This is a Strange Question

[Barb249]

I’m sure this question will appear to be a strange one but here goes.  Has anyone bought a new bed within the last few years?  I’m asking because I have been reading about the chemicals that they government has deemed necessary to put in the beds.  No where on the mattress will you find a breakdown of the chemicals.  I have a good friend that I have not seen in a couple of years.  Her husband is a Chemical Engineer.  They are aware that I have been having problems and the other day I ran into them, of course the usual hugs when you see someone that you know.  After I left my friend called me to tell me that her husband told her that I had a strong pesticide chemical smell coming out of my skin.  They ask me if I had been doing a lot of gardening lately, which I never do.  They went on to ask if I had purchased a new mattress in the last few years. I had about 8 months ago.  He went on to explain to me that his Aunt use to do a lot of gardening and used a lot of pesticides while doing the gardening.  She had been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and he claims that she had the same type of smell; He said it was kind of like an almond smell.  I know this sounds strange but I pulled up articles about beds, it’s called poison beds if anyone is interested.  I was quite disturbed as to what I learned.  Can anyone give me some feed back on this issue?

[Barb249]

Thank you, I ran across this by accident.  I really have no idea how I put this together. We bought our mattress about a year ago but two years prior I started purchasing the ribbed yellow pads to put under your mattress pad which I also found out is full of chemicals.  This is when all my problems began.  After stumbling across these articles I phoned my doctor and ask for a test to be run to determine the chemical content in my body or pesticide poison level.  She acted like I was crazy.   I was diagnosed with Sjogren’s and just blew it off to not wanting to be sick.  The other day I saw a friend that I had not seen in a few years, he is a chemical engineer.  The usual hugs were exchanged and when I left he immediately called his wife and told her that I had a strong chemical smell coming from my body.  He had an Aunt that loved to garden and she to developed pesticide poison and was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis.  I had never told either of them about my thoughts; all that they knew was that I had been very sick for a long time.  I explained my theory and they gave me a name of a doctor to run a blood test to check the chemical levels in my body.  I have full intentions of having this test run and they do carry detox products for this at the health food store.  I do hope this has helped, I know since I took off the pad I have felt a lot better.  Now I’m thinking about a few nights on the couch.  

[singerpoet]

Thank you so much for bringing this up.Even though I had tried almost every pillow out there I never thought of the mattress causing problems.  I know that until I found the right pillow I felt like bugs were crawling under my skin, along with all the other stuff, when my head was on my pillow.  I had thought it was just due to lack of sleep with the Fibro and though my body  woulnd not tolerate even removing the plastic from something I purchased, it never occured to me that bed materials could pose a hazard.  Not being able to go anywhere or do anything because of chemical intolerance on top of everything else has almost pushed me over the edge.  Thank you for pointing out something else I may be able to do to control this.

[VaBreeze]

That is wonderful to hear.  Good for you and i'm so happy it helped you.  Since you do have problems with MCS, also check out your pillow for the contents.  I discovered that they sell pillow encasements that are allergen free.  I have covered my mattress in a plastic encasement (they are very inexpensive) and that has helped with the dust mites too.

Thanks again Barb for bringing this issue to light.  Great job.

[dai3symae]

I read your strange question the other day and it started me thinking.....I bought a new bed last year.  So I started reading.  First on the internet and then on those "do not remove under penalty of law" tags.  I was shocked when I discovered that I had been sleeping on a mattress pad made of polyuerthane!!!  

Did I mention I have MCS?

In the last year I have had three anaphylactic shock episodes at night, developed hashimoto's thyroiditis, tinnitus and insomnia, and increased food allergies.  I have been getting up to go the the bathroom 3/4 times every night and am extremely thirsty all night every night.  I started having severe migraine headaches (worse than I've had in many years).  In October I stopped working because of the MCS (after being able to deal with it for years).

I threw the poisonous mattress cover away! On Sunday, I put a wool blanket between the mattress and my new cotton/poly mattress pad and used two bottom sheets. The last 3 nights I have slept most of the night and haven't gotten up at all. I feel better and certainly less exhausted.

I hope I have been able to convey how much your strange question has helped me and how grateful I am for it.

Sandy

[PlateletGal]

I also don't understand. In Europe, some of these toxins are banned and here in the USA... we are using products with these chemicals in them every single day. And get this.... look at your bottle of laundry detergent. Chances are, the ingredients are NOT listed. I had to call Arm & Hammer (I use their detergent) to find out if they had any of those chemicals in them. It took awhile before I got my answer, but I was happy to hear that I was still able to use their laundry detergent.

[VaBreeze]

That isn't a strange question at all.  It's a valid concern.  I have my mattresses encased, along with my pillows.  

PlateletGal - I had read the article about air freshners and I couldn't believe it.  Here we are using products that we assume are safe only to discover they are not.  I don't understand how the FDA determines that certain 'levels' are safe.  To someone suffering from MCS, these can have awful ramifications.  Why aren't we protected better?  

[PlateletGal]

I like strange questions !   ; ^ )   I don't have any answers for you, but I do know that I am also very concerned about some of these chemicals they are adding to our clothing, bedding and every day products.

How about this article, folks ?

Toxic & hazardous chemicals found in top selling scented laundry products and air fresheners

http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm?id=3026&T=HEALTH&B1=EM082008F