Visiting the Environmental Health Center in Dallas - Personal View

The Environmental Health Center - Dallas is the premier medical facility for environmental medicine in the world. The center practices environmental medicine, which covers a collection of ailments centered around the immune system, with various diseases such as asthma and allergies, some types of PMS problems, autoimmune diseases, multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) and electromagnetic field sensitivity (EMF).

Whenever people discuss Environmental Illness (especially Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and Electronic Magnetic Field Sensitivity), the Dallas center comes up. There are other centers in the world, such as the ones in Los Angeles, Charleston, North Carolina, England and Germany, but the Dallas center is known for offering the most comprehensive set of services.  The center has an affiliate  in Chicago.

Dr. Rea founded the clinic, and is still the energetic principal. Like many doctors in the field, he has EI himself. He was successful in curing himself, with help from the late Dr Theron Randolph, the initial pioneer in the field. As I have heard the story, it was quite a struggle getting well, where he had to live in a tent for a long period of time. Like it is for so many patients, it was a life-changing experience and he dedicated his life to help others.

The clinic has lost some of it's funding, as the US Medicare administration has refused to pay for many of the treatments. Many of the patients are unable to work, and thus dependent on public support.

The field of Environmental Medicine is not fully accepted by most doctors, who still prefer to practice medicine by covering up the symptoms of chronic illnesses with drugs, rather than solving the underlying problem. One lure of these methods is that they are much faster and cheaper, while taking care of the underlying problem takes a much greater effort. The backbiting and pettiness in the very conservative and politicized medical field is said to be ferocious. One such show was from the other Dallas hospitals, when Dr. Rea was contemplating opening a full environmental hospital some years ago.

Today the clinic sees patients from all states of the United States, and all continents. While I was there, I talked with patients from Germany, Canada and Hong Kong. One of the visiting doctors was also from Germany.

The above information is by no way authoritative, but is what I have put together from long-term staff and patients I have talked with.

The clinic has about fifty employees, including a handful of doctors with MD degrees, a set of PhD researchers, nutritionists, counselors, various therapists and other specialists.

The clinic is housed in the upper floor of a building on a medical campus area. The downstairs clinic is not associated with the EHC clinic, and has the usual toxic carpeting. Many patients thus use the outside stairs at the end of the building to avoid the exposure.

Inside, a large effort has been expended to limit the environmental exposures to the patient. There are ceramic floors throughout, and most areas have porcelain walls (steel plates with ceramic surface). Ceilings are either the same materials as the walls, or some sort of ceiling tiles covered with aluminum foil. The décor is Spartan, and the place looks a bit like the inside of a military ship, though the colors are nicer.

There is a high air exchange, and big air filters are located at strategic locations. The main problem with exposures is other patients. The clinic treats a wide range of people, including those with ‘just’ regular allergies (i.e. pollen and molds). Despite prominent signs, many of these patients arrive wearing perfumes. This issue will be covered later, please read that entire section as it entails everyone, including you.

They use computers sparingly, and some of the screens are the new flat-panel (i.e. ultra-low radiation) models. To cut down on air pollution, they use matrix printers instead of laser printers.

There are a couple of waiting rooms, a store, many testing rooms, consultation rooms and a spa area. There are also many offices and labs tucked away out of sight. There are two main testing rooms, room A for the less sensitive, and B for the highly sensitive, who are affected by other patients. They also have a testing both, which is used for double-blind tests, to prove sensitivity for court cases.

The first days were a bit chaotic, and with a lot of time wasted, but then things fell more into place and the length of the day was the limit to the days activities. The clinic is open six days a week, closing early on Saturday, so the arrival of the weekend is welcomed.

On the first day, I met with Dr Rea, and three other doctors. Dr Rea asked a barrage of questions for twenty minutes and then left me with Dr Trep who explained things more and told me how to continue the day. Since I have already been seen for awhile by another doctor in the field (Dr. Sherry Rogers), and forwarded some of the lab results from her, the number of initial tests were less. Still, there have much better facilities available, and the next morning I showed up on empty stomach for a string of blood tests. These are expensive, about $1200 for the set.

Another test was something called Thermography, where they measure the surface temperature at many points. Your skin is then chilled a bit, and then the same places are measured again. The differences can pinpoint internal organs with problems, as the heat from them rises to the skin, and organs with problems will show a different heat signature. This is a rather new method, developed by a doctor here in Dallas, and they expect it will be in common use throughout the country within a few years, as it's a fast way to get an overall picture of the patient. It is rather expensive, but mass use should make it much cheaper. Never having heard about this, I was skeptical, but it seems to have merit. One female patient remarked that it showed that one of her ovaries was "unresponsive" - it had been surgically removed, the doctor didn't know that.

Yet another test was called pupillography, where they put a device over your eyes, and instructs you to not blink. The device shines a small light unto your eye, and measures seven types of reactions by the eye, to judge the state of the central nervous system.

I also met with the instructional person, who looked over the chart and explained more about things and also acts as a patient advocate in some cases.

Testing is done with the standard Provocation/Neutralization test, which has been pioneered by doctors practicing environmental medicine. It is safer and much more accurate than the testing method used by most regular allergists, but it also takes much longer, as each item is tested separately and often multiple times, to find the exact level of sensitivity. When the exact level is known, they can make up an allergy shot which is specific for the patients level of sensitivity, and it will thus be much more effective. The traditional method assumes everybody are pretty much at the same level of sensitivity, so adverse reaction to the injections are much more common, and in many cases shots are given for years without any effect. I had been given unsuccessful shots for years before finding these doctors.

Tests are done for molds, pollen, dust, food and chemicals. The chemicals include such items as ink from newspapers, common substances used in perfume, gasoline, wood smoke, etc.

A full set of tests take at least three weeks to complete. I had most of my tests done already, so I did not spend much time with this, but the center has some tests that other specialists in this field do not.

Besides inspecting the wheal on your arm, the tester will also ask you to write down on a sheet what symptoms changes, as you may have symptoms at a lower dose than anything shows up on your arm. In some cases, nothing may show up on your arm.

Once they have tested you, you will likely need to get shots with their extracts. In most cases, they will instruct you in how to do it, and then you continue the shots on your own. You can also choose to get it sublingually (under the tongue). You can order the extracts while you are there, and later by express mail. Most of the vials must be stored frozen, as they do not have preservatives in them.

They are able to treat for a very large number of sensitivities, which is good. But you need to think about what is important, or you will end up wasting money and effort. An example was that I found out I reacted to borax while there, which is what I had been using to wash my clothes. Dr. Rea offered to get shots for it, but that does not make sense, as I would not get exposed to borax any more. I switched to using baking soda, and there are no other sources of borax exposure in my normal life.

Make sure you have recently eaten or been exposed to the substance being tested for, otherwise the reading will be lower than the actual level. Sauna treatment may change your sensitivity levels, so it’s best to wait until after you’ve done sauna for awhile, before doing testing. However, most people do not have the luxury of staying that long.

Testing is not a picnic; you will be exposed to things that make you sick, so you are often worn out by the end of the day. Some people can only test for an hour or two a day. In some cases, a patient can pass out, or have personality changes caused by the testing, but usually you just have the same symptoms you are here to get treated for.

The clinic has two testing rooms, "A" for the regular sensitive, and "B" for the highly sensitive. This is where you will find patients who get sick from holding a pencil, or if somebody brings in a book or wears clothes washed in anything but baking soda. Please only ask to go to "B" is you really need to, and have been "sniffed out" by other patients. You may void other peoples test results otherwise. Also, any sort of reading materials, even inside a reading bag, is totally banned in that room. They do accept books inside reading bags in room "A".

For the really reactive patients, there is "the box" which is a separate room next to testing room "B", that patients can rent.

The spa area has an open area with a handful of exercise equipment (treadmill, stationary bikes, stair stepper, etc) and two large saunas with ceramic surfaces, and a smaller sauna of wood and glass, which is used for special patients. In the back is a hushed and darkened area, where massages are given and some patients also take oxygen treatment here.

The treatment follows the Hubbard protocol (there is a whole chapter describing it in Dr Randolph's book "An alternative approach to allergies"). It is basically:

• Taking of vital signs, and some nutrients, especially high doses of vitamin B3
• Exercise for a period (5-30 minutes)
• Sauna (10 – 40 minutes)
• Shower
• Vital signs checked again, and more nutrients are dispensed
• Lymphatic massage

The sauna is bottlenecked by the shower room and the massage therapist, so you have to sign up for times to go in and out of the sauna, as you should not wait for the shower after leaving the sauna. If you get chilled, your skin will reabsorb some of the stuff you have just sweated out. Some people have a problem with these restrictions, but I didn't find them unreasonable, but then, I grew up in Europe.

The patients are required to take a blood test each week of sauna treatment. This test ensures the treatment does not hurt you. I had been increasing the sauna time as much as I could, but the blood test showed my liver was being overloaded, so I was hurting myself, and I had to cut down the time spent in the sauna.

When you sit in the sauna, you body releases toxins that have been stored in your fatty tissue, and some of it is sweated out. In some cases, it can be quite unpleasant, and other sauna goers have to stay away from you. A few people are so overloaded, that they outgas all the time, like one older lady who had been exposed to Chlordane (a now-illegal pesticide), which sensitive noses can smell as she walks by.

Some patients enjoy that intake of salt is encouraged, and binges on salty foods. Another thing to keep in mind is that sauna treatment may change your ‘endpoints’ that you are testing, so it's best to test after finishing the sauna treatment. However, time restraints may not allow you that option.

Some patients are given oxygen treatment, if a blood test has shown that their body does not absorb oxygen well. This is done for two hours a day for many days in a row. It is often quite boring, as it is often not possible to read since the ink in books and magazines affect some patients. You need to buy your own ceramic mask, Tygon tubing and airbag. Many patients have problems with the fumes from the Tygon plastic tube, and have to wash it in hot water with baking soda. A few patients have to buy a steel pipe.

If tests show a patient to be very deficient in some particular enzyme or mineral, they may be offered to try them intravenously. It is quite expensive, but it really helps some people. A few people are so sick they can not eat any foods, and are exclusively fed intravenously.

Tests can show that you harbor microbes in your intestines that are not beneficial for you. In that case, they can give you injections so you build up immunity and can fight them off. The clinic has also developed a new treatment called ALF, where they extract cells from your blood, bring them up in the lab, and then inject them back into you, to boost the immune system.

People come here for long periods of time, a month is the minimum, six weeks is the norm. Some people stay for many months before they are well, and some come back regularly over multiple years. Once you are past the simple allergy-type problems, it takes a long time to heal, some never will. When you leave the clinic, you still need to continue treatment on your own, following the doctors instructions.

The clinic is run rather lean, there is very little handholding. The staff is very friendly, but also busy, and the patient is expected to do their part, which cuts down the cost. Once they have shown you how to hook up an oxygen tank, you are expected to do it on your own, but they will help you if you need it, of course. Or more likely, another patient will. Other patients are a great resource; once you’ve been there a week, you’ll know how everything works.

You also need to fend for yourself a bit, if you are highly sensitive. There are bound to be other patients you react to, and thus can’t share a room with. The staff can’t keep track of all this, the patients will have to be their own advocate, and seek out a safer room. In severe cases, the staff will ask a patient to leave and come back when they are ‘cleaned up’, but they usually do not interfere unless asked.

Saturday is the worst day for toxic patients, as the waiting room is filled with local people who are able to work, and thus not so sensitive. I have seen some people being asked to leave by the staff, but they seem to let stinkers stay if they have a child with them. The logic being that the child is the patient, and the parents need to know that they are hurting their child using these toxic products. If a patient is turned away, they may never return, thus the child would be doomed to a life on Ritalin, or worse.

Many patients feel worse while coming to the center. This is because they are removed from problem substances, and ‘unmask’. When you are constantly exposed to something that is bad for you, your body will mask the symptoms to protect you. This mechanism is good for the shorter term, but on the longer term, other deeper problems start to crop up. This is how smokers, for instance, can stand inhaling their smoke.

When you are removed from an offending substance for several days, this masking mechanism stops, so when you are again exposed to a problem substance, you get the full set of symptoms. The result is often that you react to more stuff than ever before - rather disconcerting, when you come here expecting to get well.

One of the most important things to do is to experiment with what works for you. We are all different, and react differently to substances. We are also different in what works in stopping a reaction, and what helps you when exposed to gasoline fumes may not help you when exposed to perfume or hand crème. So you need to experiment to see what does it for you, and they will give you the tools to do so. Does tri-salts help? How about a load of vitamin C? Can a shot of histamine help? Maybe a serotonin shot? Or will a trip to the sauna or the exercise bike work? And there are others, these are just the most common ones. Being here is a great opportunity to experiment, being away from the things you are normally exposed to at home.

Going back to the world that made us sick is a bit scary for many of us. Some do not have a home to get back to, as they know they can not live there. Most need to do modifications to their home and lifestyle, in order to get better. The stay at the clinic gives a better understanding of things, and being away desensitizes you, so it’s much easier to identify problems in your home. I threw out a lot of books, magazines and other unnecessary items when I got back, and I thought I had already done a lot before I went down there. Being away gives a fresh perspective on what is necessary.

Some of us do not feel any better coming home. Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks for the body to rest after the hard work it has been on at the clinic, before feeling better. It is hard work for the body to detoxing and being tested to things it is allergic to.

When I came home, my apartment had been closed up for seven weeks. King Mold had used the opportunity to expand his empire in the bathroom, and toxic fumes had drifted in from the neighbors. The first night home was not enjoyable.

Going to this clinic is likely to take many weeks, and cost a lot of your own money. Most insurance carriers will only cover a minor portion of your cost, so you have to be prepared to spend several thousands of dollars to get well. On top of that, you will also have to commit yourself to a substantial change of lifestyle, both in what you eat and in your environment and home. Some of this will involve your family and your workplace. Without this commitment, you are unlikely to get well again. If you are not committed to these things, this is not the place for you. To paraphrase Dr Sherry Rogers: If you are not willing to do this, you are not sick enough.

I’m saying this, because I met a number of patients who come back year after year, and do not seem to get better. I naturally wondered whether the treatment was good, if patients kept returning. Another patient pointed out the obvious, that the patients who come here and go back to live normal lives, are the ones you do not see, you only see the returning patients, and the new ones. For some returnees, it seems they are so far down the path that they will never fully recover, despite all efforts, or it really does take many years (I know one who took eleven years to heal). Others appear not to follow the directions and keep doing things that are harmful to them, like one who went to a beauty salon and got her hair colored. It really does take discipline to follow this program. If you cheat, the only person you hurt is yourself.

I have also seen some encouraging responses in other patients, even dramatic ones. In most cases, it is a slow progression that will take time. The stay at the clinic is just the start, do not expect to walk out of it a month later and be fine. This has happened, I saw one case, but that is really rare.

A clinic stay takes from four weeks and up, most patients stay about six weeks. Some stay for several months. Housing costs $40-$60 a day, at longer visits it can be cut down if you move to Seagoville or other places. The clinical cost varies enormously; it could be as little as five hundred a week, and easily more, especially in the start. Expect to pay at least $5000 a month, possibly $10,000. I know patients who needed lots of intravenous treatments and paid $25,000 for six weeks.

The clinic does not accept insurance; you pay the bill and get reimbursed from your insurance company. They do give you a detailed bill with CPT codes, which your insurance company can mull over. Don’t expect them to pay the whole thing, they will probably label several things as ‘alternative’ or ‘experimental’. Many insurance companies won’t cover this at all. If you want to argue with them, the Health Foundation has some medical articles for sale that may be helpful as documentation. The clinic does take Medicare.

The stay is tax deductible in the United States and Canada, both the treatments and the lodging. However, the US rules are not as generous as the Canadian ones are. You really need to read up on this or contact a tax advisor.

And as always: Buyer beware and your mileage may wary. We are all different; no two patients I have talked with have the exact same set of problems.

Please read this in its entirety, it applies to you too!

A great problem at the clinic is patients who make other patients sick. Since there are dozens of patients coming in every day, there are some who have not prepared themselves properly. If you are going to this clinic, please take this problem very seriously, and do not be offended if someone quietly asks you to keep a distance, or questions you about what chemicals you are using. In most cases, people you affect will just quietly walk away, but sometimes that is not possible, especially in the testing and treatment areas. Even though you may not have a problem with other people, others will react to you. There are people here who are more sensitive than it is possible to imagine, seriously. Some patients have problems with all people, if getting close enough. A few patients blatantly disregard the signs and show up reeking of perfume, it happens almost daily. The worst offenders are asked to leave by the staff, but their scent lingers in the air for a long time and makes people sick for hours, sometimes days.

It is also important to wear all-cotton clothes, that has not been dry cleaned, or washed with any sort of detergent, fabric softeners or dryer sheets. Those chemicals will make people sick. The safest choice is baking soda; it works quite well, unless the clothes are heavily soiled.

It is best if you start cleaning up several weeks before going to Dallas. Don’t expect to have it all perfect from the start, I wasn’t myself. It takes a serious effort, but it is worth it also for your own sake, as you can be affected by chemicals that you are not even aware of. I myself had a problem with one lady I saw daily in the sauna area, I finally had to tell her I could not share a sauna room with her. She was not offended, and figured out that the problem was that fabric softener was used to wash the towels she used in the morning, at her friends’ house - the chemicals in the fabric softener rubbed off on her. This is just one example; there are many such.

If you smoke, you really need to get out of that habit before arriving. It defeats the purpose of going here to get well, while actively hurting yourself. It is also against the regulations to smoke the day you are at the clinic, both before and during. The smoke comes out your mouth long after, and it hangs in your hair and clothes. You will hurt other people if you do.

Cleaning up is especially hard for women, as society pretty much demands the use of a whole chemical factory of shampoos, conditioners, lotions, creams, nail polish, perms, cosmetics, etc., all of which are a problem to many patients, and you should avoid all of these regular products. You will notice that the vast majority of the patients use very little of these types of products, in fact most women show their grays. If you feel you have to heed the call of the advertisings from Madison Avenue, there are safer alternatives available. People here are very friendly, and willing to share what works for them. Essentials, like shampoos, are available from health food stores.

There are some patients who naturally off-gasses chemicals that can make others sick; these are patients who have stored much toxin in their bodies. Of course, they can not ‘wash up,’ so consider this possibility if you have a problem with another person.

Other problematic items are books, magazines and any personal electronics, especially cell phones, which emit electrical fields. Please be considerate of other patients and leave these articles at home. If you must bring a cell phone, only use it outside the clinic, as the radiation does make some patients ill. Seriously!

The clinic operates eighteen condos in the Meadowlark complex, about three blocks west of the clinic. They have both one- and two-bedroom apartments, giving people the option of saving money by sharing with another patient. Most of the apartments are around one enclosed courtyard, where all the apartments are used by people with Environmental Illness.

If you have never seen an environmentally safe house before, you may be disturbed by the Spartan look: There are no carpets, all floors have linoleum or ceramic tiles. The furniture is solely made of wood and steel - think ‘garden furniture’ and you get the picture.

The apartments are quite spacious, and come as one-bedroom and two-bedroom versions, with a variety of floor plans. Two patients share the two-bedrooms, each have a private bedroom with a lock on the door, and a private bathroom. The living room and kitchen are shared.

The kitchens come with an electrical stove, a refrigerator/freezer, sink, cabinets, etc. There are no microwave ovens. You will notice that the cabinets are well worn and lined with aluminum foil, they do not renovate here unless absolutely necessary.

The bedrooms each hold two small simple beds, and have large walk-in closets.

All units come with a large carbon air filter, to remove chemicals in the air. There are also filters on the showerheads in the bathroom. Some units have special TV-sets that are built into a box with an air filter, to cut down on the off gasssing from the electronics. The other units just have regular TV’s. Some apartments may have a water filter in the kitchen, a balcony, or other feature.

The whole east-end of the complex is for people with Environmental Illness, and there is also some living in units in the center of the development. The rest is inhabited by regular folks, of the lower income range. Some people with EI have bought their own apartments in the complex.

There is a Laundromat on-site for the use of the whole complex, not many of the private households have their own, the apartments were not designed for hookups. This cuts down on the dryer fumes. There is a special laundry room for the use of the clinic patients, with a shared key.

A small staff works out of one apartment, cleaning the apartments and changing the bed sheets twice a week. Make sure to tell them if you prefer to do some of these things yourself, as you may not tolerate the soap they use. The office has a small library of books for the clinic patients.

Some patients can not tolerate the housing available in Dallas, and choose to stay in an EI community outside Seagoville. It is located southeast of Dallas, about forty minutes by the freeway. The community consists of more than twenty safe houses in a rural setting. Longer-term residents inhabit most of them, but they also rent by the week or by the month.

The houses are a combination of brick huts with porcelain walls, and porcelain trailers. Most of the units have private bathrooms, with a bath shack shared by the rest. Some units have special features for the EMF sensitive, though some EMF folks can not even stay there. A separate shack serves as a dining area, which holds a refrigerator/freezer for each resident, and also has washers and driers. Severe patients can cook outside. It’s a nice setting in the warmer months. The summer months are very hot there, due to the steel building materials, and the winters are chilly, as only electric space heaters are used.

The Seagoville community is owned by an older couple, who live there themselves. They can be contacted through the clinic. Many people do better out there, but the exposure during the long drive is an issue. Another issue for some people is the molds coming in from the surrounding rangeland and the on-site ponds.

There are also a few houses and regular apartments in the Dallas area that has been modified for EI patients. Some patients have permanently moved to the Dallas area, to be near the clinic. These places are very hard to get, though some of them may rent out a room to patients staying for a longer time. These places are only known by word-of-mouth, so you will need to stay in other housing for awhile before you will hear about them.

The nearby Residence Inn is said to be helpful to patients who can tolerate a regular hotel. They wash the sheets in baking soda, if asked.

Some patients are not able to go to the store for a variety of reasons. For them, there is a service available that for a fee will shop at the local health supermarket, and occasionally run other errands. There are also a number of casual services available, such as safe taxi service and hair cuts by people with Environmental Illness. Some area stores understand your problem, and are willing to go the extra mile. My glasses broke, and were fixed by the local Lenscrafters, who would meet me in their parking lot so I did not have to go into their store. Another patient got similar service at the local SAS shoe store. Ask other patients.

Other patients are a great resource. During the time I was there, there was really a great sense of community, that we were all shipmates. Patients who had cars available ferried others around, and people shared other things they had. We even had a couple ‘get-togethers.’ These were a little different from the normal world, as only mineral water was served. No food or drink would be acceptable to all, as most of us are on restricted diets.

Just talking with other people, and finding there were many with similar experiences with this disease is both validating and informative. Especially during the first days, I felt like the clinic dropped the ball a couple of times. When I was not sure what I was supposed to do next, or what something meant, other patients could tell me. Veteran patients who had been coming to the clinic for years could also tell stories about the history of the place. I was told that this sense of community does vary over time, sometimes there is not the right mix of people, so it does not happen.

It is also nice that you can wear a facemask at any time, and few people would pay any attention to you. Or that people would understand if you had to get away from an offending fume in the air.

You will notice a wide variety of people, though mostly people with a higher education, as they are the only ones who can figure this out on their own to come here, and have the finances to do it. Sadly enough.

No patient has exactly the same set of symptoms and sensitivities, this diversity is one of the reasons we do not fit into the regular cookbook medicine. No matter how sensitive you are, there will be people more so that you, so don’t assume what you can tolerate, others can. There are even people who are so sensitive, that they can tell whether they are allergic to a substance or not, just by holding the vial in their hands! Others are sensitive to magnetic fields (electricity), to sunshine, or to sounds. Some can only drink certain brands of mineral water.

A car is handy, but may not be essential. The clinic is a quarter mile from the clinic condos, and most patients walk. There are a couple stores within walking distance, though most people prefer to shop at the local Whole Foods store (3 miles away), for more ecological food. The store has a delivery service with reasonable prices.

You do not really have to bring much to come here, just clothes and personal items. Some people have not been able to stay anywhere before they came here, and were homeless without many possessions. Linens, towels and kitchenware are provided in the EHCD less toxic patient housing. The clinic has a store, www.aehf.com that sells a variety of safe products at reasonable prices, such as shampoo, soap, shirts, towels, etc. Whole Foods also stocks a variety of safe products.

Make sure to bring short-sleeved shirts or blouses, as they are needed in the testing rooms. Shorts and T-shirts are also a good idea as you may be doing some tours of the sauna, besides handy in the hot climate. Make sure to leave new and synthetic clothes at home.

Get the book "An Alternative Approach to Allergies" by Theron Randolph, M.D. It describes the methodology of the clinic very well, in a language understandable to non-medical people. Read it before arriving, it will help you understanding the treatments. It may also serve as documentation when arguing with your insurance company (but don't bet on it).

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