Teacher develops chemical sensitivity after years of exposure to pesticides

 

---

I have been diagnosed with chemical poisoning.  It has been a search to find the culprit but have finally settled on pesticides.  For 23 years, I was a middle school teacher in a small Mississippi town.  At first, I  thought I was developing allergies--excess mucus, lightheadedness, red face, heart palpitations, pain in extremities, mood swings, rashes, and extreme fatigues.  Thus began the round of trips to the doctors and diagnoses of chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, rapid heartbeat, sinus infection,  and even menopause.  It took three years to get a diagnosis of chemical sensitivity due to chemical overexposure.  I began seeing an environmental specialist in another state and was quickly told that many people and some doctors would think I was crazy, so not to mention chemical sensitivity.  I began to notice that the things that caused the strongest reactions were pesticides, fertilizers, fungicides, and weed-killers.  In fact, at this moment I am confined to one room in my home and cannot open the door to the opposite end of the house where my neighbor has treated with Demon-TC for termites.  I found by calling the pest control company that they have been treating this house next door for termites every year since 1996.  Coincidence, or wasn't this when I began to get ill.  The school where I was teaching had also treated the gym for bats in 1997.  Of course, we were also having our home treated every month for pests as we thought this was the thing to do.  I am no longer teaching, cannot shop without a mask, cannot travel, can spend very little time with my children and grandchildren because of their perfumed products, and my friends have stopped calling or stopping by.  My husband has to be very careful about what he brings into the house and can use only chemical free products.  Every time I turn on the tv and see a new commercial for a new chemical or a new product with a combination of chemicals, I cringe.  Like most people out there I thought that pesticides were safe.  After all, they would not be approved for use around homes if they weren't and the chemical companies led us to believe that they were safe.  Pesticides have taken my hopes and dreams for retirement away.  They have taken my family away and greatly compromised my health.  I don't want this to happen to anyone but I am afraid there will be many more cases of pesticide poisoning as long as people believe they are safe and that they cannot live without them.

 

# # #