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.

Intro to blog

I intend this blog to be a way for me to share about my healing journey from MCS (multiple chemical sensitivities).

When I first found out that I had this health condition/disability, almost all of the information I received led me to believe that it was a life sentence and there was no hope of healing enough to go out in the world again (I was housebound).
I used to accept this without question but, over the years, I heard stories of people with MCS who were now living a normal life and began to hope this may be possible for me one day as well.

I am now definitely on a healing journey and have had dramatic improvements.

I want to share about them here so that others can feel hope instead of just the life sentence that is accepted as the norm.

I also plan to link to other blogs or webpages of people with MCS who are healing from MCS or at the least have found ways to still live a juicy and fulfilling life despite their illness :-)

I am a slow writer so my posts will likely be intermittent.

~May your day be safe and happy~