Just six months after I started working for this company again, my symptoms escalated to a new height; I began to have shaking spells. At the end of January, 2010, I had just finished eating my lunch, and was getting ready to head back to work, when all of a sudden I became extremely light-headed and felt as if I was going to pass out. I sat for a bit, trying to regain my senses, but it wasn’t working. Never one to be a “baby”, I clocked in and went to work. Unfortunately, my symptoms only became worse. I was waiting on a customer, when my hands started to shake as I gave him his change. One of my co-workers was standing near me, and noticed what was happening–lets just say, she was very concerned about my odd behavior–and told me I was very pale, and should probably sit down, before I fell down. I still felt as though I wanted to pass out, so did as she suggested and sat. She offered me something to eat, as she thought I might be suffering from low blood sugar, but once I told her I’d just had lunch, that theory went out the door. The tremors spread throughout me, and pretty soon my entire body was shaking uncontrollably. I was so frustrated, and embarrassed, at this point, because I couldn’t perform my job functions as I always have, and had the all of my co-workers fussing over me (I’m not one who likes to be fussed over, so it was really upsetting to me to have everyone staring at me, wondering what was wrong).
Once the manager was notified about what was happening, he told me to go home and rest. I truly shouldn’t have been driving as I had no control over my shaking, but, being my stubborn self, I did it anyway. To say the least, I should never have driven myself home; it’s a wonder that I didn’t wreck. The shaking was so bad that I had to grip the steering wheel so hard that my knuckles turned white, just so I could manage to stay on the road.
When I arrived home my boyfriend was waiting for me (I had called him from work to tell him what was going on), and he made me go to bed immediately. In hindsight, I probably should have been taken to the hospital, but I hate going to such places, and I didn’t think they’d be able to help me, so I didn’t go. My boyfriend, being a typical “have to fix it” guy, piled four blankets on top of me when I’d laid down, and told me to take a nap. Since neither of us had a clue as to why I was shaking, I guess his thought that I might be cold was as good a suggestion as any, especially since when he took my temperature (yes, he was that thorough) it was low.
I’m still not sure, even to this day, why that nap worked, but when I woke up I was no longer shaking. As I started having more and more episodes, I found out that relaxing (for some reason) made the tremors stop. This first episode was very scary for me (and everyone who saw it), but just like the dizziness and headaches had become regular occurrences in my life, so would the tremors.
While this condition is very real to me, and I know for a fact that it exists, many people have no idea the harm electromagnetic fields can have on them or others. “A man hassled a neighbor over hіѕ Wi-Fi allergies, аnd wе dismissed hіm аѕ a member οf thе tin-foil hat brigade,” (The Internet Database, 2010). This article discusses how most people feel about this type of disorder…as if it’s completely made-up, which only makes it more difficult to inform others of how harmful some electrical devices and fluorescent lighting can be. This article does go on to say how wrong they were for thinking such things, but writers need to make sure to thoroughly research their topic before publishing it. This article does a poor job at really getting to the heart of the matter; in fact, it doesn’t discuss electrohypersensitivity at all, but only gives a link to another story, where one can finally get an idea how this disorder can affect someone.
The above article didn’t give much information to what electrohypersensitivity can do to someone, but the following one does a better job of it.
Per Segerbäck lives in a modest cottage in a nature reserve some 75 miles
northeast of Stockholm. Wolves, moose and brown bears roam freely past his
front door. He keeps limited human company, because human technology makes
him physically ill. How ill? On a walk last summer, he ran into one of his few
neighbors, a man who lives in a cottage about 100 yards away. During their chat,
the man’s cellphone rang, and Segerbäck, 54, was overcome by nausea. Within
seconds, he was unconscious.
(Geary, 2010).
This man has an extremely severe case of electrohypersensitivity, and I feel that the article does his disorder justice, and gives readers a better idea of how harmful this can be. The problem I have with the article is that, as one continues to read, electrohypsensitivity is mocked, and said to be a psychotic episode, not a reaction to electromagnetic fields. “Segerbäck’s symptoms and those of other EHS sufferers, according to many researchers, may be either misdiagnosed or imaginary. Some experts suggest that people like Segerbäck perhaps suffer from a psychological disorder, or that their cases may illustrate the “nocebo” effect, in which the expectation that something will make you sick actually does make you sick,” (Geary, 2010). It isn’t surprising to see this type of information in the article, as it is how most people see this disorder. The doctors I saw looked at me like I was crazy when I suggested electrohypersensitivity as the answer to my condition. I don’t think it’s because they know what the disorder is, but because they have never heard of it, and so (in their minds) it doesn’t exist.
It’s good to see article coming out about this disorder, but it would be nice to see ones that argue for it instead of against it.
Geary, James. (March, 2010). Popsci. The Man Who Was Allergic to Radio Waves.
Retrieved from http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-02/disconnected
The Internet Database. (October, 2010). Electrohypersensitivity: The Gadget Allergy
[Health]. Retrieved from
http://boomnews.info/2010/03/electro-hypersensitivity-the-gadget-allergy-health/