But, the CBC Looks Good
Has anyone experienced this?
My doctor moved out of state and I need to track him down to get a copy of my blood test... Right now I don't have it and don't know what it even says? I did have a urinalysis done too but forgot to ask about it? My doctor didn't say anything about that test for some reason?? I'll have to find out more later on. It may take a while because I have to track him down on the AMA website. My doctor before he left my state, didn't say anything about the CBC either. He just told me everything looked good... I'll have to find out more.

I have one question though for you: Does Corexit have any smell or odor to it? When I went into the arms room I didn't smell or sense anything out of the ordinary except the way the arms room attendant was staring at me kind of weird like he was up to something... That is the only suspicious behavior I noticed; and he pulled a tarp off some cargo and all of this white dust flew up in my face and got all over us! That was the second unusual thing that happened to us; that and when I stepped in the liquid that was leaking out of the bottom of the blue 50 gallon drum, I stepped in it and it got on my combat boots. But I never smelled anything unusual and I was told by the arms room attendant not to worry about that barrel leaking. It was a clear fluid sort of like water but it had an oily appearance to it like mineral oil or something like that.

Gulf War Vet - "Shattered Life, Too"

 
CBC usually does look good; so retic ratio not ordered
I heard Corexit was like kerosene; should become vapor quickly as it is 38% 2-butoxyethanol. Maybe it is odorless; or smells like when you clean out radiators. I haven't been around any, but I know they try to store it on the Alyeska pipeline oil terminal for usage again some day, should there need to be oil spill cleaned up; sad day if that's ever put in the water!

Most times the CBCs look OK. (Probably NOT the differential part.)


But still the Reticulocyte count can show too many immature red blood cells. I think if doctors started ordering this routinely they would be surprised how many people have this kind of fatigue ... and if they have the add on assortment of odd symptoms, then maybe suspect the 2-butoxyethanol poisoning which does all of that, too; plus cause autoimmune hemolytic anemia (Remember, this diagnosis may not show up right away; but the 'retic ratio' will be off right away)

Doesn't the doctor's office, have a copy of your blood results? How about the lab that did them? It's important information. Whatever the results were then; they wouldn't be any better now; so you can still get the info. It's a good idea for everyone to collect their blood information and see whether it is changing in any area over time.

Would the VA send you to a hematologist? I think Walter Reid Army Hospital is checking into this. I shared this info with them a week ago, in better detail than before; before I knew to zero in on this part, they replied that the gulf war vets were no more harmed than the general public with no more instances of hemolytic anemia. Well, before you get that diagnosis, the 'retic ratio' will look the same for all those harmed by 2-butoxyethanol and will be something that all harmed by it will look alike in.

Walter Reid (or deployment health?) hasn't replied so promptly this time, so maybe they are checking out this theory. IF not, we can do it ourselves and hope that others start checking, too.

(Remember eyes burning and hurting; fatigue; flu-like symptoms, dark urine can be evident upon too much exposure)

The blood is a very complicated organ.

hemolytic anemia

Look for some of these Symptoms

Chills
Fatigue
Pale color
Shortness of breath
Rapid heart rate
Yellow skin color (jaundice)
Dark urine
Enlarged spleen

Signs and tests
These are tests for hemolysis (red blood cell destruction). There are specific tests which identify the specific types of hemolytic anemia. They are performed after hemolysis has been established.

Elevated indirect bilirubin levels
Low serum haptoglobin
Hemoglobin in the urine
Hemosiderin in the urine
Increased urine and fecal urobilinogen
Elevated absolute reticulocyte count
Low red blood cell count and hemoglobin
Elevated serum LDH
Direct measurement of the red cell life span by isotopic tagging techniques shows a decreased life span.


This disease may also alter the following test results depending on the specific cause:
Uric acid
TIBC
RBC indices
Protein electrophoresis - serum
Potassium test
Platelet count
Peripheral smear
Leukocyte alkaline phosphatase
Serum iron
Hematocrit
Ferritin
Febrile or cold agglutinins
Donath-Landsteiner test
Coombs' test, indirect
Coombs' test, direct
CBC
Blood differential
AST
24 hour urine protein
That liquid was clear like kerosene and was soaking into the concrete. It had no smell to it really but I suppose it was perhaps for cleaning weapons? I believe the arms room attendant was using the 50 gal. drum to clean weapons? He had a suit I believe that he mentioned for cleaning the weapons with? Or gloves or something like that?

I personally believe that I was effected by the anthrax vaccines by contamination of mycoplasma fermantans though or just plain old or bad vaccines? I never had jaundice or anything like that. I had some of those symptoms you listed like the chills, fever, rapid heart rate, fatigue, breathing trouble, etc. No paleness or jaundice though?

Answer this question

From the moment of this horrible fatigue, did your urine turn dark brown to black? You wouldn't have needed a urine test to see that there was blood in your urine. (Burning eyes, flu-like symptoms are often part of the reaction to this chemical exposure)

The identifying marker of 2-butoxyethanol poisoning is blood in one's urine. And at 2.5 days after this exposure, the reticulocyte count would be very, very elevated (Meaning that the red blood cells are being prematurely destroyed - autoimmune hemolytic anemia). So the bone marrow compensates by making more red blood cells, but these are low functioning, immature red blood cells and don't have the iron storage & oxygen storage and utilization that is necessary for energy. I believe this is the fatigue of CFS and CFSID and 'gulf war syndrome' too ... as this chemical also causes the other symptoms that are a part of these.

Over time the bone marrow has trouble making enough red blood cells, but there can also be harm to the liver going on unnoticed because when you have the wrong ratio of mature to immature red blood cells the liver counts are going up; but those are the counts that are checked when the liver is damaged. (Those counts would then be dropping; so one test is counteracting the other)

So, say the doctor didn't pick up on the hemolysis and didn't check further as to the cause? Well, you would still have some ongoing trace blood in your urine, and hopefully they could still test for and find the hemolytic anemia that is underlying all your other ailments.

I know that the blood in urine is key. First, I learned about the workers of the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup. One advisor to Exxon on chemicals shared with me that the first day Inipol EAP 22 (for 'bioremediation') was tried, five men were rushed to the hospital with blood in their urine! That should have been the last day of that experiment, if you ask me. These 1,000 young men and the US Coast Guard monitors have KNOWN EXPOSURE to 2-butoxyethanol. So do the US Navy of the USS Deluth and USS Cleveland military who assisted in the Corexit experiment, July, 1989

Two people have shared that the medical records showing blood in urine no longer are at the local hospital. This information must be significant. As is the regular blood work that was done on the bioremediation workers (not for THEIR benefit, but for the company wanting to make money on inventing a new oil spill cleanup compound)

 
At first I was on active duty and everything was going normal then we got inoculated which all seemed relatively normal. What happened to me from start to finish is when I first got sick, I started coughing very hard and violent and I felt totally exhausted, fatigued, and felt 80 years old instantaniously-- and I was on a military base at the time. I was then rushed to an army hospital where they found out my lungs was filling up with fluid, (I had my anthrax and related vaccines approx. 2 days ealier); I was ordered to have to be admitted because I didn't think I was all that sick and they gave me a room for my illness which I now know was a severe adverse reaction to the vaccines we were given back in 1990; well, I had very severe diarrhea when I got there, the worst I have ever had! I was normal at first then things turned very ugly very fast! I turned gray and had red skin which quickly became hot to the touch! I had severe body aches, joint pain in all joints, fever, red bloodshot and teary eyes, dizziness, nauseated, very sick feeling, muscle aches, bad case of diarrhea, urination was dark in color (Dark Orange like I never saw before?) I think? chest pains, breathing problems, etc. It was very bad!!! There were 9 others in my room also, but I personally don't believe they made it out of that hospital alive. I did but only on a prayer and a special pill I was given that changed everything!!! I nearly died and is the reason why I am writing on this forum... I fall over a lot and have coordination problems, dizziness, vision problems, muscle pain, diaphragm pain, abdominal pains, chest pains, bone pains, joint pains, can't walk well, etc. The effects of this has been very catastrophic for me and very devastating to my life! I am just not the same anymore, and I mean that in a very negative way! An Adverse Event!
You previously mentioned high blood pressure? The endocrine system is disrupted, and you can get high or low blood pressure; high or low blood sugar. I heard of a man last year with violent flu-reaction: vomiting, diarrhea and turned out his blood sugar was 570. Doc says this is all a diabetes problem. (from the odd symptoms, I suspect that is a side effect of 2-butoxyethanol poisoning. I would like to know if he has blood in his urine; and what his 'retic' ratio is, in that it is only a year after the fact ... he should have an elevated absolute reticulocyte count)

Do you have any traces of blood in your urine? This may be very, very significant.

Thank you for sharing

'Dear Maggie'

http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=154214&page=8&pp=5

I'm living on a prayer... I really can't afford to do much more testing. I did a blood test but my doctor took off and left me high and dry! (that makes two doctors that have done me like that...); I don't know if I have blood in my urine or not but I do know I have bone pain which would indicate that something bad is going on in my bones... Is it possible that someone could have injected us with that chemical you mentioned? I mean, made it into a weapon? The reason I say that is because a lot of soldiers have complained that the skin got very red and swollen at the injection site! This just doesn't sound normal at all for normal injections... Maybe they made it into watered down version or something? Just a thought... Something happened and a shipment of anthrax got missing which would indicate that there may have been vaccine tampering and all of a sudden the shipment turned up all of a sudden to be administered to troops!!! How nice and neat that sounds!!!
Bone pain can indicate paralysis possible
A painter shared once that the worst exposure to this ethylene glycol monobutyl ether is vapors in one's eyes and at the cuticle area of one's hands. So, just walking in the 'arms room' would be enough if the barrel of Corexit were leaking. I would think some times of year the temperature in Saudi or Iraq exceed the safe storing temperature, for example

I don't want to scare you, but you should get a little more testing. Doesn't VA help you? Surely they want to know the cause of 'gulf war syndrome' and you are a miracle to be alive, from all your sharing.

It would be very easy to get the urinalysis done to see whether there is a trace of blood in your urine. If you called ahead to any doctor who has seen you, you could get it done at the closest testing laboratory nearest to where you live.

If you do, and if your red blood cells are mostly immature (they don't live to be 120 days old) ... then suspect autoimmune hemolytic anemia as the reason for your fatigue. Is the fatigue very severe? The 'reticulocyte count' will tell you if you are making red blood cells at an appropriate rate.

Bone pain in this scenario could mean that the bone marrow is having difficulty making red blood cells, so the stem cells in your spleen, liver and other organs that have stem cells are going to make red blood cells. This compresses the bones and paralysis is possible.
Quote:
extramedullary hematopoiesis: red blood cell production outside the vertebrae. Red blood cells are derived from the stem cells in the bone marrow throughout the body. When individuals become severely anemic, there is not enough space in the active bone marrow to produce hemoglobin, and the body begins to make blood outside the bone marrow: in the spleen, liver, and sometimes outside the vertebrae, which can compress the spinal cord, leading to paralysis

Surely, for our troops today, the USA needs to know what really happened to you. And, if CFS and CFIDS are also similar to what happened to the gulf war vets, many, many people need to know. I wish I could work with these groups and test that high or low blood pressure; high or low blood sugar are examples of endocrine disruption of THIS chemical: 2-butoxyethanol

 
I had paralysis and sleep apnea symptoms where I stopped breathing while sleeping. I was actually scared to go to sleep because I was afraid I wasn't going to wake up! I have almost died at least 200 times from sleep apnea alone! My heart started burning like it was on fire and I started flipping all over the bed on morning! It was a very scary event! This happened 13 years after 1990! It burned so bad that I was all over the place! This is really bad! I have had chest pains from the mysterious illness I had while in the military hospital I was in along with joint pains and body aches, etc. etc. etc. My body was paralyzed more than once and I could move my eyes but my body wouldn't work at all, then I heard a really high pitched noise in my head and it got so intense that I passed out! This gulf war syndrome is no mild mannered sickness! It is severe and I have suffered greatly! This is a really bad syndrome of individual ailments! It is so complex the things that have happened to me I couldn't possibly explain everything here on this forum but I will say it is not just a mild discomfort to us that are suffering this gulf war syndrome! I never deployed overseas but for some reason I have got it! Me along with a lot of other soldiers that never deployed also... It is a serious problem that needs to be addressed! I have actually gotten worse off from inaction and is the reason why I am on this forum to bring awareness of how sick us soldiers really are! My screen name reflects how bad off I really am! IT IS A VERY SERIOUS MATTER!!!

shatteredlife2

 

 

I'm in the exact same situation and it's getting worse. I'm being tested at the local Naval Hospital for everything that could cause these symptoms, but so far, nothing. It's very frustrating. ran70
Have them test you for mycoplasma fermentans. I have things that are not explainable. and the Dr's have yet to figure it out. However my naturopathic Dr has. and he said I have Mycoplasma fermentans and it can be treated. But it can take from anywhere from 6 months to a year. and maybe longer depending on how long you have been ill. Hapkidan
 

PS  -  These are the blood tests I had done:

Drawing fee
CBC with Differential/platelet
Comp. Metabolic Panel (14)
Lipid Panel
Urinalysis routine

Total $182.00

I asked for the whole blood test and my doctor did it. He said my Bad LDL cholesterol was high and my blood pressure was high also where I was given the maximum prescription for high blood pressure. Maximum dosage allowed... It was very high, so bad that they wouldn't tell me the number! He said everything looked fine with those two exceptions, but it has been 14 years since whatever I was exposed to... This could throw some stuff off! Of course I was very messed up for those 14 years where I didn't know my own name hardly but yet function at a very low capacity. All I did on my job for 14 years is walk around all night for my 8 hour shift every day. That is all I could really do being sick and all. I did minimal type work (Light Duty) type work only. No construction work like hard physical labor like I am use to doing! I stay at home now and just veg out because it is all I can do now in my condition. Note also, that I am not getting any SSA or VA help for my problems...
Traces of blood in urine?
Regardless of the various diagnosis gulf war vets get, there could be a commonality of harm: that to the blood.

I've heard comments from the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup workers that they have blood in their urine - one said the tests show that he has blood in his urine with each yearly physical

(This group has KNOWN exposure to 2-butoxyethanol; for gulf war vets it is just one possible exposure)

At first I thought, oh, you must still be being exposed to this chemical, and your red blood cells are dying off prematurely - as happens with hemolytic anemia (AUTOIMMUNE)

Then, a couple with severe joint problems shared with their specialist this info (on a cause of fatigue often overlooked)... which suggests that the 'retic ratio' test would show too many immature red blood cells. Well, the specialist was very interested in this information; however, instead of ordering the blood test, he had another urine test ordered. Was he looking for 'blood in urine?'

I think so.

So, blood in urine with this group must mean that there is an ongoing process of red blood cells being destroyed by the immune system ... and there will be at least traces of blood in urine ... ongoing (!?)
_________________________

This chemical causes lots and lots of harm; many, many ailments; however, the reason I focus on the blood damage is because it is foudational; there is something in the blood that will prove its harm, whereas all the other things will vary from person to person & doctors think, "Oh, it could have been caused from anything"

At least in the area of the blood damage, you should all look alike

This New Jersey Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet was the first thing that helped me understand what this chemical does www.state.nj.us/health/eoh/rtkweb/0275.pdf
I had to let my Social Security claim collapse because I am not getting good cooperation in getting the medical records and other documents needed. I asked for my medical records before some others got ahold of it and now I can't even get my records now as a result. The CDC wants it the MTF wants it The records people want it, I want it, and the lawyers wants my records! All of that time and money literally lost now with the SSA claim! and on top of that, my social security doctor didn't support my claim either for some reason? I am very sick and feel like I am dyeing and no one is taking my serious health problems even remotely seriously. I am not going to forget about this and will continue to fight later on when I have got all of my stuff in order. I suffer daily from all kinds of chronic pains all bombarding me in waves one right after the other, over and over again! It never quits. First the headaches come, then the abdominal pains-- (Internal organs hurt really bad...), then come the arthritic pains in all joints, then blurred vision hits in one or two eyes, then nausea sets in and I get very sick, then my skin gets overly sensitive and very painful to the lightest touch, then I get prickly sensations down my arms, GI problems hit me, and all the time I am off balance, dizzy, uncoordinated, and have fine tuned movement problems that makes life seem so unreal? Then my tongue gets pain in it and my mouths feels like it is on fire and all of my teeth hurt all at once! This is suffering and painful! Then on top of all of this, the chest pain sets in, then the breathing gets suppressed and I can't breath normally and gosh forbid I am in high humidity because it will make me unable to even breath at all and I begin to suffocate! Also, I can't even smell any odors because I have lost my smell senses. If I smell anything it is really nasty like a very strong glue smell that is so nasty that you wouldn't believe it! I have chemical and heat sensitivities. Some chemicals run me off! even certain perfumes! My condition is very serious, and not even just a mild discomfort! I can't work like this with all of this stuff going on one right after another. I am not getting any VA help or SSA help either. Apparently because I appear to look okay they consider me normal? Well, I am not normal and read above and see if you would like to go through this without any financial help! I am totally cut off from the system! I can't even by a 5 cent piece of bubblegum! let alone other services I need! What is anyone going to do to help us that are in this state of being really very messed up? The inoculations did this to me! My body it totally screwed up now and doesn't work properly! What do I do now? That is what I would like to hear. I can't even sue because no paperwork! The govt. highjacked my paperwork so they have it not me! My mind doesn't work properly and I feel like I have lost my mind somewhere. It is so hard to describe to anyone what has happened.
 
Have you searched on the internet for some of the gulf war vet groups? There are those there who have the same 'gulf war syndrome' ailments and that can help you with your disability claim.

Of course you have fatigue, too, right?

Remember you shared about walking through the arms room and the barrel of what I suspect is Corexit leaking? The fumes in your eyes is the worst exposure. Then there is ethylene oxide besides the 38% concentration of 2-butoxyethanol.

Can you have a doctor check you for the fatigue? Or look back at any of your old medical tests ... if they took the 'retic' ratio it would still be off ... if the 2-butoxyethanol harmed you. It causes autoimmune hemolytic anemia AND all of these symptoms you mention. Your bone marrow may be failing if all your teeth hurt. I think you would be showing blood in urine, also, from the red blood cells prematurely being destroyed by your immune system.

And if you do have too many immature red blood cells other tests will be off: like white blood cell count (do manually) and the liver test.

It doesn't matter if your records are lost. You have the evidence still ... especially in the damage to your blood. I suspect all gulf war syndrome vets and CFS and CFIDS and painters and oil spill cleanup workers to have the same problems, as they have the same exposure to 2-butoxyethanol (ethylene glycol monobutyl ether)

Loss of smell ... can be from too much of some kind of chemical exposure

Margaret
Yes I have fatigue! I am tired a lot and have to rest often like if I go to the store. Some days I can't do anything but sleep. My spouse is having to take care of me because I can't take care of myself at all. She feeds me, washes my dishes, washes my clothes, etc. She has even bathed me at times when I asked her to help me. She understands that I am sick and suffer every day. I have trouble just tying my shoes because of the chronic pains I am suffering from. I do know I had some kind of chemical exposure but how I got this exposure is beyond me? My diaphragm is tingly and hurts me and I get suppressed breathing where I can't breath very good at all; I also have trouble absorbing oxygen and yawn a lot. One of my friends said when you yawn a lot it means that you aren't getting oxygen to the brain? I feel like I am slowly suffocating so I take deep breaths a lot to get more oxygen. I use to live in Utah where the air was thin, and now I live at sea level so it is like living in thin air at sea level if that makes sense? I did go to Utah state and got dizzy a lot there from lack of oxygen. I believe I have lung damage from the pneumonia! Everyone got sick at my home from the flu except me because my lungs don't work right so I didn't get sick like the others for one reason or another. My lungs are really shot and I am damaged for life! I feel rickety and my bones hurt me often. I walk slow and feel like I am 80 years old probably due to the damage done to my body. I don't drink or smoke at all and is probably the reason I am alive now but I am suffering really bad from joint pains, headaches and lung impairment, etc. What is strange is the abdominal pain always hits me at night time and puts me in so much pain I incapacitated for several hours at nightime for some reason? What is strange is my eyes were very red and bloodshot and very watery when I was in the hospital for 7 days and my skin was hot to the touch! I had very severe diarrhea too! Could this have been ricin poisoning and they covered it up? I just don't know all of what I had but I do suspect the vaccines very stongly because it is more likely a source of problems for others as well. I blame the vaccines because I fell very severely ill 2 days after getting them. The anthrax vaccine lines up with the aggressive behavior and "attack mode" problem and mood swings and the suicidal thoughts that I had no control over! If I would have had a weapon I would have just used it! I didn't because I don't own a handgun, if I did, I wouldn't be here right now... I totally lost my mind! a while back ago and everything seems to be okay for now. I have never been so scared before in my life! I mean the doctor ran away form us!@#$%^^&**(

'gulf war syndrome' compares well to CFIDS & CFS

and you also walked into the arms room where the barrel of Corexit was leaking and putting fumes in the air, right?

That's why the eyes were so red. Neurologists comment on red eyes too. I am positive that the exposure to 2-butoxyethanol (& some ethylene oxide) in the Corexit barrel is a serious source of exposure and root cause of these many odd symptoms

Can you check any place and see if blood was showing up in your urine (red blood cells being prematurely destroyed by your immune system)? since that time. You can check it out today. It would be the harm that everyone has from this chemical; also any tests that would lead to a diagnosis of autoimmune hemolytic anemia.

When the doctors start checking the retic ratio, they will find the fatigue, the hemolysis that has been evading medical science for many, many years.
You will find it today. In our area it is only a $53 add on blood test. . . and then do the $17 blood test for Complete Blood Counts with differentials. What else? I'm not sure; but keep in mind that if you do have too many immature red blood cells (the cause of the fatigue) you will not get accurate readings for liver or for White Blood counts. Do a search on yahoo for hemolytic anemia and this list should come up.

All gulf war vets harmed by 2-butoxyethanol will have this red blood cell premature destruction and this harm is provable today. So will the CFS group and the CFIDS group, and painters, and dry cleaning people, and those who worked on mutliple oil spill cleanups since 1989: starting with the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup. You don't have to test the rats and mice. Real people have been harmed by this chemical and its damage is widespread.

It must be so widespread that doctors see these ALL the time; everyone knows someone, but most likely everyone is at risk for harm themselves and those in their own nuclear family. Mechanics are another group at risk, and from what I learned last week, so are Fire Dept workers; those who clean guns a lot like the police and corrections officers. (All these should wear the chemical retardant gloves and chemical goggles & use ventilation equivalent to outdoors)

Did you know that Walter Reid Army Hospital has said that the 'gulf war syndrome' vet is no more harmed than the general population? Horrors! Yet, I believe they are right.

If you find out your 'retic' ratio, will you share the results with us?
If there are any traces of blood in your urine?
And ask the size and shape of the red blood cells.

Hang in there, soldier! You are still in a fight for our troops' health, too, and that of our people. We are poisoning our nation with a common cleaning and degreaser chemical.

Margaret   -  Jan, 2004

 
from what I've heard the gulf war vets share ... and many times it hides out. But as I've shared, my theory that the exposure they have that causes all these odd things is 2-butoxyethanol poisoning. And it starts with the fatigue the doctors haven't been recognizing as the 'fatigue' (CFS means they don't know the cause of fatigue and that you have lots of other odd symptoms ... just like 'gulf war syndrome' symptoms)

If all the gulf war vets with 'the symptoms' also have too many immature red blood cells, then my theory is proved. (reticulocyte ratio is abnormally elevated; also ask the size and shape of red blood cells)

Does your husband remember what he was doing when the fatigue hit, probably in conjunction with a cough &/or flu-like symptoms. Does he remember a time when his eyes were burning and hurting? That could be the exposure that has cause all of this

The headaches are really horrible, by the way, I've shared some info on those, too.

Just a comment here
healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?p=1062374#post1062374

Why Fatigue?
Doctors believe that if there is significant blood hemolysis, it will show up in the blood count.

Says Patricia P. Wilcox, M.S. "Not true. There can be significant hemolysis which is invisible if all you do is a standard blood count, but shows up nicely as an elevated reticulocyte count , about 2.5 days after exposure ... This is called compensated hemolytic anemia."

According to Robbins' Pathologic Basis of Disease, 5th Edition (1994), Chapter 13 (Diseases of Red Cells and Bleeding Disorders), page 584:

"With an increased demand for blood cells in the adult, the fatty marrow may become transformed to red, active marrow. Moreover, this is accompanied by increased productive activity throughout the marrow. These adaptive changes are capable of increasing red cell production (erythropoiesis) seven- to eight-fold. Thus ... such loss of red cells as may occur in hemolytic disorders produces anemia only when the marrow compensatory mechanisms are outstripped."

So a reticulocyte count might be a good screening tool for red blood cell damage/destruction due to exposure to certain types of solvents, e.g. glycol ethers, in patients who are not so badly damaged that they can no longer replace red cells as fast as they are losing them (i.e., they still have normal red blood cell count, hemoglobin, and hematocrit).

Mark Cullen et al. looked for changes in peripheral blood and bone marrow in solvent-exposed printers and spray painters, and found substantial bone marrow abnormalities that were undetectable in peripheral blood counts -- they focused on glycol ethers as a likely suspect ...

Cullen et al. found a one-to-one correspondence between blood/bone marrow abnormalities and red blood cell pyruvate kinase (PK) deficiency in solvent-exposed workers.

[Note: Wilcox found this interesting because PK is polymorphic among humans -- several percent of us have a variant form of the enzyme -- and the majority of a small sample of folks with multiple chemical sensitivities that she looked at had altered PK activity and elevated reticulocyte counts after solvent exposures ...]

I'm not sure how well the reticulocyte count would reflect benzene exposure, which reportedly suppresses production of new red blood cells rather than simply killing existing red cells. A more usual marker of "benzene poisoning" is an abnormally low lymphocyte count, says Wilcox

Patricia P. Wilcox, M.S., M.P.H. (master of public health), the above quote was when she was a student at

School of Public Health
The Ohio State University

4-12-05 post of 8-04 comments

More ways to tell if 2-butoxyethanol may have harmed you

Our Nation's Health - Affected by this chemical, too?

 

I did spend a lot of time in the arms room and there was a barrel of something (50 gal.) I do slightly remember something in that room... I didn't know what it was though. It also seems like something was leaking... my mind is so messed up I just don't recall things correctly? there may have been a wet place on the floor-- I'll have to try and think back? I believe it was blue though. I felt fine though while in the arms room. It is what came afterwards though, the grey skin with a red tint to it, bloodshot red eyes, joint pain, body aches, headache, chest pain, nausea, dizziness, malaised, lassitude, disoriented, confused, rapid heart rate, fever, breathing problems, nervousness, yellow thick mucas poured from both nostrils, and severe coughing, and severe fatigue, and I felt 80 years old and had to grab onto the railing after I went up a flight of stairs. I was totally exhausted and my lungs filled with fluid and showed up on the x-ray as totally black in both lobes. I was admitted immediately to the hospital where I stayed for 7 days sick as heck!

In arms room - blue 50 gal drums - Corexit?

Corexit was sold to the military. It is a very bad mix that is 38% ethylene glycol monobutyl ether and may also have ethylene oxide ... at least some.

With the red eyes, the puddle of it on the floor possibly?

This could be the exposure that has cause this illness

It will make one's body shut down with too much exposure to it.

The arms room, that's it

The arms room!

rapid heart rate? yes this is what 2-butoxyethanol does - quickly causes hemolytic anemia

Lungs filled with fluid? this is a chemical pneumonia what they would say now as the soldiers in Iraq are dying of pneumonia (more correctly it is pulmonary edema) ... I bet this is what is going on & have felt so from the day I first heard of it.

Ethylene oxide C2H4O (CAS #75-21-8) is used as an intermediate in the production of ethylene glycol. It is also used as a rocket propellant. A harmful concentration of this gas in the air will be reached very quickly on loss of containment. Inhalation of very high concentrations may cause lung edema. Target organs: Eyes, skin, respiratory system, liver, central nervous system, blood, kidneys, reproductive system

There is a painter I met from Canada last month who said he knew his kidney cancer was from paint. I said, yes, most likely. I asked him if he had flu-like symptoms. He said, 'no' dizziness. When the red blood cells are dying off you are loosing the oxygen that they would carry ... that would be the dizziness & a significant symptom.

At the hot temperatures in Iraq, there's no telling how volatile this chemical would be. I wonder what in the world the military thinks this is good for? It is a horrible experimental chemical invention of the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup and not even selected for use; but since, there is MSDS information that it has been sold to the Dept of Defense, to Australia for their 1995 oil spill cleanup and dumped from airplanes for the Karachi oil spill. Horrible poison/pesticide/solvent that is a hazardous waste, per my thoughts and should be disposed of as such. Not transported, not stored, not used for anything!

 
Yea, and the thing is I don't know if that was just another added on problem that I could have on top of gulf war syndrome... It could very well be why I have such a complex of problems. The Army hospital told me that it was "Mycoplamsa pneumonia" but I think that they meant the "microbe" version of the Mycoplasma Incognitus strain everyone is talking about on the web?? They weren't very forthcoming with answers but to say something was found in my blood...
WHAT WAS FOUND IN YOUR BLOOD?

This is key

The fatigue is blood damage to the red blood cells,
but I believe it to be from an immune system 'out of kilter'
what they said was found was Mycoplasma bacteria was found in my blood, however for some reason, I believe that this is wrong information because when the doctors tried to get to us, they were forced out of our room by spec-4's and were ordered to leave. So I never saw any doctor so they were I think that they were trying to suppress something? so I'm not sure that I can really believe what they told me. Was it the mycoplasma microbe? They put me on probanthine because they were scared that I would sweat?? Something weird is going on with this picture... plus the blank white prescription labels with no writing on them but pills inside... get the picture?? Something bad happened to me and they just don't want the blame or something?? They said bacteria was found in my blood, but what makes this even stranger is that they told me to say: "If anyone asks you what you had-- Tell them you had mycoplasma pneumonia"... The only problem is that I don't buy it because first of all, I've had A-typical pneumonia before and this was no A-typical pneumonia!!! This was altogether something different. secondly, I've been very ill for 14 years and A-typical pneumonia just doesn't last that long. So it has to something else that I have not been told. The only thing that comes close to anything at all would be Gulf War Syndrome or Anthrax vaccine which all equates to Gulf War Syndrome... This is so confusing but I am trying to make sense of it all!!!

 

My daughter was born without the embryonic fluid because it leaked out passed my wife's mucus plug. When she was born she was gray and had pneumonia and almost died. The doctor and a nurse ran into our hospital room in a frantic and acted shocked about something and said my daughter was sick. I didn't know what to say to them... my daughter too was a victim of this gulf war syndrome. She was very slow when she was growing up and I was concerned that maybe she had some kind of learning disability, but now she has improved since then and is very smart. I gave her her own brand new computer so she knows how to link up and use the internet. I am trying to give her all of the advantage I can give her because she could have genetic damage and other problems like you said that is hidden... I have always been in excellent health and is probably the reason why I am doing as good as I am, however I am really messed up and have been for 14 years. I am upset that my daughter may have have become damaged because of my military service-- and I am angry!

When was your daughter born?

Was she premature?

The chemical I suspect is one on the list of exposures the troops had.
2-butoxyethanol is a teratogen (harms developing fetus)

I would be angry too. I am angry. No one should suffer unnecessarily - most especially the innocent children. This is not an essential chemical and it has robbed many of the life and health they should have had. That's my take on it. And this harm is ongoing - it hasn't stopped.

I am glad that your daughter survived this.

Many times people can pinpoint when this hit them. Do you remember what you did in the military that is in connection with the start up of these odd symptoms, most especially the fatigue?

 
No she wasn't born prematurely, she was born actually on schedule but she was carried half way through the pregnancy with very little embriotic fluid in the womb.

The only thing that I can pinpoint as what may have started these strange symptoms is the anthax vaccine and other vaccines that we received. the reason why I believe that the vaccines had something to do with us soldiers getting sick is because I fell ill shortly after getting the shots but then also I shot my M16A1 assault rifle at the same time so who knows for sure? I may have touched that chemical on the weapon that I didn't clean so who cleaned it? I didn't clean it because someone else did it for me which was the Armory!

you said 'sore eyes'

It may only be a coincidence that you had the shots when exposed to 2-butoxyethanol. This chemical can get in the water. It can also ooze out of the containers it is in & the fumes in one's eyes is the worst exposure. Maybe there were barrels of that stuff sitting in the room or in a room you had to walk through.

This chemical is a teratogen and does cause harm to a developing fetus and thereafter, too.

You can rule it in or out based on the damage to the blood - which is the fatigue. Do you remember the exact day the fatigue started?


A thought about allergies?

 When you have had too much of one chemical, then other things seem to bother you more, too .... when they wouldn't have otherwise. I only focus on one chemical families' harm, so I can only speak to that. It does help me recognize many in the general public along with the gulf war vets, however, who may be similarly harmed.

 
I am the daughter of a Gulf War Vet and my father has been experiencing the same symptoms as you for the past 5 years. It has gotten increasingly worse to the point where he has been instructed not to drive and worst yet, his non-military affiliated physician is starting to treat him for Parkinson's. He has tremors so bad that my mother says it feels like someone is shaking their bed at night. He is 49 and uses a cane, had a difficult time staying on topic during a discussion and now is increasingly losing motor skills. He is a retired Marine and was land based is Saudi but I'm not sure where. I hope this isn't discouraging to you but you are not alone.
mingon

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