When I Faced Neurotoxicity!

When I Faced Neurotoxicity!

Due to cockroaches in my apartment!

That’s the house which made me sick (2014) : Image by author

Once, I faced serious neurotoxicity!

It wasn’t poisonous gas or pesticide that caused this curse.

It was something else — something biological.

San Diego is called the finest city. It’s lovely, with so many amazing places. We lived in an area called Mission Valley.

In that apartment, there was a cockroach problem. Of course, no one told us.

It wasn’t the big cockroaches but a small variety called German cockroaches (Blattella germanica).

Indian kitchens are always busy. I can’t say I keep it always tidy, but its not like crumbs were scattered. I used to keep potatoes and onions in wicker baskets — and they enjoyed that.

Their numbers exploded, and soon we had a problem.

I didn’t know they could be so inflammatory and so immunogenic. I was in my 30s. Estrogen, the surveilling hormone was at its peak.

My immune system doesn’t take inflammatory agents kindly.

I got sick. I inhaled and came into contact with the chitin, enzymes, and excreta of the cockroaches.

I asked my spouse to change places. This wasn’t a simple problem. I senses premonition. I am a biology researcher, working at that time on a pathogenic bacterium.

He said it was too much hassle and would rather call the cleaning guys. The chemical treatment went in futile. Cockroaches are armored to survive apocalypse!

My hormonal, immune, and neural systems were affected badly.

From the outside, I may not have looked sick, but a storm was raging inside.

Smiling but I was sick (2015) : Image by author

As a biology professional, I was aware of each signal.

It would be an epic if I narrated the range of symptoms. I will write a book on it.

Anyway, my degree in a University in San Diego finished, and we moved to another city. This time, my spouse, having seen my suffering, rented a beautiful upscale apartment in a leafy neighborhood.

The metabolic disturbance had added some extra weight (2016) : Image by author

I healed, but before that, my body made me suffer more.

Why?

Well, I had been living in survival mode due to the allergen exposure.

Transitioning back to a normal, healthy mode required going through a withdrawal phase.

It was hard.

I remember sitting on my bed, writing my biomedical article in the morning.

I had eaten a frozen roti for breakfast. My windpipe would tighten as if a ghost was strangulating me.

Then, my brain felt shaky as if I were having Parkinson’s.

I would feel tinnitus, the ear ringing.

Suddenly, a sensation would move down my cheek, and I would feel scarring on the trigeminal nerves, a part of multiple sclerosis.

Sometimes, it felt like a crawling sensation on my body.

The soles itched.

I knew it was my nervous system calling SOS.

You see, the prolonged biological exposure had made the body acidic, and the nerve myelin sheath was scarred here and there.

So, electrical impulses were disturbed in the acidic and damaged nerves.

But I hung on, followed a good lifestyle, and stayed away from chemicals.

I believed there would be light at the end of the dark tunnel.

And voilà, one day, after more than 4 years of agonies, without medical treatment, I got healthy.

Evidence? Two healthy kids without intervention. A woman with a sick body can’t make it through pregnancy and birth healthy babies.

Almost healed and pregnant with first baby (2019) : Image by author

So, that’s how, I suffered from neurotoxicity from cockroach allergens!!

Neurotoxicity isn’t just caused by scary chemicals but by everyday infections, allergens, pollution, and your household chemicals.

Often they combine forces that are even more insidious.

I learned a lot on human health through my suffering.

Discomforts when taken positively always does that wonder.

Did you find this personal story informative?

Let me know.

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