn into soup.


You can read how a natural diet of whole fresh foods have helped others, by reading:
Letters to Wise Traditions

December 2, 2010

When I put this website together, I honestly believed eating a healthy diet, getting plenty of sunshine, exercise, and sleep would cure me. Don't get me wrong, those things are good for you, but those things did not cure me. I don't know what causes MCS, and I really don't know what cures it. I now think that I was wrong thinking simple things like good food will fix MCS. For me, IV glutathione healed me of MCS. But I do second guess that assumption. There could be some unknown reason, I got a lot better.

I started this website with the hopes that I could help others get well again, just as soon as I discovered it. I have done a lot of research and I never found a cause or cure.

I have often thought about taking this website off the net, because I don't want to stear you down the wrong pat. I am conflicted.


I hope you get better soon,

Mary

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