When did you first start to develop EHS/Microwave Sickness, or make the link that your symptoms were caused by RF/EMFs ?
In late 2004 I started getting headaches, insomnia, eye pain, eye inflammation and a host of other symptoms, that hospital tests could find no cause for. This went on for six months, when I then noticed an antenna mobile phone mast on the roof of the next door building. I discovered it had been switched on six months earlier, coinciding with the start of my health problems. Research provided evidence that my symptoms were caused by exposure to microwave radiation, and that’s when I made the link.
What are your symptoms?
Among other symptoms the main ones would be headaches, environmentally induced tinnitus, insomnia, exhaustion, dizziness, nausea, weakness, eye pain, chest pain, arrhythmia, blood clotting, bleeding under skin and fibromyalgia flare-ups.
How does it affect your life on a day to day basis?
There is no aspect of my life that is not affected. All public spaces are heavily polluted with this industrial toxin – shops, libraries, community centres, hospitals, doctor’s surgeries, along with all public transport etc, so accessing everything is difficult. I have to shop early, on quiet days, and avoid as much as possible people and places where smart phones are used – which is next to impossible.
The double burden of this disability is not only how it cripples your life, but that there is a general disbelief and lack of understanding that is as bad as the condition itself.
What changes have you had to make in your life to reduce your exposure to RF/EMF radiation ( e.g. moving house, leaving work, shielding) ?
Moving house was not possible, but I did have to take early retirement from my job. Mostly I have to refuse invitations as its not worth the certain risk of feeling ill either on the day or afterwards. If I do go anywhere I try and check beforehand to ensure that I reduce exposure to EMFs as much as possible. Shielding my home is a work in progress and expensive.
How do your family and friends respond to your situation?
They are supportive.
How does your GP respond to your situation?
My GP is supportive.
What do you think our government and decision makers should do ?
1. Follow the ICNIRP guidelines.
On page 546 it says that children, the elderly and some chronically ill might have a lower tolerance for these microwaves and will need separate guidelines. Our disability group falls in to this category. On page 547 it says decision makers need to read recent scientific literature and determine appropriate reduction factors below the levels which are causing illness. This needs to be done as a matter of urgency.
2. De-stigmatise our condition.
A 2007 government report ‘Health Effects of Electromagnetic Fields’ says our symptoms may be due to pre-existing psychiatric conditions – and directs GPs to offer the only remedy of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). This psychologising of a very real physiological condition/disability needs to change so that public awareness changes, and the burden of ignorance and intolerance ( which many of us face daily) surrounding it can be lifted.
3. Make home shielding grants available to those who need them.
How do you feel about the roll out of further 4G, 5G, Smart meters and LED street lighting in your area and across the country ?
I am mystified as to why decision makers are blanketing the country with a genotoxic smog that accelerates the extinction of wildlife, especially pollinators upon whom we depend for food. I feel we have to hope that sense prevails. We have to hope that the technocrats realise, in time, that destroying DNA and the ability to think straight is not the wisest way to proceed if we are to survive as a species. If every corner of Ireland and the world can be surveyed and monitored, but as a result we end up with a dead planet, then we all lose.
Electromagnetic Sense Ireland 