Years ago I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. At the time, I asked the doctor if what I had was caused by environmental toxins, that is, a sensitivity to chemicals. I called it “environmental illness”. She said “No”, that environmental illness did not exist. Years before that, I’d had many problems due to chemicals, but no one said it was an allergy or that the chemicals were causing the problems. I got rashes from the fragrance in laundry soap. I got severe headaches from the formaldehyde in high school biology class. But these things were not acknowledged and I never knew the cause of my problems. In college, I got severe headaches from the chemicals in photography class, but both the teacher and I figured out the cause and tried to find solutions so I could fulfill my class requirements.
When I got on my own, also, I changed to unscented laundry soap and as many other unscented products as I could on the advice of someone and because the smells “bothered me”.
But, I always had trouble on jobs. I’d get headaches especially at certain times or situations which were a mystery to me then, but which I think were probably due to exposure to cleaning supplies, fragrances, and other chemicals. The problem got worse and worse. I’d get sick — mostly constant severe headaches that were not classified as migraines, and a constant achy flu-like feeling that was not the flu or any other infection. I also had a runny nose that was not due to cocaine as many people thought. In fact, I could be fine and then all of a sudden while talking to someone, my nose would start to run. It would be a mystery to me. I’d say “I was fine before I started talking to you!” I’d sometimes get a headache or feel irritable and complain about the smell of their perfume or cologne, but they’d just get offended.
Finally, after the diagnosis of fibromyalgia, I quit work and moved out to the woods and slept a lot and ate only natural food and started to become healthy. Then I moved back to town and started to do things around people again and got sick again. This continued on for some time — get sick, retreat, get well, go out and do things, get sick, retreat.
A few years after that, I got eczema very bad on my scalp and the back of my hands and some spots on my arms. Everything the doctors prescribed made it worse (because I turned out to be allergic to the masking fragrance and the preservatives in the ointments they prescribed). It was not stress. It was chemicals. Finally, after convincing the doctor that I had allergies and going through all the food and plant allergies (which were negative), I got a patch test for chemical allergies (truetest.com — check it out. Your doctor has to order it, though). I was allergic to 6 out of 24 of the allergens on the test. That is 25%!! Not all chemicals are on the test, of course, but of the ones on it, I am allergic to perfumes/fragrances, preservatives, some metals, and formaldehyde — all the most pervasive ones! There is literally no where I can go in human society without being subjected to some of them, BUT…
If I avoid these chemicals completely and other chemicals that might be bothering me, eat organic food, exercise moderately, my fibromyalgia goes away. My sinus problems go away. The eczema has gone away.
So, what do you think of that?
I suffered for years from serious eczema (as in outer layers peeling off to raw skin) on the bottom of my right foot and finally, reading a book on allergies, intuited that it was due to a corn allergy that I had long ignored–I was eating corn meal for breakfast, popcorn for dinner, and paying no attention to HFC. Take away the corn, and the eczema on the bottom of my foot went away….I can still enjoy the occasional ear of corn on the cob, thank goodness!
A similar rash occurred on my nose and behind my ears when I started wearing “granny glasses” back in the 60′s–it was quickly traced to a zinc allergy, and vanished as soon as I switched to plastic-coated frames…
It has been hard for me to diagnose my allergies, too. I could not wear metal glasses or pierced earrings of any kind. Doctors at the time suggested a nickel sensitivity, but did not call it an allergy. Even surgical steel has some nickel in it and I can not wear earrings made of it, either. Too much canned food gives me a stomache ache. I thought I was allergic to corn at one point because I seemed to get rashes whenever I ate some product from it, but rarely from an ear of corn. Then I tried organic corn chips and organic popcorn, etc. and the itching and rashes did not occur. That fits in with what I found out about my other chemical allergies. If only all the food was organically grown and all the products like soap and lotions were made from organically grown ingredients!
yes, i sort of stumbled in on the chemical sensitivity stuff when i was looking for a thesis topic in medical anthropology, about 20 years ago, and wound up talking about the anthropology of disabling levels of chemical sensitivity. I was a pretty good “fit” to be interviewing these folks since I;d already pretty much quit using anything perfumed, didn’t perm my hair or paint my nails or wear makeup. well, it got me looking at the kind of weird migraine/muscle pain syndrome I’ve had since I was maybe 19 years old.
after learning more about various toxic responses,I got REALLY strict with myself about using ONLY unscented personal care products and laundry products and household cleansers, and cut out the foods in my diet that seemed to make me respond with a headache or nausea within 24 hours,this meant I had to give up anything smoked or barbecued, anything containing fluid milk or milk powder (but small amounts of cheese and yogurt were OK), vinegar- pickled things or anything containing vinegar 9such as salad dressing) unless it was used mostly as a source of acid to react with baking soda (say, in pancakes or a vegan cake)…well, the headaches decreased significantly in frequency, and in severity when I did get them. I also fund I had to avoid artificual coloring (which made it a good thing I don;t take most pharmaceuticals) and flavoring – fortunately I;ve been heating your basic hippie health-food diet since I as a teen and never developed a taste for soda and especially not diet soda..the thought of those artificial sweeteners is enough to make me feel queasy right there! and oh anything with liquid smoke or “grilled to perfection” – what this American passion is for carcinogenically burnt food is, I’ll never understnd. even vegetarians seem to think that burning up charcoal and having it go into your gut is a good thing…naw.
unfortunately, as you note, it isn’t so easy to control for other people’s use of scents and chemicals, ranging from cologne to dryer sheets to air freshener, I work as a substitute teacher and get exposed to a LOT of that stuff, especially when the kids first come to school in the morning. nobody likes being told that they “stink.” and I suppose most of us resent people telling us what to do and how o be- but they really don;t get that we aren’t doing it because we are control freaks; we are asking them to change their habits in shared spaces because we really don’t want to be sick.
people used to be as defensive about their right to smoke cigarettes as they are now about their right to reek of perfume (and some smokers still are that way despite changing public policy)
I;e found the best steps I have been able to take to keep myself healthy are avoiding toxic exposures fro otehrs, staying away from smoky o high VOC (volatile organic chemical) environments,eating organic foods as much as possible, identifying dietary triggers, and watching the products I use around me as well as on my person.
I’m not a chemistry whiz though I love conceptual chemistry and physics. I learned back in high school chem that all the aldehydes and ketones are acutely toxic to a greater or lesser extent, so why would formaldehyde (basically an aldehyde molecule with a formic acid group attached) be anything besides toxic to breathe or otherwise absorb?
Thanks, Judith, for your comment. I’ve been camping out in the woods and didn’t get to it until now (due to spam, I’ve set my site to approve all comments, which I do unless they are spam). Your comments are helpful and I’ve experienced a lot of the same problems and am trying the same solutions. Some artificial flavorings are aldeyhdes — and they are ingested! Ick! There’s far too much toxic stuff in our food and cosmetics (basics like shampoo and toothpaste!), I think.
i am 52 years old, male. long before i ever heard of fibromyalgia . smells have been a problem. now that i am sure i have what is called fibromyalgia. when i get around some smells . it just makes for real problems. not much to do but try to learn what to stay away from. there is all ways something you can’t see or know about till it is all over you and you beside yourself because of it. just don’t know how big this is for those with fibromyalgia. hey if who ever see and read this , would like to tell me more on this subject . then please fell free to do so. thank you very much frank Hyatt hyattf@yahoo.com
It is a real problem, not only for people with fibromyalgia but for people with chemical/perfume allergies and, I suspect, for others with the autoimmune disorders.