If you’ve been following my health story here you know that I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2006. After that initial MS attack I was fairly symptom free until 2014. That’s when things began to get weird.
Non-Toxic Green Building Materials, Check!
We had renovated a 100 year old house in historic Mapleton Hill and moved in during the summer of 2014. I believed we had done a totally green renovation. That’s because I knew nothing about wireless technology. Every single thing in the house from lighting to thermostats to the sound system and more was wireless and ran on electromagnetic radiation. It was the equivalent of living with 300 cell phones in my home buzzing constantly.
For someone with the MTHFR genetic mutation, it was too much. By the spring of 2015, less than two years after we moved in, I was in the hospital with the worst MS symptoms of my life, completely numb from the neck down, along with an array of other concerning issues.
I began doing hyperbaric oxygen therapy and getting weekly IV nutrients. I was stabilizing and not getting worse, but I was not fully recovering which was odd. Things were stagnant in spite of my complete focus and dedication. I had never experienced that before.
Deteriorating Health
Fast forward to the fall of 2016. I knew something was seriously wrong. Before moving into the house, I had lived the full and healthy life of a New York Times best selling author, writing a book for Random House every two years, going on book tours, doing TV and radio, all while posting on my blog a few times each week. I had attended the boys’ sporting and school events regularly. Now I went to doctors and treatments and wrote on the blog every couple of weeks if I was lucky. I watched my life pass me by, missing family events and vacations.
Discovering EMFs and Building Biology
When the fall of 2016 rolled around I had a lucky break. Our HVAC vendor walked in one day and said, the house has too many electrical systems in it and everything is shorting out! And so I began my research. I learned about building biology and electromagnetic fields (EMFs). I discovered the effects EMFs can have on people like me. I found out what had made me so sick, and prevented me from getting well in spite of my best efforts.
Since then we’ve removed all of the wireless systems from our home. On March 1, 2017 I began living in a mostly WiFi free environment. Although my living environment is almost perfect and we’ve removed all of the wireless smart technology, there are small compromises that we make.
Balancing Different Types of Stress
We still let our boys and their friends use their cell phones when they’re here. For me the stress of not having the gang in our home is far greater than the stress of being near half a dozen cell phones a couple of hours per day. That’s a trade I made. The boys have made compromises too. While they can still use their cell phones in the house, they’ve lost their wireless head phones, wireless speakers, and gaming console.
Don’t Make my Mistake
I don’t want you and your family to go through the pain and heartache that we’ve suffered. I’ve lost years of my life so that we could have silly smart systems like lights and thermostats that operated remotely.
Living in a home filled with wireless radiation severely exacerbated the multiple sclerosis I had been diagnosed with in 2006. If you have a neurological condition such as MS, autism, Alzheimer’s, or Parkinson’s, or an illness such as cancer or Lyme disease, you are far more vulnerable to the effects of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) and may need to take the extra precautions that I outline in my post called Simple Steps to Reduce EMFs.
The Good News
Little by little I’m getting well. It took over a year to get sick so I anticipate I’ll need at least that long to get healthy again. I’m sticking to my program of sleeping as much as I can, eating a low-carb diet, and exercising moderately. The body can heal itself, and now that mine is in a healing environment the sky is the limit!
Joan Seliger Sidney says
Elana, so glad you got to the source & are healing.
Elana says
Thanks so much Joan!
Michele says
I so appreciate the care and effort you take to share your healing journey (and incredibly delicious recipes) with all of us. Thank you! I hope that you continue to heal and find ease.
Elana says
Thanks so much Michele. I’m so glad we are on this healing journey together :-)
Jennifer / Alchemille says
EMFs are a silent killer. We switched our house’s smart reader to an old school analog reaser a few years ago (which the electric company did reluctantly even though we paid the “fine” to do it). Everything these days is becoming “smart” and wireless.
I suspect that my cat’s skin issues are due mostly to EMFs (and maybe chemtrails too), she’s sensitive and a bit on the nervous side.
I’m currently experimenting with the shungite stone (which is something you should look into if you’re into alternative healing modalities – to my knowledge there’s only one book that has been written on the subject even though it’s been used for centuries in Russia. Anyway I prepare a shungite water everyday for my cat to drink, the first thing I was noticing is how much calmer she got and her skin is healing little by little everyday (even without complementary homeopathic remedies).
Elana says
Jennifer, it’s so great to see you here! You were one of my very first readers over a decade ago and I’m thrilled we’re still connected. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on EMF’s, and yes, they are a silent killer.
Lauren says
How did you get your electric company to switch out your meter? Mine won’t do it.
Elana says
Lauren, mine wouldn’t either so we covered it with a metal screen.
Jennifer says
SoCal Edison has a smart meter “opt out” program/option. It was not obviously displayed on their website. You may have to call and talk to someone directly.
Elana says
Jennifer, thanks so much for letting me know that! We live in Colorado and our utility companies would not allow us to get rid of the smart meters so we shielded them :-)
vanessa brooks says
Thank you so much for this post, I have two daughters, one that was diagnosed with ADHD and the other Anxiety. I myself am very sick all the time, RA, Fibromyalgia, Depression, ADD, the list goes on and on. We have Wifi and we live in an older home that needs new wiring BAD but we can not afford it. I am going to look into the EMF’s for sure! My oldest daughter with ADHD has major anxiety and can not sleep well. Thank you for this post so much.
Elana says
Vanessa, I’m so sorry to hear that. Yes, it might be that wireless radiation is exacerbating your family’s health issues. It definitely made mine much worse. Best of luck and please keep me posted :-)
Veronique says
So glad you were able to discover the underlying problem. Swift healing to you and thanks again for your wonderful recipes :)
Elana says
Veronique, I’m glad too! It’s such a relief :-)
Meg Doll says
Thank you so much for sharing all of this, Elana. I read your previous post about EMFs, but must go back and read again. I truly feel as though this is what I am struggling with.
Thank you, again! Would love to chat with you some time.
Elana says
Meg, I think that electromagnetic radiation is more harmful to people like myself whose health is already compromised. I’m guessing you’re in that situation too. I hope you’ll let me know if you have any other questions, I’d be more than happy to answer them here :-)
Jen says
Elana,
How do you use the internet now without wifi? Can you still use a laptop? I read your other article and see how you (me) can reduce cell phone use and changing to a corded phone, plus also turning off printers. But what about computers/laptops, and even Ipads?
To be honest, I’m thinking I have to go back to the old method of how we used our old large computer. Dial up connection or ethernet. ditching the smart phone for a dumb phone. Going back to the old ways of living, which I guess was only 8 years ago or so.
Thanks,
Jen
Elana says
Hi Jen, you can still use a laptop, just don’t ever hold it on your lap (manufacturer’s instructions specify to keep it several inches from your body), and use an ethernet cable to plug it into the wall instead of using WiFi.
Sami says
Wow, what technology can do to you!! Glad you found the source of the problem and are slowly getting back to normal.
Elana says
Thanks Sami!
N says
Elana, I had my first Meyers cocktail(IV nutrients) about 3 Weeks ago.
I felt great before the treatment.
Although, by the time I finished I felt Aweful which continued for 2 to 3 days.
My I ask, if you have ever felt extremely different before and after and what do you think
might have caused it.
I experienced nausea and lethargy after.
I asked the Functionl Med Doc. All I got was …it shouldn’t do that. He offered no other Explaination. I’m due for another June 5.
Thanks for your advice.
Nancy
Elana says
N, thanks for your comment! I’ve had this happen too and we’ve needed to slow the infusion down in order to make the detox that sometimes follows a little less uncomfortable.
Lauren says
Have you done 23 and me and checked your detox pathways?
Elana says
Lauren, not sure if your comment was for me of Nancy, but it’s a good one! I have the MTHFR genetic mutation which impairs detoxification.
Ellie says
Nancy, I’m currently doing Ozone infusions to try to fight Lyme and super high EBV. Another patient experienced severe detox symptoms but found great relief from infrared sauna treatments. The excessive sweating pushed to released toxins out faster for him. My detox symptoms haven’t been too bad even tho I am ++c677t (MTHFR gene mutation) but per my last test results the treatments have only been marginally effective so it may just be I don’t have much to detox.
Elana, I’ll be sending this article to my husband! Even tho he is ++a1298c he doesn’t notice symptoms from anything. Denial, maybe? I can’t tolerate using my laptop, period. I keep my cell phone away from my body as much as possible. At night it recharges in the next room. My husband, however, recharges his at his bedside. Do you think I could be affected by his phone being so close during sleep? What about remote controls, like for TV’s? We have very little wireless technology right now and I think I’ll keep it that way! Sidenote: we turned off our gas logs – I couldn’t tolerate them any more. ALL Symptoms increased with menopause – so glad you found some of your triggers earlier!
Elana says
Ellie, not that young. I was born in 1967 which puts me at 50 this year! I don’t recommend sleeping anywhere near a cell phone unless it’s on airplane mode. Nighttime is when our bodies rest and detox and pouring radiation into a sleep environment does not support that. We changed out our TV remote controls, getting rid of the wireless and replacing with infrared. Thanks so much for sharing your EMF journey with me, it sounds like you’re on the right track :-)
Linda from Getting Real in Your Kitchen says
I’m so glad that you are starting to feel better! Do you think that EMF’s could cause ear ringing?
Elana says
Thanks for your comment Linda! Yes, I’ve read that EMF exposure can cause tinnitus.