MCS since 1996
 

I am what they refer to as "A Canary" , like the olden days when Miners would send down a Canary into the mines to check for gas and other hazards, if the Canary passed out or worse died, the miners knew not to go into the mine that day as it had too much gas.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities is also known as the Invisible Illness, for years, Doctors, Scientist and other's thought it was a mental problem, aka all in their heads, but soon as more and more people's immune systems were compromised by being sealed up in Houses and office buildings outgassing deadly chemicals like Formaldehye, and other manufacturing chemicals, the Medical Community as well as OSHA and Government agencies in the US took notice.

I can honestly tell you this is not in a persons head, it is a real and complex problem and many people suffer in silence with it.

I discovered my MCS after a year of trial and error, removing things from my life and adding things back in, one at a time. Intense itching, blistering skin and rash gave way to swollen lips, difficulty breathing and random nausea. 2 years of complaining to my Dr with no answers. Some chemicals are in our foods, but most are in bedding, clothing, cleaning products. For me, most of the chems I'm allergic to are ones I used in my job in the 80's!

Adhesives/tapes
Vinyl
Latex
Bestine
Acetone
Poly-anything (polysorb, polyurathane, polymer, polyester, fiberglas)
anti-microbials
Nickel
Cheap metals

The list keeps growing... :(

Check you foods' ingredient list for Lethectin (or soy lethectin). It's used to make things 'creamy' or to prevent separating. It's derived from soy by bathing soy in acetone. The acetone isn't completely removed and for me, causes red bumps on my skin in random places. There is no regulation on how these sub-ingredients are created - no safety.

Good luck all!
Anne