Saturday, October 20, 2012

Toxins everywhere

I was going through old pictures & stumbled upon pictures from February 2010. I had a massive, serious, allergic reaction to something. At the time we were getting our house painted (inside) & I was breathing the fumes pretty much day in, day out. My face looked like I had been beaten up, the hives were so intense, my ears were swollen to the max, the skin was so tight it hurt. My nose doubled in size, so did my lips. My eyes were almost closed. The hives went down to my chest, in a vine like pattern. It lasted forever, but a round of steroids (which I was NEVER going to take ever due to my previous experiences) got rid of it. I didn't connect the dots between the reaction & the paint fumes until I visited friends who had just done some painting at their house - I got the same reaction after visiting them! (and another round of steroids!)

So I just googled the topic, just to read a little more about it & what other people had experienced. It turns out, if the paint is latex based, my reaction indicates I'm allergic to latex?! Which then lead me into another concern - Enbrel sure-click injection. The needle cap in sure-click pen includes latex. Perhaps this would explain my injection site reactions? Recently they've become far more itchy & it lasts longer. For the first time today, I actually contemplated on switching to the regular Enbrel injections. Which is a big deal, since I'm not able to look at the needle puncturing my skin, when I'm getting blood work done. I could do without the injection site reactions & the intense itchiness. Maybe the latex is also the reason why my face is all rashy & bumpy? Maybe I COULD do the regular injections. Maybe?

As I was researching the previous topics, I came across this website Green and Healthy - Sick House Syndrome. The chart details diseases and conditions caused by exposure to "Building Toxicities". To my surprise (not) I discovered some autoimmune related toxins. For example, if you're sleeping on a chemical latex foam layered mattress - over time you can become ill by repeated and continuous exposure to the low level of chemicals continuously emitted during the sleep process. Common petroleum based chemicals (bedding, mattresses) have been clearly shown to have the ability to weaken or damage the immune and nervous system. What an eye opener this website is. Now I have to find out what my mattress is made of. I know it's a foam "something", but most likely it's not a healthy mattress, chemically speaking. Let me know what you think & I'd love to hear what are your own findings.