My apartment still troubles me... - Environmental Disorders Message Board

bjlauder · 03-15-2004, 07:04 AM

To summarize, I cannot enter my home without feeling some tightness in my chest followed by abdominal cramping and bloating (this leads to back pain and even some discomfort in my upper thighs!!!). Here are some of the steps I’ve taken. I’m pretty much out of ideas and money:

1. Acupuncture
2. Air Duct Cleaning
3. Allergy Medication
4. Carpet Cleaning
5. EGG (like an EKG for the gut)
6. Eliminated all identifiable perfumes and chemicals (that I could)
7. Exercise
8. Hepa filters
9. Homeopathic Medicine
10. Ozone machines
11. Vitamins (Multi, E, C and Milk Thistle (not technically a vitamin))
12. Walls and ceiling cleaning
13. Other steps (too depressed to think of anymore)

It has been recommended that I have my thyroid and adrenals checked; that I flush my liver; that I get allergy shots; that I seek cognitive therapy (also, my Father thinks that this is happening because I’m depressed – I am, as a result of not feeling good in my own home); and that I start taking yoga classes. I guess I’ll try some of these things…

I’m thinking that I should just start smoking again. I smoked years ago in my teens. I rarely felt ill! Of course, that’s like snapping your fingers to keep the tigers away, right?

I go to my parents house, built just 2 years before my apartment building, and I have no trouble. I DO have trouble at my brother’s new townhouse… built months ago. I’m thinking that it is the VOCs in paint or something. By cross-referencing the occurrence of my symptoms with different locations, I think I can eliminate the typical things that come to mind like toxic mold and new building materials. What I can’t seem to do is eliminate the offending toxin(s). By the way, I’ve performed my own mini-experiments and do not seem to be sensitive to chemicals in general.

Does anybody have any ideas?

Machaon · 03-15-2004, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjlauder

I go to my parents house, built just 2 years before my apartment building, and I have no trouble. I DO have trouble at my brother’s new townhouse… built months ago.

...

Does anybody have any ideas?

With MCS, tiny trace amounts of irritants can cause problems. You've probably heard of the allergy health hazard of a child to peanuts. A child, sitting in the front of a plane, can suffer life threatening reactions to someone eating a peanut in the back of a plane. MCS works the same way.

You live in an apartment building. Can it be possible that someone else who lives in that building sprays a chemical in their apartment, or wears a type of perfume, or smokes a particular brand of cigarettes, that is effecting your health? It may not be a problem with your apartment, but with your neighbors. Do you get the same problems when you go out into the hallway, or is it just within your apartment?

bjlauder · 03-17-2004, 06:58 AM

I don't know if I said it before, but I had the same problem in my previous apartment (I was there for a month). I've been in my current place for 6 months (7 months of agony).

Both places opened to the outside. Smokers were adjacent to both apartments, though I am friends with some smokers and have never had trouble. I go into the unfinished basement of my current place and feel immediately better. The only thing I can come up with, at this point, is the paint, as you suggested in the other post. Four homes, three painted within the last 8 months. Those are the three I have trouble with.

NickName · 03-28-2004, 03:20 PM

I lived in an apartment with mold... keep in mind, all mold can be toxic, not just the black mold. Thanks to the mold, I developed digestive problems (from the mold spores and sinus drainage) and now I have IBS. I would suggest that you MOVE!

bjlauder · 03-31-2004, 06:13 AM

I appreciate the post. We're looking into moving... if we can't, it's five more months!!! Regardless, I'm trying to contact a gentleman who assists with such matters. I have his name and phone, but not his title. My sense is that he is some kind of contractor (not sure). He helped an associate of mine determine that she had a mold issue.

Here are some questions for you... did you suffer abdominal symptoms every time you set foot in your place (and did you feel immediate relief when you left)? Did you lose weight? Did it happen in other locations? Did you have allergy-like symptoms (itchy eyes, runny nose, etc.)?

Thanks.