Doctor’s Corner

 

About the author of this section: Dr. Scott Eberle originally trained as a family physician, worked for nearly two decades as an AIDS specialist, and continues as a hospice medical director. After an episode of carbon monoxide poisoning in 2010, he began having symptoms that, in retrospect, were the initial onset of electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS).  In 2013, his health plummeted until he finally figured out the cause. See What’s the Diagnosis Doctor? published in Sonoma Medicine in 2014.

This “Doctor’s Corner” is mostly directed toward people with moderate to severe electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS). As a fellow sufferer, I want to share as much as I can about what I’ve learned in years of having severe EHS. I have divided this material into four different stages of EHS.

Each of these four sections will offer further links to an array of topics that may be relevant to someone at that particular stage.

The Unsuspecting

Most of the general public is either unaware of, or unconcerned about, the rapid increase in radio frequency exposure that is happening in most towns and cities. This is also true for most people who unwittingly begin developing symptoms related to radio frequency exposure or other forms of electromagnetic fields (EMFs).

Strange symptoms: The initial phase of developing EHS typically is characterized by the sporadic appearance of strange new symptoms without any clear cause. As long as these symptoms are relatively minor, a lack of awareness about the cause, paradoxically, may make it easier to cope emotionally. Radio frequency signals are invisible, silent, odorless, and tasteless. Out of sight is out of mind. No problem . . . at first anyway.

An Escalating Crisis: For people who develop a more severe version of EHS, there typically comes a time of escalating symptoms, developing over weeks to months, which may crescendo in a full-on crisis. For a review of EHS symptoms, possible precursors to disease, and one story about this escalating crisis, see this article: What’s the Diagnosis Doctor?

This period of escalating symptoms can be a time of great confusion and uncertainty.

Why am I feeling so poorly?
Is there something in my environment that’s poisoning me?
What’s happening to my mind and brain?

This time can be demoralizing, if not hugely frightening.

Confirming a Diagnosis of Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS)

Many stories are told about how and why people came to figure out they are electrosensitive.

  • The symptoms simply got so bad.
  • Time feeling well in the country was followed by feeling poorly within a day or two of returning to a town or city.
  • Symptoms followed very soon after a known insult—e.g. a new wi-fi system at home or work, or a new cell-tower in the neighborhood.
  • Suspicion was raised by hearing someone else’s story about EHS.
  • Symptoms become so severe that a search for any possible cause eventually leads to a diagnosis of EHS

Whatever the circumstances, the time may come that it’s important to confirm a suspected diagnosis. Three different strategies may help to do this.

  1. Consider a trial vacation away from all things electromagnetic: The value here is to see what happens to your health when you are clear of any EMF exposure. This can be hugely difficult to orchestrate, however, as EMFs are so ubiquitous. If you are capable and willing, spend time camping far away from cities and towns—ideally with a radio frequency meter in hand (avoidance of electric and magnetic fields can be well-assumed if you are in an isolated setting, but radio frequency signals are seemingly everywhere, so a meter is needed to confirm their absence). Be aware of the radio frequency exposures you will have on the way out and back (cell phone towers are stationed along most major highways), and monitor their impact on your well-being. Try to allow a week in a setting with little or no signal to see how much you recover. Also pay special attention to how you feel the first few days after you are back in your home and moving through your daily life.

2. Do your own diagnostic test: The above “trial vacation” may strongly suggest you have a sensitivity to EMF, which might then prompt you to perform a controlled, even blinded, exposure to a radio frequency source to see if you develop symptoms. Go to this article for a short description of the test I devised for myself: What’s the Diagnosis Doctor?

Complicating this self-testing is that, for some, there is a significant delay between exposure and onset of symptoms (for me, it’s usually an hour or two; unless the exposure is really high, in which case it may be minutes).

Also complicating this self-testing approach is the reasonable worry that intentionally exposing yourself to a high signal will cause further damage to your health.

3. Monitor your environment and keep a journal: Another approach—either in addition to, or instead of, the above test-exposure—is to get several types of meters to measure the different kinds of EMFs: electric fields, magnetic fields and radio frequency fields. Use these meters to monitor your environment meticulously. Keep a journal to record both exposures and symptoms, and see if you can tease out a clear connection. Be patient; this may take some time. Even if you already know you have EHS, this approach will be invaluable as you try to figure out just what forms of electromagnetic fields you have to worry about.

Be forewarned, confirming a diagnosis of EHS may turn out to be both good news and bad news. Obviously knowing the truth of what’s causing your symptoms will be of huge potential benefit over the months and years to come, but for someone with severe EHS, this diagnosis will also mark the beginning of what I’ve come to call the Underworld Journey.

An Underworld Journey

Electromagnetic fields are everywhere—be they electric and magnetic fields (from all the wall sockets and wiring about your house) or radio frequency (from wifi systems, cordless phones, cell phones, cell-towers, etc.). Discovering you are seriously electrosensitive to something so pervasive is to discover—suddenly and ominously—that your entire world is unsafe.

The risk of overwhelm is huge.

  • Physical overwhelm: How can I help myself when I feel so lousy all the time?
  • Intellectual overwhelm: How can I begin to learn all that I need to know?
  • Financial overwhelm: Will I lose my job? How can I pay for all the interventions that might help me?
  • Emotional overwhelm: Is this anxiety I’m feeling part of EHS-induced hyperactive nervous system? Or is it simply a result of all this overwhelm?
  • Relational overwhelm: Do my friends and family all think I’m crazy? Who can I turn to for help?
  • Spiritual overwhelm: What and where is “safe”? Physically safe? Emotionally safe?

An underworld journey, to be sure.

Read the entire article: An Underworld Journey- The Psychology of Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS)

There’s so much to learn, so much to do, but the only way forward is to take this on a step at a time. This step-by-step path can lead you toward the light of day—

Toward the Light of Day

To find your way to your own personal “light of day” will take lots of learning, the testing of many hypotheses, and a long list of projects to create a safe environment. Slowly, step by step, you can reclaim the most basic of needs: a safe place in the world, and with that, a capacity to heal.

Healing is possible! Reclaiming your life is possible!

A step by step approach:

Educate yourself: The EMF Safety Network website is a great place to start. For safety tips:  http://emfsafetynetwork.org/safety-precautions/ for more info on EHS:  http://emfsafetynetwork.org/safety-precautions/electrical-sensitivity/

Start a journal:  Consider this your own scientific experiment. Try not to be daunted. Only you will be able to gather the information that will help sort out which exposures make you symptomatic and which interventions reduce those symptoms. Here’s an example of headings for a daily journal that you might keep:

Date    Exposures    Symptoms    Mood of the Day    Sleep    Morning    Well-Being    Insights

The idea is to track exposures and symptoms over each 24-hour period, from morning to morning. Insomnia and morning well-being are often a by-product of exposures from the day before, which is why “Sleep” and “Morning Well-Being” are part of the entry from the day before.

For this to have much benefit, you need to record in the journal regularly—ideally every day or even twice a day, morning and evening. Pay special attention to the “insights” that come from each day. Over time, you may become increasingly clear about what is causing you trouble and what might alleviate it.

3.  Measure EMF levels in your environment: This is essential information to enter into your journal, along with recording the symptoms you develop in response to each type of EMF. Over time you’ll get to know your own sensitivities and then be able to prioritize interventions to reduce your exposures.

4.  Remove or reduce common sources of EMF exposure: The following links offer overviews of interventions to get you started. These may be beneficial for all people, even those who aren’t clearly electrosensitive:

5.  Consider shielding projects to further minimize exposures: Once you have a clear sense about your own sensitivity pattern, you can then design more detailed projects that will address this. Some of this can be done alone, but if possible, consider hiring an EMF consultant: Neuert Electromagnetic Services (707) 578-1645 

6.  Seek out supportive care: This all can be overwhelming. Best not to do it alone. If possible, enlist the support of a physician as well as others: friends, other people with EHS, perhaps even a therapist: Seeking Medical Care

A Closing Personal Note: One day, about 3 or 4 months into my underworld journey, my mother said to me:

“You’ve had to call upon all the innate gifts you’ve ever had to deal with this, haven’t you?”
“Yes, mom, I have.”

And so it must be for anyone who develops a severe version of EHS. Educate yourself. Take control of those things you can control. Persevere.

I say again: Healing is possible! Reclaiming your life is possible!

 

16 thoughts on “Doctor’s Corner”

  1. Pingback: EMF Safety Network
  2. Hi,

    My mom told me can no longer smell or taste and this has persisted for months now. I believe it’s due to EMF toxicity because she talks on the cell phone all the time. I have given her the basic tips for avoiding exposure to EMF and how to use the cell phone. I also told her that being outdoors and walking barefoot will help. I’m wondering if you could tell me any other holistic ways to treat this? I think natural seawater could be beneficial? Any information will really help!

    Thanks!
    Alexis

  3. My name is BJ. I became of EMF sensitivities in my early 20’s (I am now nearly 60). I think sleeping with an electric bed-wetting device & electric blankets may have been my early steps into this downward spiral I now find myself on. I entertained co-workers with my ‘electric’ antics, like the copy machine not working whenever I stood beside it, getting massively shocked from the instruments in the lab…and in zapped by any and all things in stores (especially Costco it seems), my hair standing on end, etc.
    I worked in hospital labs, mostly in hematology (which I loved). I had to stop working in 2010 due to having terrible memory loss. After moving to an area in a larger city & beside an airport, I began having other bizarre neurological issues (pain & tingling up & down my spine & in my head, electric shock pain if someone lightly touched my shoulders area, more confusion and dizziness, etc). After getting a new smartphone and a smart meter being put on my house, I suddenly began having seizures in 2014. After moving to Tacoma and having 600 wireless antennas within 4 miles of my home, I became completely homebound due to the amount on seizures and more that was happening to me. We moved away from the ‘high’ levels 1.5 yrs ago. I feel like I was resurrected. I have taken other helpful measures, but still need more. Most of all, I need a good doctor that is knowledgable and understanding of what is happening to me, one that will help. I am driving again, but only in the ‘country’ area where I live and ONLY when I feel that I can safely do so, which is not very often. I now live in Grapeview, WA. Does anyone have any suggestions of a doctor in that area? Thank you.

  4. I’m electrosensitive and am looking to start a monthly support group in Oakland County Michigan. Please let me know if you’re interested. Every state should have support groups and we should all have a phone conference at least 2x per year! We all need to share information, stand together and make positive changes to our environment!

  5. My name is Joe Thompson , I live in Tulsa ok ,I’m 61 , just last two years didn’t know what the hell was happening to me , it was and still is hell can’t sleep can’t hardly concentrate and when it hits like a pulse can barely walk straight line , I live in apts that has just switched intire electric meters over to smart meters and they put wyfy antenna just on top of laundry pluse transformer about 20 feet from where I sleep ,I’ve called pso over 20 times they keep switching over to someone else saying it a little above there pay grade ,but still can’t get know one to come out and get a emf reading, I’m raiseing 7 grandkids and I’m also disabled ,is there any doctor or anyone that you know of that can help ,please just barried my brother in law on 5-23-19 and with everything thing else it’s hurting my grandkids too . My number is 918-286-9510.

  6. Hi. How can I access all your comments for past couple of years? Maybe more? Gathering names, locations on people. Desperate people posting phone numbers is of much interest to me please. Am I able to access that info? Thanks!

  7. My life has been more than challenging and I’m so grateful to have found this information.
    I look forward to reading your information and experiences.
    Thank you so very much.
    Feeling hopeful again.

  8. Hire an EMF tester and have your house tested for EMFs. Reduce as much electrical exposure as possible. See our FAQ/ AAEM for environmental doctors

  9. After Hurricane Florence, which was in September of 2018. I discovered a gallon of antifreeze that mice had chewed a hole into. Needless to say, it leaked out. Into my hardwood floor and soaked through into the subflooring. Just happened to be right where the breaker box and main power for our home is, as well as the furnace and water heater, washer and dryer. Since then it has gotten into the heating system and everything else. I have epilepsy, menopause, Graves Disease, and now I know that I have EHS. My head hurts all the time. Chest hurts. Face is swollen. Eyes are bulging. And my whole family thinks I’m crazy. I’m a caretaker for a stroke patient. But he doesn’t feel it. Says he doesn’t, but every time the compressor kicks in or wifi or anything else. He says he doesn’t feel it. But he’s getting worse too. Is there a Dr near Wilmington, N.C. that can help me? Does anyone know?

  10. Hi

    Myself and my partner have been battling with our son’s school to have the wifi removed (or at least turned off when not in use), but are getting absolutely nowhere. We are certain our son has EHS related symptoms and are looking to get him diagnosed with this – can anyone help on where we could get him diagnosed as our doctors think we are crazy. We live in the UK .

    Many thanks

  11. Hello, my name is Brian Shelly, and I am severely suffering from emf and rf radiation and cancer due to it. My hands are in severe condition as well as the rest of my body. No one , including Dr’s don’t believe me. I know that it caused my cancer, I really need help, you know what it is, please help me, this is a result of cell phone use, I know the cell phone rf has done this and nothing helps the pain. Any help would be appreciated.
    Thank You, Brian Shelly
    267 333 3947

  12. I know I have EHS and I know where it’s coming from and I cannot remove it unless it is doctor ordered to the the courts to remove it. It’s a GPS bracelet that’s affixed to my ankle.
    It started happening almost immediately, or about 2 weeks after initial placement. I’ve had it removed for MRI’s and when it was not working properly, I didn’t have any of the symptoms. I’ve had it on sine November 2016 and I can feel when it transmits because my head vibrates, my balancing turns into vertigo and I have to hold on to something so my legs don’t give out. I can’t think, I can’t sleep very well, I can’t exercise as it’s 1000x worse than when I just sit around doing nothing. My balancing feels like; walking around like I’m drunk and I do NOT drink and I fall and run into walls and doors……And now I’ve been diagnosed with cerebrovascular disease as the brain MRI showed up as if my brain belonged to a 90 year old while I’m in my late 40’s. And I can’t work, as it’s taking a toll on me drastically and now I am 60 pounds overweight. The medical bills are piling up just trying to find a Real Doctor who can relate. It feels like Capital Punishment… And from what I am told, I should not even be on this monitor as it doesn’t make sense.

    I wish this doctor would email me back…
    I sure hope there is a God and this doctor can give my treating doctor any advice into this matter and to find a Lawyer to counteract the means to make this right.

    Thank You and God Bless!

  13. Yes !!!me and my wife are now stuck with EHS ….. what works for me is meditation music and certain frequencies
    Try youtube
    And he is a good one

    https://youtu.be/ZN9iYm-qCQo

    nd my family have been effected by a 120v Honeywell fan … a small fan that malfunction…. and now amplifies a field of EMF OR ELF …this fan was giving to me about 2 yrs ago ..from my mom and . . we all have neurological, fatigue, sickness issues fiber Malaga .. numbness to arms and legs , backs..and joint pain I found out only 1 month ago …luckily I’m smart and I have a EMF reader .. anyways we keep this fan on all day and night, we use to sleep with it blowing on us next to our bed. For atleast a year well now it stays off!!! And we notice and feel a difference .our bodies are still going thru something… and I just now discussing with my doctor. !!but this FAN , it makes you sick to you stomach and makes your hair stand up on your arms … when turned on … a vortex is actually being created.. in the room also seems any metal in the way will also amplify the effect
    Any help would be greatly appreciated…
    I just want to make the WORLD SEE what happens and maybe prevent anyone else from getting sick…
    currently me and my wife have experienced hell… and have lots of doctors costs .. but thank GOD !!
    ..best regards
    Michael hedrick
    404454 9329

  14. I hear HEALING IS POSSIBLE. But nobody wants to say HOW to be healed. What are the steps to healing from EHS? Somebody please speak up….I implore you. If it is possible–say how to do it.

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