What Are the Symptoms?
The symptoms of MCS are many and varied. They are the result of the body's inabilty to break down substances completely.
Our wonderfully made bodies always opt for the most efficient and complete breakdown of chemicals by means of a detoxification pathway. When all goes well, the substance is broken down with nothing left over. When something needed along the pathway is missing, the body has "leftovers" to deal with after the incomplete breakdown. These leftovers cause the symptoms we feel.
Included are headaches, head stuffiness, watery eyes, sneezing, wheezing, skin sensations, rashes, nausea, dizziness and vertigo, balance problems, mental confusion, incoherence, muscle weakness, seizures and more. The wide array of symptoms no doubt contributes to the tendency of many doctors to suspect a psychological cause. However, when one considers the wide array of chemicals to which we are exposed daily and the different chemical makeup of each individual, it makes sense that the resulting symptoms would be just as varied.
Even within the individual, detoxification pathways become altered again and again with repeated and prolonged exposure to toxins, causing symptoms to vary, not only from person to person, but even for individual sufferers. One symptom or group of symptoms may leave mysteriously and be replaced by new symptoms, which often causes the sufferer to mistakenly assume that one illness has disappeared and a new one has taken its place.
With all this to consider, it may seem nearly impossible to determine that one has MCS. However, there are striking similarities and patterns present in chemically-sensitive individuals, so that sufferers always seem to relate to one another when swapping notes.
Symptoms of MCS can be a useful measuring stick in determining the extent of damage, and can thus be an indicator of the likelihood of reversing the damage. For example, head stuffiness and watery eyes are often experienced by individuals in the earliest stages of chemical sensitivity. These symptoms are often dismissed lightly or treated medically with no lifestyle changes. Too bad, for at this point much could be done to avoid the more severe problems that usually follow.
The bottom line is that symptoms, any symptoms, are a wake-up call that changes are called for. Listen to your body. Don't ignore the wake-up calls.
© Dorothy Herrmann 2004
