i'm brain damaged. i knew it!

from http://www.mcs-america.org/index_files/MCS.htm


"....peroxynitrite breaks down the blood brain barrier and excess levels allow greater access to the brain (Pall, ND). This greatly increases the effects of chemicals on the brain. Essentially a non-MCS person has a barrier that protects the brain from damage from low-level chemical exposure, however a person who suffers from MCS has little or no barrier making the brain subject to increased damage and reactivity with minute exposures most people do not react to. The key effect of nitric oxide (NO) is that it inhibits cytochrome P-450 activity and slows degradation of hydrophobic organic chemicals (Pall, ND). This means that excess nitric oxide slows down the body’s natural detoxification processes leaving MCS patients subject to the effects of chemical exposure longer than non-sufferers. Between a reduced blood-brain barrier and increased time to naturally detoxify the body, MCS patients are subject to permanent and long-term brain and nervous system damage which includes toxic encephalopathy."


MCS = Multiple Chemical Sensitivity


short version: people with MCS have a glitch that allows more chemicals to leach from the blood to the brain. something just a pinch toxic that doesn't bother normal people at all makes us very ill. (headaches, muscle aches, extreme fatigue, dizziness, asthma attacks, "brain fog" or confusion, hives, blurred vision, etc. )


another interesting note: when an allergic over-reaction like this takes place, your body is flooded with adrenaline and cortisol, which creates the "fight or flight" full body panic reaction. it is unbelievably alarming.


this is why three minutes of exposure to perfume, cologne or other airborne chemicals can sometimes make me sick for five hours or more.


this is why i go out in public less and less.