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Post by Lisa Petrison on Jul 24, 2011 8:59:56 GMT -5
POOR (2)
On a sunny day in June 2010, I drove across Michigan on I-94, through St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Jackson and Ann Arbor.
I was surprised to find an extremely strong presence of the worst toxin for me in Ann Arbor. It hit me as I first entered the western part of the city on I-94. I then drove through the city and went south a few miles on Hwy. 23. It felt okay (after decontaminating). Then I retraced my route, encountering it again just within the boundaries of the city. It was so problematic that just a 20-minute exposure to the city and its contamination of my car/RV continued to have an effect on me for a few weeks. (1-AWFUL)
The rest of the Michigan I visited felt like other parts of the Midwest (Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Illinois) to me -- with a cloud of unpleasant haze over it. I spent a night in my RV in Battle Creek, but otherwise did not stay over in this state. (2-POOR)
All of this was surprising to me, since I spent almost a week in the Ann Arbor area (driving that same route) in October 2008 and did reasonably okay. (3-FAIR) Part of this may have been that my reactivity went up as a result of having gotten really clear, but that wouldn't have been the entire explanation.
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Post by Lisa Petrison on Nov 15, 2011 10:11:20 GMT -5
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Post by wandered on Nov 30, 2011 7:45:42 GMT -5
POOR 2 - 3
I grew up in Michigan -- South of the Grand Rapids area. I lived in new construction homes and apartment buildings through most of my childhood. The winters were all very extreme and we were often trapped inside our houses with feet of snowfall.
When I went to college in Kalamazoo more south, Kalamazoo College, my symptoms flared a bit more for the first time. In retrospect, I believe I was living in a moldy dorm. I had more neuro and psych symptoms. I managed to get good grades during my first two years and had a remarkable remission when I left school to visit the soutwestern US during a breakup. When I returned to school to live in an on campus dorm and work for the summer, the symptoms returned. When I moved off campus for good, to live in a house, the symptoms abated some and I found the equilibrium to finish my studies and go on foreign study.
My next experience with Michigan was living in Ann Arbor for graduate study at University of Michigan. It was more like a 1. I felt horrible and seemed to feel worse and worse as I lived there. Though I did not know much about mold, my then-partner and I did identify "foundation mold" in our apartment and blamed a lot of our health ills on it (his Crohn's disease was becoming unmanageable and his depression was terrible too) -- we moved several times after finding this in successive apartments, so much that friends began to think we were mentally unbalanced (which was partly true, but not in the way they thought). We finally found an apartment we felt confident in and we kept it for two years, but we still both were at our worst health there. I ultimately dropped out of my graduate program and he was unable to work full time -- was just taking elective graduate classes and wasting time. I saw the Michigan Headache Clinic about my migraines and then we drove to Chicago and I was hospitalized there for migraines and finally put on a regimen that worked.
Ann Arbor was the worst place I've ever been. I wish I hadn't spent so many years there. Sometimes I wonder if the relationship I was in, the graduate program I was in, etc could have worked in another location.
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Post by forebearance on Oct 10, 2012 21:43:17 GMT -5
I also felt like Ann Arbor was FAIR (3) in 2008. I think the situation there has changed since that time.
I spent a week in southeastern Michigan in August 2012. Suburban Detroit near the airport felt POOR (2). Ann Arbor felt AWFUL (1).
The really bad toxin that is blanketing Ann Arbor seems to be spreading to the north of town by following the Huron River Valley. It may also be spreading to the south of town. I didn't go in that direction.
If you go west or east of Ann Arbor, the air goes back to normal southeastern Michigan yucky aka POOR (2).
In the past, many of the buildings in Ann Arbor have been especially problematic. This problem goes back maybe 40 years. It does seem like many college towns are cursed, mold-wise.
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eric
New Member
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Post by eric on Nov 7, 2014 12:50:13 GMT -5
The Detroit airport (DTW) is pretty poor. I had to use that airport for 9 years and I feel symptomatic every time I go through it. I also suffer in Midway airport (but not so much Ohare).
I have lived in Ann Arbor for the last 9 years (2005-2014) and there are definitely buildings where I feel the effect. Some particularly problematic buildings are the Rackham Graduate School Building (3), School of Public Health (ironically) (2), and several buildings and restaurants on Main Street (1-3). However there are many buildings and apartments throughout Ann Arbor that are just fine (5)!
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eric
New Member
Posts: 4
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Post by eric on Nov 7, 2014 12:56:28 GMT -5
Belleville Michigan has it really bad (1). This town and the world trade center memorial area in NYC (1) are the two worst areas that I've visited since I began mentally tracking places that I'm sensitive too.
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Post by acer2000 on Dec 20, 2014 16:07:58 GMT -5
I'm curious, which area in Ann Arbor (buildings, etc) do you find to be "fine" (5)? I live in Ann Arbor now, although I didn't get sick here. I have been told it is a bad place, but I'd love to know some good locations here so I can test them out.
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Post by forebearance on Mar 13, 2015 15:35:46 GMT -5
Well, Zingerman's used to be an okay building! I wouldn't rate any of the buildings in Ann Arbor as (5). But I have a perspective that comes from traveling around to many towns.
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Post by Clark on Oct 16, 2016 14:47:06 GMT -5
Im not 100% certain on this but i ordered some foam to make a mattress and it has been completely crushing me. I first thought that there was mold on it but the feeling is slightly different. I looked up where the factory is that made it and it's in Ann Arbor. I don't know if this is the cause but there's a DEFINITE problem.
I'm hoping others who have been through there were able to salvage their things by decontaminating them? I had this foam in my truck
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