A primary cause of autoimmune issues that leads to the assortment of symptoms known as CFIDS, CFS, FM & also various 'military syndromes' is exposure to glycol ether.

(The most commonly used glycol ether is 2-butoxyethanol & is found in many home cleaning products, carpet cleaners, paint, carpentry, mechanical products, etc. It does not have to be disclosed in any products.) Glycol Ether is a neurotoxin, a teratogen, a pesticide, a poison, an organic solvent. EPA has tested this & others for endocrine disruption.

THE anemia doctors are looking for ... that it would cause ... is Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia: AIHA or IMHA. Because so many autoimmune issues start up at once, the anemia is not easily found by doctors.

Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia is more common than we realize. For these people, diabetes is often a side effect (itself an autoimmune issue) but not the root cause of what ails us. For these when anemia is advanced, high white blood cell counts show up, but are a side effect of the anemia, not an indication of an infection, per se.

I write web pages to express my thoughts. I have no medical background, but I believe I have stumbled on to the anemia of CFIDS, CFS, FM

When did 'this fatigue' start up? Do you recall a serious flu? Exposure to the autoimmune causing chemicals: glycol ethers 'LOOKS LIKE THE FLU' We can think giving viruses in inoculations will help - I think not

Doctors miss a lot of autoimmune hemolytic anemia because too many autoimmune issues start up at once, messing up 'what the numbers mean.' Even if enough hemoglobin appears to be present, doesn't mean that THESE red blood cells can appropriately utilize it.

Now, the best research I found on what 2-butoxyethanol does was from Britain. These are the list of things I found in their research:

This chemical also causes: Narcosis
Damage to the kidney
Damage to the liver
Present an abnormal blood picture showing: Erythropenia
Present an abnormal blood picture showing: Reticulocytosis
Present an abnormal blood picture showing: Granulocytosis
Present an abnormal blood picture showing: Leukocytosis *
Likely to Cause Fragility of Erythrocytes
Likely to Cause Hematuria
from Hemat = blood and
uria = of urine
Hematuria simply means blood in the urine

Causes Central Nervous System (CNS) DEPRESSION
Difficulty concentrating
Short term memory loss
Very irritable ‘fly off the handle all the time over nothing
Difficulty sleeping
Suicidal Tendencies
Mimics True Psychiatric Disorder

Central Nervous System DEPRESSION
Loss of taste
Headaches and Stupor.
Causes skin irritation.
Causes severe eye irritation - damage to tissue possible
Irritating to mucous membranes and upper respiratory tract
2-butoxyethanol and
CHRONIC EFFECTS - TARGET ORGANS
Sense Organs & Special Senses (OTHER OLFACTION EFFECTS)
Sense Organs & Special Senses (OTHER EYE EFFECTS)
Behavioral (GENERAL ANESTHETIC)
Behavioral (ALTERED SLEEP TIME)
Behavioral (SOMNOLENCE)
Behavioral (EXCITEMENT)
Behavioral (ATAXIA)
Behavioral (COMA)
Behavioral (ANALGESIA) LUNGS, THORAX OR RESPIRATION (DYSPNAE)
LUNGS, THORAX OR RESPIRATION (OTHER CHANGES)
Gastrointestinal (NAUSEA OR VOMITING)
Gastrointestinal (OTHER CHANGES)
LIVER (TUMORS)
KIDNEY, URETER, BLADDER (HEMATURIA)
KIDNEY, URETER, BLADDER (OTHER CHANGES)
Endocrine (Tumors)
Skin and Appendages (Hair)
Maternal Effects (UTERUS, CERVIX, VAGINA)
Maternal Effects (OTHER EFFECTS ON FEMALE)
Effects on Fertility (PRE-IMPLANTATION MORTALITY)
Effects on Fertility (POST-IMPLANTATION MORTALITY)
Effects on Fertility (LITTER SIZE)
Specific Developmental Abnormalities (MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM)
Specific Developmental Abnormalities (CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM)
Nutritional and Gross Metabolic (WEIGHT LOSS OR DECREASED WEIGHT GAIN)
Nutritional and Gross Metabolic (CHANGES IN: METABOLIC ACIDOSIS)
Tumorigenic (CARCINOGENIC BY RTECS CRITERIA)
Tumorigenic (EQUIVOCAL TUMORIGENIC AGENT BY RTECS CRITERIA)
Would this include Brain Tumors? (I think so ... look for an autoimmune aspect to all of these)

I would suspect MANY birth defects and infertility problems; those with too much glycol ether exposure in the military have spina bifida and cerebral palsy showing up down through the decades (from all wars especially)

We all know how epidemic these health issues are becoming. It would be a big health-help if Congress mandated that glycol ether be disclosed in ALL products - most especially our home cleaning products, AND that the companies who make them stop saying the are safe. THEY ARE NOT!

I suspect them for the cause of 'gulf war syndrome' & primary harm for vets of other wars, too. I suspect them for the cause of my grandfather's death in 1936 at the age of 56. He was a cotton farmer in the south. I suspect them for causing my father's early death at age 62 (he was on a Navy torpedoed ship in WWII). I suspect them for harming me and my husband and a couple of my children (For Sure!); who knows about the grandchildren. At the very least they should get no direct exposure and learn to recognize when their body 'complains' about glycol ether exposure.

Stop the exposure & seek answers for how to stop our body from being autoimmune.

When you notice during the last days of someone's life that they have 'the chills,' shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat... suspect the underlying anemia as the most probable cause of death: