Like we didn’t already know that, right? When my CFS flares really bad, I can’t even stand to walk outside of my house. The smells of the surrounding farms, the air, trees, grass just send me right back to bed.
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is a loss of tolerance to various environmental chemicals.
In this research, patients were seen by the Toxicology and Chronic Fatigue Units who presented symptoms of MCS were included. All 52 patients completed a Quick Environmental Exposure and Sensitivity Inventory (QEESI) questionnaire.
The average age of the participants was 47 and 88% of the study group were women.
Here is how the study panned out:
“The origin of the syndrome was related to occupational exposure to various chemical agents in 31 cases (59.6%), including occupational accidents in 14 patients (fumigation of the workplace with insecticides).
In 20 patients (38.5%), the syndrome could not be associated with any toxic exposure and was considered a manifestation of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
The QEESI showed mean scores of 72.9 (18.6) on the chemical inhalant intolerance scale, 45.5 (20.6) on the other intolerances scale, 69.8 (20.6) on the symptom severity scale, 4.4 (1.8) on the masking index and 66.6 (21.7) on the life impact scale.”
All of the patients were followed for 12 months and they all remained stable.
Conclusion: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity mostly affects middle-aged women. It is frequently triggered by exposure to chemical agents, especially insecticides. An association with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is common. The prognosis is good but the patients’ quality of life is seriously affected.
Well, it is not like I am shocked !
Interestingly enough, many people with MCS have Porphyria too, though most do not even know it because doctors do not test for it and most are not educated about Porphyria.
More interesting, I recently had to have a Cat Scan of my Pancreas because I have Chronic Pancreatitis since I got MCS and doctors were pretty shocked to learn that when viewing my Cat Scan that I have what is called “Infantile Liver” which means that my liver is the size of an 8 pound new born baby liver. Did it never grow? Did it shrink ? Nobody has those answers but it does answer a lot of my questions to my inability to filter toxins question.
Mast Cell disorder — Another beast that I have associated with “back up” of toxins to the point that I have hives most all the time and suffer from Anaphylaxis now.
It never ends !
Kathy Houghton — Alaska MCS Assoc.
Hi Kathy, Would you like to exchange blog links?
Thanks for this, yes I have noticed that the 2 conditions co-exist for many people. Do you have a link to the research paper? I’d love to read more about their findings.