August 2009
I am no longer home bound due to Multiple Chemical Sensitivities.

MCS Sites ---- updated May 2004

Articles ---- updated December 2016

Miscellaneous Links ---- updated November 2010

Toxic Chemical Lists ---- updated September 2017


Coping with MCS

Non Toxic Products that I Use ---- updated September 2017

Guides to Non Toxic Products ---- updated March 28,2009

Catalog Lists ---- updated May 2005

MCS Buttons, Posters, Signs, and T-shirts ---- updated August 4, 2012

Non Toxic Homemade Recipes ---- updated July 2009


Healing the Body

Healing Recipes ---- updated November 2007

Body Diagnosis ---- updated January 2012

Stuff I have learned along the way ---- updated December 2010

What I Am Doing to Heal My Body ---- updated ---- May 2008

The Moral of this Story if there is One ---- updated December 2010



Other Pages on This Site

MCS Organizations ---- updated March 27, 2009
Many of these organizations have websites that contain tons of links.

Non Toxic Recipes --- updated August 04, 2012 ---
cleaning and personal care recipes that I use

Non Toxic On-line Stores --- updated Feb 2006 ---
Cotton clothes, gardening supplies, household items, wood toys, cotton mattresses, kitchen supplies, organic food, organic fabric, etc.

Kid's Fun Stuff --- updated Jan 2006 ---
Recipes for play dough, clay and that sort of thing

Reference Section --- added April 2006 ---
One of the things I used to I miss about not being able to go into public, is going to the library. I used the web to look up what I needed to know. This page has links to reference materials that you would find in the reference section of the library. I have also included other useful information sites. Feel free to let me know about your favorite informational sites.


If have a question or just want to talk....

send me an e-mail

When I first discovered that I had this condition, I typed in 'non toxic products' in a search engine. That got me nowhere. I had to get more specific. Finding one good site, lead to other sites. I felt less alone. Others were suffering just like I was. I bought books on the topic, but found better products by reading Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) forums and MCS Newsletters.

While looking through a MCS newsletter, I saw an advertisement for l Dakota Free Pure Prairie Soap . This soap is made just for those with MCS. I ordered a bar, since finding a bar soap that was high on my priority list. It turned out to be the only bar soap that did not give me a rash.

In a MCS forum I found Enviro One all purpose soap . A lot of MCS people can not use any other all purpose soap than this one. But we are all different. I hope this works for you if you decide to try it.

After I replaced most of my personal care products, cleaning products and I found ways to deal with pests I thought, I need to share this stuff. If I had a hard time finding products, I'm sure others are having a difficult time too. Plus it gave me something to do.

At first, I was amazed that people from far away lands are reading my site and sending me e-mails. Most were asking for help. If I can't help someone, I often send them a link to a place that I think could help them.

From reading your e-mails, it seems people are most helped by the Non Toxic Products that I Use section, and from the Guides to Non Toxic Products Section.

By the way, your e-mails have helped me to feel less alone and useful. Having MCS is very hard, but it is made easier to feel that someone behind this keyboard that cares about you. When you e-mail me about my site and how it has helped you, I feel happy to know someone is out there that is reading my site and getting something out of it. Some e-mails have made me smile, others have made me cry. Since I started this site, I have only had one bad e-mail. She told me, that I will never get better, because I was not doing enough to get better. It bothered me at first but, then I just thought she was probably having a bad day.

I have other goodies on my site so just scroll down or click on a link that interests you the most in the navigating my site section.

Mary


Note:
I have read a lot about various subjects and I feel everything on my site is accurate, but I am only human. We can only see things from the view of our own eyes. Your view may be different, so if you have ways to get well that work for you, by all means keep doing it. I can only share my personal experiences.

If I throw something out there that is totally new to you, you might want to research further before you act on that information.

In July 2009 I tried something new. I began IV glutathione treatments twice a week.

It only took 3 or 4 treatments for almost all my environmental sensitivities to go away. I had about 22 glutathione treatments, before I stopped them due to the expense. The last one was in November 2009.

IV glutathione is not cheap, but it was well worth it. Unfortunately, glutathione pills are ineffective. The pill breaks down in the intestines and becomes the 3 amino acids that it is made up of. Since Glutathione is made in all of our cells, once the amino acids are separated, they will not reassemble into glutathione. Sorry if this is confusing. It is really hard to explain. After I discontinued the IV treatments, I tried liquid Glutathione but I did not see this helping at all. So I stopped taking it.

Someone emailed me to tell me that they started getting Glutathione IV's after they found my site. She said that IVs work a lot better than the glutathione nebulizer which she was using. She said she noticed right away, and she is feeling better each week. I was so happy for her.

If you would like to try IV glutathione, I think calling a compounding pharmacy is the best way to find a doctor. Compounding Pharmacists make up the Glutathione IV's, so they know who is using the IV's, because these doctors are their customers. The compounding pharmacy does not need to be near you. Some send the IV bags all over the country.

Now, I can sit on the synthetic couch and watch TV with my husband and sit on car seats, without my my legs going numb. I can go out into public and inside people's homes. I can wear my wedding bands (they burned my finger before), eat a more varied diet, and wear shoes! I also can go outside without my face mask. And I got to watch my daughter graduate college! Unfortunately, I was too ill to see her walk across the stage when she graduated high school in 2005. This crushed me more than it did her. But my wonderful husband did a really nice thing for me. He bought a camcorder and taped the whole thing! It was really boring, to watch what looked like 1,000 kids, walk across the stage, but I felt better knowing that I was almost there.

I wish that I did not have to miss so much of my family's lives. But I am very grateful I am back in the world again.

April 2014

I still have health issues, but I am working on getting better with the help of a talented doctor at:
Norrh Texas Healing Center

He uses standard process supplements, which are made from food not chemicals, to heal the organ that is yelling the loudest at the time. Here is an article that explains it better than I can.

What is Nutrition Response Testing?

If you would like to try this too, here's how to find a doctor that does Nutritional Response Testing

The person that told me about Dr Ardis, was on the list to have a liver transplant. After he was treated for liver parasites by the doctor, his liver is healthy now. Sounded promising, so I decided to try it.

August 2014

On August 13-14, I spent 2 days in the hospital for Tylenol toxicity. I took the Tylenol for longer than I should have, because I had a mastoid infection. The pain was nearly unbearable. I sent an e-mail to the doctor to give them an update on how I was doing. Almost immediately after I hit send, the office assistant called, because my email was not very coherent. When I was typing that e-mail, I seriously could not find the "N" key. I was a computer programmer for 7 years so I know where all the keys are. When the EMTs got here, I could not answer the simplest of questions. I had no clue who the president was, nor could I tell him how old I was, or my birth date. He finally asked me something I could answer, my name. Mary I said. I guess I was still in there somewhere. This office assistant stayed on the line with me until the paramedics showed up. I was so scared. And since I had no idea that she called them, I was shocked to see 4-6 big men at my door. I kept saying you can't take me, my husband won't know were I am. As they were rolling me to the ambulance, we passed my husband in the driveway. My husband never left my side at the hospital until I told him to go home to eat or sleep. This experience made us so much closer. We did not know that we loved each other as much. My daughter and her boyfriend, even showed up. I guess I gave them all a scare.

April 2016

I am still suffering symptoms because of what Tylenol did to me. It is very toxic to the liver and it is the most toxic over the counter drug. Thousands end up in the ER because of Tylenol, some end up staying in hospital like I did and it kills about 450 people each year. (these numbers depend on what site you read)

My nurse told me that I should never take Tylenol again and it will be a long time to get over this. I used a cane for a few weeks, so I had to make friends with the TV, cause standing caused me to fall.

It is a good thing I tossed the Tylenol, since it would be too easy to grab the Tylenol when I get a headache. My nutritional Dr gave some food based pills to take for headaches, so there is no need to poison myself ever again.

The nurse was right about it taking a long time to heal because, I am still very weak. I often have chest pain if I try to do too much. I can do my laundry now. But right after I got out out of the hospital, carrying only one or two small items to the washing machine made me feel like I was having a heart attack. It hurt a lot. I tend carry my clothes to our bedroom, so I can sit on the bed to fold them. More often that not, they never get folded. I toss them on top of my sewing table, my bed or the ironing board. When I say never I mean never. I usually end up getting dressed from the pile of wrinkled clothing. I only end up folding them if I run out of places to throw them.

I still can't do more than a few dishes without gasping for air, or having the heart say, that's enough for now. At, first, if I ventured out to go to a store, often my husband had to come pick me up because I was so tired due to having to walk all over to find what I needed. I was exhausted and often confused. The whole thing made me want to cry. Now, I can go to only one place in a day, and try to avoid more than 2-3 outings a week. If I break those rules, I pay the price. I have to time my errands and doctor visits, just right because now I have to eat so often, or I will get weak and confused. Most of the time, I put some food in a Thermos so I can eat in the car if there is no time to to get back home to eat on time. I feel like Cinderella, with the clock chiming twelve. I eat 4 times a day, which is about every 3 hours. I can't just grab a granola bar cause I can't eat grains, nuts, seeds. fruit, sugar, soy or dairy.

Vacuuming is totally impossible for me. My husband has always said, as long as I don't have to wash your butt, I'm fine. I can take showers now. Before, it was too exhausting to stand long enough to take a shower. I lost a ton of weight, so had to put a towel in the tub to sit on because my bottom was so bony. I was 92 pounds. Now I weigh 113. I could not gain weight until I added a meal to my day. I never knew how long I would wear a certain size, so I shopped at the thrift shop to get bigger pants. I don't buy shirts there because shirts are usually polluted with perfume and/or deodorant. I am difficult to fit, so I had to spend a lot of time trying stuff on. This exhausts me and makes me very hungry. I have to eat often or I will feel dizzy, get confused and get so very tired. Often my legs give out and I fall. Most household chores go undone, unless my nice husband does what I can not possibly do.

Everyone makes a big fuss over me when I fall. I am fine, I tell them. I have gotten used to it. My memory is failing me. I can't hang onto a thought. I can't remember if I told my husband something or not, so I tell him stuff over and over. This is getting frustrating for the both of us. I also have no clue what anyone tells me, so I ask the person to repeat themselves. Sometimes, they tell me again. Other times, they get frustrated and say it's not that important. Urrr. I feel I am missing out on the conversation.

Now I bring my digital recorder, to all doctor appointments. It really helps.

Sadly, after about 1 month after the 2014 Tylenol experience, I can no longer wear shoes. Thankfully, I can still go into public. Then I thought hmmm...

Now I know how I got MCS:

It was the Tylenol!

I had 4 car separate car accidents from 1999-2001. Because of the pain, I took aspirin and alternated it with Tylenol for a long time. Tylenol is very toxic. It keeps building up in the body, if the body can't get rid of it fast enough. My body could not cope with the poison, so I got MCS. I have read in many places, that many got MCS after a concussion or a car accident. In both cases, you are likely to take pain pills.

So for now, I really am not spending too much time updating my site. I am still too weak to do much of anything. The Tylenol is now out of my liver, but it is still hanging out in my kidneys. My doctor also found other things wrong with me. I had parasites in my heart, but they cleared up in a few months. Then he found some lung round worms. I finally got rid of those in March 2016. But now I have flukes again, but this time in my adrenal glands. At the next visit, they had moved to my spleen. I am still ill, but at least I am not falling and gasping for air as much. Flukes go away quicker than round worms. But, I'm hanging in there.

November 16, 2016

I thought I got over MCS. But MCS is not a yes you have it or no you don't type of disease. I think it is more like there is this very thin line you cross over. You go from not being being able to go into public or sit on a polyester couch, to being able to do so again. But, you may not even know how very close to the edge you are. Day after day, you sit on this teeter totter. Then when you are not paying attention, one more bad exposure to some nasty thing happens and you are stuck at home again.

Well I am on the teeter totter wondering which way the wind will blow.

January 16 2017

I got rid of the flukes at some point, but then I got protozoa in my gallbladder, from the dog. The parasite gave him diarrhea. So I had wash him up. I must have touched my face before I washed my hands, so then we both had diarrhea. (I wash my hands after each time I touch him. Maybe those guys got under my fingernail or something) He also had protozoa in his eye. That was creepy. About a week ago, I tested free of the Protozoa. I don't think parasites are my problem. I believe they attack the weak, the young and the old. I am weak and I am 55.

Ein (my Corgi) is going in tomorrow, to get tested for the parasite.

My stomach has been very bloated for the last two months. I ended up having blockage, so the doc gave me some herbal pills, to empty my gut. He has given me something to repopulate my gut with good bacteria. He said none of the supplements would work with that blockage there.

I wake with pain each morning. I think it is because I can't move around much or I will have painful breathing. I get up and walk it off, then it goes away for the most part.

I think after my gut has healed we can address the high level of copper toxicity I have. If you look it up, I pretty much have most of the symptoms. Maybe that is why I have such a hard time thinking and why I have been so depressed and anxious for a long time. It all has been all very hard on me.

February 2, 2017

I have to face facts. I can't wear shoes. I don't like the way my feet feel walking across the carpet. I have trouble getting up off the carpeted floor after sitting there a while. So, I grab a piece of furniture to pull up on. I am tired all the time. EMF's are bothering me. Sometimes my almost 100% cotton socks make my feet burn. If the socks are dyed, it is worse. I feel weak in stores. I get confused easily. I repeat myself a lot. I often don't remember what others tell me, so they don't bother telling me much. I am depressed because whether I want to admit it or not, I have MCS again. OK, I was on that teeter totter, but still functioning. Now my life consists of getting on the computer and watching TV. Rarely do I go shopping. It is not worth it. I have ordered and returned 20 - 30 pairs of shoes thinking if I could just wear shoes, I would not be sick again.

Environmental Illness - Our Little Place
Definition, coping, fragrance info, de-tox baths, articles, resources, book list, non-toxic guidelines, tons of helpful links, etc

MCS for Beginners (archived)
Definition, symptoms, triggers, resources, coping, personal tips and ideas, etc

The Wall of Personal Testimony - HERC
Personal stories of many that have MCS

Resources for the Chemically Injured, Chemically Sensitive or Environmentally Ill - Lassen Technology
Articles, books, building info, carpet, catalogs, clothing, definitions, doctor and dental resource list, food, making a safe room, labs, lawyers, support groups, pest control, product lists, etc.

Chemical Injury Survivors of Minnesota (archived)
Great description of MCS and what we go through. Their photos are worth a thousand words. A great link to introduce the UN-informed to MCS.

May 2004

Chronic Neuroimmune Diseases Information
Articles, info about fragrances, cosmetics, latex allergies, MCS, housing, etc.

Nova Scotia Allergy and Environmental Health Association
Coping with MCS, allergy cooking recipes, book reviews, advice on making your home and garden less toxic, disability issues, articles, fragrance info, pesticide info, etc.


More MCS links can be found on my MCS Organization List

Anything in quotes are not my words. They are few sentences from the author of the site so you will know better, if this might be an article you might want to read.

Scents Are Not What They Seem - Karen Robinson
- "Fragrance Chemicals as Toxic Substances"

Poison in the Grass - Nathan Diegelman
- The Hazards And Consequences of Lawn Pesticides

Radiation Ovens - Anthony Wayne and Lawrence Newellf
- The Proven Dangers of Microwaves

MCS Under Siege - Ann McCampbell, MD
- Chemical companies paying big bucks to try to get MCS to go away

Why Shoes Make a Normal Gait Impossible - William A. Rossi, D.P.M.
- Well see, there is one good thing about having MCS!

(some of us can't wear shoes due to the chrome leather tanning process, toxic glues, etc. that shoes are made off. I found a few shoe sites that have less toxic shoes. I will post shoes that I can wear after I find them.

May 2004

Sodium Fluoride used in Fluoridation is NOT Pharmaceutical Grade - Paul Connett
- "...obtained from the scrubbing system of the phosphate fertilizer industry"

Finding Tolerable Clothing or Fabric - Doris Brunza
- "Sensitivity to clothing chemicals leaves many of us feeling like ragged Cinderellas waiting for a fairy godmother to appear!"

June 2004

School Environment - Healthy or Hazardous? - Rose Marie Williams
- the toxic environment in which we expect our children to learn!

Drugs, Stoned by Prescription - KOS Publishing (archived)
- "In Canada and the US (drug) research is primarily funded by drug companies whose contracts always contain gag clauses preventing researchers from reporting negative findings, should these occur... Interestingly, these same companies also make the pesticides, which cause all of the diseases in the first place, either directly by ingestion, skin contact or inhalation, or indirectly by dangerously depleting the nutrients in the foods. What an amazingly effective business strategy! ... Always assume the drug prescribed is toxic unless proven otherwise."

Salts that Heal and Salts that Kill - Cure Zone
- Unrefined Sea salt is good for you, denatured table salt is not.

July 2004

Billboard Control: Fighting Visual Pollution - Scenic America (archived)
- "While some may think billboards are harmless, their negative effects on our health and our safety have been documented."

August 2004

The Seven Essentials of Recovery - by Debra Lynn Dadd
-"You can recover from multiple chemical sensitivities on your own, without modern medicine. Indeed, the antidote for this illness is to remove your body from modern life, and let it heal naturally."

December 2004

How We Become Chemically Sensitive - Health and Certainty (archived)
-"...Simply by overloading the waste management system."

Electromagnetic Field Poisoning - Craig Reese
-"Some of the worse offenders are: computers, T.V., stereos, clocks, electric blankets, hair dryers, electric ranges, microwaves, fans, heaters, any electric motor, florescent lights, etc."

Moldy Material - Health and Certainty (archived)
- What to do about mold

March 2005

The Problem with Pressure Treated Wood - Deborah Elaine Barrie
-"Although copper and chromium are needed by the human body in trace amounts for proper health, the quantities and form of these three chemicals as they appear in pressure treated wood are at levels to be neurotoxic. To work with this wood certain precautions are essential to prevent illness or injury. Individuals must wear gloves, goggles, a proper mask, and have the body covered by clothing."

Formaldehyde Toxicity - Grisanti
-"Symptoms associated with exposure to formaldehyde fumes include mucous membrane irritation, upper respiratory tract irritation, eye irritation, skin rashes, itching, nausea, stuffy nose, headaches, dizziness, and general fatigue."

How to Legally Avoid Unwanted Immunizations of All Kinds - Mercola
- It is actually very simple. Just write a letter stating you object to immunizations for religious reasons, get it notarized and give it to the school nurse. This has to be done each year. This works as I have done it with my daughter.

The Fluoridation Fiasco - Gary Null, Ph.D
- "We would not purposely add arsenic to the water supply. And we would not purposely add lead. But we do add fluoride. The fact is that fluoride is more toxic than lead and just slightly less toxic than arsenic.""

May 2005

The SARS Epidemic: Are Viruses Taking the Rap for Industrial Poisons?
- "...WNV (west Nile Virus) epidemics occur annually in air-polluted petrochemical regions (such as eastern New Jersey and St. Louis) during the warm spring and summer months... and these epidemics don't spread infectiously to other regions."

Food For Thought: Malcolm Beck
- Some Observations on the Relationships Between Soil Health and the Physical and Mental Health of Humans

Pushing up Daisies: Malcolm Beck (archived)
- We used to decompose into the earth from which we came, but sadly, not any more!

Other Malcolm Beck articles (archived)

The Murky World of High Fructose Corn Syrup - Weston A Price Foundation
- " HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) has the exact same sweetness and taste as an equal amount of sucrose from cane or beet sugar but it is obviously much more complicated to make, involving vats of murky fermenting liquid, fungus and chemical tweaking..."

"Consumers trying to avoid genetically modified foods should avoid HFCS. It is almost certainly made from genetically modified corn and then it is processed with genetically modified enzymes."

Agriculture and Nutrition - Weston A Price Foundation
- " When crops grown for high production produce less nutrition, it would be logical to think that animals bred for high production would also produce less nutrition."

Finding Health Close to Home - Weston A Price
- "Anonymity tends to bring out the worst in people. It is much easier to put out inferior products, even unhealthy products, when you cannot see the people they affect."

Dec 2005

How Nature Cures - Doctor Yourself
- "When we begin to see germs more as scavengers trying to clean up refuse, as opposed to being little deadly gremlins out to get us, we can begin to take confidence that nature does heal and that our body will clean itself of the roots of illness. If your body is clean and healthy, germs are irrelevant. There is a lack of conclusive proof that germs are the primary cause of any disease. The bibliography in this book lists references that show that malnutrition, medicines and wrong living are more basic, underlying roots of disease. "

Hidden Allergens in Foods - Allergy Advisor
- lists ingredients that may indicate the presence of eggs, dairy, soy, wheat, peanuts, or fish

Poison for Profit - Ashley Simmons
- " The same chemical companies that produce toxic chemicals also produce prescription drugs, veterinary medicines, a wide array of medical products and imaging technologies, hold cancer treatment and medical device patents, and a produce a staggering assortment of over-the-counter palliatives. "

What's Wrong with Food Irradiation? - Organic Consumers
- Irradiation covers up the increased fecal contamination that results from speeded up slaughter and decreased federal inspection, both of which allow meat and poultry to be produced more cheaply.

Dec 2006

I thought hyperbaric oxygen might be a good idea until I read this article
Problems associated with use of the hyperbaric chamber in sports - Project Air
-" Why would there be problems using the hyperbaric system? The system is totally cut off from the outside atmosphere. A natural ion count of 5000 ions per cubic centimeter can be measured in nature. This count can fluctuate but no matter where we go, there are ions. In the hyperbaric tank the ion count would be zero. There is no natural or artificial way to produce ionization in the chamber since the corona discharge from an ionizer would cause the oxygen to ignite. Every human being must have ions to survive. It is this reason why the hyperbaric system is so dangerous."

Teflon – Is it Good or Bad - Dr Rapp (archived)
- "It lasts indefinitely in the environment and it never breaks down, even in the human body."

Crappy Reasons to Eat Organic - Small Footprint Family
- "There are thousands of substances that can be found in typical sewage sludge, including any of the 100,000 or so chemicals produced and used in industrialized nations, many of which illegally end up in sewers. "

Dec 2007

The Sludge Scam: Should Sewage Sludge Fertilize Your Vegetables - Riles
- " In Rutland Vermont, 24 months after spreading sludge on his 99 acre farm, dairyman Robert Ruane's cow's started getting arthritis and milk production dropped from 18,000 pound per year to 14,000 pounds per year. Over a two year period, 66 cows died. "They told me how much money it was going to save me on fertilizer.""


Dec 2008

I know this article has little to due with MCS, but it is very informative.
True cause of world hunger -Derrick Jensen
- " There was no shortage of food, but the people were too poor to buy it. So what did the U.S. and other countries, like Australia, do? Smelling an opportunity to unload their own surplus wheat in the name of "food aid," they gave loans to Indonesia upon the condition that it buy wheat from them. And Indonesians don’t even eat wheat."

January 02, 2009

Soft Drinks - Tuberose
"The soft drink usually contains the following components: phosphoric acid, caffeine, sugar or aspartame or saccharin, caramel coloring, carbon dioxide, and aluminum. Ingesting a soft drink does not cause any immediate warning such as stomach cramps, vomiting, or diarrhea that would normally occur when a poison enters the body. Instead, there is the energizing feeling of caffeine, the sweet taste of sugar combined with the sour taste of phosphoric acid, and the playful feeling of the carbon dioxide bubbles. Those ingredients cause imbalances in the body systems that result in debilitating diseases that show up after many, many years of abuse.."

Soft Drinks: America's Other Drinking Problem - Weston A Price Foundation
"Drinking sodas, especially on an empty stomach, can upset the fragile acid-alkaline balance of the stomach and other gastric lining, creating a continuous acid environment. This prolonged acid environment can lead to inflammation of the stomach and duodenal lining which becomes quite painful. Over the long term, it can lead to gastric lining erosion. Another problem with sodas is that they act as dehydrating diuretics, much like tea, coffee and alcohol. All of these drinks can inhibit proper digestive function. "

Know Your Fats - Weston A Price Foundation
- "Cholesterol: The highest concentration of cholesterol occurs in the brain, where it plays an especially important role in memory formation. Seniors with the highest cholesterol levels have the best memory function. Cholesterol also plays a major role in regulating serotonin levels in the brain – low cholesterol levels are associated with depression, anti-social behavior and even suicide."

What's It Like To Live With Chemical Sensitivities? - Think before you stink
- "Chemical sensitivities can be a very isolating condition to live with because of how toxic most personal care and household products have become. It is not too difficult for a chemically sensitive person to avoid using these products themselves, but to avoid being around other people that use them can be almost impossible."

November 16, 2016

Why ‘Fragrance’ Really Stinks: - Fix.com/blog
"Many chemicals in “fragrance” are classified as toxic or hazardous, and even some with no exposure level that is considered safe. If you’ve experienced an allergic reaction, skin irritation, asthma attack, or migraines, it could be a result of the scented products you use."

Top 10 Toxins that are Poisoning Your Kids - healthy Holistic Living Blog
"From BPA, MSG, pesticides, environmental chemicals, household cleaners, toxins in vaccines and prescription drugs, our children are exposed to a huge amount of toxic chemicals. Toxins are everywhere in our modern society. They are damaging your child’s health and causing disease."

Resource List for Pesticide Alternatives - A Better Way - IPM Solutions (archived)
- list or resources for alternatives to pesticides (books, periodicals, sources of beneficial insects, organizations, articles), MCS links, safer products, affects on wildlife, list of safer places to stay while traveling

Web Sites Pertaining to Housing and MCS - The Garden (archived)
Places to live or vacation, safer building ideas

March 2005

Trade Secrets - PBS Program
- "Trade Secrets reveals how the public's right to know the truth about thousands of chemicals that surround us has been compromised."

Connective Disorder Site
- A well researched, easy to read site on ways she has found to overcome most of her health issues using natural means. I highly recommend this one. Contains info on the following conditions: scoliosis, fibromyalgia , muscle tension, insomnia, TMJ, pain, nose bleeds, MCS, etc.

This women noticed that her son did not react to chemicals as much if he avoided chemicals in foods, especially school lunches.

Understanding & Accommodating People with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in Independent Living - Pamela Reed Gibson, Ph.D.
- An on-line MCS book

May 2005

Organic Directories - Organic Consumers
- web sites that list organic sites.

Score Card
- find out who is polluting in your area

March 2006

The Healthy Flooring Network Guide to Healthy Flooring
- lists flooring alternatives

Mercury and Nature - National Wildlife Foundation

Old Timers Page - Walton Feed (archived)
- the way folks used to do things

Arsenic in Play Structures - CEH
- Until the early 2000’s, most of the pressure-treated wood used in the United States for outdoor structures such as playground equipment, picnic tables, benches and decks was treated with the preservative, Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA).

A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home - EPA (PDF)

Epilepsy and Diet - Dogtor J
- avoiding the offending foods helps epilepsy (in dogs and humans)

Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Foods - EWG
- lists foods that you should always buy organic

List of KOS Health Articles (archived)
- The inside story on various health topics including: asthma, the cancer industry, autism, prescription drugs, GMO foods, modern medicine, MCS, organic food, etc.

January 2, 2009

The Dangers of Natural Gas - Alkalize for Health
A personal story on how an undetected natural gas leak just about ruined her and her family's lives.

The Breast Cancer Deception - Natural News
"This report that exposes the scam of today's breast cancer industry, revealing how conventional breast cancer detection and treatment programs are actually designed to ensnare women into a very harmful (but highly lucrative) system of toxic treatments that will only cause permanent damage to her health."

Safe and Effective Natural Control of Flea, Ticks, Bed Bugs, Lice and other Pests
"Products intended to kill fleas and ticks can also poison pets and the people who handle them."

Managing Fleas Without Poisons
"Flea control insecticides are a hazardous group of chemicals. Looking at twenty flea control chemicals, over two-thirds are neurotoxic, and almost that many have caused reproductive problems in laboratory tests."

November 30, 2010

MCS Legal Help
This site is of an attorney with 30 years experience in handling disability claims. He developed MCS in 2001 and had to close his office as he was not able to tolerate going there or going to court hearings. Since that time he has developed a home office based practice where he focus on helping people all over the country who are having problems getting disability due to MCS and related conditions.

Glossary of Products with Hazards A to Z - EPA (archived)

Health risks of chemicals labeled Danger, Warning or Caution - CHEC (archived)

Toxin Technical Information Index - Total Environment Center (archived)

June 2004

List of Fragrance Chemicals- Immune Web

Household Product Database - National Institutes of Health

March 28, 2009

Chemicals in the Household - EPA

The Toxins in Cigarettes - Cure ZONE

September 2017

Chemical of the Day

She has written articles about commonly used ingredients might appear in your inocent looking personal care and cleaning products. She'll let you know why they should not be used. She is a chemist, so if anyone would know if somthing is toxic or not it would be her.

She also has a non toxic store called Bubble and Bee where you can get safe personal care and cleaning products she has made herself.

If you want to know if the ingredients in something you use or would like to use are safe, she is more than happy to let you know what she thinks about it. List the product name and all it's ingredients in your e-mail.

Watch for personal allergies. Essential oils not often not tolerated by MCS person.

You may be react to stuff that I don't, so just test the product in a small area of your body, or find a chiropractor that can muscle test the product to see if it is good for you. If you don't open it, you can always take it back. I found a chiropractor that can test products by asking the supplement person at the a health food store.

I like to list an on-line source of all items that I link to, for those of you that can't go into public.

Of the manufacturer's sites which I link to, many have a 'find a store' button. I tend to get a lot of stuff from Amazon. Prices are good, customer service great, and it is very convenient to buy anything I might need, without tiring myself, or falling on the floor. I also like to by from Etsy.com. They are mostly individuals selling things they make themselves or people selling vintage things.


Personal Care

Dakota Free Pure Prairie Soap
Ingredients: Palm oil, coconut oil, palm kernel oil, expeller pressed safflower oil and shea butter that has been saponified. Saponification is the process of turning fats into soap. Once the soap has cured, there is no free lye left.

Produced by a chemically sensitive person, in a clean room. No one wears scented products where all her products are produced. It can also be used to wash your hair. I have used it when I could not find a tolerable shampoo. Before I found this soap, I would get a rash that went all the way down my back. Took me a while to figure out why.

When I was as my sickest, it was the only bar soap to not give me a rash!

November 16, 2016

Dakota Free Sunflower Soap
Ingredients: Organic Sunflower Oil, Distilled Water, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Palm Oil, Sodium Hydroxide.

Dakota Free Babassu Soap (coconut and nut free)
Ingredients:Palm oil, palm kernel oil, distilled water, safflower oil, babassu oil (from the babassu palm) and sodium hydroxide.

Oh my gosh, where has Babassu Soap been my whole life. Of the three soap listed above, I like this one the best. It has a lot of lather, and it feels soft and creamy. The sunflower soap is a little less creamy, and the pure prairie, does not lather much but it will always have a place in my heart, cause it was the first non toxic item that I bought.

She has a sample pack with 1 of each soap, do you can decide what will work best for you.

Shampoo

When I was really sensitive, I used Enviro One all purpose soap full strength. Being used to having a shampoo lather, it took some getting used to. But it does work.

Now I use Blackland Prairie Honey
It is a local raw unfiltered honey that I get from Natural Grocers

here's the recipe:

2 tablespoons honey
6 tablespoons (2 oz) water

My hair is shoulder length, so you might need more or less. It is a 1:3 ratio.

I pour this into an old shampoo bottle, shake it up well. I need no conditioner because it makes my hair so soft and almost tangle free. I rinse the bottle well because the honey that remained the bottle was attracting fire ants. I make about 1 weeks worth and store in the refrigerator. It will mold if you leave it out, for more than a day or two.

When I was very sensitive I could not find anything that I could use. I tried baking soda then Peelu Powder. Both gave me a rash. I tried bentonite clay as well. It tasted like dirt, so I finally gave up and just brushed with just a wet toothbrush .

November 16, 2016

Now I brush my teeth with:

Squiggle Tooth Builder Sensitive Toothpaste
Ingredients: natural Xylitol, purified water, calcite, glycerin, poloxamer, cellulose gum, Methoce, calcium propionate, lactoferrin

Essential Oxygen Food Grade Hydrogen Peroxide - 3% solution
Ingredients: Deionized purified water, 3% food grade hydrogen peroxide.

I use for wounds and stopping a nose bleed. I use a Q-tip to apply. It stops the bleed faster than squishing your nostrils in a few seconds.

I get mine at Natural Grocers.

Do not use H2O2 that you can get at the drug store in a brown bottle. It has heavy metal used as a preservative. Heavy metals are very toxic.

RADIUS Natural Biodegradable Silk Floss
Ingredients: Pure, natural hand-spun Silk, candelilla plant-based wax.

This floss is unflavored and un-waxed and made of silk. It took a long time to locate a floss that was non toxic.

I get mine at Natural Grocers.

This link special offers lets you print of store coupons, and lists current sales at the Radius web store

Nexcare Gentle Paper First Aid Tape

I use this with a cut piece of 100% cotton T-shirt as a bandage.

These are not easy to find.
I tend to get mine at Amazon or Walgreens.

Natra Care Feminine Products
Natracare products are made from renewable, natural materials including organic cotton, bio plastics (made from plant starch) and wood pulp.

My decision to use these was not to make the world free of plastic, I just found the traditional ones so irritating to my skin.

I get mine at Natural Grocers.


Swisspers Organic Cotton Balls and cotton swabs
They are made with USDA certified organic cotton and grown exclusively on organic farms.

I get mine at Natural Grocers. Many sites offer a 'where to buy' button someplace.

Macadamia nut oil
Ingredients: This oil comes from the pressed nuts of the Macadamia tree. It closely resembles sebum (the oil naturally produced by one's skin to help protect it).

I like the feel and slight nutty aroma of this oil. I use this for for dry itchy skin. I picked this oil because it is close to our own skin oil, but any organic non-solvent extracted cooking oil or fat will do.

I tried to make a balm for my hands and fingernails out of cocoa butter and Macadamia oil. I messed with the proportions of each. I finally got a good ratio, until summer hit, then is was too thin. Someone from Etsy.com told me to try to add bees wax to the mix. I never got around to trying it.

November 16, 2016

Shaving

I use Dakota Free Babassu Soap (coconut and nut free)
Ingredients: Palm oil, palm kernel oil, distilled water, safflower oil, babassu oil (from the babassu palm) and sodium hydroxide.

I wet both the soap and my hands, I rub the soap on my hand, then I rub my hands together until a nice foam has formed then rub the lather on my legs. Then I shave as usual.

I use the liquid soap for about anything that needs to be cleaned. It works great. I use it for:

Laundry, windows, mirrors, eyeglasses, getting ink off anything, pet stains, wiping down counters, washing floors, dusting, baseboards, cabnets, shoes, etc...

Common uses and ratios are on the home page:
Enviro One home page

For all other uses click on Enviro One dilution ratios
Use a 5:1 ratio unless otherwise stated.
It states a 100:1 ratio for glass and mirrors, but the delusion calculator can't seem to deal with such a low ratio, so I use

1/8 teaspoon or less for 12 oz sprayer. The rest would be water. If it streaks, use less soap.

I use full strength for shampoo and ink stains. For ink stains, put a few drops on the ink, then scratch about 7 times, and Wa La satin is totally gone

To get get help with how much soap to use for various sized containers, click on Enviro One dilution ratios

On the laundry page, Enviro One Laundry page
scroll all the way to the bottom to see how much to use in HE washers. I once used too high of a ratio in my HE machine. Bad idea. The strong ratio sat on top the fabrics and lightens that area somewhat. It did not help there was only 1 shirt being washed. Now, I put a towel on top of the clothing just in case. I don't have any problems, since I found the laundry page

When I was at my sickest, Enviro One and Dakota Free soap were the only soaps I cound all that I could use without getting rashes. .

You may think this soap is expensive, but it very concentrated. At a 5:1 ratio, it works out to less than 7 cents an ounce, or under 8 cents if you get the small bottle. (click on the large all purpose cleaner on their home page to see the small size.)

Cal Ben Dish Glow (hand washing liquid)
Ingredients: Vegetable Tallow oil, Extra virgin Cocoa Butter Oil, Anionic Degreaser, Foam Stabilizer, Opacifier, Essential Oil Extract of Orange Essence.

It is nice and creamy. Works well, but their ingredients are very vague.


Food and Kitchen Stuff

Steel Wool
like SOS pads, with out the questionable soap

Salt works Salt
Ingredients: salt

The Morton table salt is denatured. It is just sodium chloride with all the other minerals removed. From what I have read, they sell the minerals to vitamin companies.

Need more info?
Salt 101 will let you know why natural salt is better. If you think this salt expensive. I only use maybe 1-2 5 Lb bags a year.

The below salt is my favorite. The moisture in the salt seems to make is taste better.

Salt Works Peruvian salt
This salt is moist and it comes from the mountains verses the ocean, so has less chance of containing heavy metals, that sea salt is more likely to have.

Frontier CO-OP and Simply Organic Spices
Ingredients: Organic spices

Organic spices are not irradiated. I get them at the health food stores and sometimes at a regular grocery store.

November 21, 2016

Snapware Glass Food Storage Containers
Glass Food Storage set with easy Snap plastic lids

I just love the sound the lid makes when you snap it closed. I got mine at Albertsons.

Pyrex Food storage containers
Glass Food Storage Containers with plastic lids

12 Ball 1 1/2 pint Wide Mouth Canning Jars
Contains glass and metal

I store my homemade broth in this size.

12 Ball 1 Pint Wide Mouth Canning Jars
Contains glass and metal

I store homemade soup in this size.

1 Quart Wine Decanters
Contains glass, steel and rubber

I use as a water pitcher, I bought mine at a thrift shop


Cotton Items

September 2016

Natural Bath Towels
Contains 100% GOTS organic cotton

"The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) ensures no harmful or toxic chemicals are used throughout the entire process of turning the fiber into fabric. It also means the cotton fiber was grown certified organic."

I really like the Coyuchi Organic Cotton Air Weight Towel. It has no dobby strip and its texture is like a Berber carpet. The Cloud Loom towels they have are like a carpet with cut pile carpet. A dobby stripe is that stripe on one or both ends of a towel. This stripe shrinks in the wash more than the rest of the towel causing it to pull on the towel which causes the towel to fray. I had never heard of that term before. All the other towels on this site don't have the dobby stripes either. I called the company because I had a ton of questions. She took pictures of each towel, so that I could decide on color and texture. All this was done while I was on the phone. Great customer service. I can't begin to tell you how soft this towel is. I like the berber type towel better. The other towel is soft too. If I had to do it again, I would have bought a wash cloth in each style. It is cheaper that way. I got natural because it will never clash with any color we choose to paint out bathroom.

Gotcha Covered Certified Organic Sheet Set
Contains 100% GOTS organic cotton

"The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) ensures no harmful or toxic chemicals are used throughout the entire process of turning the fiber into fabric. It also means the cotton fiber was grown certified organic."

Here is an article explaining why organic is not good enough and why certified organic is better.
A Buyer’s Guide to Organic Sheets

100% Cotton Barrier Cloth Bed Encasement
I have one but it does not fit our new bed. Our mattress is very fat. The weave is very tight, so should block dust mites and chemicals such as fire retardants

If you know someone that sells these for fat mattress, please let me know. I would prefer a mattress cover. Getting those encasements on or off are almost impossible.

E-mail Me

Traditional mattresses contain all sorts of toxic things like flame retardant. They do this because sometimes people smoke in bed, then fall asleep, then the house burns down. I would love to get a new all cotton mattress, but I can't afford to replace everything I own. So for now, I uses a mattress cover like this one.

November 23, 2016

100% Cotton Ironing Board Cover I got mine from Janices.com but I need a new one. The elastic is all stretched out, so will buy a new one from etsy. I like to support the little guy not the big corporations.

Heating synthetic fabrics and foams release toxic fumes into the air, and deposit them into the clothes that you are ironing, and your lungs.

If your ironing board is a strange size, etsy people are usually more than happy to custom make a item for you.

Cotton bath mats with no plastic backing

Vermont country store no longer sells the bath mat that I have.

January 6, 2009

I Can Breathe Organic Cotton Face Mask
100% cotton

When pollen and mold is really bad, I also stuff cotton balls into my ears. This mask helps but it does not block all pollen. I need to find something that does, since gardening is all I have to do to keep me from going nuts.

please note: these masks do not filter out chemicals or perfume

December 1, 2016

I will have to buy these again since I breathed in a fungus from being around my compost pile. And I am getting headaches on days I go outside. It is sickening to go backwards in my healing. But my doctor told me that 80% of the Tylenol is gone from my system. My prescription drugs and the Tylenol are keeping me ill and making me get worse again. I am not all to happy with this turn of events. The poisons in my are keeping me very weak, and my hope is dwindling.

I just have to get to the other side of these set backs, and do the best I can to not get anymore depressed about all of this than I already am. Plus, my family is growing impatient with my poor mood and me being irritable most of the time, so they just watch TV in another room.

So, I get to watch TV all by myself. And what is really annoying is, I can't garden for I am too weak. People keep telling me I will get better, but it is getting harder to believe, cause my mind is not working correctly, due to the meds and this hole of depression that I fell into quite a few months ago. My doctors keep lowering my psychiatric meds then the withdrawals hit and hard. I know better than to taper off my meds in this weak state that I am in. My nutrition doctor said that I let them do this to me, because the meds themselves keep me from being able to think for myself. I am suffering serious side effects, of Risperdal, but I can't get off. Maybe I am sad, since my family left for thanksgiving. I could not go cause I am barely able to function. Sorta off topic I know.

Jojoba Oil
Jojoba oil

To oil hinges.

Never use jojoba oil to oil a sewing machine. I used to do that and it gummed up the machine. It is fixable if you have done this. Either bring it in to a sewing machine repair shop to be thoroughly cleaned, or take the machine apart and clean it out yourself. We did both. The repair shop barely got any oil out, so my husband sat down with the machine and a lot of q-tips!

BioShield Wood Stains and Finishes

Most of their products have a nice citrus scent. (unless you are allergic to citrus!)

I plant to try some of their clay based paints. They are the color of nature. I like wedgewood green for my computer room. Currently, it is taupe and dark maroon. I hate it.

Dry Iron
This iron has polished aluminum sole plate, and a chrome plated body. But the top of the iron is plastic (boo hoo)

The iron does not have a toxic non-stick finish that most irons have. I love this iron. It does not has a steam feature, so there are no steam holes to get clogged up. The iron seams to get hotter than normal irons, so I don't miss the steam. When I need a little steam, I mist them with a spray bottle.

Small Thermos Food Container
It has a stainless steel interior and exterior

Nice size for 1 meal.

If I am going to be gone for more that a few hours, I use a container similar to this one.
Larger Thermos Food Container
It is also stainless inside and out

January 12, 2018

I have replaced all my fluorescent light bulbs with Cree or Feit Electric LED bulbs because I now have EMF sensitivity. Floresant bulbs cause dirty electricity which will aggravate symptoms. Some brands or LED bulbs elivate dirty electricity.

Pest Control

Leather Fly Swatter
The handle is metal. The swatter part is leather.

We have had this for years. It looks like it will last forever

Yard and Garden Stuff

Charcoal Chimney
all metal except the handle

There is no need for toxic lighter fluid needed. I can't imagine what lighter fluid smoke would do to you to eat along with your food.

Whole Foods Real Hardwood (lump) Charcoal
Made from chunks of wood

Lump charcoal does not come impregnated with lighter fluid or with other chemical additives


EZ Digger
a hand-forged steel, deeply set in a hardwood handle

This is a fairly new store. All the tools are designed for women's smaller hands and body. They asked women to suggest what they would like to see in this store. This is the item that I suggested. It was kinda fun to have a say in what they would offer. I also suggested this next tool:

Hori-Hori Stainless Steel Soil Knife
Made from wood and metal

Hori-hori means 'dig dig'. It has many uses. You can dig, measure, and you can make cuts with the serrated edge

January 6, 2009

Natural Beginnings Seed Starting Mix
Contains: coconut coir, worm guano, perlite, and mealworm guano (bug poop).

Most starting mixes contain synthetic fertilizer and often Styrofoam pellets.

Compost Sifter
Made of metal

Garden Goggles
made from plastic

To keep pollen and garden dirt and mulch out of my eyes.

April 2005

Swheat Scoop Natural Cat litter
wheat

clumping cat litter that is safe for kitty.

for more info:
clumping cat litter a deadly convenience
list of clumping litter alternatives

Dry pet food is so not good for animals. It is as bad as dry breakfast cereal is for humans. But every attempt we have made to wean our cats from dry food, has resulted in one or both cats to stop eating entirely. Then they have to go to the vet to be re-hydrated and force fed. Both have almost died because of this.

Cats will starve themselves if they don't like the smell. If a kitten is started on raw meat to begin with, it won't be a problem getting them to eat it. Cats tend to like what ever they are weaned onto, and hate most everything else. Dogs, tend to eat anything you put in front of them, even if not food (shoes, carpet, their own poop, etc.).

November 2007

In the summer of 2005 we got a Corgi. He loves the ground organ meat sold by burgundy pasture beef.

In the summer of 2007 our 9 year old cat named pumpkin, died of kidney failure. He was very fat. We tried to get him off the horrible cat food (Iams and Fancy Fest) he and the other cat were on, but both would have rather starved than the give up the highly addictive processed pet foods. The dog eats dry dog food in the morning since hubby feeds the dog at that time. He gets the raw organ meat at lunch and dinner. He and my daughter refuse to touch the raw pet food. It "is" on the gross side. I would rather the dog not eat breakfast cereal for dogs but, this is out of my control.


for more info:
do dogs and cats need grains?
the truth about dry pet food
what's really in pet food - An API Report

January 2, 2009

Orijen dry dog food
grain free dry food made from local free range chickens and local vegetables

We had to switch the Corgi onto a better food since the food we had him on (Nutro sensitive Stomach Formula) was making him very ill starting in Feb, 2008. He drank huge amounts of water and was getting us up 2-3 times nightly having to pee.

I thought, he might do better on a grain free formula. While searching for a grain free food, by accident I found out that many dogs were actually dying from the same thing our dog had and Nutro food was to blame. Here's a few links describing the problems others dogs had while eating Nutro food:

Why I don't feed Nutro dog food anymore

String of Illnesses Afflicts Nutro-Fed Pets

Discussion of Nutro / Natural Choice Dog Food Products


After having him on the new grain free food for 3 weeks, he was still needing to pee all the time. I knew I should probably give the new food more time to heal his body, but I was desperate and exhausted, since my husband and I had been getting up multiple times at night with the dog, to let him out. So I gave him a herbal product called

Tinkle Tonic
Ingredients:Couchgrass root, Dandelion root & leaf, Echinacea root & herb, Horsetail herb, Marshmallow root, Certified organic herbs: Vegetable glycerin USP, distilled water

and within 3 days, he started to get up only one time at night, and after a week he did not have to go out at all at night. I gave him the drops for 1 more week, but since it has diuretic properties he started to have to go out again at night, so I discontinued the tinkle tonic.

Septemberr 2017

K9 Natural Lamb Hearts
Ingredients: Lamb Heart

K9 GrassFed Lamb Treats
Ingredients:100% New Zealand Lamb, Lamb Heart, Lamb Kidney,

Ziwipeak canned cat food
Grain free canned cat food made from ranch raised meat and wild caught fish from New Zealand

After reading about all the horrible ingredients that go into pet food, I thought I would give changing cat foods one more try. But this time change the food very slowly. So far so good. We switched her over to Before Grain dry food by 10% a week, and by the 3rd week she was beginning to act like a kitten again. She is 10 years old. She has been completely switched over for about a month now.

At about the half way point of switching her over to the new dry food, she started to stick her nose up at the fancy fest canned food, so I began switching her over to Before Grain canned food at about 25% a week. She did experience a few de-tox symptoms, like vomiting and runny stools, but for the most part, the switch went well.

After I reordered a whole case of Before Grain canned food, she decided she did not like it now. The new food was much dryer and grainier. So I mixed Before Grain canned with Ziwipeak canned food that I was also tryng with her and she loves the combination. Hopefully, I can wean her off the Before Grain canned, since the Before Grain is 100% tuna. Cats are not supposed to eat that much fish. Apparently, fish is missing certain nutrients that cats need.

March 2009

Kitty is now eating Orijen dry and wet cat food like the dog. She likes it better. I think we are over the hump now. I think she has forgot all about the old yucky foods.

Both kitties are no longer with us. Its OK, Our Corgi is a handful, and the cats did not get along with our dog much. Daisy died in 2011. She had liver problems. Pretty sure that the yucky food was to blame.

So, I review the list of ingredients and any other input I can find, like how others react to the product, to know if I should even try the item. If I am unsure about something I ask a chemist that I found on-line that is willing to let me know if a product is toxic or not. Then if all is good, I try the product and often get the product allergy tested by my Nutritional Response Testing doctor. The other issue is: some natural products are toxic and some synthetic products are not toxic. Confused yet?

We are all different in what we can handle, so you may react to a product that I can use. I react to orange oil and citric acid which are in almost all cleaning products. So, I am having a hard time finding replacements for items that have tested as bad for me. If I do find something that has no citrus in it, I get excited only to fine out it does not work well. So now I use on-line reviews to see if the product is effective.

I am trying hard to find better products that I don't react to or am allergic to, but I am slowing down, because I can't get anywhere if I rush this. I get frustrated easily.

Guide to Choosing Less Toxic Personal Care Products - HEAL.

Less Toxic Cleaning Products - HEAL

Resources for the Chemically Injured - Lassen Technology (archived)

Guide to Less Toxic Products - NSAEHA
homemade formulas sprinkled in

Unscented or Mildly Scented Products Generally Tolerated by Most Persons with MCS - CND.

Non-Toxic Alternatives to Common Household Products - CCAT. (archived)

March 2005

Safer Products for Home and Personal Care - HERC (archived)

March 28, 2009

Debra’s list

Non Toxic Catalog Lists

Non Toxic Product Catalogs - MCS Help Site
Cotton clothes, gardening supplies, household items, wood toys, cotton mattresses, kitchen supplies, organic food, etc. - I have not used most of these.

Building Materials - Lassen Technologies

Various Catalogs - Lassen Technologies
Personal care, masks, curtains, bedding, tents, garden supplies, clothing, mattresses, supplements, building supplies, filters, kitchen stuff, etc.

Cotton Clothing Catalogs - Lassen Technologies

Organic Food Catalogs - Lassen Technologies

MCS Resources - Our Little Place
Personal care, building materials, bedding, cleaning, garden products, pest control, cotton clothes, filters, furniture, masks, cloths, mattresses, etc.

no fragrance (poster) - No Fragrance PDF

beware of occupant! - chemically sensitive occupant known to bite stinky people! (signs) - zona's zone

MCS posters - Artists with MCS (archived)


Other Stuff

MCS patches - Crafty Delights

MCS T-shirts - Zona Zone

Nov 2005

Organic Garden Please Do Not Spray (sign) -store.ccof.org

November 2007

Pesticide Free Zone (yard sign) - The National Coalition for Pesticide-Fee Lawns

Pesticide Free Yard (yard sign) - Thurston County Washington Public Health and Social Services

The way I did it, was to boil 2 oz of lightly pan roasted whole barley (not pearled) in 1 quart of water, then simmered for 20-30 minutes. Then I strained and tossed out the barley. I drank 1 cup of barley water about 4X a day.

Un-roasted barley has a laxative effect. If you suffer constipation, do not roast it. The way to pan roast is to put the whole barley in a dry pan. Heat over burner, shaking the pan every now and then to keep from burning, 'til it is aromatic.

I drank it room temp and stored it in a glass container. I gained 12 pound in 3 months. It also improved my mood a bit. I feel the reason it helps you to gain weight is not the calories, but the mineral content of the water helps to heal the intestines and you absorb your nutrients better. I am gluten intolerant but this did not bug me. I think since the actual barley grains were discarded maybe the gluten got discarded too? I am only guessing on this, so if you are gluten intolerant, please ask your natural doctor.

Whole barley is not readily available in health food stores. So, I purchased mine from gold mine natural foods . I chose the buffalo black barley because it is an heirloom variety.

Tongue Diagnosis - eagle herbs
an introduction to how to diagnose health problems by looking at your tongue

Fingernail Diagnosis - Care2
"For signs of health, look no further than your hands"

Eight Health WARNINGS Your Fingernails May Be Sending - health and love page
"...fingernails can serve as an indicator for your current health condition and reveal the presence of some disease."

How Chinese Face Reading Reveals the State of Your Health - underground health reporter
"Experts say that in China, good doctors can identify 70% of a person’s health problems by examining the patient’s face."

January 2, 2009

How to Perform Muscle Testing - Allergy Scape
This site shows you how to muscle test for allergies.

Kinesiology - How it Can Work, How it is Often Misused - MCS Allergy Help
How to test yourself for allergies.

April 8, 2009

Pulse Diagnosis - Institute for Traditional Medicine
"Pulse diagnosis is one of the original set of four diagnostic methods that are described as an essential part of traditional Chinese medical practice"

Urine Diagnosis - W D (archived)
Medical conditions associated with different urine colors


In the United states, Chinese doctors mostly perform acupuncture. This is sad. I don't feel this the best way to help a patient. I tried it. It can be relaxing, reduce pain and allergies, temporarily (for a few hours or sometimes days). Acupuncture seems to block symptoms much like drugs do.

The underlying problem should be found and addressed. Because regular and alternative doctors are unwilling or unable to help us, we are left to try to diagnose ourselves, like with methods in this section. Every once in a while I check my state of health using body diagnosis. I am doing a lot better. Mostly what I have done to accomplish this, is to eat better, and get plenty of sleep.

Water is so necessary for the cells of the body to function properly. If the body does not get enough pure water, the bodily fluids, urine, blood, lymph, etc., become extremely concentrated and toxic. If too much is consumed, the fluids will become too diluted and weakness will result. Water is best taken 30 minutes before meals or 1-2 hours after a meal. Water with meals will upset the digestion. It is also best to drink it room temperature. The body will have to heat up cold water and cool off piping hot teas. This will weaken the body. Water is also necessary for good bowel movements. More information of the healing power of water can be found in this book:    Your Body's Many Cries for Water .

In June 2004, I started to drink Mountain Valley Spring Water in glass bottles, instead of filtered water from BYOB Water Stores . I think Mountain Valley Spring Water tastes great! The first few days, it was like I could not get enough of this water. It was like this was what my body was looking for all along and it was making up for lost time. But I did level off after a while and now drink normal amount. The same thing happened to my husband. He drank a lot of it at first too. But now he thinks the water tastes too minerally for him and went back to the filtered water. I think this is common. Deficient people need minerally water and the more robust folks need the cleansing qualities of filtered water.

I have read to avoid drinking distilled water, because it is toxic to the body. I think this is because it is totally devoid of minerals and leaches them from your body. Not good!

May 2008

Here is an article about the dangers of drinking distilled water:

Early Death Comes from Drinking Distilled Water - Zoltan P. Rona

Personally, I think even filtered water is depleting to the body. Even my husband, who used to like BYOB filtered water, is now drinking tap water. I have been told that filtered water is dead.

Back in 1997 I brought two bottles of water to be muscle tested at my kinesiologist. I did not label (except with a 1 and a 2 so I knew which was which) either bottle so he would not know which was which. I did not look while he tested so I did not know either. The highly filtered BYOB water tested weak for me, and the tap water tested strong. I was not going to drink "Tap" water! So I continued to drink the empty water. I should have listened to my body, and stopped drinking the filtered water. In 1999, I began to drink "Rain fresh" brand water, after I tasted it at my acupuncturist. It is reverse osmosis water with added oxygen, so still an empty dead water. We switched to mountain valley spring water, after we moved and rain fresh was no longer available. The water tastes great! It may take a while for my body to remineralize after 7 years of drinking dead water.

The earth provides water with the minerals a body needs, so I believe that is the best way to drink it. It is too bad that most don't have access to fresh mountain streams. If you can not afford spring water, it might be beneficial to add a touch of sea salt to your water so you can at least be getting some electrolytes when you drink. Add the salt according to taste, your body will tell your when it is the right amount. Salted water has a softer feel in my mouth. I like it a lot better.

Given a choice, my dog prefers rain water, to tap, filtered or even spring water. Animals are usually wiser than we are. My potted plants and veggie garden also prefers rain water. Maybe one day I will take my dog's advice and get some rain barrels.

Country Water Action: Thailand Promoting Rainwater Harvesting, Preserving Rainwater Jar Culture
We have asphalt shingles, so roof collection would not be a great idea.

Recently, I discovered that I was not getting enough water. I thought that I was drinking plenty of water, but the only thing it seemed to accomplish was to make me pee. So I drank less, to see if I felt less tired and weak. I felt terrible. So I tried something else. Instead of drinking a full glass of water at a time when I felt thirsty, I drink 1/2 a glass at a time. Oh my gosh, all the difference in the world. Now, I digest my food way better and I am not running to the bathroom all the time. I think drinking too much at once was upsetting my electrolyte balance. My kidneys were very busy dumping water to make things right again, and I was still dehydrated.

I found that drinking a full glass of water when I first get up (sleep is dehydrating, and so is taking a bath) is very helpful. I read in these articles

summary of the book: Your Body's Many Cries For Water (archived)

Profound Life-Giving Therapeutic Himalayan Crystal Salt - Shirley's wellness cafe

that salt and water are needed to make hydrochloric acid (HCL) for the body to make HCL, which is needed for digestion. I avoid drinking for 15-30 minutes before meals and for at least 1 hour after meals so that HCL is not diluted. After supper, I try not to drink too much water because I found it is hard on my kidneys to drink at night. Each person needs a different amount of water to to feel well, so use your own body as a guide. When the weather is hot, or I am more active, I drink more water than usual. When I garden, I get so tired and sometimes light headed. I find if I drink water while I am outside, I feel a lot better.


Sleep The liver cleans the blood between 1-3 AM each night and the gallbladder is the most active from 11 pm - 1 AM. The blood is cleansed by the liver all the time, but at night it is really focused on this task, by moving a large volumes of blood to the liver. It is best to eat at 6 pm or before, and here is why: After food is ingested, it takes 3 hours (5 hours or more if you eat a large meal or you have slow digestion) for the food to leave the stomach, then 3 more hours to move from the small intestines to the large intestines. Now that puts us at midnight. If we add one more hour for slow digestion and we are now at 1 AM. If food is consumed after 6 PM, the liver thinks: "you want me to digest your food tonight, not clean your blood". Among the many tasks the liver performs, the liver creates digestive enzymes. Plus, when food is eaten, more blood will go to the intestines to help the intestines digest the food. Now, the blood it is supposed to be in the liver isn't it? If the body is busy digesting your food when you should be sleeping, you will not get much sleep. Because the body needs to be sleeping to do its best job of de-toxing, I try to be in bed by 10 PM.

A wealth of information on how the liver functions, the cause of food allergies, and a few other things like that can be found at this site:   www.sensiblehealth.com

I did try the cleanses that are on her site, but they made me loose too much weight, 30 pounds, and I was only 123 lbs to begin with. I spent the next year, trying to put it back on.

The body regenerates at night. It performs tasks such as: repairing damaged cells, growth in children, reorganizing memories, resting the brain and muscles, as well as de-toxing the blood and cells. It is important to sleep during the night not during the day (like if you are a night owl and go to bed at midnight or later) because these functions occur naturally at night.


Updated July 2005

Exercise helps to move the blood, thus bringing more nutrients and oxygen to the cells. It also moves the lymph fluid. The lymph fluids have no pump like the blood does. Exercise also causes deep breathing, allows sounder sleep, builds muscle, improves mood, increases physical stamina, and assists in digestion and elimination functions. The liver and kidneys will filter the blood of more toxins if the blood is moving.

Stagnation of the body fluids is much like a scummy pond that does not flow. The body has 5 organs devoted to ridding itself of toxins: the skin, lungs, liver, kidneys and the bowels. In the Chemically Sensitive, the bowel, the liver and the kidneys do not work so well anymore, so exercising is all the more important. Excessive exercise can be harmful though. It can deplete the body of vitamin A and fats, which are needed for energy and de-toxing. I also believe that most of us with MCS are malnourished, due to much of our nourishment going to de-tox functions. So, we must be very careful not to overdo things. I often overdo and I do pay the price, mostly with exhaustion and depression.

I used to go to the chiropractor at least 1-2 times a week until he ticked me off one last time! (there is a point here, really) He said, "If you would do something about your problem (MCS) then maybe you would improve!". So I did. I stopped going to to see him.

I have tried so many therapies, most of which did not help, or made things worse.

Here's the list

orthopedic doctors (leg braces as a child)
MD's (antibiotics, aspirin)
stomach doctor (stomach meds)
arthritis doctor (he gave me a huge bag of pain pill samples and said find out which one works)
chiropractors (thousands of adjustments, neck traction, orthotics, neck brace, X-rays and more X-rays)
trigger point therapy
psychiatrists (antidepressants - to cover up symptoms, thought field therapy, EMDR)
environmental doctor (P&N testing, homeopathics, vitamins)
chiropractor that dabbled in nutrition (vitamins, acidophilus, flax oil, flax seeds, homeopathics, parasite herbs)
hydrogen peroxide therapy
acupuncture (NAET, pain therapy, NET)
counseling
supplements of my own choosing
iridology (more for diagnosing problems by looking at the eyes)
herbs the iridologist suggested
dentists (got mercury fillings out, cavitation surgery)
color therapy box
massage to relieve pain
TMJ dentist (TMJ splint) - this made my jaws hurt more
ion generator
personal trainer - to help strengthen me after car accidents
liver, colon, and kidney cleansing - Lost 10 lbs with colon cleanse, and 10 more with kidney cleanse. (I did not need to loose weight!)
chi machine
barley water to gain weight - gained 12 pounds in 3 months doing this - barley water recipe
rolfing/cranial sacral - got rid of TMJ pain entirely! I still see him about 1 time a month to keep me out of pain
colonics - this made me severely constipated for at least 6 months and weakened me terribly
whole food diet of pasture raised meet and organic veggies - no processed foods at all.
sunshine
exercise - walk, even if I can only go to end of street and Y-Dan tape
Mountain Valley Spring water in glass
colloidal silver to control systemic overgrown candida - temporary use only
taheebo - to control candida

Added July 1, 2009

IV glutathione - cured me of MCS!

meditation - strangely makes me nervous
yoga - gag me with a spoon! so boring
IV heavy metal chelation - caused constant panic, and agoraphobia
bioidentical hormone replacement therapy - this caused a ridiculous about of bleeding during my period

Added August 1, 2011

A dietitian - which meant more supplements - (The last month I saw the dietician, he sold me a month's supply of supplements that cost $800. His very large, calm boxer helped me more than handfuls of synthetic pills)

Added April 2014

Nutritional Response Testing - current treatment
Emotional Release - current treatment
my Corgi - he is very hyper and demanding, but I love him to death

physical therapy - to help a pinched nerve in my neck


I feel the items in bold, I feel helped me. Every thing else a waste of time and gobs of money.

Y-DAN   is a series of gentle stretching exercises I do in the morning before breakfast. Sleeping is dehydrating, so I drink 1-2 glasses of water (that's how much I loose after visiting the bathroom in the morning) first. A lot goes on while we sleep. The liver cleans the blood all day, but more so at night, so up to 70% of the blood is in the liver between 1-3 am. Doing Y-Dan will help to get the blood circulating again. When I am cold, I move around and I feel warmer. In addition, exercise encourages bowel movements, by exercising the bowels. Since morning is nature's time to eliminate, this is a good time to exercise. Eating breakfast first would just shove more food down there and bowels move better when not compacted.

Sometimes I am kinda pale in the morning, but after I do the tape, I usually get my color back and do not feel so sluggish and stiff. It also seems to help my mood. If I am still pale, I know it is time to get rolfed. If I skip just one day of the Y-Dan, I am so stiff and if I skip two days, then the constant pain that I used to have, returns, and the next time I do Y-Dan it is painful to do.

Actually, now I can skip a few days and the pain does not return. I must be getting better. But I do get constipated and sometimes depressed, when I skip too many days.

I learned Y-Dan very slowly. I had had 4 car accidents in the period of 2 years, so I was in quite a bit of pain. Even just putting my arms above my head was painful. I only added about 2 movements (exercises) a week, and ended up skipping those that were just too painful or exhausting, and stopped when I got too tired to go on.

As time went by, I could do more and more of the movements without so much pain and fatigue. And I eventually added the movements that were just too painful to do before. If putting my arms over my head was painful, I just raised them as high as I could get them. There is this one exercise where I had to touch the floor with my fist, yea right! I just went as far as I could get and one day, low and behold, I did it, I touched the floor. I could not even do that as kid!

I believe Y-Dan is helping to improve my scoliosis. I have no more pain, unless I skip the y-dan for a few days. My shoulders are now even, and my head no longer tilts to one side.

When the weather allows and I feel up to it (emotionally and physically), I take a walk in the sun. Sometimes I just go around the block and other times I end up walking 20 minutes. I find I feel so much better if I have gotten outside that day, even just for a short time.


Sunshine feeds every cell of the body and it is nature's de-toxifier.

The sun helps the body to: regenerate the cells of the eyes, energizing the body, improve the mood, kill cancer cells, make serotonin, melatonin (melatonin is made from serotonin in response to darkness), make vitamin D and makes plants grow. It can help us in much the same way that it helps the plants to grow and the outside air to smell fresh.

We need at least 1 hour of unfiltered sunshine a day to stay healthy. It is very important to avoid sunscreen, sunglasses and prescription glasses while outside, because all these block UV rays. We have been told that UV rays are harmful, but consider the source - the sunscreen and sunglasses companies!

I think 1 hour is probably optimum, but if I get out for only 5 minutes, it is way better than no time at all. I have noticed that walking in the sun is way more effective than just laying out in the sun. Maybe if I just sit in the sun the vitamin "S" (vitamin sunshine) just stagnates on the surface and if I move around, the sun finds its way into the cells. I know it is not just the exercise that makes me feel better, since I do not feel near as good if I walk after dark.

The best time to grab some beneficial UV is between 10am and 2pm (more UV rays then) That might be a great time to grab only 5-10 minutes to avoid that sunburn, and sweating half to death if you live in a place like Texas as I do. To assist the pineal gland to make its hormones, the sunlight must enter the eyes. For the cholesterol in the skin to make vitamin D, the skin must be uncovered. Making enough vitamin D through sun exposure in many parts of the world is not possible, especially if you have dark skin, so best to look for a good dietary source, such as cod liver oil.

May 2008

sometimes I have trouble sleeping. I have found early morning sun, is very effective in helping me to be less depressed during the day and to sleep better at night. I think it is because the sunlight is a different color in the morning. The reason does not really matter. Morning sun also helps that left over morning melatonin, (making me still sleepy), turn into serotonin, so I feel more awake.

updated - April 10, 2009

We have installed, an electronic balist and full spectrum lights in the kitchen. The new lights do not have a flicker and don't hum at all. I appreciate that, but was hoping it would help me with my depression, but it hasn't.


A few good sources of the health benefits of the sun can be found in these 2 books:

Health and Light - John Ott
Light: Medicine of the Future - Jacob Liberman

and the following articles:

Full Spectrum Light: Energy and Health Builder - OAW Health
"Sun phobia arose after investigators anesthetized animals, propped their eyes open and shined intense UV light into them. There was retinal damage. "

Sun - Friend or Foe? - Dr. Craig Reese

"Ultraviolet light needs to pass through our eyes so that the pineal and pituitary glands are stimulated which helps in the production of important hormones like Serotonin and Melatonin. "

April 10, 2009

Healing Cancer With Light - Healing Cancer Naturally
"Light is the basic component from which all life originates, evolves, and is energized. Light and health are inseparable. Because we have managed to disconnect ourselves from the sources of light with our fluorescent lights, indoor lifestyles, glasses, contact lenses, sunglasses, tanning lotions, flesh foods, processed foods and even cooked vegetarian diets, many of us suffer from chronic “mal-illumination.” Like malnutrition, “mal-illumination” deprives us of a level of nutrients and rhythmic stimulation that is essential for living as fully healthy humans."

Healing Power of Sunlight - Shirley's Wellness Cafe
- "The sun is the source of energy for all plants, and indirectly, for all animals. If the sun causes cancer, man wouldn't be here today. Contrary to popular belief, sunbathing actually helps heal cancer of the skin while sunblock increases cancer risk. "

Full Spectrum Sunlight and Inner Health - Second Opinions
"There are neurochemical channels from the retina to the pineal and pituitary glands, the master glands of the whole endocrine system that controls the production and release of hormones. This regulates your body chemistry and its growth, all organs of your body, including your brain, and how they function."

Health Benefits of UltraViolet Light - Jaguar Enterprises
"A study published in the prestigious medical journal Lancet and a Russian study found fluorescent light rather than sunlight promotes melanoma, proportionately to the time of exposure."

Medical Benefits Supporting the practice of Suryayog (archived)
"Sunlight speeds the elimination of toxic chemicals, including metals and pesticides. "

John Ott, light pioneer
"...when a drop of human blood is placed on an ultraviolet transmitting microscope slide and then placed directly in front of a video display terminal for five minutes, it will cause long-chain clumping of the red blood cells... "...

"...we think this problem is due to the magnetic fields magnetizing the iron in the hemoglobin, causing them to have a polarity that makes them line up just like a bunch of little magnets. "However, we find that getting the person outdoors or seating them directly in front of our full-spectrum lighting with ultraviolet reverses the condition. The ultraviolet seems to be an important factor in breaking up this clumping."

Athlete's Foot, Toenail Fungus, and Similar Repugnant Topics - Doctor Yourself
"When we were finished with our swimming lessons, we were a lot dirtier than we ever got at the "Y." We sat on the ground in the sun and quickly put our socks, without time to dry our feet, before catching the bus back to camp. No disinfectant in sight, just the occasional cow cookie.

Immediately that summer, my athlete's foot went away.

Looking back, I think it was the sunlight that did it. Fungi in general and athlete's foot fungi in particular love shade. When we swam outside and dressed outside, the sun got to our toes. Sunlight did what sanitation couldn't. "


Updated March 1, 2005

Food or what pretends to be food such as: processed food, feed-lot meat and dairy and all chemically grown food are the #1 way to illness I believe.

When we got internet access, I hunted for a connection to all my problems. I knew there was a reason and a connection, I just had to find it. I lived on the internet a few years until finally I put it all together, especially after I ran into the The Weston A Price Foundation Site in 2001. This site has so much great info, that I decided to purchase a book written by the founder of the Weston A Price Foundation. Sally Falon's book, Nourishing Traditions , has done a great deal for me to help me in my journey to be well. Part of the book contains recipes for whole non food industry foods, but the first part is devoted to dispelling the myths of the food industry in an entertaining style. Much of this same information is located on the website, but I have trouble sitting at the computer for long periods of time. It makes me sorta dizzy, irritable, and keeps me from sleeping at night.

I discovered that the food industry has been very busy brainwashing us for its own purposes. They have been lying to us since they learned to develop fake foods. They tell us to eat, lots and lots of processed grain, no saturated fats but to use canola oil and margarine instead, etc. Truth being, we should eat the exact opposite: plenty of saturated fats in the form of animal fat such as butter, cream, whole milk, fats and fatty meats from pasture raised animals. Coconut oil, and palm oil being saturated fats are good but the vegetable oils such as corn, sunflower, canola, and soy oils are bad. Olive oil is high in mono unsaturated fats, so I believe it to be a compromise. I can't tolerate it though. They suggest soaking all whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds to remove phytic acid and to avoid white flours, white rice, and soy (high levels of anti nutrients and plant estrogens. Excessive estrogen makes little girls develop at extremely early ages like 8 years old. It sometimes does not let boys mature at all.). Soy is not meant for man or beast.

The Weston A Price Foundation, is non profit so they can be free to be totally honest about dispelling the myths of the toxic food industry. In June 2001 (now age 40), I began to eat eat whole foods in their natural state. I am unable to eat all the things that are mentioned in the Nourishing Traditions book, due to my food allergies. I actually eat closer to a caveman diet. I eat lots of meat, veggies, but no milk, grains, fruit, nuts or seeds. Each person has their own tolerance for things like milk and grains. I think it depends on how worn out your adrenal glands are. Mine is shot. Probably from all that sweet tea and Zoloft. Antidepressants are stimulants. Stimulants are very bad for the adrenals.

Updated June, 2005

Animal fat has the cholesterol (and other types of fats) that your body is craving. Your body is made up of cholesterol and will make it if you do not eat it. It makes it even if you do eat it. This is why if you stop eating fat you crave bread. The body can make cholesterol from carbs and sugars. But carbs tend to hang around as fat.

In the past, it seemed that, sometimes no matter how much I ate I didn't feel satisfied. I rarely have that problem now. I add quite a bit of the fat which rises to the top of my broth, back to my soups. When making my broth, I try to not to let it boil. If it gets too hot the broth will not jelly up after cooling it in the refrigerator. Adding fat makes the soup taste a lot better, and I feel satisfied, not still hungry for something.

I do feel that a big part of my improvement is due to abandoning all processed foods (even processed organic food) and factory farmed meats. Factory farming is not only inhumane to the animals it is inhumane to us. You are what you eat and you are what your animals eat as well. If your animals eat grain laced with antibiotics, hormones, meat from other animals that died of disease, chicken dung, municipal garbage, feathers, cardboard, restaurant grease, expired grocery store food stuffs, and bubble gum including the foil wrappers, then that is all in the meat, and you are eating all that too. Since the animals get very ill on these horrible diets, the meat is far from nutritious. Many of the animals can not even walk because they are so weak!

Actually, factory raised animals are expected to be sick! The humane way of raising animals is to let them eat from pasture that way they were designed to. Ruminants (grass eating animals) get very ill on grain. They can't digest it, and many of the cattle die due to this. The feedlots have to give the animals tons of antibiotics, antacids and other meds to try to keep them alive long enough until slaughter. The meat lady I get my pasture raised meat from, said "if they kept the feedlot animals for about 1 more month, they would all die. They just can't survive on what they are feeding them."

I purchase my pasture raised beef, lamb, chicken and eggs from local ranchers at

Burgundy Pasture Beef  and  PaiDom Meats

Locating non feed-lot meat, and raw dairy is not as hard as it used to be, one only has to visit   Eat Wild   and   Real Milk   to locate a source anywhere in the United States and Canada. We get our organic produce from my local health food store.

The health food store is generally not a safe place to buy personal care and cleaning products. The products may have names like green this or organic that, but if you check the ingredients you will find a whole bunch of no nos from the Toxic Chemical Lists . Many of the health food stores are being bought out by the same folks that own the toxic old grocery stores. This is such bad news. This puts in danger our ability to purchase non toxic food and other products.

I can only give you the tip of the iceberg on all the things that are out there on a good traditional diet. Here are a few links so you can really understand what the processed food industry would rather you did not know!

Weston A Price Foundation

Low cholesterol: overlooked health risks

Introduction to the Palio Diet (caveman diet)

Guts and Grease: The Diet of Native Americans
- Has a picture of a beautiful Navajo Native American

Factory Farm Project


Supplements

Updated November 17, 2016

I have changed my opinion about supplements since I have been seeing my Nutritional Response Testing doctor. He only uses supplements made from food, not the chemicals we all want to avoid. Sometimes he uses homeopathics as well. Food based supplements do not get rejected by the body as a foreign substance.

He tests me with each supplement and also tests them all together to see if they are beneficial as a group. I can't tell you how many parasites, fungi, viruses and toxins he has gotten rid of with these superior supplements. The stuff I wrote before below is still all true. Chemical supplements are not very useful and often are harmful.

I have heard of people turning yellow by taking too much Vitamin A. The lady in charge of Care share and prayer MCS group would get an e-mail from someone, saying they were feeling bad all of a sudden. She would ask them if they had just started taking a new supplement. Most often that was the case. They would stop the supplement and start to feel better.

Most supplements even if made from natural ingredients, contain chemical fillers and preservatives. If you want to know about all the yucky stuff that goes into most of your "natural" supplements read

Dietary Supplements - What the Industry Does Not Want You to Know .

Most supplements are fractioned foods, and 90% of all supplements contain ingredients that make MCS worse. Fractioned foods are those no longer in their whole natural state, for example: egg whites, white flour, white sugar (is separated from the food it came from), brown sugar (it is mostly white sugar), corn syrup, white rice, fruit juice (missing the pulp), powdered milk (missing the fat), low fat and skim milk, and veggie juice. Most supplements except maybe cod liver oil (it's whole), and anything from the food industry in the form of processed food.

Processed food consists of almost anything in a bag, box, jar, bottle or can. Processed food has been so manipulated that it is not really food anymore. The body does not know what to do with fractioned foods, but it does the best it can. If sugar is ingested, the body will need to steal from something else that than was eaten to digest the sugar. If an organic apple is eaten, everything needed to digest the apple is in that apple. Nature really knows best. More on fractioned foods can be found in the book   Nourishing Traditions

I took supplements for two years under the guidance of a natural nutrition doctor, and although they seemed to help at first, in the long run, I felt so much worse. Supplements can create vitamin/mineral imbalances. Personally, I developed allergies to many of them. So, I have turned to food to heal me as I have found herbs to be much too strong for me. Herbs should only be used short term anyway. They can also create imbalances in the body if used too long. I use herbs rarely, but when I do, I will boil them as a tea, so I can control their strength. I believe, herbs in pill form, are more like a processed food.

Man can not even come close to guessing the amounts of vitamins and minerals that the body needs. Why guess, just eat organic, biodynamic, or pastured animals in their natural state and you will do a lot better than mega dosing on vitamins. Some chemically raised oranges have been found to have no vitamin "C". The crops will only contain nutrients that the soil contains and chemicals deplete the soil. So, I am not sure what is worse, what the chemically raised produce has in it, or what it does not, namely nutrients.

Unfortunately, even organic foods can be low in nutrients, if it is not grown in a sustainable way. I read that produce that tastes the best, ends up being the most nutrient dense. So seek out sources of fresh produce, and compare the taste. A man in an article which I read, used a brix meter to test quality, but his grand kid's, taste buds were just as good an indicator. The kids liked the foods best that were highest in brix, not even knowing the brix numbers.

The Pottenger cat study, proved that cat dung from cats that were fed processed foods, produced sickly beans, verses the healthy bean plants from cats fed a optimum diet (for cats) of raw meat and raw dairy. Some compost and manure products at the garden store are pasteurized, thus killing everything bad and all the good guys too. Micro-organisms in the soil make the plants healthy.

Updated July 2005

Metal Fillings In 1998 my doctor suggested that I get my metal fillings out. The ADA likes to call them silver fillings so they won't sound toxic. Metal fillings are about 50% mercury, 30% silver and the rest other metals. I got the first quadrant replaced in November of 1998. The second quadrant was replaced in April 1999. I did not tolerate the removal procedure very well. I got severely depressed each time.

I now believe that the chelating supplements caused this. De-toxing too fast can cause depression, among other things. So, I decided to give mercury removal a rest rest for a while. In March 2004, I had to get a nickel crown replaced due to a cavity under it. I went ahead and got the filling beside it replaced as long as that side of my mouth was numb. I used no supplements that time. Other than a lot of fatigue, I was fine.

In June 2005, I got the last quadrant of mercury fillings replaced. I am so glad that is over with. It caused me to be very fatigued and stiff. To help me recover, I got rolfed a few times. It helped me to loosen me up after all that stress and pain. The numbing medication did not work very well, so the procedure was painful. Since then, I realized that I take a long time to get numb. I think a good part of my exhaustion may have been due to numbing medication, getting stuck in my mouth tissues. The rolfer worked on my mouth to rid my body of all that numbing medicine.

I think that I have pretty much gotten over that experience, but I never noticed any difference in my health.

In 2009 I had 13 IV heavy metal chelations to remove the mercury form my body. I had to stop doing them because they made me so ill. My anxiety and panic attacks got so severe that I ended up in the Mental Hospital for 14 days.

I thought cleaning up my mouth would help, but I think it only made it so much worse. If I had to do that again, I don't really think so!

More on the toxic nature of dental materials can be found at:
The Dangers of Mercury

Also, mercury can cause
suicidal tendencies (archived)

This is a site with story after story of how people gotten very ill from having heavy metal chelation done
DPMS Back Fire


Don't get one filling replaced without reading these links. If you don't have any fillings yet, go ahead and use the ceramic fillings. If you have to have a metal filling replaced, just avoid any kind of chelation especially if you already have MCS. If you try to detox your body too fast, the body can't keep up, and the toxins will just recirculate and make you feel a lot worse A toxic person does not need to be made more toxic.

I did very little research into this metal filling thing before having it done. I doctor said I needed it done plus he wanted me so get the braces on my teeth removed. The only reason I can think of, that I had to go through all that pain, was to save one of you. Let's just put it this way, I did not have MCS before I had my fillings replaced.

Updated May 2008

No processed or canned foods, not even ketchup.
No sugar or caffeine.
No chemically based supplements.
Avoid all foods that that make my candida or hypoglycemia worse or that I am allergic to.
I use lots of homemade beef broth
I drink Mountain Valley Spring water stored in glass.
I eat only whole foods:
pasture raised meat, organic frozen or fresh veggies, garden veggies, and mountain sourced salt from ancient sea beds, not chemically based table salt.

Last meal at 5:30 PM. Eating later, keeps me awake all night.
No computer after supper as this keeps me awake all night.
Bed by 9 PM. The later I go to bed the harder it is to fall asleep
I try to sleep at least 11 hours each night (read 'lights out' book to find out why)
Rest, during the day if I feel tired (I need to work on this one)
Less TV and computer. Both interfere with sleep, and are addictive. (needs work too)

Try to go outside each day. Morning sun is the most healing.
Y-Dan in the morning.
Walks in the sun (5-30 minutes depending how I feel)
I get rolfed when mild exercise is not helping anymore

I avoid taking a bath right after eating, it upsets digestion
I avoid going to bed with wet hair, it blocks energy flow to rest of body
I avoid toxins like the plague
I avoid negative people
I avoid all doctors except my doctor that prescribes the meds that keep me fairly sane (one day I will get off, just don't know how yet), and my Nutritional Response Doctor' the others that I have been to don't help at all or make it worse.
I avoid over the counter medications like pain medication, and cold medications and prescriptions like antibiotics (they kill good bacteria in the gut). I wish I had followed that when I was having severe headaches
I open the window on nice days (and pollen level is low), to clear stale air and so computer EMF's don't bug me so much.

When I fall short of these goals, I try not to beat myself up to much about it. (Well I do beat myself up. One can only dream) Doing some of these things is better than doing none of them.

May, 2005

And I do fall short of my goals often. I do not get outside or exercise every day. This causes me to be depressed, constipated, lack energy, and have insomnia. I sometimes go to bed after 9 PM. Seems the later I go to bed, the harder it is to fall asleep. I end up waking at 3 AM an can't get back to sleep.
I also eat at 7 PM once in a while, then I can't sleep, and also wake up with crud in my eyes. I often get up way too late, probably because I ate and/or went to bed too late. This causes insomnia since I have not been up long enough to be tired. And getting up too late, also seems to make me constipated. I spend way too much time on the computer. Being on the computer seems to cause me to loose track of time, which keeps me from eating on time, and drinking enough water. Using the computer after after dinner, keeps me from sleeping at all.

I go through periods where I practically watch no TV. During these times, I feel so much better. But when I am not feeling well or I am depressed, I watch more TV. I read that depressed people watch more TV. I think it might be because they are not motivated to do much of anything else. Unfortunately, TV makes depression worse. It also seems to cause insomnia and constipation, for me anyway.

Both the TV and the computer mess with the function of the pineal gland, probably produce bad energy fields, keep me from getting anything else done, causes insomnia and lack of exercise. Ever notice how still folks are while they are watching TV or sitting at the computer? I read that you use up less calories watching TV then if you were sitting in the same chair just staring at the wall. I think this is because being mesmerized by the TV, slows your whole system down. Not moving all day will certainly cause constipation, which I believe is a major problem contributing to MCS. It seems like making one little mistake messes up everything else.

As long as we are talking about constipation...


Things I have noticed that help with constipation:

1. Be up in the morning - like before 9 am.
   
   Digestion and elimination are more efficient in the morning and become more and more difficult as the day goes on. Bowel movements occur most naturally in the morning. If you are not up, you may have to wait til the next day.
   
   
   
2. Do not eat after 6 PM.
   
   The body is gearing up for repair and de-tox at night, not digestion. Food eaten at night tends to just sit in your gut, giving you a belly ache, and making you fat! At college, I once had breakfast at 3 AM with friends. It was a big breakfast. I got so nauseous and did not sleep that night. I decided to never do that again!
   
   
   
3. Eat bigger meals earlier in the day. Make supper a light meal.
   
   Your body has a circadian rhythm, and digestion is a early day thing. But on the other hand, if I skip supper entirely to avoid the constipation thing and to sleep better, I get cold, and do not sleep well. I have read that it does take energy to sleep. A lot goes on while you sleep, so you do need fuel.
   
   
   
4. Do not eat more than the stomach can hold.
   
   If you eat too fast as I tend to, you tend to eat too much. It takes the body about 20 minutes to realize that you fed it. If you wait til that amount of time before you go for seconds, you may realize, that you are no longer hungry. If you eat too much, there is just too much food in your stomach to empty into your intestines. If your intestines have all they can hold, the remaining food sits in your stomach and can cause reflux if you bend at the middle or lay down. And you will not sleep. I tend to be less depressed when I eat lighter meals. This leads me to think constipation causes depression.
   
   
   
5. Do not eat large meals too close together.
   
   It takes like about 3 hours to get the food out of the stomach and into the small intestines. If you shove more food down before the stomach is empty, well, you get constipated. This tends to happen to me when I get up too late and try to squeeze 3 meals between 11 AM and 6 PM. I get hungry due to my hypoglycemia and think I will starve if I do not eat 3 times. On those days I try to eat only 2 times.

   It is better to eat the same time each day, but I am not perfect and have to learn to accept that.
   
   
   

6. Stop eating or greatly reduce intake while extremely constipated
   
   If you have a stopped up drain, don't add more stuff. Same principle. Going for a walk helps too.
   
   
   
7. Avoid long periods of total inactivity - like watching TV or computer use
   
   Exercise makes the villi of the intestines move, which move the bowels. If you stay still all day, well so will your waste. But I bet you will still eat, so then you have a situation as bad as eating too much at one time. Compacted food in your gut!
   
   I feel it is better to do normal activities like walking around the house and not exercise per say like going out for a walk, then to sit still all day like at the computer, and think you can erase that by going for a 1 hour walk. Don't ask me how I know that! I have found Y-dan to be effective in promoting a bowel movement.
   
   
   
8. Avoid constipating foods.
   
   These might be different for each person. You should take notice of what make you go and what constipates you. For me, the constipating foods are: nuts, dry beans, green beans, grains, starchy veggies like potatoes, and parsnips, and over cooked food which would include canned veggies (they are cooked to very high temps so they will keep forever).

   Most raw things, although I can't digest them well, tend to make things move faster as well as most veggies and all fruits, especially applesauce, prunes and and figs.

   Flours can act like glue in the intestines. We all learned how to make paste in elementary school. (flour and water) So bread is not a good thing to eat when constipated.

   Bitter or pungent foods are a good thing to try when constipated, like broccoli, cabbage, celery, and bitter herbs like dandelion.

   Personally, I use one of the following to help things move along: beets, carrots, cooked radish, cooked dandelion root, or brocolli.
   
   
   

9. Eat more animal fat
   
   I save the fat that rises to the top of my homemade beef stock and add it back to my soups. I have never enjoyed eating the fat on the edge of a steak, but the rendered fat tastes good to me. I am allergic to butter, and milk, and hardly ever fry food (which would require some sort of fat). So, adding fat to my soup is the only way that I can think of to get fat into me. The soup tastes better too, since I can not thicken it with flour. Fried food can upset my tummy, and cause me to have bloody noses. Frying foods increase their thermal nature to hot and tends to dry me up, this is what causes the bloody nose.

   In order to digest fat, bile is needed. When you eat fat, bile is excreted into the intestines to break it up. Bile is a natural laxative. If you eat no fats, bile does not move. Bile is made from cholesterol. The bile hardens and clogs the bile ducts, forming gallstones, in both the liver and gal bladder. Gallstones are from not eating enough cholesterol, not from eating too much.
   
   
   

10. Get outside in the morning everyday, even to sit and stare
    
    Somehow this greatly increases chance of a BM. Early morning sun is the most effective.
11. After I took to much Tylenol, I could not have a bowel movement for 2 weeks. I am not kidding. This is a evil drug

Being bombarded by chemicals all at once or over a long period or a little at a time can cause MCS. I can't say this is the only cause because I am just a sick person that is trying to make sense of all of this. For all I know, wearing purple underwear is the cause of MCS. In my case, a childhood filled with aspirin for leg pain, and Tylenol for the pain from car accidents and a extremely painful mastoid infection tossed me over the line, and MCS was the result.

Once bombarded by an over abundance of toxic chemicals in our: food, water, over the counter medications, prescriptions, household products, pesticides, shoes, clothing, the workplace and modern life in general we become toxic. Once a body becomes toxic, our bodies have become too weak to detox ourselves and MCS results.

Avoidance of toxic substances will avoid symptoms, but will not cure the liver, unless less toxins are going out faster that they are going in. Getting them out is the hard part.

In my case IV glutathione helped me become well enough to allow me to go into public again. There have been tests that show MCS folks have a lower level of glutathione in the body.

I also believe major changes should include eating more the way our bodies were designed to eat. Eat more saturated fat, less grain, and no processed food at all (which would include all sugar, artificial sugars, table salt, white flours, pasteurized dairy and fruit juice, and almost anything in a bag, box, can, bottle or jar). Saturated fat being bad for you is yet another myth propagated by the vegetable oil industry. They had to convince the public that saturated fat was bad, so we would buy their products. (Source: Nourishing Traditions - Sally Falon)

The Weston A Price has a great list of dos and don'ts here they are:

Dietary Guidelines

Dietary Dangers

The fact is, that health has declined since everyone has cut back on fat in their diets. Americans are fatter and dying from heart disease, strokes, and cancer at higher rates now. We are also suffering from more and more horrible chronic ailments such as Multiple Chemical Intolerance, Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Lupus, Allergies, MS, Diabetes, Alzheimer's, Osteoporosis, Depression, Panic Disorders, Obsessive Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder, Autism, AIDS, bla, bla, bla. Many of which were unheard of before processed foods and fake fats appeared.

Weston A. Price searched the world over for healthy people with straight healthy teeth, and never found them in "civilized" areas. He only found them in remote areas untouched by processed foods and the modern world, and the majority depended mostly on animals for their sustenance. These folks had straight teeth with almost never a cavity, no mental disease, and almost never any physical disease or malformations. Of the indigenous folks that were total vegans (no animal products at all), he found a greater incidence of dental carries and physical deformities. But, he did find healthy vegetarians, that consumed milks, cheeses and eggs. He found that, only a small amount of animal products were necessary to ward off illness, and congenital defects.

More about Weston A Price

I find it truly amassing, that the works of Weston A. Price are largely unknown to a great many of us. But we all know who Louis Pasteur is. He is the nut who invented a away to kill all the beneficial bacteria in milk to make it very unhealthy to drink. He also found out a way to give many children, autism, and mental retardation, by injecting various pathogens into innocent children! Maybe someone should find a way to get Weston A, Price into the school textbooks, and Pasteur out of them!

Saturated fats protect the liver from toxic substances and enhance the immune system. Fats have many more benefits that are explained very well in this article The Skinny on Fats

Listening to the food industry's idea of healthy eating has gotten us all into this mess. The food pyramid was bought and paid for by the grain lobbyists. Eating 11 servings of grain a day, will make you fat enough to sell at market. Anyway, don't get me going.

When I read "Nourishing Traditions", it all made sense to me. The things you hear on TV or read in most magazines about what to eat to be healthy, are designed to make someone a lot of money not make anyone healthy.

I almost forgot, home-made beef broth is a big part of my healing from MCS because, Gelatin rich homemade broth helps the liver to de-tox. I eat so much soup, I think I will turn into soup.


December 2, 2010

When I put this website together, I honestly believed eating a healthy diet, getting plenty of sunshine, exercise, and sleep would cure me. Don't get me wrong, those things are good for me. But those things did not cure me on their own. Now, I think that I was wrong thinking simple things like good food could fix MCS. For me, IV glutathione healed me of MCS. My body needed a little extra help. My body was so jammed up with toxins, that its own ability to detox was not working very well.

But now since my poisoning from Tylenol, I am on the edge of not being able to go anywhere, AGAIN! What I do know is, it a lot easier to get MCS than to get rid of it.

I started this website with the hopes that I could help others get well again, just as soon as I found the cure. I have done a lot of research and I never found a single cause or single cure.

Also, I have not ever found anyone say they have been helped from the Environmental Health Center of Dallas. Many have told me, it did not help much. So, if you are thinking of going there, don't say I did not warn you. Some have even coughed up $100,000. From what I hear their major solution is to practice avoidance. Avoidance is not a cure. The only way that I see how avoidance could be a cure is if you lived in a bubble for many years, and your body detoxed itself on its own. But usually your body in not working well anymore, so your body needs a lot of help.

I hope you get better soon,

Mary