November 16, 2011

Great Article: Recovery From Severe Fabric Sensitivity

Julie Genser has written an excellent article that I encourage you to read.

It's so inspiring to read about how much she has improved and also very interesting to read about the approaches she used to do so!

You can check out Julie's article on the Limbic Retraining website here: My Recovery From Severe Fabric Sensitivity

October 22, 2011

Cutting The Grass With MCS (and video)

I made this short video of myself cutting my grass to give hope to others with MCS - to show that healing is possible :)

Click this link to view the video on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d0SttND4DU
I didn't want to embed it and make my dial-up reader's computers freeze! :-)

Just a few years ago, I had MCS badly enough that if anyone near my house cut their lawn, I had to instantly close the windows, couldn't go outside etc for at least that whole day (or as long as the terpenes were in the air - sometimes a few days). After my partner cut our lawn, he had to remove his clothing except underwear out on the deck before coming in (including socks and shoes) and have a shower right away. I still reacted to the amount of grass terpenes on him from him walking through to the shower.

NOW... I can cut the grass myself with no mask!

I've been healing steadily from MCS for a little over 3 years and cut grass began to smell good to me about 1 year into the healing. Then I was able to cut the lawn with a mask and remove my clothing and shower.
I have been able to cut the grass with no mask and no need to change clothing or shower for the last year or so but finally videotaped it.

Healing is possible and I hope that, as more and more of us heal and share our stories, people who are new to MCS will begin the journey from a place of hope, inspired by the possibilities they see in others.

October 15, 2011

Medical Testing Easier With Improved MCS

I'm in the process of having some medical testing for non-MCS related health issues and wanted to share my successes with you.

First of all I've been just fine staying in a house that has carpets and regular furniture (including old particle board).

I can now go to doctor's offices with no mask (one of them had cigarette smoke coming in a vent and air freshener next to it trying to hide it).
I can lie on exam tables without bringing my own blanket or mylar to put under me and can wear the 'robes' they provide for me!
When I went for an ultrasound, I was fine in the waiting room crowded with over 30 people, with hand sanitiser being used regularly.
I was able to get an ultrasound done without needing to ask the ingredients of the conducting gel used on my skin - and without fear that I'd react to it even if it had been scented!

And with all of these experiences (spread over 2 days), I was able to go out after the appointments and shop in regular stores - including dollar stores and Michaels which is a huge craft store that has large scented candle displays.

Although I'm not enjoying dealing with medical 'stuff', it sure is so much easier without having to worry about MCS.

Healing is possible and to all of my readers, I'd like to say that I wish for you even more healing than I've experienced so far!

September 12, 2011

Author Recovers From MCS Using Brain Retraining

Els Valkenburg is the author of the book Understanding Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and I am so happy to know of her healing from MCS!

You can read very helpful detailed questions and answers on Els' website here: MCS Recovery

It's very inspiring reading :-)

Els healed using the Gupta Amygdala Retraining Programme, a DVD program that many with MCS are using and reporting improvements from.

A big thank you to Julie from Planet Thrive for sharing this wonderful recovery story. You are a gift to our community Julie ☺

September 4, 2011

Woodsmoke Success Story

Woodsmoke used to be the bane of my existence (or at least near the top of the list).
I won't stress you out with the details of just how sensitive I was to it and how much I reacted. Basically - very, very much.

The reactions and degree of sensitivity have been improving over the last few years to the point that it has made my life a lot easier - especially living in a neighbourhood where a number of people heat with wood from October to April and many more have fires in their yards the rest of the year.


Yesterday I had my biggest wood smoke exposure so far and did so well!
I was gardening at a friends house for 2 hours. We had agreed to trade garden in barter for a healing service she offers so I had a specific 2 hours scheduled.
I began weeding in the area she directed me to and within a few minutes, the neighbour started a fire about 12 feet away from me on the other side of a chain link fence. My initial reaction was very stressed because even though woodsmoke has bothered me less for a while, I still choose to remove myself from it's presence if it's very strong. I didn't know how I would react.

It was great! I disliked the smoke but didn't react physically or emotionally (one the ways I used to always react to woodsmoke was intense, sudden anger). I continued gardening for the full 2 hours with woodsmoke wafting through the yard - at times enough to make the air visibly smoky. In addition, the neighbour was periodically smoking a cigarette. I didn't have any reactions to either.

I did have a bath when I got home many hours later but didn't bother washing my hair and was able to sleep the entire night with no reaction and wake up feeling good. I can still smell the smoke in my hair today and am fine with it!

For me, this is a huge success and I wanted to share it here with you.

Healing is possible :-)

August 16, 2011

EFT for coping with people who don't "get" MCS

Wow! Check out this great article that has tons of useful EFT phrases to address some of the hurt, pain, anger and more that we can feel when someone in our life doesn't understand or respect MCS.

EFT for coping with people who don’t “get” MCS

The article is a guest post by EFT practitioner Lisa Snow hosted at Planet Thrive.

July 13, 2011

New site exploring neural reconditioning for MCS, CFS, FMS and related illnesses

Gosh it's been 3 months since I've posted!

I've drastically lessened my time on the computer and it feels wonderfully freeing.
I hadn't realised just how much time I spent on here and it's so nice to be doing things I love that engage me more than the computer does.

I'm here today just very briefly to encourage you to check out an exciting new website called Limbic Retraining.

From their About page: "This blog is meant to be a clearinghouse for those interested in exploring the potential of brain exercises based on the concept of neural plasticity to heal chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis, fibromyalgia, chemical and electrical sensitivity, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and related conditions. We will post articles, web resources, and other information to help keep you on top of the latest developments in this exciting field. Sign up for email notifications to be the first to know about new posts on our site."

Visit http://limbicretraining.com/about/ to read more!

Site Sections:
Home About FAQs Reading List Brain Nourishment Support Research

April 22, 2011

3 Year Healing Anniversary and Blog Name Change

Three years ago, I made the decision to trust my own intuition about the ability of my body to heal from MCS.
I used EFT to reprogram some of the limiting beliefs that I had (MCS is forever, impossible to heal, incurable etc).
Almost immediately, I became more open to listening to my intuition about what could help me. This led me to try the supplement Schizandra, which helped immensely(though I no longer need it now), and also to me developing my personal style of what I call Shifting Focus. That technique, combined with avoiding negative people as much as possible and having a hobby that brought me joy, quickly brought about healing and proved to me that it was, in fact, possible for me to heal. Constitutional homeopathy has also played it's part.
About 9 months into the healing journey, I suddenly knew that it would be beneficial for me to start celebrating the improvements I was experiencing, sharing them with others so they could be witnessed.
I was still feeling a bit tentative about healing so I chose a blog name, Moving Beyond MCS, that reflected that tentative place I was in.

In celebration of 3 years of steady healing, I've changed the name of this blog from Moving Beyond MCS to Healing From MCS. The blog URL/web address is still the same so this name change should not effect any links made to this blog or any of your bookmarks.

Today there is no tentativeness within me.
I feel confident and comfortable with saying that I am, in fact, "healing from MCS"!
Over the last three years this healing has remained steady and continues to happen faster as my body gets healthier.
I have every confidence that one day I will be able to say I am healed, recovered.
I am so happy to be able to type those words and to have been able to share with you all here over the last few years.

Thank you for continuing to visit even as my posts have gotten less frequent as I am busier with having a life outside my home.
I will be posting soon about what an average week is like for me (it would have shocked the me of 3 years ago, that's for sure :).

Happy Earth Day!

March 24, 2011

Tap-Along Audio and Script for MCS by Natalie HIll

Have you come across Natalie Hill's blog EFT Tapping Techniques yet? It's such a great resource. Natalie regularly shares tap-along EFT scripts and audios at no cost.

I had been reading her blog for quite a while and had no idea she was aware of MCS until she wrote three posts in a row on the topic in the fall of 2010. Somehow it has taken me this long to finally share the links with you here!

Natalie talks about chemical sensitivities and some of the beliefs and mind body habits we often end up with in this article here: Sensitive to Chemicals?. I like how she shares that using EFT can be an empowering experience (my words).

She shares a tap along script here that uses a that takes you from 'Dumping' to 'Dreaming': Tapping Script for Chemical Sensitivity (that you could print out to use any times or to adapt to your specific situation).

And an excellent resource for those of us who do well with audio is her audio tap-along here: Tap With Me Audio for Reacting to Chemicals
As with all EFT, you can adjust any words that don't feel a perfect fit for you. :-)
What a wonderful gift Natalie has given our community by making this available for free. It's almost 20 minutes long and in in M4a format so if you have an audio player that can play those files, you can save the file and listen to it away from the computer.
In Windows you can save the file by right clicking on the link and selecting "Save Link/Target As". For Mac users, you can save by Control clicking the link and selecting "Download ... As" (I don't use a Mac so haven't tested this)

*note* For those on dial up, the file is 26.5 MB so it's big and would really slow down your system.


Not sure what EFT is or why you'd use it for MCS? Check out my past post Why EFT and What Is It Anyhow?!

February 22, 2011

EFT for MCS article by Lisa Snow

If you are interested, check out this article on Planet Thrive by EFT practitioner Lisa Snow about using EFT for MCS.
I have had sessions with Lisa by telephone and her familiarity with MCS impressed me.

EFT for MCS by Lisa Snow

You may also be interested in my past post Why EFT (and what is it anyhow?)

February 2, 2011

The Joy of Peeling an Orange - Celebrating MCS Improvements

For the first many years of having MCS, I reacted very badly to high VOC terpenes from any sources. I reacted to wood(especially coniferous like pine, cedar etc), cut grass, mint, thyme, essential oils, citrus and more.
Citrus fruit peel contains a terpene called Limonene that gets released easily into the air when the peel is broken such as when an orange is peeled. Limonene is also present in highly concentrated form in citrus 'cleaners', degreasers and solvents which, as any person with MCS knows, can cause severe reactions even in tiny amounts. It may also be used as an insecticide and pest repellent. It can be listed as the ingredient 'citrus oil' or 'orange oil'.

For many years, I could not be in a room where citrus had been peeled for many hours after the peeling. If any pieces of peel were left out, I couldn't go in the room. If the door to that room was open, I couldn't be in any adjoining room either and I reacted to the orange oil left on the hands of whoever peeled it.

As I began to heal, I was able to peel an orange under cold running water, with gloves and mask on.
In time I was able to remove the mask but still had to use cold running water and gloves and could not leave any of the peel out.

I hadn't tried it for almost a year until 2 months ago when I had a sudden craving for an orange and I decided to try peeling it like a normal person and see how I did.

Those are my hands! Peeling the orange right in my kitchen! ☺

I was fine!

What's more, I enjoyed the smell!
Also a surprise to me were the facts that I could leave the orange peel out without reacting and that I didn't react to the orange oil left on my hands.

This was all incredibly exciting to me (and still is :).
I love oranges and it's totally liberating to be able to peel one for myself, in my own home, with no ill effects! I've repeated the experiment a number of times since I first tried it a few months ago and I've been fine each time - actually enjoying the wonderfully fresh smell.


FYI
:
I believe that concentrated orange oil 'cleaners', degreasers and solvents and essential oils are not safe to use. Unfortunately they are often marketed as 'natural', 'green' and 'non-toxic'.
You can read about the health risks of Limonene here on the Skin Deep website: Limonene score - moderate hazard.