Pesticide Question
Hi,
Once you discovered the pesticides in your daughter's bedroom furniture, how did you know that it was the culprit? Did your daughter have special tests which confirmed it's what made her ill? What was the bridge or link? I suppose that someone else could be exposed to the pesticide and not have a problem with it.
Hi ,
Bear in mind that my daughter had lived with the pesticides in her bedroom for many years. At first her immune system could probably deal with the toxic load, but over time, her immune system and detoxification pathways took a real beating.
When we found and confirmed the presence of these toxins by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS), we removed the furniture and carpet from her room and immediately took a 24 hour urine to look for the metabolites, as prescribed by the medical profession. The result was negative. Doctor's conclusion; she isn't suffering from pesticide poisoning. But I could measure the pesticide in her room and if it was in the air and dust, it was in her body. My conclusion; she was no longer detoxifying and excreting the pesticide.
We took the contaminated furniture and stored it in the garage until it could be disposed of safely. Within a month or removing the furniture, my daughter's symptoms had diminished by 80%-90%. Entering the garage however, even for as little as 20 seconds resulted in her getting a massive headache and feeling terribly anxious and depressed for 2 days!! The first couple of time this happened she was completely unaware of the connection so it wasn't psychosomatic.
For months afterwards, she felt fine, unless she entered a shopping mall, funiture or fabric shop, which would again trigger headache and mood changes. Over time this sensitivity has also diminished.
Interestingly enough, if I would enter the garage, I would get a huge headache lasting 2 days. My wife could enter the garage and have no symptoms, but would develop hives on her arms after handling the contaminated carpet.
My conclusion from all of this is that in cases of chronic illness like yeast infection, where the immune system is impaired, one of the first diagnostic tests should be to screen the patient's environment for the presence of toxins. Given the quantities these toxic chemicals were used in (millions of tons) and the number of products that contained themc(tens of thoousands), the chances are quite high that low levels of these substances in indoor air are still causing millions of cases of chronic illness.
This makes alot of sense.Remember the cases of office building sickness where people were getting sick from the new offices that were shut up tight? IT makes you wonder if there is any safe furniture.
Hi,
Thanks for your answer to my question.
You wrote:
>>At first her immune system could probably deal with the toxic load, but over time, her immune system and detoxification pathways took a real beating.
Yes, I imagine eventually after being on "high alert" for so long, the immune system and detox pathways started to wear down.
>>When we found and confirmed the presence of these toxins by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS),
Is this something the lay person could do or does it require special training and equipment.
>>we removed the furniture and carpet from her room and immediately took a 24 hour urine to look for the metabolites, as prescribed by the medical profession.
Did the doctor ever become convinced and agree to treat her for the pesticide poisoning? Or was he resistant? What was the treatment other than removing the furniture and carpeting?
>> Within a month or removing the furniture, my daughter's symptoms had diminished by 80%-90%.
I believe this is true. It's interestint that even though she was better, she reacted severly when exposed even briefly.
>>For months afterwards, she felt fine, unless she entered a shopping mall, funiture or fabric shop, which would again trigger headache and mood changes. Over time this sensitivity has also diminished.
Was this the result of the yeast overgrowth or the pesticide poisoning. I suppose if the immune system wasn't damaged, the yeast would not have overgrown. By removing the pesticides, it lifted a burden her body was having to deal with, but the yeast was still a burden.
I still get terrible reactions to fabric shops, clothing stores (formeldahyde) any lawn and garden stores. I used to take drops to desensitize me to the formalin, ethanol and phenol. The antigens helped in the short term, but not in the long term. I stopped taking them and concentrated on trying to support my immune system.>>Interestingly enough, if I would enter the garage, I would get a huge headache lasting 2 days. My wife could enter the garage and have no symptoms, but would develop hives on her arms after handling the contaminated carpet.
So, both you and your wife had trouble with the pesticides, too. I have the same experiences with exposure to various things and think some aspects of my immune system and probably many detox pathways are damaged or hindered. I am now allergic to all pain med classes. I break out in hives, get itchy skin, jumpy legs, and other symptoms which are more likely side effects.
I was exposed to phenols in a work environment. When tested through intradermal, RAST and sublingual challenge tests, it was positive. Even though I'm no longer exposed to phenols, I still have trouble with that and other chemicals.
Hey,
Do you believe it is possible to seal the furniture so the pesticides don't become airborne? I wonder if there is a method or process to use on items that are built into the room and cannot be removed. Do you know of any products that could accomplish this?
In theory, if the furniture is contaminated with a lipophilic compound (fat loving) then sealing the furniture with a water-based varnish should seal in the toxin.
A Gas Chromatogram-Mass Spectrometer is a piece of lab equipment costing 80,000- 100,000, so not something for the layman.
Thanks. I looked up GC-MS and can understand why. It's a blessing that you can run those tests for your family and friends to get to the root cause of their illness.
