Toxins...

First off, Happy New Year to everyone.

Unfortunately for me the new year has brought on an unwelcomed retirement. Disability has taken the place of my work day. I did it mainly because I want to fight this terrible disease with everything I got. Working 60 hours a week was not helping. I'm a newbie to this whole thing but I have a theory and I wanted opinions.....

I am the first to admit that I do not lead a very healthy lifestyle. I am still a firm believer in that you only live once so you gotta enjoy it. With that said, I think I over-did it. I grew up in the 70s/80s and there wasn't a lot of healthy options. Smoking was not only socially accepted but was socially expected. For God's sake, we smoked on airplanes, at school and in our work offices. Can you imagine lighting up anywhere but outside these days? Needless to say, living in NC in the 1980s, I started smoking at a very young age. There were also a lot of recreational drugs available during the 80s as well as the 90s. I outgrew that only to come faced with legal pharmaceutical drugs. Eat whatever you want and take these pills and you will be fine. I was in my 30s and I took more pills than my grandmother did way back whenever. And the doctors were all, "oh you will be fine the FDA has approved it.". I drank Mountain Dew and the diet version for years. I was watching a news program the other night and they mentioned it contained Bromington Vegetable Oil which is a fire retardant chemical used in clothing and furniture. The FDA says it is okay in small doses. WHAT? It has been banned for use in most other countries. Then there is the worst toxin of them all, STRESS. If you read my 1st original post you will see that high levels of stress was the last straw, in my eyes anyway(not my fault in any way). I have decided to get rid of most of the toxins in my life. Unfortunately, the stress of being diagnosed with a terminal illness will haunt me forever. No more smoking, I am cutting back on processed foods(impossible to avoid them altogether these days), I am not taking any more medications(I am going to find a holistic alternative), I am cutting way back on soda(addicted but looking for alternatives), reducing stress in any way I can, and looking into supplements and vitamins. I do not plan on doing this forever, unless of course I start feeling better. I will never be a complete health nut, it is just not me. I feel that all the medications that the doctors prescribe to band-aid this disease are just adding more toxins to a body that has OD'd on toxins as it is. It may be too late for me but maybe someone will see this and adjust accordingly. Unfortunately, if you’re on this site, it is probably too late.

I believe I, as well as the environment, have poisoned myself to the point of neurological damage beyond repair in the form of ALS. Everyone is always looking to blame someone or something for getting this disease. No one knows for sure what causes it? I, myself, look in the mirror.

I think even the healthiest people take in too many toxins these days without even knowing it. Lying on that couch with flame retardant chemicals all around you, and breathing it in. Toxins are everywhere and the human body was not designed for it. We may adapt or evolve to the point where we can but for now.......


Let me know what you think.......

I agree jpsteeler - re toxin overload - but everyone is different i have never been a drug taker -nor fizzy drinks but i am an ex smoker and dont think that caused it but certainly didnt help -i was told by a friend/med student in the nineties (now a specialist) people living in cities have lungs as unhealthy as i think an approx 1-3 cigarettes a day smoker. Im guessing its a range of toxic overload - ive herad about isolated geographic cases - guam, some town in the uk near a lake - i think it was a type of fish there, port workers in nelson - all different toxins but still an overload - im guessing its the type of toxic overload/genetic factors and how your lifestyle/therapies post diagnosis that determine your longevity of life and quality of. What has been intriguing me lately is what the food and cosmetic industry get away with putting in their products... processed white sugar (as an example - many other additiives that are highly toxic -msg etc) if it were to be assessed for FDA approval i would guess it could only be prescribed!

I agree that this is going to be one of the pieces in the ALS puzzle. I have 30 years or more of chlorine exposure, worked in a factory with a ferrous foundry and chrome plating. Working in a facility titanium foundry. Grew Up where DDT was great nightly for mosquitoes. Add all of these toxins to the other factors such as genotype and head injuries, it just has to play a role. I was talking to the administrator of the ALS Registry the CDC. They had changed questions because so many of us have lived so many places.

I totally agree the toxins all around us contribute to so many health issues. Even high fructose corn syrup for example. Now a new study says it alters the brain so people crave more sugar. I have modified my diet the past few years and at least feel better.

before diagnosed 2/10 i was a 4 c person, cake, cookies, candy and coke. one day we were discussing aspertane, went home looked it up and it scared me enough that i have not drank a soda in over three years. also i have no taste for the other c's. i rarely eat any of it.