Don’t touch that button!

According to an article in the March 26, 2012 issue of “First for Women”, Dr. William Rea (director of the Environmental Health Center-Dallas) is quoted as saying women with multiple chemical sensitivity are at a greater risk of developing electromagnetic field (EMF) sensitivity. Dr. Rea believes that a reaction to chemicals can damage cell membranes, making women more vulnerable to the harmful effects of electrical signals from computers, TVs, Wi-Fi and cell phones.  Just the touch of the computer keypad can or the buttons on a cell phone can send someone into excruciating pain.

Electromagnetic Field Sensitivity (EMF) can present itself as headaches, muscle pain and fatigue. It can also cause a feeling as if one had stuck their finger in an electrical outlet. Some women have complained of feeling pain in their chest and buzzing in their heads. I can remember when my reactions were at their worst, I would get a shock wave sensation in my head. The shock wave would feel like electricity was being fed through my left ear, run right through my brain and exit the right ear. This shock wave sensation would go on for an extended period of time. As my reactions calmed somewhat, those sensations would lessen but return in the testing room if I was testing something especially difficult on me (chemicals, molds, mycotoxins).

I have experienced first hand what other women have gone through. My first true view of life with EMF was in 2002. I had only been in Dallas for a few days when a woman was walking around with a shirt tied around her head. How strange I thought. She didn’t speak much at first but we soon became friends. After talking with her, I soon discovered that she suffered from EMF. She explained it to me and said that she couldn’t have the television on in her condo and she couldn’t stand in front of the stove. Because I was able to do these things, she approached me one day to see if I would be willing to take her food and cook it for her on my stove or in my oven. She has greatly improved over the years and is now tolerating more than when we first met.

My second experience with EMF was with my friend Jennie Sherwin author of “Intentional Healing: One Woman’s Path to Higher Consciousness and Freedom from Environmental and other Chronic Illnesses”. I met Jennie in January of 2003 when I had returned to Dallas for surgery and further testing at the Environmental Health Center-Dallas with Dr. Rea. I remember walking into Jennie’s condos to the very dim glow of low watt bulbs. I remember what she had to do in order to just cook her food or answer the landline phone in her condo. I remember vividly Jennie’s husband taking her to the center and her climbing in the backseat of the car because all the controls on the dashboard would cause pain to course through to her heart. Jennie has experienced an amazing recovery and her book is a true inspiration. I will be posting tomorrow from Jennie’s blog regarding her experience with EMF.

I met two other such women suffering from sensitivities to electromagnetic fields during my visit to Dallas in 2003. One had her young daughter with her. Because I was able to have the television on, the daughter would come to my condo for a short time each evening to watch it with me. My other friend developed it while I was there in 2003. She still has a very difficult time with it today.

You may remember my post on my recent acquisition of an e-book reader. I mentioned that I chose the Wi-Fi version because it could be turned off and I wouldn’t have to sit and have a book in my lap or hand for hours with it drawing the Wi-Fi signal.