Dear Ashok. I’ve been meaning to write to you for a while to say THANK YOU so much for your fantastic programme.
I discovered it about a year ago when I started suffering from severe headaches after a kitchen refurbishment. I have taken a while to write to you as I wanted to be 100% better before doing so.
My headaches started after having a laminate floor laid in our house but they didn’t go away even after the smells and fumes had died down, in fact as time went on, I become sensitive to many other volatile organic compounds, candles, smoke, fires and even friends’ perfumes and it began to realise that I had some form of chemical sensitivity. I was at this time feeling negative about our house, our new kitchen and after two air analyses showing that we had high levels of volatile organic compounds and formaldehyde, I had trouble letting go of the feeling that the kitchen was a toxic space. For 3 months I suffered with headaches, dizziness, a bad taste in my mouth every time I went into the kitchen. The situation wasn’t helped by the two air experts telling me that I had probably developed a chemical sensitivity that wouldn’t just go away with time!
Other family members had sore throats and dizziness at the time of the refurbishment, but I think because I was there the day the solution / glues were laid on the floor, it seemed likely that the chemical sensitivity commencement e.g. with an initial high dose of a substance, led to my immune system becoming over sensitised,
After a couple of months, my sense of smell had become so strong that I would sneeze in the presence of other strong smells. At this point, I could even smell plastic bags, washing detergents, magazines, that I hadn’t noticed ever before had a smell, they were suddenly
overpoweringly strong, as was soap, shampoos, diesel fumes, friends’ perfumes, always resulting in a lot of sneezing and a buzzing sensation in my head which culminated in a full-blown
headache.
What really disturbed me about my situation was that nobody understood what I was experiencing, how could they? No one reacts to these everyday chemicals and yet there I was reacting to everything. Trips to London resulted in my nose becoming congested, sneezing, head buzzing and headaches. At the time I couldn’t believe that this had happened to me, at that point I had trouble believing that the symptoms were caused by anything other than physical reactions that were irreversible.
I was so desperate to get back to normal and a life without debilitating headaches that I took myself off to Thailand to a detox retreat, however, by this time my lips were also tingling and I had horrible sensation on my tongue. I recall the airport smelt so strongly of perfume as did the plane that I spent most of the 13 hour flight with a pain over my eye and horrible headache.
I was frustrated – I felt so trapped in my own body and my anxiety was building. I spent a week at the detox resort and, despite everyone being so generous and caring, I came back and I was still reacting to the kitchen and other smells.
I was beginning to panic, and the underlying fear that I had MCS and would have headaches forever, was debilitating. At this point, I ‘d read so many negative accounts of people’s lives and how they were affected by MCS that I really was at my lowest point. My doctor prescribed Diazepam – which for anyone that knows me, was such a huge deviation from who I am, I loathe taking pills (especially something so addictive and mood changing) and I have never suffered from anxiety or depression, but at this point I needed something! Fortunately, I only took it for a few days and whilst it made the headaches less painful, I knew I could only take it for a short period.
This was when I discovered your programme. Your theory fitted my scenario perfectly, I read a few reviews plus watched the video of your explanation, e.g. being caught in the figure of eight loop, even though, at that stage, I was convinced it was too late for me. I also tested my cortisol levels, they were very high. I followed your advice and after a few months of meditating, doing the 7 step process, watching the webinars and finding Frances Goodall I was well on my way to recovering.
Today I can tell you that I’m 100% better, after a few months already I’m almost taking it for granted, even though I was completely convinced this was a condition that was irreversible (and you were right, so many people put their negative experiences online but there isn’t much positive stuff out there!), but here I am. I can wear perfumes, sit next to fires, even walk into newly decorated rooms and don’t have any reactions. I can walk around London in heavy traffic and no sneezing or headaches. Also, my sense of smell seems to have normalised and I can no longer smell detergents and people as I used to. It’s as if someone has turned down the volume for smell.
To give you some idea of timescale: my reaction to the initial chemicals in the floor and kitchen happened at the end of Sept 16, I went on the detox week November, started the Gupta programme end of Dec and by Feb I could be in the kitchen without reacting and gradually all of the other reactions dissipated around June 17 and were totally gone by Nov 17.
I used other modalities too, such as those taught by Frances Goodall (who was also integral in helping me), I got rid of all perfumed substances in my house for 3 months, spent a week on a Rosen intensive course and then the final thing that seemed to help convince me that I was healthy and wouldn’t react to smells was 3 sessions of hypnotherapy. Alongside all of this, I took supplements, Vitamin C, B vitamins and glutathione, drank lots of water ( I’m a nutritional therapist so was able to address that side of things). It did take a while though, and I did have a return of symptoms whenever I was stressed or unhappy, but by this time I was able to assure myself that it was just a temporary reaction. Today, I’m so well that looking back and reflecting, it was as if it happened to another person.
Anyway excuse the drama and length of this account, what I really I wanted to say to you Ashok is thank you so much for sharing your story, your solutions, and know that, when I was at my lowest point, it was your videos and cheerful voice that kept me going and
gave me hope.
Your programme really works and I hope by sharing my story that you can get some insights into helping others and knowing that another person has overcome her sensitivities.
Warmest regards -Amanda