Wesley has been consistently doing better since our last post, which was a blessing. He really turned around in a time you don’t normally see- in the midst of a storm. The good news is that while toxins likely played a role, the self-inflicted stress over work was the bigger factor.
I was definitely slammed by mystery toxin (MT) the same time Wesley was with receiving gifts in bad boxes/contaminated gifts and a really rough NM “storm.” I say it that way bc the wind blows and then it gets cold with occasional precipitation. I went to Alamogordo about a week and a half ago and it was so bad here that I could feel it right away turning off the road onto the road going back to the pasture. Immediately my multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) came roaring back, which is a really big problem when all the sudden your diesel heater becomes the trigger for heart palpitations. Immediately after the storm passed, I was a step from where I was pre-storm/receiving gifts. Another thing I get with MT exposure is cold sores. Fast forward to Sunday. We ran out of TSP for laundry so we went back to Alamogordo. I felt great all day except for that moment when I met the lady in the tote isle who slammed me so bad i I had to go immediately to the bathroom to wash my face and hands so I could function neurologically again. This time very minimal flare of MCS, but cold sore two showed up on Tuesday. We were both doing fairly well until yesterday. We went to Corona, which is my favorite place to go in a storm because it feels so good there. We didn’t make it there. I got a pretty bad headache on the way and I had Wesley turn around. It was so bad I fell asleep until we got back to Carrizozo. I decontaminated and then Wesley started driving to Capitan, but I felt awful so we turned around and went back to the ranch and I had the exact opposite reaction as I did a week and a half ago. We turned off the road to go to the pasture and I immediately felt better. I felt so much better that I cleaned the truck and our new propane stove. I cleaned the two totes in the truck and thought nothing else of it. We went for a walk in the hills to sweat out some toxins and then went into town to shower.
I don’t recall the truck feeling bad last night, but we went to Socorro to shop today and it felt awful in the truck. I had a headache the whole time and couldn’t discern what was OK to buy or not bc everything seemed bad. We got home and I removed the totes and water bottles from the truck and Wesley felt a ton better when he went to get water. I did laundry while he cleaned the heater. The exhaust from the generator was giving me a headache and we ended up throwing out two pairs of sweat pants, a pair of socks, a sports bra, and three shirts from yesterday’s laundry. I got super frustrated bc if we’re going to kill the laundry I sure as hell don’t want to wash it. We got T-shirts to do disposable shirts today bc I’m at a loss. The crud we’re sweating out is bad stuff! I could tell lots of things I hung up today were bad, but I need to dry them so I can pass them on. We ended up throwing half a bag of brand new T-shirts in the go bag bc they triggered a headache as soon as I took them out of the bag. I was super discouraged bc I was so messed up I was missing bad stuff. We got all the bad stuff out of the tent and headed to town to shower. After that going up the hills triggered symptoms (headaches for me and Wesley felt the panicky I need to get out of here feeling and difficulty thinking) like MT is known to do. It’s going to take time for the toxins to die down in the truck. I’m hoping my motivation in life comes back. I’m sure Wesley does too bc he’s now doing all the stuff I’ve been doing while he was in his depressed funk.
Laura, do you ever take L-Lysine when you feel a cold sore coming. I take them soon as I know one is breaking out, you can take real often and it will prevent getting really bad sore.
I‘ve tired it in the past, but don’t recall it working great for me. Thankfully, these are both pretty minor ones. I’ve gotten cold sores all my life, but have never connected toxin exposure as the cause bc it weakens the immune system. Like all the other unpleasant symptoms we get, we don’t try to quickly rid ourselves any of them using supplements or meds so that we can learn mold avoidance skills bc that’s what allows us to get back to a more normal life. Cold sores are minor, but MT hits stink, especially mental health-wise. The sooner we learn patterns and better MT avoidance, the better our quality of life.