It's Great to be Alive

It's been two months since we've shifted. My immune system took a beating. The first night at the new place was horrible as I almost had an anaphylactic attack.

The foreboding hit me like a truck. The insides of my ears swelled up and there was a continuos ringing sound. The burning-mouth-syndrome came in full force. It felt like the insides of my mouth was swimming in acid. My right eye swelled. I had a migraine from the bowels of Hades. Every single thing that had a smell was magnified by a hundred times. I was barraged by an onslaught of smells. And then the pain in the stomach and intestines knocked me off my feet.

My husband thought I was going to die in our new house on the first night itself. I was so pale and green. He said I looked like a ghost.

He said that we have to go to the ER.

I said NO! If I were to go to the hospital, I knew steroids was definitely unavoidable.

I took double doses of Puriton every four hourly. Slowly I became better.

But the immune system had regressed and it was like 8 years back. I couldn't eat what I had been eating for the past few years. Everything triggered an attack.

And the smells. Dear Lord. Everything smelt. Even things which had no smell became an issue. I wore a mask 24/7. Even when I was sleeping.

I couldn't eat much. I couldn't sleep. I was a walking zombie. I think I resembled the zombies from the Walking Dead. My mom said I was so pale and deathly looking. I was exhausted. Beyond exhausted.

The kitchen cabinets stank to the heavens. Even after more than a month of cleaning and airing them. At first it wasn't so bad. But the day we shifted in, it was as if the cabinets decided to release all of their gasses to welcome us.

I tried baking soda. I tried charcoal. I tried organic unscented soap. I tried everything which I could use. I cranked up the dehumidifier and opened the windows 24/7 so that the off gassing process could be sped up. Nothing worked.

I was so desperate and ill. I even went back to the old house to escape during the day. The desperation was so bad that I thought I was going bonkers.

I researched and read on what people used. VINEGAR. That would have sent me six foot under immediately.

And then I saw, GREEN TEA!

I rushed to the supermarket and bought boxes of green tea bags. I tore open the bags and placed them in bowls. And I placed them in the kitchen cabinets and at the staircase area. It worked. Finally something worked.

I opened every window in the house and aired the place every single day. And slowly within a week, the smells slowly dissipated.

Even though I have became hypersensitive again, I am slowly becoming better.