Thursday, March 19, 2009

Multiple Environmental Sensitivities - MES - WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW

If your home-life is in terminal decline, it is important to put the brakes on. I have generally found that “Brake first - before even thinking about swerving” has been a strategy that on occasion has served me well. That way you will be moving towards disaster slower and have more time to think and take appropriate avoiding action. In practical terms for the MES (sufferers of Electro Sensitive - ES / Electromagnetic HyperSensitivity - EHS, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity -MCS, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue - ME/CFS, Post-Viral Fatigue Syndrome - PVFS) that probably means either of two strategies: Leave your home or maximise the protection it affords you. Leaving ones home is not done lightly and is frequently a matter of last resort so we’ll come back to that strategy after we’ve looked at alternatives.
1. Minimise all electromagnetic and chemical exposure you ask your body to deal with. That means things like hair driers, electric toothbrushes, electric blankets, radiant heaters and so on. The list is endless and being added to all the time so stop using anything with either a plug on it or a battery in it or if fragranced. If you absolutely must, then minimise the time you are exposed to such things and maximise your separation distance. E.g. put the washing machine on then move away at least a couple of meters (the strong magnetic fields they produce pass easily through walls and floors) or go for a walk.

2. Turn off circuits at the Consumer Unit (Fuse-box), especially heating, while you sleep. Use a hot water bottle or a triangular  whiskey bottle in a sock that does not outgas and a woolly hat if that‘s more comfortable (You are in a battle for your home, it is not about looking good!). If you must, leave the fridge/freezer circuits enabled. Learn to do without some modern conveniences or find non-electrical / manual alternatives.

3. Ask neighbours to turn off their offending devices, especially at night while you are trying to sleep and while your body is trying to repair the damage of the day. These may be Wi-Fi routers / hubs, printers or other wireless enabled computer devices. It could be a Wii or xBox360 or other games console or it might be a DECT phone, Home Hub or Sky+HD box. Plasma TV‘s and Freeview / Satellite systems too adversely affect some people. Whatever it is that’s causing your exposure tolerance to be exceeded, even if they won‘t turn it off during the day, maybe if you bought them a time clock it could at least be off during the small hours. If it’s a DECT phone and they cannot be convinced to give up the cordless convenience buy them a Siemens Eco-DECT Plus (make sure it the model that silences the radio emissions from the base station when not in use) and exchange it with them for their existing one.

4. Sleep in another room. Sleep away from phones and phone cables, whether or not you have broadband. Reducing your night time exposure by sleeping in a room with lower electromagnetic radiation is of paramount importance. How will you know which room to choose? Distance is a clue or buy an Electrosmog Detector or other more sensitive microwave radiation detector. They are not cheap, but then neither is good health. Don’t forget magnetic fields. The Electrosensor is a cheap and largely adequate magnetic field strength meter.

5. Invest in shielding fabric and make your own tent or bed canopy. If that’s too difficult, single layer pre-made shielding bed canopies are available but you may need two layers so making your own may be the best option. If you have children, don’t forget them too. Unlike shielding paint, fabrics can be taken with you when you move.

Some of this costs money but do not panic because that will not help you defend your home. The assaults inflicted on you by  your neighbours should not be underestimated whether they are intentional or not. Neither should they be compounded by your own ignorance or lack of attention, so it is important for you to find out as much as you can about common everyday sources of man-made electromagnetic radiation (Electrosmog) and minimise your exposure. For reasons that are not yet entirely clear, this situation, this battle has been brought to your door. Like rising flood water, its not enough to deal with some of it. You need to be creative and radical if you are to deal with all of it and safeguard yourself until society recognises the plight of the MES. Whether you have a technical background or not, for you to successfully beat this dragon, you will need to know as much about it and its effects as you possibly can. Research is continuing and understanding the causes, effects and biological mechanisms is developing all the time. Many good people are searching for answers even while Government, Regulators and Industry continue to deny the reality of what is happing to people across our society. In the meantime, minimise your exposure.

If all you can do is run, then invest now in shielding materials and relationships with people who are at least sympathetic and might be supportive. Only when your life is restored to some sort of normality can you afford to divert your energies to those who do not yet understand MES and who you might have left behind.
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