I recently worked with 2 clients who contacted me to work with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. Both were sane, intelligent, highly functional people. Both had highly sensitive bodies. One was male, and one female. The female client had been exposed to very toxic smog, years before, then a gas leak in her house, two years ago. The male had been born more than 2 months prematurely, and had been reactive to gasoline, paint, varnish, and many other substances all his life.
With each of them, we used EMDR to target their first and worst exposures. With the male, we did Maureen Kitchur’s preverbal trauma protocol on his months in the incubator in the NICU, then ego state work to bring that baby up to the present. (10 minutes of processing made a huge difference in his sense of safety). With the woman, we went after the smog, and then the natural gas targets, with Standard Protocol. Both cleared nicely.
And with both we used visualization of dials in their immune system “headquarters” to turn down the immune response to smells and chemicals, and keep the “germ-killers” on.
I noticed something: Both seemed very anxious and reported more anxiety symptoms than “immune” symptoms, like anaphylaxis or throat closure. So, with each of these people, I used neurological calming techniques: “Silencing the Alarm”, which is brushing the fingers over the eyebrows to behind the ears, down the neck to the point of the shoulders, then elbows, then the back of the hands. And calming breathing: breathing allll the way out, and breathing in half-way. Each 10 times. Both calmed. And reported that they felt no symptoms. Both will do these things when presented with symptoms again.
I’ve worked with many people who have had truly reactive immune systems. These two people had neurological responses to external chemical stimuli, very similar to PTSD, but deeper. I’m glad I could help them, and I’m glad that I’ll be watching out for both these reactions in the future.