This weekend I had a personal victory. Over something that for many years I thought was impossible to change : multiple chemical sensitivity. If you had told me this would be the case a few years ago I would have replied “That’s Impossible”. Yet, here we are.
What was this big scoop? I bought some perfume.
Without a second thought I walked into a store, asked to smell three different perfumes, and bought 2 as a surprise present for my daughters.
What’s the big deal, Alison?
For the last 20 years I haven’t been able to do that.
IBS and multiple chemical sensitivity
I already had IBS, along with food intolerance. Then I developed chemical sensitivity on top. It meant I couldn’t get near any paint, nail varnish, solvents or perfumes, car or toilet fresheners.
You may rely on air fresheners to cover up IBS smells.
For me, one whiff and my body started bloating, I would feel nauseous, get a headache, and have to go to bed.
So I had to be ultra careful when I went out!
And not get near any colleagues wearing perfume…
To help yout to relate, it’s a little like when you have IBS and you can’t just walk into any restaurant and try out their new dish. It looks really good, it smells amazing. Whoever you are with will order it.
But you. You can’t. You know what havoc it will likely create for you later.
So you stick to that place you know that serves up that same old dish you can just about digest.
Like IBS, “there are no effective or proven treatments for multiple chemical sensitivity.“
But there is a way! Find the triggers (the associations your mind has made with them) and release them.
In fact, dealing with MCS helped me understand my IBS triggers!
IBS habits die hard
Even when I had completely released IBS, I found myself sticking to the same habits. I would still have the same old breakfast of a glass of water and maybe a piece of toast. Or maybe just water.
Even though my body was fine digesting anything I fancied, I kept my 25 year old habit!
Yet when I went on holiday I was served with coffee, orange juice, chopped fresh fruit, a croissant and a yoghurt. I was actually hungry after swimming, and joyfully tucked in.
I had NO reaction to them at all. Not only that, I wasn’t worried either.
That’s impossible if you have IBS.
And that’s when I saw for myself that my IBS and food intolerance (lactose and fructose) had actually gone. And I then spent the day visiting an unknown town without the need for a toilet.
If I hadn’t had multiple chemical intolerance, I probably would NEVER have understood my IBS.
I saw the chemical intolerance start. I know where, when and how it started. And the emotions behind it.
By unwinding all that, I could release it completely.
I released my IBS like that too.
To the point where something that used to be impossible became SO easy again.
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