Oh, The Irony

Tuesday’s post was actually written last week. So I found it interesting that the Cathy comic on Sunday addressed the same topic.

I’m not sure how long the comic will be up, so I’ll describe it here. Cathy and her girlfriends are at a restaurant. The waitress asks “What will you have?” The first 3 ladies say “Diet Soda!” But the last lady announces that she no longer drinks diet soda. She goes on to tell the group that the aspartame in diet soda has been linked to migraines, panic attacks, seizures, skin problems, weight gain, intestinal disorders, lupus, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, blindness and death! At that point, Cathy escorts her away from their table. And they start over. And again they each order diet soda. And then from another table, the fourth lady says, “Also denial and memory loss.”

I’m not trying to say that I’m any better than any of them. I’ve been as guilty as anyone of continuing habits that I know are bad for me. It’s just part of human nature, it seems. If it’s something we like or we perceive is good, then no amount of evidence will change it. It seems the only time we change those bad habits is when they threaten our health. (Even then, we don’t always heed the warnings.)

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Do you prefer flavor or health?

Although the title of this blog suggests it is strictly about inhaled substances, I really like to address all things related to MCS or Environmental Illness or even Randolph’s Disease. This week the topic is excitotoxins. From the book, The Magnesium Miracle by Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D., an excitotoxin is

one of a group of substances, usually acidic amino acids, that in high amounts react with specialized receptors in the brain, causing destruction of certain types of neurons.

These would include aspartame (aka Nutrasweet) and monosodium glutamate (aka MSG). Having a background in Biology, I knew from Biochemistry class (thanks, Dr. Phillips, wherever you are!) that aspartame and monosodium glutamate were amino acids. It puzzled me that something that is required for human life (amino acids are what proteins are made of) could also produce migraines in me.

Aspartame is widely used as an artificial sweetener. And MSG is ubiquitous in its use as a flavor enhancer - not just your Chinese food. Read your labels. It’s in nearly every commercial soup, salad dressing, sauce.

(Well except one well known commercial soup maker has a line of soups called “Healthy Request” which has no MSG, among other things. Which begs the question: If the ones without MSG are labeled healthy, what does that make the others? But, I digress.)

Glutamate (found in MSG) and aspartate (found in aspartame)

are two powerful amino acids that act as neurotransmitters in the brain in very small concentrations, … In higher concentrations as food additives, these chemicals constantly stimulate brain cells and can cause them to undergo a process of cell death known as excitotoxicity - the cells are excited to death.

That doesn’t sound like anything you want going on in your brain, right? And what about the developing brains of children? I admit I used to consume both of these, until the MCS got to the point that they caused migraines. If only I had known all of this long ago… I’ve now opted for less sugar, rather than sugar substitutes. As for MSG? Really the only reason it is used is b/c you can use less of the more expensive spices when you add MSG as a flavor enhancer.

Dr. Dean also says:

A growing number of neurosurgeons and neurologists are convinced that excitotoxins play a critical role in the development of several neurological disorders, including migraines, seizures, learning disorders in children, and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

I bought Dr. Dean’s book for the information about Magnesium and why we need it. But she has good information on other topics as well. You can also check out Dr. Dean’s web site.

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Cat

My Time: 5:11

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Do you have Randolph’s Disease?

Recently, I found a web site for Share, Care and Prayer, Inc, a nonprofit Christian organization serving thousands of people suffering with Environmental Illness. Their web site has a wealth of information on Environmental Illnesses and has the most comprehensive list I have seen for all of the diseases/syndromes that can be classified as Environmental Illness:

• Chemical Sensitivity
• Food Sensitivity
• Electrical Sensitivity
• Electro Magnetic Field Sensitivity
• Pollen and Other Inhalant Sensitivities
• Dust, Dust Mite Sensitivity
• Fabric Sensitivity
• Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
• Candidiasis (imbalance of Candida yeast)
• Fibromyalgia
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome
• Restless Legs Syndrome
• General Anxiety Disorder
• Irritable bowel Syndrome
• Lupus
• Tinnitus/Menieres’ Syndrome
• Asthma
• Sick Building Syndrome

I suspect that there are still a couple of others to be added here. Among them would be ADHD, Gulf War Syndrome, MS and most any other auto-immune disease.

What does this have to do with Randolph’s Disease? Dr. William Meggs recently recommended that Environmental Illness/Multiple Chemical Sensitivity be renamed Randolph’s Syndrome, after Dr. Theron Grand Randolph. Who is this Dr. Randolph?

Theron Grant Randolph, M.D. is known in the chemical sensitivity network as the Father of Clinical Ecology or, as it is now known, Environmental Medicine.

Also from the web site:

Indeed, changing the name of MCS to Randolph’s would solve a lot of problems associated with all the other names in use. And, as his actual work would become more well-known, it might induce people diagnosed with CFS, Fibromyalgia, and Irritable Syndrome, Restless Legs Syndrome, General Anxiety Disorder, etc. to recognize that what they have is Randolph’s Disease. After all, he was treating all these named diseases long before they were treated as separate entities.

Which is saying what many of us have known all along - that this is one illness with a long list of variable symptoms. You can read more on this page about Randolph’s Disease.

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Kitten

My Time: 7:08

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Chemical Sensitivity Foundation

Recently, I found the Chemical Sentivity Foundation. This organization is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation whose primary goal is to raise public awareness about multiple chemical sensitivity.

There’s a lot of good information here. Especially the short documentary produced/directed by Alison Johnson that is titled Chemical Sensitivity: A 15-Minute Introduction. In the documentary are stories told by several workers that responded after the 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Center. It’s not surprising, at least to many of us, to learn that many people that responded to the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent clean up are now dealing with MCS. You can also read the transcript of the documentary, although it’s much more interesting to watch the video. It lets us all know that these are real people suffering from real problems.

I encourage you to visit this site and watch the short recording. Also, have the people in your life watch it too. It really helps you to see what a problem this is.

This has brought to mind a question for visitors to the site. Many people who have MCS can trace their health issues to a specific incident or exposure to chemicals. I’ve tried myself and am not really sure, since it goes back to when I was 16 and I didn’t know the full nature of the problem until over 30 years later. But, I do recall one incident that may have been the start of it all. I have a brother who is 6 years younger than I. When I was 16, we didn’t exactly get along (that’s putting it mildly). I can recall one time that he literally poured a bottle of my perfume out in my bedroom. While I can’t recall exactly when that happened, it was in the right time frame.

What about you? Is there a specific incident or exposure that you can trace you MCS back to?

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Bull Sculpture

My Time: 5:11

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Dolphin

My Time: 3:55

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Bluebonnets

Since I had nothing in red, white and blue, I chose bluebonnets.

Happy Fourth!

My Time: 3:57

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Tracking the Symptoms

Anyone with MCS is painfully aware of the variety of symptoms that are MCS. And that is a major reason that so many people want to deny that it is real. But that isn’t really what I want to address today.

Instead, I thought it would be good for us all to share our particular symptoms. Perhaps then, those searching for answers may be better able to know what they are dealing with.

I’ll go first. Actually I would classify my symptoms into two categories - chronic and acute. The acute symptoms are the ones that are in direct response to a stimulus. For example, I have one primary symptom - the migraine. If I’m exposed to fragrances and a lot of other chemicals, I’ll develop a migraine. Sometimes, it is minor head pain. That’s usually from short exposures. But other times it can be a severely debilitating migraine. The kind where you just want to crawl into a dark room and then pray that the pain will stop.

At one point, several years ago, my head pain was more chronic. I would have head pain most of the time. Fortunately, by limiting exposure (read staying at home a lot) and diet I have been able to get rid of most of that pain. In fact, I’m probably down to about one bad migraine a month.

Now, the really chronic symptom for me has been vertigo. Beginning in October 2002, I started experiencing vertigo. It was much like the feeling of sea sickness, without the boat. There wasn’t a lot that would help it at first. Except being very, very still. After extensive testing, the cause was found to be excess inner ear fluid. The why of that is all wrapped up in the migraines and MCS issues. I don’t pretend to understand it. I do know that it is manageable. With a diuretic, another drug, and a low sodium diet. As in no more than 2,000 mg per day. (As in, forget bacon which weighs in at 1,000 mg per slice!) It’s tricky to follow that diet if you eat out much, but I mostly manage. And if I fail to follow the diet too much, I’m reminded of why I do it.

Now I would like to invite you to tell us about your symptoms. Leave us a comment to help everyone know about the various health issues caused by chemicals.

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