i know what it’s like

I know what it’s like to have your body betray you. To become a prisoner in your home, because it is the only safe place. This world is filled with fragrances and toxins, and if you are chemically sensitive, your body just can’t handle the toxins anymore. I didn’t know there was a name for my condition, but I did always know that the smell of diesel, scented candles, perfume, dryer sheets, the laundry isle at the grocery store, and many more scents, would make me nauseous. Then in my 40’s, when I was exposed to a strong fragrance, I would start violently coughing, and my throat would start closing. It became difficult to breathe. This went on for years, and I did my best to avoid those situations.

When I was 57, I had my first anaphylaxis reaction, and off to the hospital I went, then there was a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh. Western medicine doctors told me to “avoid and meditate.” Not helpful!!! So, I started looking for a naturopath, and found a wonderful lady naturopath doctor, but she knew my symptoms were beyond her expertise. She asked her colleagues, and found two doctors who had training in environmental biology at the National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) in Portland, Oregon. The doctors asked me if I was allergic to coffee and chocolate, because those are two big red flags for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. I said YES! Finally, I had a name for debilitating life I was living.

Testing results showed that my Vitamin D and Vitamin B receptors are broken, so my body does not detox, and when a body does not detox, those toxins embed themselves in the bones. As we get older, our bones begin to break down releasing those toxins back into the body. A perfect, terrible storm!

That’s when the detoxing process began. That story starts in the next post.