Is your patient chemically sensitive?
Use this checklist to find out
Many chemically sensitive individuals suffer for years with a range of often disabling symptoms without making a connection between those symptoms and the environment, says Ann McCampbell, MD, chair of the Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Task Force of New Mexico in Santa Fe. Asking these questions may help you determine whether chemical sensitivity is present:
1. Do you hold your breath when walking down the detergent aisle in the supermarket, or avoid the aisle entirely, to keep from feeling sick?
2. Does the smell of perfume give you a headache or make you feel ill in some way?
3. Have you ever gone into a building such as a bank, supermarket, or discount store and felt disoriented or found that you had difficulty speaking, writing, or remembering things?
4. Have you ever suffered headaches or other symptoms at work or some other place, and later found that those headaches coincided with the spraying of pesticides?
5. Have you ever had an adverse reaction — such as headache, fatigue, respiratory problems, nausea, skin rash, or any other symptom — to a pesticide?
6. Do cleaning products or chemical deodorizers give you a headache or any other symptom?
7. Do you get a rash, headache, dizziness, or any other symptom when you are exposed to carbonless copy paper?
8. Do you hold your breath when entering a public restroom that’s just been cleaned?
9. Do you feel better when you are away from your home, work, or some other environment that causes you to experience unpleasant symptoms such as headaches?
10. Are there foods you avoid because they make you feel ill?
11. Do you get headaches, eye irritation, feel disoriented, or have other symptoms when in a fabric or clothing store?
12. Do you get headaches, eye irritation, cough, or any other symptom when exposed to environmental tobacco smoke?
13. Does exposure to products or fumes in hair salons make you feel ill in any way?
14. Have you ever had an unusual reaction to a medication or drug?
Source: Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Task Force of New Mexico, P.O. Box 23079, Santa Fe, NM 87502. Telephone: (505) 983-9208.
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