allergies and sensitivities

June 5, 2003

Dr. Shoemaker has been stressing that mold is a major cause of neurotoxic

illnesses like CFS, but just avoiding mold is not enough, because once you

become toxic from molds, the toxins remain in your body, and continue

causing problems. Avoiding molds will stop further accumulation of toxins,

but you have to remove the mold toxins that are already in your body.

And I think that this may be one reason why people may think they don't have

a problem with mold - because avoiding mold doesn't necessarily make all of

them feel better, because they've already reached their threshold tolerance

for the mold toxins, and further avoidance doesn't necessarily eliminate

them. So they assume that mold isn't the problem. Some people do have an

improvement once they avoid mold, probably because they are not as

genetically susceptible to it, and have bodies that are better able to

eliminate the toxins. But many PWC's are genetically susceptible to mold

toxins, and can't eliminate the toxins through normal detoxification

pathways.

When I went to see Dr. Shoemaker a few weeks ago, he told me that what

happens with many PWC's is that they have a genetic susceptibility to mold

toxins, but as long as they aren't exposed to them, they live a healthy

life. But when they are exposed to them, they begin to accumulate them, and

when their body reaches it's threshold, all it takes is a major compounder

to push them over the brink into neurotoxic illnesses. A nasty infection,

severe stress, or an injury that causes inflammation comes along and the

mold toxins that are already present trigger excess production of

inflammatory cytokines in response to the stressor, which causes a cascade

of things. It lowers MSH levels, which among other things, controls nitric

oxide levels, and the corresponding excess of nitric oxide (per Dr.

Pall's theory) then sets up a cascade of further damage.

I would imagine that mold toxins also deplete people's bodies of

glutithione, per Rich's theory, and when a major compounder comes along, the

depletion of glutithione that is already present leaves them wide open for

further damage, making them vulnerable to the cascade of metabolic and

oxidative damage that Rich stipulates as the underlying cause of CFS.

lindaj@...

ALLERGIES and sensitivities

> ...and MOLDS (so - aircon systems and many modern buildings, this is not

> just the kind of mold that you see in carpets and dark corners - many

molds

> grow beautifully in the ducts used in air-con systems, and since there is

> no real way of killing them, the problem is common. My brain fog is 100%

> related to mold exposure - I repeat ---------- 100% related. If I avoid

> mold and aircon buildings, mybrain fog disappears).

>

June 5, 2003

Excellent advice.

I would like to point out that Dr Jens Ponikau at the Mayo clinic has

identified a systemic response to inhaled fungal toxins and is

reclassifying " allergic fungal rhinosinusitis " as " eosinophilic

fungal rhinosinusitis " .

The effect of fungal toxins is no " mere " allergy.

-

June 5, 2003

n,

I noticed that Molybdenum definitely helps with my brain fog.

Have you ever tried it?

Nil

Re: ALLERGIES and sensitivities

| Dr. Shoemaker has been stressing that mold is a major cause of neurotoxic

| illnesses like CFS, but just avoiding mold is not enough, because once you

January 17, 2007

Does anyone have sensitivities to other meds, besides the asa, tylenol, anti-inflammatories?

If I use nasal sprays I get incredible headaches, (flonase, astelin, nasonex).

When I go to the doc and he sprays that stuff in my nose, I also get incredible headaches. (not my typical pressure headaches).

When I do the salt rinses, I have sneezing attacks, and sometimes my ubula(sp?) gets a little swollen and my throat feels weird.

I want to be like most samterities and take good care of myself, but seem to keep running into road blocks with typical care.

I also react to tramadol at times. One time I can take it and it works beautifully, the next time I take it, it may cause fatigue and make my headaches worse.

I still take it, because I don't want to do more than 1 demeral a day. It's like russian roulette.

Does anyone know if there is an allergy test for drug reactions?

I never had headaches ever, until 10 years ago. Now it's like I'm sensitive to everything.

Tami

January 17, 2007

Hi Tami,

I know your frustration, I have been just as unsuccessful with maintaining my well-being, though not with headaches specifically.

I have had other sensitivities and they are not the same as allergies and can’t be tested for because they come and go or ebb and flow depending on how sick or well I am.

My advice to you is to eradicate what ever it is that is making you so sick (it is probably the mold) then you will have some time to heal. In my case, I spent a great deal of money and effort to make my house non-toxic, hypoallergenic, and even low dust. I did sleep better but my hyper-sensitivities limited where I could go and what I could do with my life. Just recently I discovered that I had acid reflux that was damaging my lungs and sinus. Adding acid preventing medicine to the aspirin has returned me to the health I had ten years ago, not perfect but much more livable.

I firmly believe that Samters is a disease progressed by inflammation and it can be controlled by stemming the causes of and/or reducing the heat of the inflammation.

I do hope you reach your goal before March.

Pam

On 1/17/07 12:29 PM, " Tami Klumpyan " <tami@...> wrote: