Successes and failures treating chemical sensitivities
(Last updated July 2022.) I first noticed that I was reacting to some chemical substances around 2002, when I developed splitting headaches from paint used in my apartment, even the low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) stuff. Around the same time, wearing mascara and lipstick became unbearable. My eyes would become blurry and my lips cracked. My lips were pretty much blue from low iron so the no-lipstick look did not suit me. Vitamin B6 a brief success Several months of taking vitamin B6 got rid of the reaction to paint, and eventually I could wear my usual drugstore mascara and lipstick again ... for a few months. Luckily I was able to find health-food store versions that I continue to tolerate. (The reaction to paint never returned, actually.) In 2014, toward…