Lifestyle Changes - Home specifically UK Homes.......

[HappyBird]

After my MC flare in July 2015 my partner and I took a hard look at the house, household goods, air quality etc.

I used to be an early riser, up at 6am, msde my partner breakfast & a packed lunch before leaving home for university. After a bad summer in 2005 when my Psoriatic Arthritis was finally diagnosed, things changed. I started getting up later until two years ago when I just slept until I was woken.

My house is a four storey Victorian townhouse, semi-detached, with sash windows, gas fired central heating, air-conditioned / heating as back-up temperature control. The house has insulation in the loft but leaks heat and lets air in between sashes. The house has no damp and no leaks - all in all we believed it was a healthy environment. The bedroom temperature is kept at 18-19 degrees C. The living areas not heated above 19 degrees C.

THE BEDROOM:

1. Air quality was our first priority because of my very sluggish mornings and inability to wake up properly. We bought a C02 monitor and found that the bedroom carbon dioxide levels rocketed to over 2000ppm by 12mn. This was a bit of a shock to say the least but did explain part of my inability to get up in the mornings after being an early riser all my life.
Simply opening a window in our dressing room made a huge difference and brought the carbon dioxide levels down below 600ppm.

2. New sheets & pillow cases- It has become difficult to find silk sheets and pillowcases in the UK lately so we changed our bedding to a cotton /silk mix.

3. Pillows - all the pillows have been changed to memory foam and Merino Wool filled pillows. The pillows are covered with an anti-allergy pillow cover followed by a cotton/silk blend outer pillowcase.

4. Duvets - Our old Mulberry Silk duvets need to be repaired and dry cleaned and rested. We were not able to find new ones in the UK so opted for Merino Wool filled duvet and quilt.

5. For a number of years we have used a special UV light vacuum cleaner, we continue to use this.



KITCHEN:

1. All plastic dishes, boxes and storage was removed and replaced with glass albeit with plastic lids.

Reason : Research has found that when p,astic is heated tiny particles are transferred to food. This could be a trigger for my MC. Glass is safe as long as lids are removed for heating and not in contact with food. This article is self explanetary : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... -year.html

2. All Teflon coated cooking pans and utensils are banned from my kitchen because the fumes from this coating is deadly for birds. I keep four parrots. The Teflon coated cookware was replaced with ceramic coated cookware.

3. My cooking pots are copper with stainless steel linings or stainless steel. I made this change in the early 70's when research found aluminum and other pots leach metals into the food. Stainless steel is a very safe metal for cooking.

4. Plastic & melamine kitchen tools replaced by wood and stainless steel. Wooden utensils will be replaced regularly and kept free of bacteria by washing and oiling with citrus oil. Once they are passed their best I'll sterilize them and give them to my birds to turn into match sticks. My Moluccan Cockatoo is a serious woodworker!

5. Gas hob changed to electric hob after a pot boiled over and put the flame below out - luckily I was preparing food and became aware of the gas smell near me. This is a serious
problem with gas. The hob is glass, easy to clean, cooks more slowly but very safe.

6. Using loose tea because teabags are made from material which may be harmful for me. Reason and article to follow. I have always preferred loose tea made in a tea pot snd brewed the old fashioned way. Tea pot back in full time use. Buying loose tea at cost from Betty's in York.

PERSONAL - we invested in a new scale, step counter, pulse and oxygen saturation reader, and sleep monitor that is attached to a Food Diary app.

1. Sleep Monitor - monitors how long it takes to fall asleep, light sleep and deep sleep.

2. Step counter helps to estimate energy used and activity.

3. Pulse and 02 saturation - gives an indication of oxygen intake levels.

4. Food Diary - calculates calories and advises when in my case I under eat and don't get enough calories.

5. I would love to find a reliable hydration monitor.

6. Changed from fluoride toothpaste to Earthpaste - Lemon Twist. Its a natural toothpaste without plastic microbeads used as an abrasive in toothpaste and many of our exfoloiation products in the bathroom. See article in 1. above.


ALLERGY TESTING
YORK ALLERGY TESTING - Initial finger prick

Results to follow