Self Portrait 2: Sick & Tired
Created by Liora Leah 9/17/2008
Pencil Drawing
Let’s see, where did we leave off? Oh, yea, did a lot of philosophizing and stuff in parts 1, 2, & 3. Now, let’s get down to the nitty gritty, shall we?
When last we left off, our heroine had just been told that the underlying etiology of her MCS and other chronic health challenges was primarily emotional, but no, it’s not “all in her head” as in “making it up”, as emotional trauma of any kind at a time of physical vulnerability or illness can cause the mind/body to lay down Neuro-Emotional Complexes (NEC’s), that get continuously triggered whenever the emotion related to the trauma is felt, leading to physiological symptoms—or at least, this is how our heroine understands it.
So, how do we go about treating NEC’s? With NET’s! What the hey is an NET, anyway? (NEC’s were explained in Part 2). This is the part that seems “like magic” and I am hard pressed to understand it…in fact, I don’t understand it at all, really, which isn’t much help for the reader, but I know it works as my recent experiences show me. I come from a family of scientists, and most of us won’t believe anything unless they experience the “anything” for themselves; once they experience the “anything”, they know it’s “real”, even if the understanding of the “why” and “how” of it isn’t fully clear. That’s why most of us in my family are either atheists (die-hard unbelievers) or agnostics (the fence sitters who just aren’t sure); most of us take very little “anything” on “faith” alone. So what does any good scientist do who experiences an “anything” but doesn’t understand the “why” or “how” of it? Go to the Internet to find information, and voila’! It “magically” appears by typing in a few words into that wondrous thing called “Google”:
NET or Neuro Emotional Technique:
http://www.asktheinternettherapist.com/counselingarchive_neuro_emotional_tech...
Ok, now that we know what NEC’s are and what NET is and how it works, we can get on with it:
Over the first two visits with the new clinician, he used NET to diffuse these emotions and the physiological symptoms associated with them in my body: guilt, sadness, frustration, and shock. Although the process was simple, I felt ill temporarily during it; I was told my liver was “dumping” toxins into my bloodstream in order to get rid of them, hence the feelings of nausea and dizziness. To help allay this, the practitioner opened the back office door for fresh air, and sprayed a Chinese herbal remedy around my aura and in my mouth. The discomfort lasted only a few minutes.
Interestingly, in tracing back two of the emotions—guilt and shock—the originations for these emotions were while I was in utero, at 11 weeks and 5 months gestation, respectively. How does a fetus emote? The emotions were not mine, but my mother’s. The clinician pointed out that for 9 months while we are in utero, we experience what our mothers experience. In addition to the emotions, he also diffused birth trauma.
The emotions of frustration and sadness were more straight-forward, as they stemmed from how I feel about being ill.
During the second visit, besides the NET work, the practitioner worked on clearing my liver of a particularly potent chemical that I’m very reactive to—formaldehyde, and on clearing my body from Candida. Formaldehyde is a preservative that is ubiquitous in our society—it’s in plywood, new furniture, construction materials, paints, glues, varnishes, perfume and scented products, cosmetics, you name it. Candida Albicans is a yeast overgrowth that most commonly resides in your gut, on your skin, or in the vaginal tract; it breaks down into chemicals called "aldehydes" in your body. So, I have a double-whammy—sensitivity to aldehydes in my own body from the Candida, as well as sensitivity to aldehydes outside of my body (formaldehyde).
Well, let me tell you, I felt like sh.t during this process, as my liver proceeded to dump toxins into my bloodstream, and I became very ill—nauseated, weak, chills, headache—all of the symptoms I get when exposed to formaldehyde. The practitioner gave me two Thorne Research products to take: “Formaldehyde Release” and “Molybdenum Picolinate”, the latter to reduce Candida, one capsule each at noon (some people take as much as 6 a day, but he said I wasn’t ready for that yet.) He said I’d feel better within 20 minutes of taking the supplements, and I did after taking them right there in the office; however, that’s NOT the end of the story. Although the feeling of acute illness subsided, I was still in reaction, and didn’t come back to a “normal” state (well, “normal” for me, anyway!) for 48 hours.
During the first 24 hours after my office visit, I became acutely sensitive to what I call “smells” and my chemical sensitivity was “through the roof”—acute hypersensitivity even compared with my own baseline. My daughter is in high school, and for whatever reason the girls her age love to douse themselves with scented products. Often, when she comes home from school, she has to change her clothes as they’ve absorbed “smells” from the other students, and we have to cover her backpack up as it, too, absorbs “smells” (anyone who has MCS would recognize this phenomena of our hair, clothing, etc, absorbing “smells” with which we come into contact whenever we leave our homes; anyone without MCS reading this would think we are “nuts.”) When she came home that afternoon, I went into hyper mode, and developed an acute headache and sinus pressure from the “smells” she carried home with her. She took a shower and changed her clothes, but then the shampoo that I’ve used for years bothered me; I was so hypersensitive I couldn’t find a place in or out of the house that wouldn’t send me into reaction, so I just went to bed with my air filter blasting. The next morning I woke up and felt horrible—weak, shaky, headache, exhausted—what I call my “hang-over” effect after being exposed to a toxin the day before. This slowly dissipated during the day and by 24 hours after my appointment, I felt better physically—ah, but then the fun began!
Chemical exposure, besides making me physically ill, messes with my brain chemistry and I get what’s called “neurological” effects—mood swings, depression, uncontrollable crying, suicidal ideation—this is what happened for the next 24 hours. I was a mess, swinging from rage to bursting into tears to periods of calm in between. I phoned the office and talked to a staff member and asked her if this was “normal” when a person is detoxing—I already knew that it was—I just needed the reassurance as I sobbed over the phone. My poor kids bore the brunt of it—when I’m in reaction mode like that, it’s very difficult to control my outbursts of emotion; from their perspective, all of a sudden they’ve got a volatile screaming mother on their hands. Then I have to apologize to them after a bit of rationality returns, and explain to them what’s going on i.e. “mom’s detoxing and that’s why my moods are all over the place.” My son just rolled his eyes and said “how long is that going to take?”
Good question. I wish I knew the answer!
Information about Formaldehyde: Formaldehyde is a strong irritant that causes watery eyes and in low doses, causes burning sensations in the eyes, nose and throat. Wheezing and coughing, fatigue, skin rashes, headaches, loss of coordination and nausea are other symptoms. Larger doses can cause asthma attacks as well as damage to the liver, kidneys and the central nervous system. Some people are highly sensitive and react to formaldehyde concentrations that don't bother most people.
http://www.allergybuyersclub.com/learning/montanaformaldehyde.html#q1
Information about Candida Albicans: Candida Albicans are a form of yeast that is normally found in the lower bowel, the vagina and the skin...In healthy individuals the presence of candida albicans is considered a normal part of the intestinal flora - the community of bacterial organisms that live in the lower digestive tract...When the normal flora of these areas is disrupted, often Candida albicans or other yeasts can become a problem as they take advantage of reduced competition
http://www.formerfatguy.com/articles/candida-albicans.asp
Information about Molybdenum: Molybdenum is a trace mineral not yet well known to the public. Its presence in the system in sufficient concentrations can make a dramatic difference in the health of individuals coping with candida infection, multiple chemical sensitivities or certain types of food or chemically induced migraine headache, as well as the adverse effects of alcohol over consumption:
http://www.modernherbalist.com/products/molybdenum.html
Healing from MCS, Part 1:
http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1254089
Healing from MCS, Part 2:
http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1254404
Healing from MCS, Part 3:
http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1255181
Healing from MCS, Part 5: coming soon!