How weird is this?

[karenb68]

As some of you know, my daughter started having seizures in April (maybe small ones earlier, hard to know for sure). Just before that, I started having severe headaches and eventually, involuntary eye movements. We were having some remodeling done at about the same time. The doctors all think I'm wacko when I ask about testing for lead or other toxins in our blood, like something environmental contributing to this. I called again today to ask for mine to be tested and my doc didn't even return my call.

About a month ago, a stray dog showed up and no one claimed him so he's still here with us, indoors only. This afternoon, he's sitting there next to hubby's chair and starts having what I can best describe as some sort of seizure! He's shaking all over and slumping to one side, making soft little strange sounds. Hubby runs him right out the door to the vet and when he told them everything going on, the vet asks "have you all had your blood tested for lead?" onder:

I know dogs have seizures, but really, this is just too weird.

 

[Nakamova]

It's not uncommon for dogs to have seizures, but for you and your daughter and the dog all to start displaying neurological side effects seems mighty suspicious.

I think you're instincts are right -- it's time to get tested for lead. Keep pushing!

 

[Rae1889]

If the doctor wont do it right away, get your water tested. that is usually the place where you can be contaminated. especially as its one of the only things you share with your dog.

also if you bought anything new since this all started that is painted with lead paint?

 

[draggrif]

This may sound weird, but do you live in a damp area, or have you ever had a pipe leak? Most houses have some kind of mold, and in certain cases a really nasty strain takes over. Remodeling could kick up the mold spores, especially if they messed with the basement or anywhere dark and damp. It probably wouldn't hurt to get a flashlight and check out some of the dark, icky corners of your house. Some mold spores present like heavy metal poisoning.

*reads too much*

 

[Endless]

Draggrif has a good point. I'm suspicious, too.

Two ways you can continue to pursue this are to google the following:

"Environmental medicine" plus your city (which will give a list of environmental medicine doctors in your town)

"Mold Contractor" plus your city (which will give a list of mold remediation contractors in your town)

Environmental medicine doctors specialize in illnesses caused by reactions to things in your envirnonment, like petrochemicals, mold, etc.

Mold remediation contractors are trained in searching for mold in a house and if they find it, removing it. An inspection ususally costs $400-$500.

An intermediate measure would be to move out to an "executive apartment" that comes furnished, with everything you need. Just do it for a month, and see if you all get better. I don't know your market, but you can get one here for about $3000/mo. It is expensive but would be worth it to find out if it is your environment making you sick.

Good luck. Let us know how you are doing, okay?

 

[karenb68]

Thanks for the ideas everyone. I finally got in (7 weeks to wait for appt!) to the ENT doc yesterday and he thinks I'm having migraines. The closest mold/contaminant contractor I could find is over an hour away and he suggested getting home test kits to rule out some of the basics first, so I took a lead sample from our water this morning and will be doing one for mold today as well. He said then he'd be happy to come out and do follow-up tests. I live in a rural area, there are only a few gen practitioners in town and mine thinks I'm being crazy to worry about it, LOL.

When we had our house added on to in April, hubby had the plumber add a new outside spigot out front so they had to run stuff across the crawlspace to make it happen. We've had very little rain and last week we noticed the sump pump kicking on. Hubby finally goes under there to check it out Monday and ACK! there's water bubbling out of the ground where the new connection is. The plumber came pretty quick and said the new connector had split...heaven knows when it happened. Around here they only actually "read" your water meter every 2-3 months, just estimate most of the time, and they certainly don't give you a heads up when you're using a lot more than normal. I noticed a few days ago that even with the water softener and under-sink filter system, my coffee tasted really sharp and weird so I didn't drink it. Our water got nasty about 3 yrs ago when Walmart tore up the field behind us to build their eyesore store, too. I'll post when I get results.