How What I Am Learning From MCS Will Heal You and Our World
- Teresa Peters
- May 19
- 16 min read
Updated: Jul 6
I consider myself a pretty severe MCS case. Despite this, I have learned how to do so well and to be able to travel. These are ideas we've embraced in our home as well. We are always getting messages. Our body talks to us with symptoms. You may hear a still, small voice that has messages for you. Listen to these and also to what feels right to you. This will help you choose which of these ideas you want to follow.
The Day Everything Changed: My First Reaction
When I was 22, in 1975, I took two aspirin as I had many times before, and almost instantly, I couldn't breathe, my eyes and nose ran, and my stomach hurt. Since I had asthma as a child, I recognized the problem. I was in a convenience store, so I could buy Primatene Mist and recover. I decided no more aspirin, and I thought that was the end of it.
It was not. My health rapidly declined, and within a year, I had lost my sense of smell, and I was taking cortisone for my symptoms. Later, I took 40 pills a day; I have taken so many medications and supplements. I've been to so many doctors and alternative doctors, but nothing helped me.
I felt intensely ill every moment of every day, and at any moment, I suddenly couldn't breathe. Every day was difficult to survive.
What Doctors Missed
I had the best medicine could offer, and nothing helped. It took eleven years for me to learn I have Sampters Triad, which is a severe form of asthma that is also a form of MCS. It was Samter's Triad that caused me to lose my sense of smell. My health continued to spiral down until I often could only hear 80% of what was said to me, and then I developed new illnesses - hypothyroidism and ITP. I learned I had osteoporosis from the seven years I took cortisone, and yet it had never helped me in any way.
The Hidden Toxins in Medicine and Supplements
I now know why nothing helped me. Because toxic chemicals can be in our medicines and supplements, and since our ingredient laws are incomplete, it is impossible to figure out what you are reacting to. I do take Ventolin, Flonase, and Prasco Fluticasone Proprionate, which help, but no medicine prevents my sometimes violent asthma attacks. Ventolin can help me recover from them, but not always. Our air purifier and oranges have often helped me recover better!
Because I was diagnosed with Samter's Triad, which is where I and my doctor's attention was directed, I did not learn I had MCS until five years ago, in 2020.
My lungs are one-third of normal; they have been this low since soon after my first symptom. My doctor now tells me I should be in an emergency room or ICU, and yet I live my life, travel, I can hike for miles, and I feel great as long as I am reaction-free.
How I Started to Heal
What healed me? Me! I read mountains of books and made changes, and suddenly, one Thanksgiving day, my ears popped and popped, and I could hear everything! Since then, I have studied, watched my symptoms, and researched, and slowly, I have improved to where I am today.
What Wellness Means to Me Today
I am seventy-one years old. I have none of the normal illnesses of aging — I don't have high blood pressure, cholesterol, or glucose. I don't have any pain or arthritis. I don't have any depression — I am happy and joyful every day. I have the energy to work hard all day and have fun, too. I can walk six miles in a day easily. I rarely get the flu or a cold, and I feel great the majority of the time. For me, this is health; I am well.
I no longer lose days and weeks from feeling too ill or exhausted. I sleep so well every night, when I used to never sleep well. I am so happy and content every day. When I react, I recover so fast, in half an hour or a few hours, when it used to take me days or weeks to recover from a bad reaction. My sinuses are always open now, and I can hear so well! I have healed serious illnesses that I suffered from. As long as I don't get exposed to harmful toxins, I am well! I am so thrilled!
Because my lungs are quickly affected, I discovered that many toxic chemicals were affecting me. When I researched these things, I found they are harmful to everyone.
Most people react very slowly to harmful toxins, so they are unaware of the danger.
I also learned that what is good for us is also good for our Earth. What is harmful to us is harmful to our Earth.
I have learned that there are so many toxins in our air, water, food, and products. I have also learned that many companies lie about their products, adding to confusion and illness. These unknown toxins are what is causing so much illness. America is not well. The majority of Americans have a health issue, from depression and allergies to cancer, diabetes, pain, and heart problems, to endless illnesses or colds and viruses. We are not designed to flourish when exposed to so many toxins.
It has become my passion to share what I have learned to help other people heal.
I learned to avoid what my body reacted to, and I healed not only the severe ear congestion I suffered from but also Samter's Triad, hypothyroidism, ITP, and every health issue I suffered from! Now, even my osteoporosis, which was caused by cortisone, is healing!
How I Use My RV to Stay Safe When We Travel
We have an Outdoors RV Manufacturing trailer, and I love it! There are different sizes and floor plans. It keeps me safe wherever we go. It had been on the lot for a year when we bought it in 2016.
I take a lot of precautions. In our RV, we don't open our windows, and I wear my respirator mask outside to protect myself from what our neighbors at the RV park might be doing, fragrances, poor air quality, or wildfire smoke. We also never open our vents and run the fans; this just brings harmful things into our home. Even if the air outside is good, it can rapidly change without you realizing it.
The Respirator Mask That Gave Me My Life Back
My respirator mask gave me my life back! I am so thankful! Before I found this mask, I still lived like I did during COVID. I couldn't go anywhere because I get very severe asthma when exposed to many fragrances, silicone, latex, and so many things. I did go for a daily walk and had to ask people to stay ten feet away from me. Even outside, I would react to some people's scented products.
I have used this mask to go to movies, an arcade, bowling, parties, dinner, and anywhere else! We went to dinner on purpose as a test for my mask with our friend who made me so sick in the past because he uses Tide laundry soap, and I felt fine! If I try to walk when there is wildfire smoke, I can only walk 20 steps, and then my muscles get so weak that I can barely breathe. With this mask, I am fine! I can go on a hike in the wildfire smoke! You can see if there are wildfires near you and get a much better air quality report using the MyRadar Pro app on your phone. Before I found this, I did not know why I would be so sick, even though the weather app on my phone said the air was good.
This mask is fantastic! It makes me feel better, the best ever. I think it's because it is the only time I truly get pure, safe air. It helps me recover from a reaction, put it on, and I often feel better and better. If I start coughing when I'm wearing my mask, I now know it has gotten contaminated, and I need to change the cartridges. If my coughing is severe, I will change clothes and wash them separately; this has only happened in two instances.
I have severe reactions to silicone and latex, which are in most masks. It took me so many phone calls to find this mask; I am so thankful I found it! My mask is an example of businesses lying. Many times, I bought masks that said they were latex or silicone free, and I'd get sick and call them and find out this was not true. MSC Industrial Supply at www.mscdirect.com sells my mask. This company is so fantastic, and everyone there has been so helpful. Their phone number is 800–645–7270. This is the mask I bought; it is size small, so you probably need a different size: 67410266. This multi-gas cartridge has worked for everything! The stock number is 03849619. You can ask about the super saver upgrade, which is the same price as UPS ground, only it is overnight! Yay! They sell these masks internationally; you can reach their international number at 888-880-2048.
The wrapping of the filters makes me sick, so be sure to unwrap them outside or in your garage before bringing them into your home. I usually let them and the mask off-gas for a few days after they arrive.
I've learned to keep a spare mask and a spare set of cartridges on hand; it is a bummer when I can't go anywhere because I don't have a mask to use.
If the mask seems slightly blocked when you breathe, it needs to be cleaned. I wash it all over with Dr. Bronner's baby soap only and use my fingers so I can be sure every area is cleaned and that the cleaning is gentle. I put it in our dish rack to dry.
To seal this mask, put your palms over the filters and see if you can breathe in. If you can't, it is sealed. If you can, move the mask around and retest the seal. This mask comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee! If you react to it, you can return it for a full refund as long as it is within 30 days!
My Microphone
This mask that gave me my life back muffles your voice a lot, so I work to talk louder. In large groups or noisy places, people can't hear me. Keith found me this microphone on Amazon. It works so well! I found out that when the sound gets really soft, it is because it needs to be recharged. I recharge it after each use because it's a bummer when people can't hear me.
You can find it under this name: SHIDU Voice Amplifier Teachers, Megaphone Speaker Portable PA System with Microphone Headset.
I do not list links to products because often these links break, and you won't know how to find the product. Please copy the title exactly as I listed it so you can find it.
A word about Amazon: We used to bring all our shipments into our entryway. I would get very ill from these packages. The white and blue envelopes from Amazon are very toxic. People say fragrances are added to Amazon shipments. Keith now opens all our packages in our garage and leaves the products there for me to test that they are safe.
I have found the same issue in our truck that pulls our RV. Wildfires or air pollution can make me ill in our vehicle, so we always run our air conditioning on recirculate, and Keith installed HEPA filters. If the air is bad outside, I wear my respirator mask when I go out, and I wear it for a while after I get back in our truck to ensure the air is good again.
Air, Water, and Product Safety
I always run an air purifier in our RV, and if the air quality is bad outside, I run it on high. I have three Idylis air purifiers at home, but they are no longer available.
I have tried many air purifiers, and they all cause severe asthma. Then I bought the AirDoctor AD 5500 HEPA and VOC air purifier, which I purchased on Amazon. I love it! No reaction, finally success! It has an ionizer, which I have never used, and I do not recommend using it. I recently purchased an AirDoctor 2200 air purifier, and it’s been working wonderfully! In fact, my health improved using it, so I ordered another one. I have now replaced all my Idyllis air purifiers with AirDoctor air purifiers. I highly recommend the AirDoctor air purifiers; I rely on them daily for my health.
My Diet: What I Eat and Avoid
I only eat organic foods, nothing processed, or any fast foods. Restaurant food can also be full of processed foods. I advise only eating plain foods so you know all the ingredients. I used to recommend a plain steak with nothing on it. However, they are grilled, and I've learned that grilled and BBQ foods make me very ill. A plain baked potato and salad with lemon on the side, a bowl of fresh fruit, or cut-up fresh or steamed vegetables is safe.
I also never have sugar. If you research sugar, you will find it is very harmful. I discovered that any sugar I ate would almost instantly result in depression and a lung infection. I have not had any form of processed sugar for at least 20 years.
How I Stay Safe in Wildfire Smoke
I check the air quality with the MyRadar Pro app for my phone. It shows you all the wildfires around you and the areas affected by them. It is very accurate; the air quality ratings in my weather app are incorrect. I know because I would go outside when it said the air is good and get sick. I leave the door open in the bathroom and bedroom in our RV. Otherwise, because RVs are not airtight, the bad air gets in the room, and when I go in, I get sick.
Unless it is winter and cold, we always stay at an RV park. Because we don't open the windows, our RV can get hot fast, and we need power for our air conditioner.
We changed the mattress. By law, all mattresses in America must have a chemical flame retardant, which makes me very ill. Dormeo mattresses, toppers, and pillows are the only solutions I have found in years of searching that do not cause pain and that I don't react to. However, I recently ordered one of their pillows, and I had a bad reaction to it. I was so impressed because it was packed in a cardboard box with paper wrapping. Wow, how wonderful! However, there was a desiccant in the packaging, which was the issue. I wrote to the President of this company and told him my story. I told him his products are the only safe ones for me. He is sending me a clay desiccant for me to test so that they can use it in future packaging. He told me he completely supports me in this; their goal is to be nontoxic in every way. He thanked me for contacting him. Wow, I am so amazed and thrilled that he is working with me on this in such an incredible way. My testing should happen soon.
I believe the issue with the desiccant is that it is related to silicone. I have found silicone to be the worst issue I deal with. I will have severe asthma almost instantly when I am exposed. It is found everywhere - on gloves, in the mail, shampoos and laundry soap, watch bands, cell phone cases, water bottles, and coffee makers. It comes now mixed with other ingredients like plastic, making it harder to identify, and I react much slower, but it is still very toxic. Remember silicone breast implants and how sick women got from them? I found a post on the internet that says it is harmful if absorbed by our body. We absorb what we touch and breathe in; I am proof of this. My neighbor used to work at a chemical lab, and said that if they worked on silicone, they needed to wear respirators. It is now reported that it off-gasses VOCs, but the danger is largely unknown in America.
I found an odor-free, all-natural black water treatment — it works great, and I do not react! It is called TankTechsRx Probiotic RV Tank Treatment. You can find it on Amazon or their website.
I have found that I react to RV toilet paper, except for Thetford Aqua Soft. We order this from Amazon and always ensure we have plenty in stock.
Nontoxic Personal Care and Cleaning Solutions
We use Dr. Bronner's baby soap to wash our hair and hands, shaving, and as a shampoo. We also use it for most of our cleaning: floors, sinks, toilets, and bathrooms! I love Dr. Bronner's baby soap because it contains only one chemical, which is used up during its creation. It is the safest product I can find.
I cannot tolerate any oils made in America - not olive, coconut, or any! A woman I met who sold CBD oil explained why. She told me a chemical is used to process the oil here in America, even if it is organic. This is not done in Europe. We now order Bono olive oil from Amazon since it is 100% made in Italy, and I have no reactions! I am so thankful for this product. I thought the fact that I don't have any reaction to Dr. Bronner's baby soap meant they process their oils differently. That is not true; when I bought other products from them, they made me ill.
Dr. Bronner's also has essential oil soaps. Do not use these.
One tablespoon of organic white vinegar mixed in one cup of water makes a wonderful hair rinse! We use the same vinegar for laundry - 1 cup vinegar in the Clorox dispenser, nothing else! Vinegar is amazing. It removes odors, stains, and mildew, is a fabric softener, and brightens and whitens clothes. Wow, how impressive! We have found this all to be true!
You can look up the products you use here:
I am thankful to have EWG. However, their scores are too lenient. Cleaning products with an ingredient that causes cancer are scored as a D. Why are they not scored as an F? Also, they are not transparent. They remove the ingredients and scores for their EWG Verified products. Why? I want to research those too. They verify products that include fragrances and essential oils. Why? These two products I have found to be incredibly toxic and harmful. They make me very ill in minutes. Thirty percent of people are affected negatively almost immediately by fragrances. I will get very sick from essential oils. It takes 250 pounds or more of product to create 1 pound of essential oil. We are not designed for this intensity of anything.
We use Bob's Red Mill baking soda for tough cleaning jobs like the kitchen sink. This is a safe, mined baking soda; all others are made from chemicals and make me ill.
For cleaning, we use organic loofah sponges from Etsy. I buy this product because they also sell essential oils: Whole Unpeeled Unprocessed Loofah Sponge - Organic, Non-GMO, Heirloom, Farm Grown, Non-treated, 100% Natural (item De-seeded). Then Keith peels it so I stay safe. I buy it from MoonBeamFarmStore.
I also buy Palm Pot Brush- Bamboo Round 3 Packs Mini Dish Brush from Amazon. We use nothing plastic, many cleaning utensils are toxic, even the ones that say they are plant-based.
We bring our portable washing machine. It is fantastic! You can find it on Amazon here: 22 lbs Compact Mini Twin Tub Washing Machine with Drying Rack&10 Hangers, 13 lbs Washer Mini Compact Laundry Machine and 9 lbs Spinner (the drying rack that comes with this is useless)
We have a fold-up shelving unit we use to dry our clothes. They are almost dry when they come out of our washer! This is the one we bought from Amazon; it works great! mDesign Steel Collapsible Over The Door, Hanging Laundry Dry Rack Clothes Organizer, 2 Tiers
The propane stove and oven made me ill, so we don't use them; we use an electric 2-burner induction countertop burner instead. It is a Duxtop LCD Portable Double Induction Cooktop Electric Counter Top Burner. We got it on Amazon. It works great! For an oven, we use an Emeril Lagasse 25 Qt extra Large Air Fryer. We love it so much that we use it at home.
The propane heating system is sealed, so I don't react to that; we are so thankful!
We found that I reacted to the fireplace in our RV, but I will retest this later to ensure this is true, since I love it.
We use a water purifier for all the water that comes into our RV.
Mold Issues
Regarding mold, water leaks happen in RVs as well as homes. I am always watching for any water leaks. We have not had any problem with this RV.
Most insurance companies do not insure mold issues. We discovered this when we bought a home with black mold in the master shower. At the time, we had State Farm insurance, who would do nothing to help us, not even do any repairs once the mold was remediated. When we applied to other insurance agencies, they reported us as having two claims for black mold, even though they never came to our home or paid for anything. They said they were required by law to do this. This led me to research this problem. I found that USAA, which is only for the military and their families (my Dad was in the military), will cover mold problems. However, later we had a vacant rental, and they told me they would cancel our insurance if it was vacant much longer. They told me point-blank that they did not want to insure us. We had a rental and a business in our home. They only want to offer basic insurance to people. I then found Farm Bureau. They are wonderful, we know this because soon after, we had water damage in our new home from our air conditioner. They went above and beyond solving the issue and repairing everything needed. They are not available in Hawaii or Washington, and they are only available through partners in some states. If both insurance agencies are unavailable to you, ask to find out if your insurance covers mold. The mold solution companies I list below can probably tell you which insurance companies in your area insure mold issues. I would never go without this coverage again.
Mold solutions:
My sister has USAA insurance, and they had water damage in their home. USAA used Paul Davis Restoration, a national company, to do the remediation and restoration for mold and water damage. A separate company was hired to do testing for mold.
USAA also used an oversight business to make sure all went well.
These are the two oversight companies USAA uses:
Contractor Connection
800-525-7671
Accuserv
My sister used this company; here is their information.
Contractor Connection - Sandy
(866) 838-6840
This overview of mold remediation is so important. When we had black mold, we had to find a company ourselves. The company we hired did not follow any of the guidelines for black mold, and then tried to bribe the testing company to pass our home. We had to hire a second company to finish the job; they were shocked by what they found. Then we had to hire a third company to restore everything to how it was.
Nothing else in our RV affects my health. I have never reacted to the RV itself, the sofa bed, chairs, carpet, or anything else. How is this possible? Sofa beds usually have a flame-retardant chemical, but I don't react to this one at all. This is all so amazing to me.
If you feel our RV won't work for you, my friend went from living in her van to living full-time in a trailer. This is what she says: When I fled Florida and Asheville, NC (2021) for the sake of my health, I had been living in my Toyota Van for a couple of years. I ended up with a home! This ATC is all aluminum, and it's a safe, comfy place. I am so grateful..
She is staying at a very nice RV park with views of the sunrise. She has such a cute place with plants and vegetables in pots, and a darling outdoor table and chairs set. The whole RV park is terraced, so no one is really next to her.
It is worth every effort since my husband and I love to travel, and we can now go anywhere we want to go.
_________________
Stay Connected
If my story resonated with you, I'd be grateful if you could give it a heart at the end of my blog. Your support means the world to me. I also always love to hear from you; please leave me a comment below.
If you would like to be notified when we have new content, please sign up for our newsletter here.
Commentaires