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Fibromyalgia / CFS Community
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Cars, chemical sensitivity & how to solve this
by Curls, Nov 01, 2007 08:09AM
I'm having a hard time finding a car because of reactions to the chemicals. Any ideas?
Problem one is I need a super low seat such as in a sports car to keep the neurally mediated hypotension (low blood pressure) from triggering. That limits the models I can consider.
Problem two is that I'm reacting to both the new car chemicals even in 12 year old cars and also to anything a used cars been cleaned with or perfumed with. Symptoms are inflammation style such as joint pain, muscle stiffness & pain & weakness, internal pain in area I had surgery last year. Plus nausea, headache, eyes tearing, shaky, and emotional change of becoming totally hyper (in Cadillacs), iching (saturn s-series). Symptoms vary a bit from car to car with a tendency to a "pattern" for each model. I know it's in part the new car chemicals because I've found private own cars that have never been back to a dealer for sale and still reacted.
Problem three is that I'm CFS noise sensitive so some model's low growling exhaust is too much for me.
I'm not generally that sensitive at home. I survived new carpet in the house. I use some household cleaners no problem. I react to a lot of meds and some foods and I can't burn some scented candles, and I can shop but couldn't work in a store with lots of new plastics like the dollar store.
I've tried air purifiers, expensive VOC ones, and some help a little but not enough. Actually blueair's .1 hepa smoke stop seems to do better than the pricy ones. Some dealerships have tried steam cleaning and it helps on perfumes somewhat. Cars with sunroofs that the owner says they "loved" seem to do better so it seems like airing out helps. I've been looking into aftermarket seats, but it's a whole adventure. The disablity car places I've contacted don't deal with this and just help with routine stuff like installing lifts in vans. I've tried finding sources, chat rooms, of MCS online with their experiences and haven't found ones. I saw an environmental doctor but his suggestion was to fix me with his new experiemental idea, and that he personally cleaned his car some 6 or 7 times with ozone and cleaners before it was okay. I'm unsure of trying ionizers because I'm definitely reactive to the ozone and I don't know if it ever fully leaves the car afterward?
I'm driving a 200K 1992 saturn s-series with low seat and it's chemically fine, but it's not much in the car department and not very safe. I was driving a 1989 sports car until it died a year ago and it was fine too. Curiously my mom's Cirrus seems to be chemically fine, but the seat's too high. RSXs are also chemically not bad but the seat's too high.
I'm truly baffled on what to do and it's taken over my life. I know far too many car sales people at this point in time. I've logged enough hours that I could start calling this a job. Any pointers would be appreciated!!
Problem one is I need a super low seat such as in a sports car to keep the neurally mediated hypotension (low blood pressure) from triggering. That limits the models I can consider.
Problem two is that I'm reacting to both the new car chemicals even in 12 year old cars and also to anything a used cars been cleaned with or perfumed with. Symptoms are inflammation style such as joint pain, muscle stiffness & pain & weakness, internal pain in area I had surgery last year. Plus nausea, headache, eyes tearing, shaky, and emotional change of becoming totally hyper (in Cadillacs), iching (saturn s-series). Symptoms vary a bit from car to car with a tendency to a "pattern" for each model. I know it's in part the new car chemicals because I've found private own cars that have never been back to a dealer for sale and still reacted.
Problem three is that I'm CFS noise sensitive so some model's low growling exhaust is too much for me.
I'm not generally that sensitive at home. I survived new carpet in the house. I use some household cleaners no problem. I react to a lot of meds and some foods and I can't burn some scented candles, and I can shop but couldn't work in a store with lots of new plastics like the dollar store.
I've tried air purifiers, expensive VOC ones, and some help a little but not enough. Actually blueair's .1 hepa smoke stop seems to do better than the pricy ones. Some dealerships have tried steam cleaning and it helps on perfumes somewhat. Cars with sunroofs that the owner says they "loved" seem to do better so it seems like airing out helps. I've been looking into aftermarket seats, but it's a whole adventure. The disablity car places I've contacted don't deal with this and just help with routine stuff like installing lifts in vans. I've tried finding sources, chat rooms, of MCS online with their experiences and haven't found ones. I saw an environmental doctor but his suggestion was to fix me with his new experiemental idea, and that he personally cleaned his car some 6 or 7 times with ozone and cleaners before it was okay. I'm unsure of trying ionizers because I'm definitely reactive to the ozone and I don't know if it ever fully leaves the car afterward?
I'm driving a 200K 1992 saturn s-series with low seat and it's chemically fine, but it's not much in the car department and not very safe. I was driving a 1989 sports car until it died a year ago and it was fine too. Curiously my mom's Cirrus seems to be chemically fine, but the seat's too high. RSXs are also chemically not bad but the seat's too high.
I'm truly baffled on what to do and it's taken over my life. I know far too many car sales people at this point in time. I've logged enough hours that I could start calling this a job. Any pointers would be appreciated!!
I have a chemical sensitivity to isopropyl ether and 3-Methyl Pentane, both of these chemicals are in gasoline. The lab that tested me (ELISA/ACT), recommended that I avoid car exhaust for 6 months. I did and now I'm better... but I'm also on the MP and believe that protocol deserves some of the credit. There is one member on the MP who has MCS and she recently took a break from the protocol and was able to go hiking in Colorado and she's been feeling great.
It doesn't seem like anyone else on this site is having chemical sensitivity issues. And for the MCS people it's mostly from gas fumes, not from 12 year old cars themselves.
Hi Curls,
Excuse the error... I had terrible brain fog yesterday when I wrote that and misunderstood your post.
I'm sorry to hear about ELISA/ACT. I checked out their website and it says that they closed last year in October ! I had done testing with them several years ago. I knew I had problems with gasoline and they caught that. They also found some food allergies and I learned that they were correct on those as well.
I'm sorry to hear Elisa/act closed too. I knew they results didn't fit well for enough people to "prove" it in a classic sense, but I knew it had fit for some people and been of great benefit. They must have been onto something but not tweeked it quite right or narrowed down enough to the right subgroup. My the time I considered it, it would have been out of pocket and was already being told if 'didn't work' so I opted against. I'd already done some elimination of my own...
There are so many treatment ideas with this illness that I think are on the right track, but don't find the right subgroup to adequately prove them. Hopkins' drugs for NMH were miraculous in maybe 15-20% (maybe less) of people who tried them. But the whole lab was closed once the testing showed non-significant results overall. i.e. the other 80% messed it up for figuring it out better for the 20% they would have helped. It's so frustrating. And my doctor's (two cfs experts) had a large gut sense that they wouldn't work for me and not to bother, so the subgroup can be identified! (I had tried licorish root and salt tables to no avail which reinforced it.)
I started to look at your website last night (found the link while going through my email from while away) and it looks great, very active too. I had to go to bed, so didn't get a chance to see much at all. I'll be back!
Thanks Curls. I actually just started the website and I'm doing my best to post the latest research on there and especially the latest treatments and a physicians list. The best weapon to fight CFS and fibro is to stay on top of it. I'm always printing out new information and giving it to my physician and he appreciates it.
Curiously I don't get an increase in any of my cfs symptoms. It's a reaction to chemicals, similar to MCS, and not reactions that I've gotten in any large amount before. I can remember back and I always disliked my dad's car, and didn't feel well in it, so apparently I had the problem, before I knew it. (Still had my old car then.)
The prime defense and probiotics helping with sensitivity is interesting. I haven't heard of anything actually reducing sensitivity before, which I would love to do. Can you describe more about that. What sensitivities and went down my how much? I still need to figure out the car problem though before I get me fixed.
(I'm not young, and have had this for 10 years. I do the balance part very well.) I didn't see any difference with b-complex vitamins