<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Gayle asked me to pass these on to the whole list. It really shows how sensitive to chemicals we can be, and around certain solvents I am just as sensitive. >Dwight, Your letter about being sensitive to solvents and various fumes >stuck a raw chord with me. When I was teaching junior high school English >there were some busy-work projects that required the use of marking pens >and I began noticing that I just wasn't tracking after those pens had been >in use in the class room. Furthermore, I realized that the kids were >reacting with bizarre behavior. So I spent my own money and bought >water-color marking pens that did not out-gas. The problem was completely >solved. > >If only that were the end of it. If I took the school newspaper to the >printer, I was almost ill and definitely befuddled after just a minute or >two at the printers. I solved that by sending someone else to do the job. > >As a housewife, I have similar troubles with some cleaning and waxing >products and have quit using those unless I can hire someone else to come >in and work while I am out of the house and the windows can be left open to >completely clear the air. Gassing up the car is also a problem, and I make >every effort to place the car in a row where I can stand up-wind of the >open tank. > >The problem is more complex. I always traveled the same route to work or >to go into downtown Minneapolis, and many days I would become tearful and >extremely depressed as I drove. Finally I began to analyze what was >happening, as I left the house feeling cheerful and happy just minutes >before. It became obvious in this case that it was at the same red light >where the depression and tears would begin. A Freudian analist would say >that something had happened at that corner, but as the same thing did >happen on other roads at odd times, I just began to keep mental records. >Finally I realized that if I sat in a closed car at a red light behind a >General Motors car - especially a Chevrolet - the utter despair and >depression would be sure to follow in short order. Stopping my car farther >back, opening the windows (in a Minnesota winter(!) and forcing myself to >breathe as little as possible until the car was in motion and clear air was >flowing in the windows turned out to be the answer. Now that we have moved >to Ithaca, NY and are living beside a lake where there is no traffic and >therefore no fumes, I find my health much improved. > >Altho my husband has none of these symptoms, he has now learned to >recognize the smell that will affect me, and will automatically run the >windows down if we get stuck in a line of traffic behind an offending car. > >I don't know if this is of any help to you, Dwight, but it is my >experience. I do find that if I have been completely free of any form of >sugar, no soy, no MSG, and no milk products, as well as no wheat, rye, >barley and the whole extensive list of celiac no-nos, I am better able to >hold out for a minute or so, but the fumes in all cases affect my thinking >ability, my mood, and my general sense of well being. > >How could I forget to mention out-gassing from carpet and fabric...I had to >move out of our house in Minnesota while a new kitchen carpet was aired out >for a month, and now I'm having a similar problem with the carpet in my >husband's den where this computer resides. My eyes get watery, my nose >stuffs up, and my head gets fuzzy. The same is true with stay-press >clothes, sheets, those awful synthetic blankets, etc. It's a problem when >we travel. I carry sheets and blankets and our own pillows for motels. > > Dwight, P.S. Reading some of your other responses makes me realize that I >never mentioned perfumes - nor men's colognes. I once bought a new, >wonderful fragrance and went on a trip, where we were wining and dining and >I was dressed up and using the cologne liberally. By the end of four days >I had such a dreadful "cold" I was unable to speak. It took a month >without using the cologne to get well - but this was years ago and I did >not make the connection until I started to use the fragrance again. Oops - >Familiar symptoms. I will walk all around the outside of a store to avoid >the perfume counters, and where they are handing out little cards that are >imbued with fragrance - of when magazines arrive with fragrant pages, I'm >miserable. After rehearsing for a concert for a whole summer I went to >the dress rehearsal in a room that had just been painted with oil based >paint ---- and missed the concert completely. Not funny. This all seems a >foolish exaggeration to those who have not experienced the symptoms. I >have never really thought about celiac and this out-gas problem as being >related, because now that I am truly gluten-free I still have trouble with >fumes, but I suppose they all fall into the category of sensitivities. > >I'm beginning to regret not sending these three messages to the whole group >- would you be so kind as to forward them? Thanks. Gayle K