10 year update: Still Healing! Yay!! Life Is SO Different Now.

I've recently been getting emails from readers who have found this blog and it made me realise that it's been years since I've posted!  Maybe I'll update a bit for those who find this blog and wonder if my improvements have held.
I'm a nutshell: yes. They have. And they've continued beyond my wildest hopes.

Wow. 5 years!!!

Life has been progressing and my continued healing has opened the world up to me again.
It's amazing, and what's more amazing is that this is now the norm.

I ride the bus, crowded in amongst people wearing scented products, drive with friends in their new cars, go to regular appointments and events, get togethers and parties, concerts, movies, swimming in chlorinated pools, rollerskating in rented skates that have been sprayed with air freshener, go for medical procedures including IVs, meds, medical tape, medications, etc, go to a ten-day music festival in the woods with 1500 people (many covered in bug repellent and sunscreen, much smoking around me, though thankfully there was a rule of no smoking on the dancefloors )...

... I can read brand new books, magazines, and newspapers, and use many art supplies including acrylic paint and pencil crayons (I used to be unable to be in the room with a single one due to reacting to terpenes from the wood).
I'm able to use some select mild amounts of essential oils. I can be around coffee, orange peel, fresh cut mint, vinegar, and more.

Some of those things, with long enough or intense enough exposure, still cause reactions but the symptoms are generally mild and I recover quickly.
They rarely interfere.

The are still things (eg solvents, chlorine bleach, nail polish, ammonia) that would cause more severe reactions but my experience with those has changed as well. Things that previously could have been life-threatening and landed me in the hospital or ill in bed for weeks, might instead cause mild coughing for a few days, or a tight chest and difficulty thinking clearly until I get to fresh air. I avoid these things when possible but am calm when I'm exposed.

Spending time with people who are covered in scented laundry or personal care products, or in spaces with lit incense/scented candles or air freshener are still things that I avoid when I can, and often get headaches or migraines if I do choose to expose myself, but this does not amount to a life changing limitation.
I rarely wear a mask. I can't recall the last time I did. Perhaps it was on a many hours long road trip in a car that had strong gasoline fumes inside it.
Or if I was painting an entire wall in my apartment.
The poor masks are lonely in their box and I bet the local safety supply store misses my business.  ;-)

Well, that's all for now.
Wishing you all well.

**For those asking if I used a specific protocol to heal, no. But in the upper ride hand sidebar of the blog, there is a list of links to things that were important components of my own healing journey.
We are all individuals. Maybe some of those may benefit you, maybe you'll discover your own approach! Listen to your intuition and inner wisdom. That is what guided me to my path. It can be really hard to listen when fear and suffering are almost all we know. It's okay to start with very tiny baby steps. That's what I did.

💗💙💗

Others Who Have Recovered Or Are Healing From MCS

Hello! I haven't posted in a very long time and I want to let you all know that MCS is still improving. I ride the bus regularly, go in any store I want, walk through the perfume or scented candle sections of big department stores, eat at restaurants (with some limitations due to food sensitivities still), attend appointments and socialise all without a mask!
I can also use 99% of public washrooms without a mask.

There are now so many others who are also healing or fully recovered that I've felt less pressure to post here since the internet is now rich with inspiring stories of hope and healing from MCS.

I invite you to check out a new page I've put up on my blog with a list of some of those who are healing along with some links to their success stories.
It has been so encouraging and inspiring to see the numbers of people who are healing from MCS grow over the years.
It is my belief that for every story shared on the internet, there are many more who have not created blogs or websites. So each of the people I list below stands, in my mind, for many more!

Some of these people have healed 100% and are living lives unhindered by reactions to chemicals! Others are in the process of healing and have had dramatic improvements, able to handle exposures that previously would have been devastating... and, importantly, have not experienced backsliding or relapse after these exposures.

Click here to read more:
Other stories of healing and recovery from MCS

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!

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 ☺

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!

2 Year Update: MCS Still Improving!

It's been just a few months longer than 2 years now that I have been steadily getting better from MCS.

I know that to a newcomer with MCS, the idea of it taking years to get better could seem disappointing... but I'm just fine with it.  I'm so grateful to be healing and am trying to be patient with the rate at which it's happening.  So when I look at how FAR I've come in 2 years... I say YAY!!!

My life has changed so dramatically that I am daunted by even trying to put it into words.
For those who have or have had severe MCS, perhaps this update list will capture it.  A list full of things that I once would have thought to be impossible!

My mask is lonely... it almost never gets used.
When I go out, if I remember to bring it, I use it in bathrooms that have strong air freshener.  If I forget, I use the bathrooms anyway!  And I'm okay.

Going out for dinner is no big deal now from an MCS standpoint, though I still have aftermath due to food sensitivities.

I close my windows if my direct next door neighbour has their dryer or lawnmower going or if neighbourhood woodsmoke is very strong but otherwise they can be open often.

New clothing takes only a few washes with just laundry soap before I can wear it (as opposed to tons of 'detox' washes with special things like vinegar, baking soda, TSP, milk, borax etc etc).

Driving in a 4 year old car that still has new car smell is something I give no thought to - zero reactions.  No mask needed.

Car exhaust, lawnmower fumes, air freshener, BBQ, cigarette smoke, dryer exhaust, essential oils,  perfume/cologne, woodsmoke, paint, new roof smell, road tarring, carpets and much more bother me less and less.  Passing exposure to any of these causes no reaction except distaste.  Prolonged exposure to most of those causes only slight reactions and very fast recovery time.

I can spend time around regular people who are covered head to toe in scented products.  I don't enjoy the smell at all.  I do find it offensive and distracting.  But my physical adverse reactions to it are far less and this has freed me up so much socially.

I can't really express just how different and wonderful it is to do something as simple as smile at a stranger in a store or doctors office!  Those small bits of human interaction are amazing and were totally interfered with my wearing a mask.

I know there are so many little things I am forgetting because the changes and improvements are becoming 'normal' to me.  I'm trying to relax and let myself just enjoy the ride, the journey, instead of feeling the need to catalogue or keep track of all of the improvements.
:-)

Lilacs Smell Good Again!

The lilacs are in bloom in southern Ontario - an event that used to keep me inside at this time of year.  They used to smell very strong to me and I would get bad headaches and brain fog if I was exposed for more than a few seconds.  With MCS, one can react to VOCs from any source - even naturally occurring ones in plants and flowers.


Now lilacs smell wonderful to me!  I was out gardening for a few hours today and the wind was blowing a neighbour's lilac blossom scent my way.  I loved every minute of it and had no negative reactions  :-)
It is such a joy for me to be able to enjoy these natural smells again.
I've also been enjoying it when fresh cut grass smell wafts my way - something that a few years ago I would have thought impossible due to the high terpene level in grass.

I'm not yet at the point where I'd bring strong flowers like lilacs, hyacinths or lily-of-the-valley inside though I do bring some more mildly scented flowers in.

What flowers do you love?

Do you react to natural sources of VOCs?

Celebrating MCS Improvements Part 4: Going Maskless

It seems like a very long time since I have posted on the blog! I've been living in clean air in the woods for the summer and it's been so healing... but more about that another time :-)

I came across this old draft of a post I began writing back in January. It was so neat to read it again today and realise how much things have changed since then and I wanted to share.

*Note* There are many different kinds of 'masks' that people with MCS use. When I refer to a 'mask' I am talking about a small 'respirator' I wear that has a layer of activated carbon in it which can adsorb a certain amount of VOCs and chemicals. It is not tolerated by all due to the synthetic materials it is made from.
This is not one of the large respirators that have canister filters - they filter much more and are excellent for MCS from what I hear IF one can get them outgassed enough so as to not react to the respirator itself.



Here is the January 2009 post:

I now have a few select places I can go without a mask - something I thought would be forever impossible. Just yesterday I was out without mask and realised that it no longer felt terrifying like it did when I first began doing so (maybe a year ago).

I know my body and intuition well enough now to trust them. If I have the feeling that today is a mask day, then I wear my mask(s). If not, I try to trust that feeling too although it's a bit harder (scarier).
There are some places that I expect will be quite a while before I go unmasked. Grocery stores (the dreaded detergent aisle that contaminates the entire store), malls (have gone unmasked once), department stores, hardware stores, anywhere that has air 'freshener'.

Fast forward 9 months to September 2009:

I was so excited to read that old post because it is inspiring to realise just how FAST I am improving! it may feel like I am crawling along while I'm doing it, but things like this give me perspective. Only 9 months ago, I though it would be possibly years before I could go somewhere stinky like a mall or big grocery store.
I can now go to those 'dreaded' huge grocery stores, malls and department stores with no mask. (though I do not go down the aisles that have detergent, perfume, air fresheners - that would just be stupid ☺)

There are days when I can tell it would not be a good idea so I go masked but generally, I can now go those places unmasked with no lasting effects. I get a sore throat or nose - depending on whether I breathe through my mouth or nose - and I get varying degrees of brain fog still. Other than that, my reactions are almost none and my recovery time is almost immediate upon getting into clean air again.
Even one year ago, I would have a chemical 'hangover' for at least the following day if not longer. And that's if I went wearing a mask.
I can't imagine how bad it would have been without the mask. I know the recovery time was much longer if my mask was older and less effective at filtering out VOCs.

I waited a long time to post about this and here is why: people with MCS sometimes take risks like this when they are getting better and end up having it set them back.

I knew that some readers may be concerned I was taking a foolish risk. It's hard to communicate to anyone else what my relationship with my intuition is like and the decision to go places maskless could seem ridiculous and totally unsafe. I wanted to wait to post until a good deal of time had passed and I could say, with confidence, the following:



I am still improving while taking these calculated risks. I am not setback, I am not in a holding pattern. I am still getting better and better... and it's wonderful! ☺☻☺




I want to add a very important caution here.
Please, please do not try something like this based on my personal experience.
This is a big risk to take and should only be taken if you and your health care professional confer about it. I only made the decision to do this after I had been steadily improving for quite some time. I began very tentatively with a lot of time in between exposures at first to assess how my body was reacting. I also listen very closely to my body and, if it is having a harder day, I either wear the mask or just stay at home.
I feel it is very important to move forward in ways like this only when it is realisticly wise to do so - not just because we want to be able to. It is possible for people with MCS to be vulnerable to denial - to wanting our freedom so much that we take unwise risks.

Planet Thrive Interviews Derval Dunford (woman who recovered from MCS)

Hello!

I feel like I haven't written in a very long time and this post will be short.
Spring has sprung here in southern Ontario and I'm outside puttering in the yard and gardens whenever possible.
I've been battling frequent migraines and find they can be triggered or worsened by the computer screen so I haven't been online much.

Today I want to share a link with you to a great interview done by Julie Genser and Julie Laffin at Planet Thrive (a very neat site - check it out!!).

I mentioned Derval Dunford back in March and was so excited to see the interview done with her on Planet Thrive.
When I started this blog, one of the things I wanted to do was interview people who have improved with MCS. So far, I simply haven't had the energy to and I am really happy that someone else is doing it!
Thank you Julie and Julie! :-)
Some day I'd love to see you interview Sweigh Emily Spilkin, Debra Lynn Dadd, Raymond Francis, Annie Hopper, Julia Tuchman and others. It can be so inpsiring to hear of others healing and improvements.

Okay, here is the link to the interview:

Healing trauma and chemical sensitivities an interview with Derval Dunford, creator of the meditation CD Sui

After hearing the sample track from the Sui CD (and loving it), I decided finally to order it. When I get it, I'll let you know how I liked it.
If you haven't listened to the sample track yet, I encourage you to do so.
You can listen to it here (click the link just above CD TRACK DETAILS).

I hope you are all having a great spring with as much clean air as possible and things that bring you joys - great or small.

After Recovering From MCS, Irish Woman Puts Out Meditation CD

I'd like to share an inspiring story with you today.

Derval Dunford, an Irish beautician, was mostly housebound and unable to work due to MCS.

As part of her healing journey, she developed a meditation practice for herself that she feels played a big role in her recovery.
She has now returned to working part time as a beautician as well as running meditation classes and putting out a double CD of guided, relaxation and unguided meditation!

The CD is available here and you can listen to a sample track here (click the link just above CD TRACK DETAILS).
I have listened to the sample track and encourage you to check it out! I really enjoyed it. By the end, I felt relaxed and peaceful (something rare in my mind filled constantly with jumbled thoughts).

Here are some press articles you can read about Derval if you like.

Independent.ie

Mayo Advertiser

Sunday Business Post

You can also view my favourite article - the one in the Irish Mirror - at the Sui.ie site by scrolling down to the very bottom of this page and clicking the link mentioned in the final sentence. In this article, she says, "...I know that detoxing my mind played a big role in my recovery."

I had asked Derval how much she has recovered from MCS and she shared, "I feel I have recovered from MCS but I still steer clear of chemicals as much as possible & certainly wouldn't stay in an enclosed space for any period of time with a strong chemical smell. I use all natural products where possible. Having said that, I can go about my daily life as everyone else does, travelling on trains, planes and socialising Thank God!"


Thank you Derval for the inspiration and permission to post your words here!!!

*UPDATE*

1.  there is a great interview of Derval on Planet Thrive (to read click here).

2.  I ended up buying the CD and I love it (I have no financial interest)

Celebrating MCS Improvements Part 2

Just over a month ago, I wrote Moving Forward... Noticing The Positive. That post was a sharing of part of how my healing had progressed over the last few years and included a few lists of things that I was able to do or be exposed to without reactions, or with greatly lessened reactions compared to in the past.

I want to keep noticing the positive and celebrating the improvements!

To anyone reading, I would really love if you shared any improvements you have noticed - no matter the size. Sharing them can serve as inspiration for others on this healing journey and as validation for our own healing.

I believe that we attract more of whatever we are focusing on and this has proven to be true in my own life. So I believe that focusing on the positive, on improvements no matter how large or small, is a crucial part of my healing journey.

So without further ado:

This week I noticed that I had bills laid out all over the kitchen counter for a few days. I remembered that only a few short years ago, I could not be in the same room as a new piece of mail or any newly printed paper! Yet here I was, spending time in this room with about 8 bills laid out - all smelling of inks and chlorine-processed paper. And I was fine. Yay!

I read a book recently from the library that smelled quite scented and also of cigarette smoke. I noticed the smell but did not react.

Perhaps best of all, I am now able to use a set of years-old markers to colour with! When I tried these markers last winter, I reacted immediately. Now I can spend over an hour colouring! I was also fine with a highlighter that I couldn't use as recently as October. It's exciting how fast improvements have been happening for me this past year.

The result is wonderful, vibrant colour that I can adorn my walls with like the ones shown in this post.


I recently had to replace my old inkjet printer and decided on a laser one (since it's in a room I don't use I am not worried about the ozone). The result has been wonderful and totally unexpected - I don't react to the ink at ALL! In laser printers, the ink is basically bits of plastic dust fused to the paper. None of it rubs off on my hands whereas with inkjet printers, my hands reacted if they touched the ink - even after much time. *note* I wouldn't choose a laser unless I had a room to put it in that I don't spend time in.

I've been wanting to have a set of pieces on the wall to represent the chakras so I'm colouring with that theme in mind. So far I have the root and solar plexus chakras done (and for fun I have done a turtle because I recently had 2 dreams with turtles in them).

Many thanks go to http://www.mandalarbre.com for their amazing, inspiring colourable mandalas. They are all designed by Marc Bove and are copyrighted.
They have galleries there where you can see various coloured-in mandalas. It's wonderful seeing all of those vibrant colours! Media options may be watercolour paints, pencil crayons, markers, coloured pens or anything you tolerate.

Celebrating MCS Improvements Part 1

How do I know I am healing?

I noticed tiny things at first...

• a few extra moments before a reaction set in
• a reaction less severe than I was used to
• a faster recovery after exposure

Then my body seemed to reach a point where the healing took on a life of it's own. A momentum had picked up and I seemed to move forward steadily.

• I could use the blender, vacuum, toaster without wearing a mask - as long as I did it quickly and left the room afterward.
• I was able to read select books again if they were not too old, new or scented.
• terpenes from grass didn't bother me much anymore (in small doses)
• I could touch paper whitened with chlorine without an instant skin reaction.
• I could walk in a pine forest without getting instantly 'stoned' from the terpenes
  
• I could eat small amounts of foods that had 'flavour' as an ingredient (many chemicals in flavour are similar to ones in fragrance due to how our sense of taste is connected to sense of smell)
• I could be around leaf mold, coffee, potted plants and more with much less reaction
  

All of the above are things that only a few years ago caused such severe reactions that I went to great lengths to avoid them.

Now I can read most books - even new, old or somewhat scented. I can even read books from the library (notorious for having picked up fragrances/smoke from people's houses).

I vacuum, use the blender, toaster and more without even thinking about it. I don't have to hold my breath, leave the room or worry about how long I vacuum for!

I go to a few restaurants, garden with no mask, have a few potted plants in my house, cut my own lawn (electric mower)... I can even have certain cut flowers from my garden inside my house. It used to be only totally scentless flowers I could tolerate but now I can even have higher VOC flowers inside.

Small exposures to dryer exhaust, wood smoke and cigarette smoke from neighbours while I am in my yard cause little or no reaction. This is such an awesome thing because I can actually use my nose as a warning system and still have time to go inside before an actual reaction happens. Before, even a few seconds was too much/too late.

When did all of this happen? I don't exactly know.
The dramatic changes happened sometime in the last year I think - the lesser ones in the year before that. Most of my healing happened so gradually and softly that I only notice things in hindsight.

I know how good it makes me feel now to notice so I've been trying to do it often.
If I had noticed more as I went along, I think I might have healed even faster due to the mind-body connection.

As I move forward, my 'normal' keeps shifting. I keep having a new normal.
It's exciting to think of how far I have come and know that one day, the way I am now will be far in the past and will seem incredibly limited!

Some Books I Have Found Helpful

I had MCS mildly for a number of years before the crash that left me unemployable and housebound in 2004.
During the first few years after the crash, it was almost impossible for me to even be in the same room as a book without reacting to the inks and the chlorine-bleached paper.
During that time, if I wanted to read, I had a home-made reading box but it was quite a pain so I rarely read.

The exception to this was Pamela Gibson's book about MCS which, to my joy, was printed with soy-based inks on chlorine-free paper! The copy I came across was already a few years old so I don't know how safe it would have been for me if brand new.

Although I didn't personally resonate with everything in it, I still found it a very helpful book.

The second edition was released in 2006. I haven't read it yet and don't know if it used the same safer printing techniques.

Pamela Gibson's book is:.

MULTIPLE CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY: A SURVIVAL GUIDE, SECOND EDITION 2006

Pamela Reed Gibson, Ph.D. from Earthrive Books

There is a link for an order form on this page: http://www.earthrivebooks.com/

*Please note*

Even if this book is printed with the same safer techniques as the first edition, there is no guarantee that an individual will not react to it. We all vary greatly in our sensitivities.

_____________________


After I had improved somewhat and was able to read again, a book I found excellent was Dr. Martin Pall's book exploring a new disease paradigm that may explain so-called 'unexplained' illnesses including MCS.

Dr. Pall's book is:

Explaining "Unexplained Illnesses": Disease Paradigm for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Gulf War Syndrome and Others

by Martin L. Pall, PhD


When I first got this book, my cognitive functioning was still suffering enough that I found it unreadable. It is very scientific and, as someone with no scientific background, I found it confusing, overwhelming and downright difficult.
However, as I have slowly healed, my cognitive functioning has also slowly improved and I am now able to read this book, albeit slowly.
The parts of most interest to me personally were the chapters on PTSD and MCS.
I found the arguments against MCS being psychosomatic really helpful and encouraging.
If I had my journey to live over again, I'd show copies of that part of the book to any of the health care professionals who implied MCS was all on one's head.
I also read with great interest the list of supplements he reviewed.

Haworth Press seems to be in the process of joining with another company and I was unable to access information on the book directly at the publisher's website.
However, it is available on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and similar sites.

*Note*
This book is printed with normal inks and does smell.

__________________


*Please note*
I have no financial interest in either of these books.

One Woman's Description of Recovery From MCS

I felt very inspired and hopeful while reading Debra Lynn Dadd's description of her recovery and wanted to share it with you.
I encourage you to follow the link after this small quote and explore her website.
She has a free newsletter and a massive amount of valuable information available.
Please make sure to read her wise disclaimer posted on this same page. Emphasis on the final sentence is entirely mine.
Many thanks to Debra for permission to quote and link to her.

"Recovery" has several definitions. I'm referring to "restoration or return to health from sickness" (definition #3 in The American College Dictionary, 1956). I have not only regained the ability to have the life I choose, but my life today is even better than it was prior to the challenge of MCS. I am happy, productive, married, able to do anything that I choose to do, and tolerate all environments I need and want to be in. I can drive my car, shop, travel, eat in restaurants, go out with friends, and anything else that I want to do without having symptoms."

http://www.dld123.com/mcs/index.html