Sarah: Electro-Sensitivity and Candida

One Member's Story - Sarah: Electro-Sensitivity and Candida

Four years ago, I was fab, fit and in my 40s with a dynamic marketing and media business, exciting social life and active sporting schedule. My lifestyle was exciting and affluent. I had energy and dynamism. Without noticing too much, I gradually succumbed to a host of symptoms which sapped my energy and stole my memory. I kept myself going but as insomnia, erratic high blood pressure and heart palpitations joined the list, I got nervous.

Two years ago, my right body tingled and I had numbness in patches down my right leg, hip and right hand. I could hear buzzing in my right ear and I suddenly lost 40% my right eye-sight overnight.

I tried my doctor, various complementary practitioners, a Chinese doctor and then as I felt more and more unwell I paid what seemed an enormous sum to visit a private 'doctor' on Harley Street. Not one of them told me what was wrong with me. This so-called 'doctor' is now being investigated by his accrediting Board. They have been unable to trace his medical qualifications and fear that he may have misrepresented his background. He diagnosed radiation on the basis of a hair test and prescribed large doses of one brand of supplements which I took religiously only to find that my health deteriorated further and that the loading on my system eventually gave me liver damage. He totally failed to diagnose the complexity of my condition.

In May 2005, I self-diagnosed radiation sickness or electro-sensitivity (ES), which is a negative biophysical response to electro-magnetic frequencies and/ or non-ionising electro-magnetic radiation. I did this with the help of several websites and their supporting writers. At this stage I was lucky to have enough energy to get up and shower, keep my house tidy, and my dog walked. All business projects were filed in my office. A light stroll with my dog would result in a myriad of symptoms overtaking me, forcing me home. I could no longer work close to computers, cordless or mobile phones without my head burning and almost exploding.

As an electro-sensitive (ES), I am currently off the NHS radar. ES formerly known as Radiation Sickness is one of the new 21st century illnesses and there could be approximately 3-10% of the Western World affected. Sweden, where the affliction is formally recognised, has more than 250,000 sufferers. In the UK, The Health Protection Agency (formerly the National Radiation Protection Board) has recently set up the HPA EMF Discussion Group which meets regularly to ascertain the extent of the ES problem in the UK. The World Health Organisation meets annually on the subject of electro-sensitivity.

Colleagues were in disbelief as my symptoms widened. My income is now zero.

To clear my system I am taking a mineral treatment prescribed to victims of Chernobyl, supplied by a pharmacy in Germany. I work voluntarily to raise the profile of the dangers of electro-magnetic frequencies (EMFs) or non-ionising electro-magnetic radiation (NIEMR).

ES is a life sentence. Sufferers are unable to work, attend public places, travel on trains and buses, dine out, and socialise with family and friends. NHS GPs are not familiar with this problem. In the main, they are unable to recognise the symptoms and often resort to prescribing tranquillisers or referring already stressed ES patients to psychiatrists!

A consensus of experienced ES practitioners from around the world have postulated that the rain-barrel effect or accumulation of total body toxin loadings eventually gets so heavy on the body, that ES results. Therefore, the reverse of this is true, once ES is diagnosed. It is likely that the individual already suffers other stresses and toxins, largely broken down into physical, chemical and biological categories. In my case, it was an ME replica virus, chronic Candida albicans, leaky gut, accumulated pesticides, bacteria, gluten and dairy allergies and stored trauma. The challenge has been to gradually clear these deep and accumulated sources of stress and to minimise my negative response to the great increases in electromagnetic radiation we are all now subjected to on a daily basis.

I moved during this period and found that my new house was subject to severe geopathic stress, with two black lines meeting literally under my bed. I was therefore predisposed to severe conditions. The consultant recommended new bed mattresses for us all, getting rid of all interior sprung mattresses with metal spring coils and replacing with foam. He suggested wooden bed frames to replace metal bedsteads and to move our beds into other positions. He confirmed that he has tested homes and animal barns where serious sickness exists and always finds bad geopathic stress in such places.

My symptoms have developed and expanded over the past 5 years, to include:

1. Gluten and dairy intolerances
2. Digestive problems, hypoglycaemia, irritable bowel syndrome
3. Cystitis
4. Chronic Candidiasis with thrush and anal fissures
5. ME/CFS
6. Hair loss (significant) & fingernail flaking
7. Fibromyalgia
8. Severe headaches
9. Bouts of irritability, anger and despair
10. Loss of libido
11. Memory loss
12. Sleep disturbance, insomnia, night terrors
13. Dizziness
14. Skin tingling and numbness
15. Right eye loss of vision acuity and constricted eye pupils under dim light
16. Erratic blood pressure up to 145/105 and now stable at 100/70
17. Heart arrhythmia & palpitations
18. Toothache and teeth loosening
19. Hearing humming & buzzing
20. Hormonal disturbances - low thyroid and oestrogen overload
21. Damaged liver and adrenals
22. Impending flu symptoms
23. Difficulty concentrating
24. Feelings of abnormal weakness that cannot be explained by routine
25. Numbness, clicking & weakness in joints and limbs

Symptoms are caused and exacerbated by electro-magnetic frequencies (EMFs) emitted by all manner of mobile phones, cordless home phones, wireless Internet connections, computers, microwave ovens, baby listeners, microwave room sensors linked to burglar alarms and many other sources. Powerwatch estimates that EMF emissions are some 1000 million million times greater than 30 years ago. What are we to do about this invisible peril, which affects many of us? I am unable to visit households equipped with this 21 st century technology. I am blessed with a very understanding partner and son.

I now sleep in a shielded bedroom with foil-lined wallpaper, with windows screened with EMF proof fabric. I wear a radiation proof head-net for car travel, take numerous supplements, and avoid all toxic environments. I sleep on a foam mattress supported by a wooden bed, well away from geopathic stress. I drink spring water and eat a very healthy home-cooked diet.

Additionally, I no longer use a mobile phone. Giving that up caused me withdrawal symptoms. I went through cold turkey because I was addicted to my phone. My right eye-sight has since improved enough for me not to have to wear glasses.

I work with both Electrosensitivity-UK.org and h.e.s.e.-UK as their media consultant, so I am in a position to read an immense amount of European science tha tis written about health problems associated with electromagnetic radiation.

It could well turn out to be the case that microscopic fungi / Candida albicans predisposes the human system to damage from EMFs resulting in worsening symptoms if the body remains exposed to EMFs, especially at night when the body needs to repair itself and produce melatonin.

Among many projects, I am heading up a data collection exercise of case notes from ES/EHS living in the UK for compilation into a compendium of sufferers' observations for public distribution.