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Hawaii
Jul 24, 2011 8:45:54 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Jul 24, 2011 8:45:54 GMT -5
POOR (2)
I visited Honolulu for a few nights in (I think) 1993, a year before starting to get sick with CFS. I stayed in a hotel near the main beach. I felt pretty irritable the whole time and had no desire to go back.
Best, Lisa
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Hawaii
Aug 19, 2011 12:32:37 GMT -5
Post by PokerPlayer on Aug 19, 2011 12:32:37 GMT -5
I have had slow onset cfs/me. I have been to Maui two times and the big island once.
Since becoming more disabled, I went to Maui a couple months ago. Within a day I noticed my chest tightness go away, and my body was more able to take in oxygen and use it. I felt more energy during the day, and more relaxed at night and had good sleep.
I thought this might have been attributed to the sun. However, I live in washington and it has gotten to be 80 here for a few weeks and I don't feel any better.
It is very obvious to me it has to do with the oxygen content and purity of the air. I checked and the places I went in Hawaii have great air quality.
I have definitely been thinking about moving there. I also have thought about checking out Bellingham, WA as it is supposed to have good air quality too.
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Hawaii
Oct 14, 2011 15:29:53 GMT -5
Post by pokerplayer on Oct 14, 2011 15:29:53 GMT -5
So I have gotten into the locations effect more, and I have some more things I have noticed.
Maui - Kihei - 5 (best) This is the desert part of Maui and it almost never rained, I was always wondering why I was drawn to this part of the island, but now I know.
Kauai - I felt decent on Kauai, but it was a mixed bag, some places were much better than others. Poipu beach on the south end and then the beaches on the north end were the only places I felt good, but never great (4). The rest of the island was a (3).
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Hawaii
Nov 14, 2011 10:27:39 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Nov 14, 2011 10:27:39 GMT -5
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Hawaii
Nov 14, 2011 10:33:39 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Nov 14, 2011 10:33:39 GMT -5
A report: I've lived in Hawaii over 20 years and this is where the onset occured of CFIDS. Even healthy people get vially ill from the vog when it's at its worst. And I notice more people dying in the community as well on weeks when the vog index is high. I believe it was my occupation as a hairdresser and the prevelence of herbicides and pesticides that had contributed to the onset of this illness. The best thing we can do is not wallow in our sorrows but get our endorphins up to send a different message to our bodies. Yes location is important but healing begins from within ourselves, our minds, and bodies! I haven't been a hairdresser working in a salon for many years. What part of Maui? Most of the country areas are high mold areas. All of the island chain is riddled with vog and there's more spowts all the time of new eruptions on the BI. If you think burning sugar cane of some of the 400,000 acres of ag land is clean air, think again, and congested towns like Kahalui that have so many diesel trucks driving around. People have these unrealistic fantasies @ Hawaii and New Zealand, both having erupting volcanoes. I know since I moved to Maui, I had to change my diet dramatically, avoid more stress, etc... Recenty I felt better on Kauai but still had to be very careful about not overdoing it. Now that I'm back on Maui, I'm feeling much more tired and have a sore throat. I'm wondering if it has to do with the vog. For me, I notice when I have a more supportive social and spiritual life, I feel better by leaps and bounds. Just wanted to add that while there may be people that have been able to find a healing coming to Hawaii, there are also people like me who moved here and then had the onset of CFIDS. I know a woman who was diving off waterfalls for a living and now is on many pain and depression meds for Fibromyalgia. She has three children now. -Kulia health.groups.yahoo.com/group/CFS_CFIDS_ME/message/7429?l=1health.groups.yahoo.com/group/CFS_CFIDS_ME/message/7057?l=1health.groups.yahoo.com/group/CFS_CFIDS_ME/message/6766?l=1
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Hawaii
Nov 14, 2011 10:35:35 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Nov 14, 2011 10:35:35 GMT -5
Paul Beith wrote:
I've received mixed reports on Hawaii. I know of a woman with ME who is very well in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico - but not well in Hawaii, the state she lives in.
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Hawaii
Nov 14, 2011 12:35:22 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Nov 14, 2011 12:35:22 GMT -5
A report: I have CFIDS and Depression. I am very interested to hear about what others have to say about "feel good locations." I experienced this phenomenon when I went to visit my sis-in-law in Maui. Of course, everyone thought it was convenient that I would suddenly be out of bed and feeling good when I was on a tropical island, but I'm telling you it was a very dramatic difference. I went from sleeping 20 hours a day (in Fort Collins, CO - a beautiful place that I love but can't seem to live there) to 8-10 hours of sleep per day in Maui. This was also a very active time for me because I was a nanny for my nieces who were 2 & 4 at the time. I was absolutely amazed that I was able to be any help at all to them. I only felt bad when it was about to rain or raining. Then I got tired and achy. As a result of this experience in Maui, my husband and I moved to Tempe, AZ. I still need a nap every day, but my overall health is so much better. I only seem to get achy now when there is a rain storm which is rare considering this is a desertous region. The warm/hot weather is serving me well. -siri health.groups.yahoo.com/group/CFS_CFIDS_ME/message/7047?l=1
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Hawaii
Nov 14, 2011 15:59:23 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Nov 14, 2011 15:59:23 GMT -5
Here's a report about Hawaii. We went to Hawaii in March and I was having a really bad FM flare right before we left. As we went through the airport in Nebraska it was bad, then we got off in LA and I felt much better, then we got off the plane in Hawaii and it was all but gone. So much so we thought of moving there. We may or may not end up in Hawaii but we are definitely going to be moving some where south when the kids graduate. My husband has a bad knee and he also felt so much better in Hawaii. We hiked and went sight seeing everyday and both felt great. Got off the plane back home and bam welcome back FM. -Streich forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=8&nav=messages&webtag=ab-chronicfatig&tid=11612
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Hawaii
Nov 14, 2011 18:51:00 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Nov 14, 2011 18:51:00 GMT -5
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Hawaii
Nov 17, 2011 10:28:47 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Nov 17, 2011 10:28:47 GMT -5
A report:
I live in a suburb of Chicago. I have FMS, CFS and MFPD and osteoarthritis.
I always feel almost normal if I am in the Hawaiian Islands. I am trying to save some money to get to the islands in the fall. I have been to the islands 3 times and so a lot of improvement each time.
I have been to a couple of the Caribbean islands and I don't feel as good there as in Hawaiian islands!
We have a little winter home in Tucson and my allergies are bad there too as the spring comes in but, then I read that Tucson is one of the worst places for allergies because people brought in plants from other areas that are not indigenous to Tucson.
I can really relate to what you are saying about leaving a toxic situation. That is really what I need. Unfortunately my situation does not give me that choice. I am a wife, mother and grandmother. I am 68 years old. My spirit is 25 and my body feels like 100. I was told I had FMS at 40. I try to go away every year for at least a month by myself as that is the only way I can really rest and get some renewal.
-Madeline
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Hawaii
Nov 18, 2011 9:06:12 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Nov 18, 2011 9:06:12 GMT -5
A report: I believe it is conditions more than location. Lack of chemicals, etc. I do well on the Big Island of Hawaii and poorly on Maui (both same climate obviously), and well in dry Reno. Both in areas that don't have many chemicals. -Doris health.groups.yahoo.com/group/CFS_CFIDS_ME/message/1994?l=1
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Hawaii
Nov 18, 2011 12:34:36 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Nov 18, 2011 12:34:36 GMT -5
A report from 2004. * Somebody posted something very interesting and terryfing on the CFSFMExperimental-yahoo-group: "I talked to another CFSer who said every time he went on vacation he felt normal. He visited Hawaii and felt so great he had to move there. Within 2 months all his symptoms came back. Don't know why this is." health.groups.yahoo.com/group/CFS_CFIDS_ME/message/867?l=1
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Hawaii
Nov 18, 2011 12:51:39 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Nov 18, 2011 12:51:39 GMT -5
A report from 2004: I do better in the summer than winter, that's for sure. But when I left Dallas the end of August, I didn't feel well here.....barely was able to get to the airport 2 hours drive. When I got to Maui, I had energy. I was hurting quite a bit from Fibro, but my energy level was decidedly better. Both years I was in Maui it was rather hot and humid. I was staying right on the ocean and sitting out by the ocean a lot, where it was breezy. I remember getting up at 6:00 am and running down to the beach to swim first thing. I NEVER wake up ready to do anything at home. In fact, mornings are my worst time of day. Just getting started in the morning is the hardest thing. Perhaps the 6 hour time zone change had something to calculate into the equation, don't know. I think that FM is now my primary illness, with fatigue being secondary. Oh, I spent a year in bed with fatigue and FM last year, and my brain doesn't work normally I am sure. When I am in Maui, I have energy, but my FM isn't any better. I'm in North Texas, north of Dallas, and I feel rotten. -Carolyn health.groups.yahoo.com/group/CFS_CFIDS_ME/message/769?l=1health.groups.yahoo.com/group/CFS_CFIDS_ME/message/748?l=1
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Hawaii
Nov 19, 2011 10:27:34 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Nov 19, 2011 10:27:34 GMT -5
A comment from 2002 from someone in the SF Bay Area: I tried a month in Hawai'i, but didn't feel much better and spent half the trip down with a viral infection, probably from flying. I'm not sure that Hawai'i was necessarily bad for me. I might not have given it enough time. The reason I went, actually, was that I had gone for a week a few years earlier and had felt much better, so I was trying to recreate that experience. I made one major move during a period of remission, from nyc to san francisco -- oops, that was maybe a mistake. I relapsed in six months. . . SF is damp, windy, moldy, but it's beautiful and probably easier to be sick in than nyc. I went to Mexico once -- Oxaca City and the coast -- and, actually I felt remarkably good during the whole trip (that was six years ago), but it helped enormously to let my friends make all the decisions and arrangements (they were healthy folks); on my own, it would be different, I think. -Michael health.groups.yahoo.com/group/CFS_CFIDS_ME/message/35?l=1health.groups.yahoo.com/group/CFS_CFIDS_ME/message/31?l=1
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Hawaii
Nov 20, 2011 20:02:24 GMT -5
Post by frogger on Nov 20, 2011 20:02:24 GMT -5
5. Kauai- Poipu Beach area. I stayed there for a week in 3/2011. I didn't feel 100% there, but I didn't notice any OI symptoms and slept pretty well. I was able to snorkel and go for walks without difficulty. 3-4. Honolulu. I feel pretty good on the beaches there, but the house I stayed in the last few times had some mold to which I believe I had a reaction. I was at several social events on the water (a wedding and party) and didn't have many problems standing and socializing, which contributed to me realizing that location had an effect on me. I would consider living there despite it being over-crowded if I could find a good place near the beach.
I haven't been to Maui or the Big Island since I got ill but hope to try them out and will write an update once I do so.
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Hawaii
Nov 21, 2011 11:39:47 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Nov 21, 2011 11:39:47 GMT -5
I have spent a good deal of time in Palm Springs and found a colonics therapist with fibromyalgia who got sick in a house with Stachy in San Diego. Her house in Palm Springs is very good with regard to toxic mold. She's pretty much wholly recovered, but relapses when she goes to the SF Bay Area or (especially in winter) San Diego. She blames the damp climates, but says that the place that she feels the best is Hawaii. Best, Lisa Read more: locationseffect.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=us&thread=4&page=1#ixzz1eMKgxcob
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Hawaii
Nov 22, 2011 13:30:43 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Nov 22, 2011 13:30:43 GMT -5
A report from Erik Johnson:
I asked a bunch who were on the windward and leeward side in Hawaii to compare notes. The Leewards didn't notice Hawaii was much better, but the Windwards all did.
-Erik (2011)
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Hawaii
Dec 13, 2011 2:02:18 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Dec 13, 2011 2:02:18 GMT -5
A report from Grampus: I just spent my 7 days on O'ahu and felt [mostly] good while I was there. I don't know if it was just the "vacation effect" or what, but I felt like I could actually go out and do things every day. Of course, at the end of the day I would be overly tired and barely able to put one foot in front of the other! My sleep was still poor, despite all of the exercise. Believe me, we exercised while we were there. Walking in the sand, snorkeling, going for little hikes up hills and whatnot, and even just the daily walking around the main Waikiki shopping area was way more than I could accomplish on a "normal" day at home. I think being out in the fresh air and sunshine all day really helps, plus getting to swim in the ocean water. These are not things I do at home because it's too nasty/hot/muggy/etc. in Houston. Now that I'm back I can feel my head "fogging up" again Grrrr. forums.phoenixrising.me/showthread.php?13799-Mold-or-Oxygen-Feel-better-in-Hawaii/page12
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anne
New Member
Posts: 5
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Hawaii
Jan 3, 2012 4:01:41 GMT -5
Post by anne on Jan 3, 2012 4:01:41 GMT -5
Hawaii for me was a 2.
I stayed in Honolulu for 4 days in December 1994, close to Waikiki beach.
If I were to stay again I'd like to try an area with true native vegetation, not built up. (Oh, and perhaps windward after Erik's observation above!)
Anne.
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Hawaii
Apr 5, 2012 23:42:35 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Apr 5, 2012 23:42:35 GMT -5
Janis shares information about Hawaii on her blog. After arriving in Honolulu with a few hours of airplane sleep, I found a condo to rent in Waikiki. It was right on the beach. I love the beach, having grown up in Margate NJ where I fondly recall every summer day spent building sand castles and jumping the ocean waves. No building sand castles in Waikiki, where the beach is made of very tiny pebbles, and the entrance to the ocean is laden with big pebbles that make walking on gravel barefoot seem like a delight. So I lay out my towel to enjoy sunbathing for 2 minutes before clouds covered the sun and fine pinpricks of drizzle landed on my back. These soft rains seemed to arrive every day as soon as I got onto the beach. And even as I write at the picnic table near the ocean, the rain has started falling again. Well at least I have a place to stay indoors now. It is a cottage along the coast W of Haleiwa, a neat surfer-hippie town with a great health food store and 3 raw juice bars. The torrential rains that put Oahu and Kauai in the national news started the day we came out to look at this place and continued for the next 6 days and 6 nights. Then we got another 5 days of clouds and drizzle and last week, two full days of sunshine. Hallelujah! I actually felt pretty good on those days and started to like Hawaii. The rest of the time I’ve felt mediocre to awful. What’s awful? Waking up in the morning with a splitting sinus headache and a queasy stomach. Having a fever, chills, and the urge to release everything inside me through the nearest orifice. Nights without sleep and nights with only a few hours of sleep. Swinging between being tired and being hyper. Unable to clear my head to meditate. Having digestive issues like GERD, burping, and constipation. And of course more fatigue and less tolerance of standing and exercise. But my reactions are less extreme than they were in the desert, and I haven’t declined to where I was in Ohio. It’s very pretty here, and the warm weather is so much easier to deal with outdoors!! We move on tomorrow to Kailua Kona on the big island, an area known to be fairly dry. Whether it’s dry enough to keep the molds in check that stir up my immune system is something I’ll discover. If not, it’s on to Maui and then….the unknown. cfsmethylation.blogspot.com/2012/03/hawaii-on-trial.html* So when I found a rental on VRBO with an ocean view from the hillside about Kailua, I took it. After I’d paid the nonrefundable security deposit, I realized that there was little outdoor living space. What if the place were moldy? (the owner had assured me it was definitely not¸ but I’ve learned not to trust owners.) What if it rained? (It did, first rain after a long drought.) A few other ‘what if’s ran through my head, but we needed a place to sleep and cook meals, and we didn’t want to spend two hundred a night for a hotel. So with a bit of trepidation and a lot of optimism, off we went. I immediately loved Kailua-Kona and the energy of the Big Island. Lots of lava and dry grasses, lots of tropical plants. It was warm and sunny, which was just what my spirit needed to heal. Our host-owner handed us papaya and oranges from his trees and made us feel welcome and comfortable. The kitchen was stocked with all kinds of useful utensils; the closet had boogie boards and coolers and beach bags, the place seemed to be mold free and immaculately clean. Best of all, it had a beautiful view of the ocean. We watched the sun set while eating dinner on the patio. My roommate went into the hot tub. I curled up under a blanket on the sofa, gagged on the laundry-detergent scent of the sheets, got out my sleeping bag and fell into a sweet sleep. At 2 am I woke with racing heart and terrible cramps in my calf. I remembered Shoemaker saying that calf cramping can be a sign of elevated C4a, one of the early markers of a reaction to mold. I got up, set up my sleeping mat outside on the deck, and moved myself to the Great Outdoors. I didn’t sleep a wink the rest of the night. The next day I surprised myself by having decent energy, enough to go swimming, walk around some shops in downtown Kailua, meet up with some friends for fresh Kava and dinner. I slept outside and woke up the next day with a cold and sinus infection. Ugh! I was wiped out for 2 days, then congested, cold and tired for the last 2 days. It didn’t help that the weather turned gray and rainy 2 days in a row. But in driving up the coast to check out some camping areas, I found places where my head cleared. I felt particularly good in the south Kohala coastal area. As soon as we turned around the NW corner of the island, coming into Kaha’au and Hawi, I got congested again. Taking the highway back through Waimea to Kailua, I felt great on the stretch due E of that dry area and decided I’d look for housing in that area if I ended up staying on the island. I continued to sleep outside and work outside, despite periods of rain, because I felt jittery inside the house.We learned the last day that the owner had a pesticide company come monthly to spray the perimeter and set pesticide pellets in the garden right next to my sleeping area and I wondered how much pesticides could have been triggering me rather than mold. I had some trepidation as we left to drive to our new place on the wet side of the island. I knew it was a beautiful house, and the woman renting it to me is an energy healer I've known through phone and Facebook contact for 5 years. Surely the place would have good energy, and would be okay because it was right on the beach and fairly new and built over an area of lava flow from 1990 in which nothing grew. The house turned out to fulfill its promise of being spacious, open, and sparsely but tastefully furnished. I didn’t smell mold, see any inside mold, or any signs of water damage. I did noticed lots of mold discoloring the cement walkway and the wooden porch in the back of the house and decided that since it was outside, it probably wouldn’t make a difference. WRONG. For me, outdoor mold does make a difference. I spent the day feeling like a zombie with racing heart and poisoned brain as we packed, drove back over the mountain, and found another place to rent in the S. Kohala area. Fortunately, I feel good enough about this place to have a surprising inner certainty that it’s going to work out for quite a while, and that brings me a feeling of tranquility. Ironically, the desperation I had from the Kaimu Beach place brought me here, while my roommate, whose brain was functioning, found the place online. In a calmer state I would have eliminated it because it sits on a golf course, near a road with traffic, and is carpeted throughout. According to the advice of Shoemaker, Rea, Hope, and Nagy (a doctor I haven’t seen but who healed with the help of Rea from CIRS with extreme fatigue and hypersensitivity) carpets hold mold toxins, golf courses are laden with pesticides that interfere with neuro receptors, traffic adds an unhealthy level of solvents into the air. Yet even though the place is not ideal, I’m experiencing daily improvements, which tells me that it’s good enough for now. cfsmethylation.blogspot.com/2012/04/better-than-view-more-hawaii.html
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Hawaii
Apr 11, 2012 17:47:53 GMT -5
Post by janisb on Apr 11, 2012 17:47:53 GMT -5
I camped at Spencer Beach on the Big Island three nights. It's a lovely spot, and the vog seems to be less here than other places on the island, the ground is dry, it's next to a sacred Hawaiian spot and so there is no development on any of the 3 sides nearby, and the wind is fairly mild I'd love to live here But in comparison to the desert, I'm still not doing as well. A bit congested in the morning. Could be due to vog, tent slightly contaminated, places I spent time during the day (windy Waikoloa Village). Also finding that conditions change rapidly with the weather here.
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Hawaii
Apr 13, 2012 14:26:22 GMT -5
Post by Lisa Petrison on Apr 13, 2012 14:26:22 GMT -5
A report via Paul Beith from October 2004:
"I had trouble years ago for 2 weeks in Hawaii and concluded it was the high humidity/molds causing a growth on my fingers, which cleared up immediately once back to a drier climate.""
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