Re: Help please...Faith & others with food/chemical sensitivity

Hey twinkl,

I did go through a phase where scents and inhalants did bother me ALOT. As the chemical load in my body went down and things started to settle a bit I became less sensitive. Remember that I went for months and months "poisoning" myself with histamines and sals without even knowing it. I didn't have anyone to tell me about Failsafe, so I believe I needed a mask because I had gotten soooo overloaded.

I'm not sure where you live, but where I am in Florida right now its becoming "winter" (even though you could never tell by the weather!) and trees are starting to change. Over the past week my allergies have been worse (waking up with a stuffy nose, headache etc) and I've noticed that I've had to be more strict with my food whereas last month I was eating a few foods that were a little higher on the sals/histamine scale. Also I've noticed that right around my menstrual period I become a bit more sensitive as well. As time goes on you'll get to know your body and you'll start to feel the "rebellion" happening, and you'll know when to get more strict.

Unfortunately there are many many factors that contribute to reactions when our bodies are in such a sensitive state- some controllable, some not. The main factors I have found to effect us most are:

1) food
2) nature (pollen, ragweed, etc)
3) environmental chemicals (cleaning products, car fumes, fragrances, personal care products)
4) hormones
5) stress and anxiety

This being said there are a few that are obviously uncontrollable but some that you can control. That's why its sooo important to not cheat on the diet. You might think "a little bit of this won't hurt" but remember its like a bucket and each drop counts. The better you do with the things you can control the better you'll do with things you can't.

Aside from the diet, check out your personal care products. NOTHING scented! For awhile I started making my own toothpaste out of sunflower oil, baking soda, and Sea Salt to avoid the high amounts of sals and histamines found in every toothpaste on earth. It wasn't the tastiest toothpaste but it got the job done. I did this for about 6 months, now I can use natural toothpaste. I also made my own deodorant out of Sea Salt , water, and magnesium oil. Also did this for about 6 months, now I use a natural deodorant.

For my soap I still buy the plain old unscented glycerin bar soap from whole foods. Dr Bronners unscented is a good brand too. The hardest part for me was not wearing any makeup (I'm kind of a glamour queen :) ) but I stuck it out for a good 3 months before I started using mineral makeup, which is what I use now.

Also be aware of your nail polish if you wear it. There's alot of alcohol in that stuff which is a big histamine liberator. I use a brand called mineral fusion now which I buy at whole foods.

Cleaning products- this one's a biggie. I clean with a vinegar and water solution only. This is a disinfectant and works on all surfaces. For my laundry products I wash my stuff with the Seventh Generation free and clear laundry soap and fabric softener, and I add a bit of Borax to boost the cleaning power. You can use borax in place of powder cleaner to clean toilets etc as well. I also use seventh generation free and clear dishsoap, and I always use non latex gloves when cleaning or doing dishes.

I used to work in an office too and the air in there is absolutely terrible. Its one of the most unhealthy environments to be in IMO. I know it can't be helped sometimes, but what might really help you is to get a small air purifier for your space. I have a few of them around my house and they help out alot, along with a HEPA filter for my a/c.

Like Danny said, its important to keep your house as dust free as possible. When I was at my worst I had to be a maniac about this (vacuuming and dusting every day) but now I'm good to dust once a week and vacuum twice. I also moved into a place with hardwood floors instead of carpet so that helped ALOT. Also if you have pets make sure to keep them bathed regularly. My cat gets a bath once a week, much to his disapproval lol.

Another thing to mention- the ultimate doofus discovery on my part! I noticed that I would always feel dizzy and short of breath while driving, then after alot of pain and suffering I discovered that I had the a/c set to blow in outside air instead of recycling the inside air. So basically I was gassing myself out with car fumes and didn't even realize it! DUR!!!! Now every time I get in the car I make sure the setting is correct :D

Last but certainly not least, ANXIETY is a killer. This was and still is the biggest monster I deal with. Because I had such scary reactions I became terrified of everything- foods, public places, etc. If I would see the lawn people cutting the grass I would actually hide in my house and wait an hour after they finished. If a person was wearing perfume I would run away from them. I can personally attest to anxiety actually bringing on reactions and putting the body on even higher alert. When I am stressed out or anxious I am so much more sensitive. I have found that daily yoga, even for 15 minutes in the morning, has helped alot with my sensitivities. Meditation is great too. During a reaction, FasterEFT is excellent. You might look like a nutter tapping yourself but it really does help.

During my reactions I will use fasterEFT, or I'll text my boyfriend, mom, or a friend (because talking is really hard to do when you're having trouble breathing), or even play a game of boggle on my phone. Anything to take my mind off what's happening. The less attention you give it the less of a monster it becomes. Eventually you'll be used to it and it won't be so scary. Now when I react I'm like meh..another reaction..it will pass in about 20-30 min.

As far as antihistamines go I am very against them, both pharma and herbal. I've never had good results with any of them, they only made me worse. I do have pure quercetin with bromelian that I take sometimes but that even backfires 50% of the time. I have found that upping my intake of peeled golden delicious apples supplies me with a good amount of quercetin. I eat at least one, usually 2 a day. Good for the liver too!

I'm a big fan of whole dairy,as its helped me heal quite a bit. If you're doing well with colostrum its an excellent supplement, just make sure you're getting a good brand from the first milking. Not sure what you're taking now but from my research Immune Tree seems to be the best- minimal processing etc.

I hope these tidbits help you. I know its a huge pain in the butt, but eventually it all becomes part of the "normal" routine lol Tweet