I wish things were simple with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. If it were just truly a psychological problem or a matter of having a broken bone, which is easily diagnosed, this would be so much easier to be reconciled. This is actually a complex problem that could affect any of the body systems, but it primarily attacks the central nervous system (CNS) and the respiratory system.
The medical community dismisses this as psychological and it’s not. Psychology could be important if they actually helped support you and not belittle you. This is very important, as this is very difficult to deal with. When you face increasing isolation, when some friends and family don’t believe you and you start losing your jobs, support is critical.
We are an early warning and should be heeded if this “canary” theory is right. People like me, truly don’t want this role. Who wants to be sick most of the time?
For me, I have a whole drawer of perfumes and nail polish I can no longer use. You can have them. I have trouble walking by bakeries, going into Orchard Supply Hardware and Home Depot (what’s that wood been treated with?), going into a furniture store, smelling BBQ, chimney and cigarette smoke, cooking fumes, going into tire, bike and large shoe stores, going by perfumes, scented candles and potpourri in a store or walking by someone using them or staying in air conditioning too long. It is difficult to read newspapers without laying them out for a while, beforehand, and to read books while you’re sniffling because that particular print is causing trouble. When I am stuck behind diesel trucks or busses with my car windows rolled up, my air conditioning going and it still causes problems.
All these things I used to take for granted, 4 short years ago. I used to like perfumes and baking bread. What happened?
Whenever I go by these things most of the time, my nose immediately plugs up and I cough. The central nervous system also kicks in and I get sleepy, almost lethargic at times, somewhat disoriented and can’t think clearly sometimes. BRAIN POWER IS HIGHLY VALUED IN THIS COUNTRY and this talent is thrown right out the window. What kind of job do you think you’re going to get in the information age with this problem?
Who wants the humiliation of losing their jobs and seeing the looks on their co-workers’ or manager’s faces as you deteriorate? (At the time, you don’t understand what’s happening except you’re humiliated and getting sicker) Their expressions tell you that they think you’re just plain stupid or your parents and family don’t believe you. You’re the only one that got sick in the office, right? Incidentally, my father still smokes around me and my mother still uses the perfume, although it does smell good.
A typical Multiple Chemical Sensitivity person suffers substantial loss of income. Some friends/family don’t believe you and there is general lack of medical support. They feel it’s most likely psychological. For me, my energy is mostly drained and I have a headache at least half the time, not to mention the recovery period from these headaches that I get from exposure. Occasionally, I’m tossed a bone and have a good day, but that doesn’t happen too often.
TIME LINE
I think that my 1st major time all this started was when I got a job at a health clinic. I could smell something nobody else could, the minute I walked in the door and I was ridiculed for that. They always kept it ridiculously cold in there like a meat locker. Did they think they were trying to prevent me from getting any older?
All I know was, at least 3 hours into the day, there goes my burning eyes, running nose, and coughing, if not coughing fits. I’d be so lethargic by Thursday and Friday, I thought if I never woke up again, I’d be happy. The weekends would be a recovery time. Sunday, I started feeling better and this told me I could make it through another week, but as Friday approached, I was very ill and some people would tell me that they didn’t even recognize my personality anymore. I was so bitchy, irritable and dragged out. No, it wasn’t the rag or workitis. Also, a co-worker there liked to sniff his really strong-smelling marker for awhile. We had to take drug tests for God’s sake and here’s this co-worker that would come in reeking of marijuana and he sniffs markers. I had a co-worker confirm that he was getting high off that marker. He was having a good ol’ time while I was just sitting there getting sicker, especially by Thursday and Friday. I was working in the lobby with my back to him and I did say something, but our particular manager didn’t care. I struggled to work there for almost a year, but in the meantime, the respiratory symptoms were getting worse, my energy was progressively waning and I was getting increasingly more stupid. I was also getting sensitized to things that never made me sick before in my life.
Before I worked for this clinic, there were 2 peculiar incidences about 10 years prior that should have made me aware of what was going on but I foolishly ignored these signs. These were:
1st clue was when my favorite store had been renovated in the mall. I don’t know if it was the paint, the carpet or both, but my eyes, nose, throat and lungs immediately reacted and I had to run out of there. Naturally, I ignored and dismissed this.
2nd clue was that a similar reaction happened when I was working in a clothing store, except not as severe. I was a stocker and normally all the clothes are cellophane-wrapped. These pants weren’t wrapped, but those pants must have been treated with something. I had almost the same reaction.
THIS HAPPENED AFTER I WORKED FOR THAT HEALTH CLINIC: The 3rd crucial time was when the Manpower building still wasn’t completed yet and some light construction was still going on. I was in a classroom with other people (naturally). The computer-training classroom door was left open and some men were still working on some raw wood and painting across the way.
Everyone else got a brand new book to complement the Excel and Power Point computer-training courses they had just completed. Me, I was left with a splitting headache, and wandering around in a parking lot for a while trying to figure out what the heck I was doing. Everyone else was chipper and happy as a lark! I asked what happened to Manpower, they answered that it was no big thing and told me I passed the test. I didn’t pass anything. I didn’t even get past Section 2 on the computer. I didn’t get any further training from them, they wouldn’t give it to me and I never got that book either. What an experience! It was especially bad and embarrasing because nobody else seemed to be effected in this manner, just me!
This sneaks up on you and just when you’re beginning to be aware of what’s happened, it’s usually too late! That’s what’s so dangerous about this. THERE’S NO GOING BACK! WHEN IT’S DONE, IT’S DONE! Your life is essentially ruined.
If this “Canary in a Coal Mine” theory is correct, there’s going to be a lot of unhappy people out there in the future. This is largely preventable, but since this is not common knowledge amongst the general population and the medical community dismisses this as psychological, this could progress without check and I feel the general populace could be in big trouble.
We need a well-known healthy representative lke a sports star, actor, financier, or an M.D, who is knowledgeable of this and would tackle Dr. Dean Edell. He also thinks we all need to see a psych! We need convincing favorable accounts of this issue on prime-time TV, on major networks such as ABC, NBC and CBS, when the general population is watching. We need it not to be aired on some little-known infomercial at 2:00 A.M on some obscure station that nobody’s going to watch. Will anyone step up to the plate?
September 2001