The story on how I screwed myself up -

Around Thanksgiving of the year before last, my husband had bought a dart board with a wooden frame around it from Ebay. He opened it up and it sat in the kitchen for a day and the next day he said he felt sick, and was dizzy and nauseous and maybe it was the dartboard that smelled, so he put it downstairs in the closet. A couple days later, I went down to the closet to get some Christmas decorations, and saw the dartboard and I was wondering if it smelled, so I put my nose up to the wood and took a lot of big sniffs. When I got upstairs with the decorations, I had to drop to the floor because I couldn't keep standing upright. I laid there for about ten minutes, then dragged myself to a chair and sat there for another half hour and then was able to just barely move around. Totally dizzy, nauseous, disoriented. I could barely move around or eat for days afterwards. My husband did some research online and found out it was made in China and probably coated with formaldehyde (and sent the dartboard back) and my sister the nurse said the symptoms were those of formaldehyde poisoning and it takes months to leave the brain. Then two weeks later, I was outside cleaning up the deck for about a half hour and there was the smell of wood burning, but I didn't think about it until I went inside the house and again had to drop to the floor or else I would fall down, and that lasted for a couple weeks, too. I later found out a neighbor about a quarter mile away was burning a pile of branches/bushes. From those two episodes, I ended up having vertigo for about six months before it gradually went away.

Then about a month ago, I screwed up again. We got a laser printer and hooked it up to the desktop here in the loft next to my bedroom, where I sleep with the door open. Two days later, I woke up with the vertigo again. I looked up inkjet printers and found out the toner gives off formaldehyde (So do photocopier machines)

[www.ehow.com]

Then a couple weeks after the printer problem, I messed up again. I had bought a rug pad for a small area rug. I put it under the rug at night and the next morning when I woke up, I had vertigo again. I thought it might be the rug pad, so I picked up the pad and smelled it. That was stupid, because I had to lay on the floor again. I dragged myself to the door and throw it outside so it would stop affecting me. When I looked it up online, I found out it was coated with something that is formaldehyde and found out that rug pads in general have formaldehyde on them. Formaldehyde is against the law in some other countries, but not in the US. It's also used on new clothes, BTW.

I still have the vertigo from those episodes because it takes weeks to go away. I think I sensitized myself to formaldehyde and now I can't tolerate even the tiniest bit, but if I can avoid it long enough, which is real hard to do, I'll be able to handle an occasional small exposure in future. I feel like my blood brain barrier is totally messed up and I just hope it doesn't lead to MS or Alzheimer's.

I was 100% raw for 8 months last year during the dartboard episode and high raw during this year's episodes, so I'm not sure if it's related to diet. I'm all raw (not vegan) for months, but then I lose weight, so when I get below 80 pounds, I go high raw until I gain back to 95.

One piece of advise - don't ever put something up to your nose and take a bunch of big sniffs, unless it's fruits and vegetables.

*********************

[organic.lovetoknow.com]

VOCs from Conventional Rug Pads

Formaldehyde and other toxic chemicals called Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are used in the process of making rug and carpet pads. These chemicals can be given off by the pad for months after installation. For the chemically sensitive, VOCs can cause reactions from headaches to breathing difficulties. People who aren't sensitive to the chemicals may not have severe reactions, but the Environmental Protection Agency has linked VOCs to a variety of health problems.

•Cancer
•Central nervous system damage
•Dizziness
•Fatigue
•Headaches
•Irritation of the eyes, nose and throat
•Kidney damage
•Liver damage
•Loss of coordination
•Nausea

Hey Kidraw,

what i forgot to say on the other thread and which you seemed to delve more into here. Does this cause you orthostatic intolerance i.e problems upon standing, lowered blood pressure usually after you are exposed to whatever chemical?.

This was the same when i had multiple chemical sensitivity, whenever id come in contact with a troublesome allergen, id get that vertigo sensation then my blood pressure would bottom out due to my poor functioning adrenal glands. Orthostatic hypotension/intolerance can largely be caused from a lack of epinepherine(adrenaline). This made it impossible to stand and often took weeks to recover from, only to go encounter another chemical and push my adrenal glands back further.

Maybe you will relate to the above, in which case it couldn't hurt to support your adrenal glands as much as you can nutritionally and reducing stress by all methods possible.

Not sure if you seen my video on basic adrenal fatigue tips but they may be helpful - Adrenal Fatigue Recovery Tips

[www.natuhealth.co.uk]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2013 04:27PM by powerlifer.

Hi KR.

You could be low in vit D, which in turn causes low calcium (hypocalcemia)

check this out:

[www.livestrong.com]


If you are low in vit D (after a blood test) check this out:

[www.amazon.com]

they have a 5000 ui also

and calcium

[www.amazon.com]

Good luck

Actually Panchito, low vitamin D can cause elevated Calcium(hypercalcemia) and also causes the retention of Phosphorus. This is actually a rather common disorder and is often caused by low Vitamin D levels. This can cause problems with parathyroid hormone levels and bone health in turn.

[www.natuhealth.co.uk]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2013 05:39PM by powerlifer.

powerlifer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Actually Panchito, low vitamin D can cause
> elevated Calcium(hypercalcemia)
> [www.natuhealth.co.uk]

not from what I read. What I read says the opposite. Too much D can cause hypercalcemia.

Did you click on the first linky?

Panchito Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> powerlifer Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Actually Panchito, low vitamin D can cause
> > elevated Calcium(hypercalcemia)
> > [www.natuhealth.co.uk]
>
> not from what I read. What I read says the
> opposite. Too much D can cause hypercalcemia.
>
> Did you click on the first linky?

Yeah too much Vitamin D can also cause hypercalcemia because D is involved in the absorption of Calcium and Phosphorus. But low or vitamin D deficiency can also cause hypercalcemia which is very common like i say, but correctable.

[www.natuhealth.co.uk]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2013 06:03PM by powerlifer.

My D, B12 and Omega's and osteoporosis risk are all good - I get tests twice a year. I'm going to find out what crosses the BBB and avoid it.

I had watched your video previously, powerlifer, and I don't think I'm having an adrenal problem because I don't have any other symptoms. I did have a situation years ago where my heart would be racing when I got to the top of the stairs and I had to lay down on the bed for a while until I was OK again. After a while, I discovered that it was from chocolate, and it took a month for it to go away. Do you think even eating the Coconut Secrets coconut crystals and their Coconut Sap could affect the adrenals? That's the only sweetener I use, and I don't drink coffee or tea. Just water.

That's interesting about the hypercalcemia, Panchito. I think I'll get my calcium tested in the spring, if there's a test for it.

I went through a program with a chiropractor because I thought that would help the vertigo, but it didn't - although it really helped my posture. I was thinking of checking out an osteopath. I did the Brandt Daroff exercises for months, but it didn't get rid of it.

[www.ehow.com]

[www.livestrong.com]

Next month I'm going to an ENT and have her check out my ear/balance situation. Later I may go to a neurologist. That'll be the most doctors I've been to in my life because normally I don't go for years.

I'm also trying some natural remedies for vertigo - a yoga spinning exercise, salt in water and ginger in water so far.

Thanks for the help you guys.

Kid Raw, I dont think it was formaldehyde poisoning, I used 50 percent solution for many years preping star fish and dog fish for bio classes
I worked with 3 other people, we never reacted, I injected that solution into my hand one day at work, thouth I was going to die called the boss and told him what I did, He laughed and said to me he wish he had a dime forevery time he had done it and not to worry then added you will not cacth a cold this winter.
It is a very bad chem yes Kidraw, but unless you are very chem sense that should not have happened with minor exposer.
!00 percent solution will take your breath scare the hell out of you.
99 percent of the mattresses people sleep on are treated with formaldehyde,
and 99percent sleep in a formaldehyde gas for one third of their lives.
I would call my county heath department and ask them about the reation to the dart board.

If you don't have any of the other common adrenal symptoms then you probably don't have significant adrenal exhaustion which is a good thing. Although id still suspect on some level that they aren't functionally optimally if you are getting allergic reaction's as the adrenal glands are in part involved in allergies and chemical sensitivities.

Do you have any other symptoms out of interest or just the multiple chemical sensitivity?

[www.natuhealth.co.uk]

KidRaw Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That's interesting about the hypercalcemia,
> Panchito. I think I'll get my calcium tested in
> the spring, if there's a test for it.

hypocalcemia (low calcium)

I've met a couple of people recently who had symptoms of weakness to later found it was a vit D deficeincy (after blood test).

Is it possible that it was some other, less well known, but relatively common chemical to which you are allergic or sensitive, KidRaw? This is awful, and I do hope you see those doctors and get to the bottom of what it is, and find that it is temporary and reversible.

I have stopped buying any homegood that isn't natural/made someplace other than China. Small electrical things from China, OK, as they are impossible to find American-made[I'm sure I have mentioned my fruitless American-made nightlight finding Odyssey on these boards], but clothes, bedding, floor and window covering, no uh-uh.

No, powerlifer, I don't think I have any other symptoms. Just the weight loss, but I've been lactose and gluten intolerant my whole life, so I've always been skinny. Actually, on the RFD, I'm able to eat much less. I used to eat loads of food all day just to maintain my weight on SAD.

Tamukha, I really think it was initially the formaldehyde on the dart board that got me, and now I'm sensitized to other chemicals and smells, like the neighbor's fireplaces and burning bushes.

I was really bad yesterday and this morning. My head felt like it was glass and I felt like I was balancing it on my body. I was walking around saying to myself 'what is it', trying to find anything me or my daughter brought into the house lately. Then I saw a shoe box with tissue paper in it and in the paper was a square thing that said "De-Mold Away, Anti-Mold Sticker, Made in China". So I put it out on the back porch (which is getting cluttered with stuff that I think is gassing off) and now I feel much better. I looked it up, but can't find out what's in it, except they say it's 99% natural.

[www.eckind.com]

Formaldehyde is used in a lot of anti-mold formulas. The rug pad had Microban used as an anti-microbal agent in it and when I looked up the company and the patent, Microban was made with formaldehyde.

[www.homedepot.com]

[karowvoxi.blogspot.com]

[spilledingredients.com]

Here's info about Microban and it looks like carpet shampoos are loaded with formaldehyde -

Why avoid Microban or Triclosan?

Take your pick of these government-published studies and findings about Triclosan (aka Microban) on rats:

1. This study reveals the radiation absorption in reproductive organs.
2. This study shows that aquatic plants are at considerable risk from Triclosan, compared to other pharmaceuticals.
3. The title of this study says it: The bactericidal agent triclosan modulates thyroid hormone-associated gene expression and disrupts postembryonic anuran development. Triclosan messes with the thyroid, gene expression and post-embryonic development.

riverhousebill Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Kid Raw, I dont think it was formaldehyde
> poisoning, I used 50 percent solution for many
> years preping star fish and dog fish for bio
> classes
> I worked with 3 other people, we never reacted, I
> injected that solution into my hand one day at
> work, thouth I was going to die called the boss
> and told him what I did, He laughed and said to me
> he wish he had a dime forevery time he had done it
> and not to worry then added you will not cacth a
> cold this winter.


I wonder if your boss ended up with MS or Alzheimers... That reminds me of how kids used to play with mercury in the old days. Glad I never did that. Do you think you were affected by chemicals and pollutants when you were in the military? I remember during the Iraq War reading about how something from the guns was toxic.

BTW, when I was Quoting you here, I accidentally put it in a PM, and it said your mailbox was full, so you may want to check that out.

Do you think you were affected by chemicals and pollutants when you were in the military?

Kidraw, The military has always been a testing ground.
When in Basic Fort Dix N.J. 1968 We all had to go to the gas house
take your gas mask off and say name rank and # then calmly clear your mask of the gas and walk orderly out of chamber.
We did this 4 times a new gas every time. the snow outside was covererd with vomit and blood.
Vaccines- I got a vaccine for hep c in 1968 early birds?

My boss died of cancer what kind I dont know. Saved money on embalming I though.
Kid raw Ive worked with so many toxins in my life Im shocked Im not cancerd out.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2013 02:18AM by riverhousebill.

God, KidRaw, I hope you feel better soon! Lots of green juices might help

Thanks, Tamukha. I did get better that morning after finding the Mold-Away sticker and throwing it out. Been pretty good since then except for when we had to take the printer out of the garage and use it. It seems like now I'm OK in general until I'm exposed to something, compared to last year with the initial exposure to formaldehyde when the vertigo lasted for months. But the effect from the mold-away sticker thing was a different feeling in the head than regular vertigo I got from formaldehyde. Maybe it had nano-particles in it...

Wow, I was just doing some research after reading this article --

[healthyliving.msn.com]

If you look at this one --

[healthyliving.msn.com]

It talks about the toxic chemical triclosan. I recognized that name from the information I had posted above that said triclosan is the same as Microban.

[investigativereportingworkshop.org]

And I had found out that Microban (which was in the carpet pad that caused a problem for me) contains formaldehyde, so that means all those products that contain triclosan contain formaldehyde. So formaldehyde is in many everyday body and cleaning products, clothes, etc. that people use all the time. One article said that 75% of the population's blood contain triclosan.

Here is a list of products containing triclosan --

[drbenkim.com]

Also, info on this and a couple other toxic products in your home -

[www.motherearthliving.com]

My daughter wants me to take her winter coat to be dry-cleaned, so I'm going to have to deal with those chemicals soon. When she's not wearing it, I'll hang it out back on the porch, but I wonder if the chemicals will evaporates off it, so can I ever bring it back inside.

Yep, formaldehyde. I am being expose to it at work right now (brand new building materials gassing off) and these sound like symptoms to me (we are now wearing respirators and goggles). My father worked around it his whole adult life and he is 82 now with non-cancerous tumors throughout his body including on most major organs. He does not eat like I do.

KidRaw,

Triclosan, yes, it became ubiquitous when we weren't looking. Difficult to avoid therefore; thanks for the link listing things that contain it. Shocked at the range of items

My sis-in-law has a background in textiles and recommends removing the bags from dry cleaned coats and disposing of them(I put mine immediately in the recycling bin in the garage) and then hanging the garments outside or in the garage or a shed for a couple of days to offgas.

There's a "green" dry cleaner that uses a safe wet method to dry clean clothes nearby. I haven't tried them yet, but would like to when it's time to clean my parka. Maybe see if there's such a dry cleaner in your neighborhood?

I just looked up dry cleaners in my area and found one that does the wet process, so I guess I'm set. And thanks for the tip about throwing away the plastic bag - I'll do that, too.

I bought some bralettes from Victoria's Secret once...

Wore one for about three hours.

My whole chest swelled up. My skin was so sore and tender, it was horrible. It took a week until I felt normal... pretty horrifying, especially from an exposure you'd think is benign.

Quick google search revealed class action lawsuit against VS for formaldehyde in underwear poisoning women.

P.S. Victoria's Secret owns La Senza

Kidraw do you by chance use scented candles?
Ive reacted from them in the past My sinus clogged not a speck of air thru it
felt like I was air starved and felt fine after outside for one minute or so
they would clear right up. on toxic candles-

More often synthetic scents are used. Some of these aromatic chemicals can cause allergic reactions or cause an individual to become sensitized. After repeated exposure to them over time the person will have allergic reactions to even the smallest trace of them. Many people are sensitive to the synthetic vanilla scent. This is not surprising. It is made up of 80 aromatic chemicals. Some synthetic scents have as many as 1200. By the time you are 50 years old you are likely to be sensitive to at least one. Also, I would doubt that anyone has determined the synergistic effects of mixing these chemicals together. I would advise sticking to natural scents like cinnamon etc.
Another thing about the scented candle is the fact that when the scent oils are burned in the flame they change into other chemicals as they pyrolyze. It would take a team of chemists a long time to determine what the chemicals would be but I doubt they would have have health promoting effects.

No, rhb, I don't use scented candles or anything scented, but that's good information that I'm going to send to my daughters who use all those nasty synthetic products. My other daughter who's still at home is also obsessed with commercial products and goes around spraying herself with hairspray and nasty perfume on top of all the body care chemicals she uses. Of course, I tell them how bad all that stuff is, but you can't tell them anything, they're clones and they'll do exactly what they want to do until they screw themselves up and learn by experience, like we all did.

Update on my vertigo situation. I discovered a while after orignally posting about this problem that if I sleep on my back with my head just facing upward, I'm OK the next morning and day. Not 100%, but pretty good, unless I look way upward or lay down. I know it's related to those rocks or crystals in your ear, so I have to go to the ENT doctor to have her check it out and see if I have an inner ear infection or a vestibular problem. I think there may be a maneuver that can be done to fix it. We just never go to doctors, so it's difficult to actually make an appointment and go.

This is BPPV -

[www.webmd.com]

Vertigo Info -

[www.healthline.com]

Here are the Epley and Brandt Daroff exercises for this condition, but they didn't help me totally.

[www.youtube.com]

[www.youtube.com]