icovellauna's Journal: next installment

The next thrilling episode is the confirmantion of multiple chemical sensitivities. There are a lot of things in the environment that cause me pain. Among these are fabric softeners, paint stripper, certain freshly applied wall to wall carpets (this may be the glues and/or the carpets themselves), and there is a growing list. This is a mixed message. The good news is that if I can avoid these things, they won't hurt me, the bad news is that if I could avoid these things they wouldn't hurt me, and, this casts into doubt the idea that the fibro will be gone at the end of chemo. It still may be less - maybe a lot less??? but probly not gone. Life is full of little disapointments. I guess the soap isle at the market is off limits (I knew I didn't like it) and a new house is off the list, and ya know, probly that new car, oh well, I wasn't gonna do those this week anyway.

Oy, the danger of visiting.

[insanecarbonbasedlif]

Unfortunately, this means you also run the risk of going to a friends house, or a restaraunt, and being exposed to one of these things without even knowing it.

Is there any sort of anti-histamine-like drug they can give you that will, at the very least, temper your body's response to these things?

Re:Oy, the danger of visiting.

[icovellauna]

You are right. And the list of stuff is growing. Danger is everywhere with a problem like this. So far, I don't know of anything to temper the response. And the hard part is that it takes 6 to 10 hours before I get the response, so it is sometimes difficult to say where and when and what. But it is early in the process yet, so I'm not ready to just give up. Or stop living my life. I just have to be even more conscious of what's around me.Thanks for your concern.

New Car?

[the_mad_poster]

I don't know about a new car being off limits. The chemical products that infest a new car are pretty much the same as those that linger amidst your old one because the cars are pretty thoroughly hosed down before they hit the dealer. In fact, odds are that if you DO wind up with a reaction from a new car, it's some sort of cleaning agent, deodorizer, etc. that the dealer used that caused it.

If you're feeling spunky, you could call the dealer ahead of time and ask that they prepare a car that does not ha

Re:New Car?

[icovellauna]

Fact is, new cars are full of new carpets, upholstery, headliners, sealers, etc.,etc.., all installed with glues and foams that off-gas. And even if they were installed up to a year before, as is sometimes the case, they will have been sitting closed in a lot somewhere, sealed off from the elements, holding their chemicals inside. I've been living with people in the automotive industry for more than twenty years, so I've learned a lot about it. New cars are not "hosed down" they are, in fact, manufactured,