Warning Signs of Chemical Exposure

In light of the growing number of chemical-related illnesses, the website Chemical Injury.net offers a page titled Preventing Chemical Injury. Included are the following guidelines for recognizing the early warning signs of chemical exposure.

RECOGNIZE EARLY WARNINGS!

The body often provides early warnings of chemical damage. Being alert to these warnings helps prevent more serious or permanent chemical damage. Take steps to promptly reduce your exposure. This can prevent chemical injury.

Warning symptoms in the beginning are often worse when you are near the chemical exposure and get better away from the exposure. You can “be a detective” and prevent chemical injury with disability. Find out what chemicals you are exposed to. Using drugs to make symptoms go away can “turn off” early warning, allowing further, more silent, chemical damage. Helping symptoms with medications temporarily is okay but repeated symptoms can be a warning. Do not neglect the warning since drugs cannot heal chemical injury.

The types of warning symptoms differ somewhat with the chemical(s) involved, and with the individual(s) exposed. At first only one or a few symptoms may occur. With more exposure, symptoms often get worse and more symptoms develop. Look for these warnings:

RESPIRATORY

Irritation, Inflammation: Burning, sore/irritated, congested, painful ears, nose, sinuses, throat, voice box, bronchi/chest, lungs.

MIGRAINES

Migraines are commonly caused or made worse by chemicals in the air, food and/or by skin contact. A migraine is often a headache with increased sensitivity to light and/or sound/noise. It may occur with nausea/upset stomach and can last hours to days.

BRAIN SYMPTOMS

Scientists now know there is no barrier between the nose and the brain. The brain extends into the nose with small nerve endings in the lining of the nose. This is called a cranial nerve for smell (olfactory nerve). Chemicals breathed in the air or put or sprayed into the nose can pass through the nose lining (mucosa) and enter the brain. This can cause warning symptoms with chemical exposure:

• Headache
• Dizziness, lightheaded feeling
• Problems with attention span/concentration, difficulty with short term memory
• Impaired balance/coordination
• “Pins and needles” feeling or numbness.

If you notice repeated, significant, or worsening of any of the above symptoms, seriously consider a chemical cause.

EYES

Burning, irritated eyes are typical of chemical exposure. (Itchy eyes suggest allergy while yellow pus suggests infection.)

SKIN

Rashes with burning suggest chemical exposure. Hives may indicate chemical exposure or regular allergy. Redness with itching on back or upper center chest where you sweat may be your body’s attempt to clear out chemicals. Watch what you are exposed to when rashes/skin effects are worse.

CHRONIC FATIGUE, ACHING

These are often later warning signs that chemical inflammation is becoming chronic. Usually when chemical exposure is a factor, you will also have some of the symptoms above. Carefully think about your exposures. The longer/more severely you have been affected, the longer it may take you to notice some improvement with reduced exposure.

However, even a weekend or week with lots of fresh air (avoid pesticides, etc. there) may give you a hint if some of your symptoms get better even temporarily. If they again get worse returning to your former situation, a chemical link is more likely. More severely affected people need more time away from exposure to notice improved symptoms.

GASTROINTESTINAL SYMPTOMS

“Acid reflux-like” symptoms are common in chemical injury. This can include irritation/burning feeling in the stomach or esophagus area (mid upper abdomen, lower middle chest), gas/bloating. If these symptoms are or become frequent or serious, consider a chemical cause.

These warning signs are similar to the ill effects of toxic mold. Toxic mold emits VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), which act like chemicals in the body.

To read this document in its entirety, click here and follow the link to "Recognize Early Warnings."

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The Saints Rise Up

It’s hard to believe the Super Bowl has come and gone again. Last year we watched Arizona play Pittsburg in our new rental home. As the Cardinals succumbed to defeat, so did we. (My post from last year describes this in detail.)

Chris had just made the 13-hour journey from Colorado to Tucson with a U-Haul full of mattresses and radio equipment. I had just moved out of our vacation rental where we had lived for 6 weeks while Chris tied up loose ends in Colorado.

We were reunited at last and prepared to officially begin our de-tox together. Life was going to get better, we felt sure.

By the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl, Feb. 1, 2009, it became clear that the rashes, nosebleeds, and breathing problems were not dissipating. We had been in the home 24 hours and we were sick. Very sick. We moved several of our mattresses outside, hoping by morning the house would feel different and we could move back in.

Little did we know the homeowners had just sprayed for termites inside the home.

Little did we know we were chemically sensitive, a common occurrence for victims of toxic mold exposure.

Little did we know we were going to lose many of our possessions once again.

I don’t remember the ending to the game. Chris does. He was convinced our adjustment to the home would pass quickly. I had a sinking feeling that lasted well beyond the 4th quarter.

By 4:00 the next afternoon the children and I packed a few clothing items and drove off in search of a safe hotel. Chris stayed behind to work out the details with the homeowner. The homeowner did nothing wrong. We never asked him if he had sprayed for pesticides. We didn’t know to ask.

It’s a haunting memory.

Life did not get better as hoped. It got harder. We spent two weeks searching for a safe home and longer recovering from the exposure. We couldn’t get the pesticide smells out of the mattresses, so we abandoned them. We learned that the type of pesticides that were used, pyrethroids, attack the lungs and the brain.

The next home was much smaller. Eight of us slept in one room, on air mattresses. We lived in that home for 6 months, hoping to return to Colorado. By summer we knew that recovery--if there was to be a recovery--would require much longer than 6 months.

We’re still in Arizona. We’re in our 5th home since vacating our Colorado home 16 months ago. We continue to adjust to our new “normal.” We now comprehend the harsh reality that life will never be the same . We’re even beginning to see the beauty that comes from the ashes of suffering.

I guess that’s why this year’s Super Bowl impacted me more than others. If the Saints, representing people and an area devastated by disaster, can rise up, maybe we can too.

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MCS awakening

We had a bit of a setback this weekend. Chris arrived Saturday morning in a U-haul filled with mattresses, kitchen supplies, and radio equipment. We drove the 20 minutes to our next rental home with eager anticipation. We were beginning a new chapter. One filled with stability, improved health, and a return to “normal” life as a family. Eagerly my daughter and I set out all of the medications in the kitchen. We had an entire pantry to set them in! No more living out of suitcases. The kids were ecstatic. 2 hours into the move Megan noticed some new rashes spreading rapidly. Within four hours Brandon came running to us with a bloody nose. (We have not seen a bloody nose in the 2 months since we started the ketaconazole nasal spray.) Soon he had a second one and by bedtime had a total of 4. My heart was sinking. By 2 in the morning I found myself unable to sleep due to a severe tightening in my chest. By morning I noticed unexplainable “cuts” all over my hands. Kristen woke up with a sore throat. A couple of the other children woke up with labored breathing. Colin had a strange welt on his back. The back of his hands were breaking out. We called our doctor and also talked with the woman who had re-located to Arizona after a mold exposure in the Virgin Islands. She is about a year ahead of us with all of this. From these conversations we determined the cause to be chemical rather than mold. We wiped down a utility closet with white vinegar after we found weed killer on the shelf. Weed killer is particularly dangerous to immune compromised individuals like ourselves. (An interesting note: the plastic bottle does not “contain” the toxins. This is why it is important to keep all pesticides out of the indoor home environment.) We moved all of our mattresses away from the new carpet in the bedrooms and into the tiled main living area. This moved us away from possible formaldehyde exposure. By the end of the Super Bowl it was clear that not only were the Arizona Cardinals going down, we were too. We moved our mattresses to the backyard and a number of us slept outside Sunday night. We were all able to breathe better by morning but my rashes were escalating as were Megan’s. We stayed outside most of the morning and still the rashes were spreading. The owner came to the house and offered to remove all the new carpeting, wipe down the house in vinegar, whatever we needed. He told us the area around the house had been sprayed with the weed killer a few days before we moved in. And several weeks ago the home had been sprayed for termites inside of the house. Mystery solved. The inside and outside were uninhabitable for our family. It takes 6 months for the outside pesticides to lose their toxicity in the immediate environment. Far longer inside. We are now in the elite group of those who suffer from MCS (multiple chemical sensitivity). This is a common diagnosis for those who have had a high level of mold exposure. Our 4353 genetic pattern pre-disposes us to this. Chris does not have this pattern so he will do better with pesticides. We knew we could not afford to stay another night. Chris stayed behind to sort through the situation while we drove to Benson to a hotel proven to be a safe haven for us. This is where I am as I write this and I know nothing about our next step. I do know that next time we will ask about pesticides as well as prior water damage in the home. I know that someone reading this may do the same. I am devastated but unwilling to allow this to deter us from our goal of restored health for our family.

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