My Journey Back to Health: Living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities

In 1988, a common household cleaning product changed Annette Falconett’s life forever. Exposure to the product triggered Falconett’s multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS).

Bedridden for most of the following year with debilitating symptoms, Falconett was unimpressed with traditional medicine’s response to her condition. She was told her condition was “all in her head,” despite very real symptoms. Others told her she wouldn’t get better—an attitude acknowledging her condition but offering no practical help.

Finding such explanations unacceptable, Falconett chose to reclaim her health. "My Journey Back to Health" recounts her experiences. Working with < cite="mailto:Annette%20Falconett" datetime="2015-03-05T10:11"> sympathetic doctors and alternative medicine practitioners, Falconett did what many thought impossible: she learned to control her MCS symptoms.

MCS has both emotional and physical consequences, affecting your interactions with everyone around you. In a special chapter on growing up with an MCS parent, Falconett’s daughter offers a family member’s perspective on both her mother’s struggles and her own.

People with MCS are, as Falconett notes, the canaries in a chemical-laden coalmine. MCS is an indication of the effect modern reliance on chemicals has on our health. That Falconett was able to overcome this pervasive condition offers hope to us all.