Discussion topics include: Essential life-style changes for the chemically injured; medical evidence of toxic exposures; ongoing research into the cascade of chronic health effects following initial insults; obtaining quality health care for maximum healing; accommodation and disability issues, and the psycho-social impacts upon patients and their families. Strategies for advocacy are reviewed with consideration given to those economic, legislative, social and educational issues which give rise to these preventable illnesses.

It is not a sign of good health to be well adjusted to a sick society.
- J. Krishnamurti

Notes: The information on this site is not to be used for diagnosing or treating any health concerns you may have—please consult appropriately qualified health care professionals to meet your medical needs. Please respect the privacy of group members and intellectual property rights by not forwarding any material without the consent of the author.

We wish members to share information but certain subjective opinions are personal, and therefore, challenges to those views are innapropriate and not a productive use of this list. Everyone is entitled to practice their faith and vote their conscience–or reject organized religion and/or politics. When in doubt regarding the appropriateness of your posting topic, feel free to discuss it with the owners/moderators in advance.

2. Healthy debate is welcome but the language of all posts must be civil and respectful of diversity. If you are unsure how to express yourself appropriately, feel free to seek the help of the owners and moderators in formulating a ‘highly-charged’ post.

3. Members will inevitably be drawn to ‘backchannel’ discussions, (i.e. off-list communications with ‘list siblings’), but have the same responsiblity to maintain civility in those contacts.

The reason we deem backchannel communications to be the business of the list owners is because they center around responses to list posts. People post to the list with the expectation that they will be protected from unacceptable responses (flames, harrassment, spamming, etc.). Members cannot evade their responsibility for civil communication by moving to the ‘backchannel’ venue. If we receive complaints of abusive backchannel messages, we will deal with them as we would innapropriate list postings.

4. Each member is unique, and information regarding recommended treatment regimens, products and services must contain qualifiers informing readers that their results may differ (e.g.YMMV or Your Mileage May Vary). What is safe for one person may be life-threatening to another. Posts reflect personal experiences and theoretical constructs. They are not a prescription for all members to follow.

Science no longer agrees that it is the ‘dose’ that makes the ‘poison.’ It is very important to know as much as possible about the ingredients in the products we use. Please respect your fellow members by offering such information if you discuss a product on the list [e.g., list the ingredients from the label or post a link to an MSDS sheet if available, etc.] You might simply explain why you selected this product over others to try. Those extra five minutes spent on your post can save hundreds of your co-members time, money, and potentially severe reactions!

It’s really about the products and not just personal tolerances. Once upon a time, most of us thought we ‘tolerated’ the poisons that disabled us in the end.

5. In order to maintain discussions which are free of conflicts of interest, members may not post to the list concerning treatments, products or services in which they stand to profit financially. Posts should contain an assurance to this effect, such as “NFI (no financial interest)”.

The owners also reserve the right to reject list posts/ads containing information we know to be factually untrue or misleading (e.g. that swinging a chicken over your head under a full moon cures allergies).

Be advised that we also take the firm stance that poisons cause damage to everyone and that no treatment program will render such substances harmless in future encounters. While one may become less aware of adverse effects, poisons still damage the body with or without overt reactions. Claims to the contrary will not be posted.

6. Material which is ‘off topic’ is restricted as follows:

Members with special interests (e.g. researchers, authors, vendors, activists, group leaders) can bring their independent web sites/blogs to the attention of their fellow list members. As these may be considered advertising or simply ‘off topic’, placement of these links should appear next to/beneath the member’s signature, rather than as part of a list post. A link may be followed by a single sentence which concisely describes the nature of the link. For example: [John Smith, www.sellingsomething.com, Fine jewelry and costume pieces sold within the continental USA]

Additional text discussing these links may be eligible to appear on our announcements pages, issued twice monthly (see Advertising Policies) .

For persons wishing solely to personalize their informational posts, signatures can be expanded with a single sentence placed next to/below their names. For example: [LaVonne Ellis, "It is not a sign of good health to be well adjusted to a sick society." Krishnamurti]

The text should remain consistent with guidelines for appropriate CIS list content. Signature lines which exceed this length will be considered another form of ‘journaling’. Of course, if the text is related to the post, it should be incorporated within the body of the message, in whatever style of expression is favored by the author.

7. No harvesting of email addresses is permitted for mass mailings, spamming, etc. Recipients of backchannel communications must be welcoming of such contacts or they should cease.

8. Our group does not accept attachments, which are deleted automatically. We do not permit journaling, jokes, chain letters or the passing on of internet ‘urban legends’. Journaling refers to the posting of one’s day-to-day experiences and activities in personal and excruciating detail! We encourage those of you with such fascinating lives to keep a diary or start a blog instead. Just tell us the highlights if relevant to our discussion topics :)))

Speaking of a little humor (and that was a very little humor), we encourage all members to post in a lighthearted a manner as humor is healthy and healing. However, it should be incorporated within your discussions of list topics. We do not allow posts solely consisting of jokes and amusing stories for their own sakes. Many other lists exist for that purpose.

9. This is a privately owned list and all posts should be deemed protected under privacy and copyright laws. Posts may not be forwarded to or from this list without the express written permission of their author. Copyright laws are to be respected in the posting of news/research articles. The URL of any article should be posted, along with only a paragraph or two in order to let readers know the basic content of the item.

If you are not sure whether a post you are writing violates copyright laws, check with the owner/moderators first.

10. Be respectful of the fact that list members are chronically ill, many severely so. Restrict the reading/scanning time necessary for list participation by avoiding the re-posting of old messages when you respond to another post. Simply quote a key line or two of the prior message to remind readers of the topic at hand.

Yes, we also know how convenient it may seem to post the entire prior message you are answering in one of your posts. However, this increases the length of each post and makes it difficult to download and read the digest version of the list. Digest version is a compendium of all posts within a 24 hour period. Imagine having a dozen replies to a single post and having each reply again quote the original message, and all those that follow it, in full! For severely disabled members, Yahoo Phone offers phone access in which all posts are read to the subscriber. Imagine having to listen to all that over and over again!

When in doubt, remember that you are a guest in ‘our home’. We wish you to be comfortable and enjoy your stay, but we do not allow individuals to abuse our hospitality and cause discomfort to our other guests! As a private list, we reserve the right to determine what constitutes appropriate content. If you feel you are being ‘censored’, you are free to question the owner’s decisions as long as our final decisions are accepted as final, and discussions are conducted in a civil manner. You can always choose another venue – or start your own list – to communicate information deemed to be inconsistent with the purposes for which we began this group.

Our list rules are designed to ensure that this forum remains a healthy environment in which chemically injured individuals can comfortably discuss their conditions and issues related to this illness. We do not claim to represent this diverse community nor do we subscribe groups/individuals making such claims.

The following guidelines are designed to minimize the conflicts which are inevitable when large groups gather to discuss personal and highly charged issues. We understand the unique stresses on our members and try to create an atmosphere of mutual understanding and support. A more detailed explanation of the rules is available here: Posting Guidelines

1. Discussions must be on topic but avoid all references to the highly personal and subjective issue of religion. Objective references to political events and politicians’ records which shape our environment are appropriate but no partisan politics or electioneering is permitted.

2. Healthy debate is welcome but the language of all posts must be civil and respectful of diversity. If you are unsure how to express yourself appropriately feel free to seek the help of the owners and moderators in formulating any ‘highly charged’ post.

3. Members will inevitably be drawn to ‘backchannel’ discussions (i.e., off-list communications with other members) but you have the same responsiblity to maintain civility in those contacts.

4. Each member is unique, and information regarding recommended treatment regimens, products and services must contain qualifiers informing readers that their results may differ (e.g.,YMMV or your mileage may vary.) What is safe for one person may be life-threatening to another.

5. In order to maintain discussions which are free of conflicts of interest, members may not post messages concerning treatments, products or services in which they stand to profit financially. Posts should contain an assurance to this effect such as NFI (no financial interest).

6. Members with special interests, such as researchers, vendors or participants in activist groups, may provide a link to their separate sites/web pages under their signature lines when posting on permitted subjects. They may inform the membership about these interests more fully in our business announcements, issued twice monthly.

7. No harvesting of email addresses is permitted for mass mailings, spamming, etc. Recipients of backchannel communications must be welcoming of such contacts, or they should cease.

8. Yahoogroups does not accept attachments and will delete them automatically. We do not permit journaling, jokes, chain letters or the forwarding of internet ‘urban legends’.

9. This is a privately owned list and all posts should be deemed protected under privacy and copyright laws. Posts may not be forwarded to or from this list without the express written permission of their authors. Copyright laws are also to be respected in the posting of news/research articles. URL’s should be posted, along with just a paragraph or two, to let readers know the basic content of the item.

10. Be respectful of the fact that list members are chronically ill, many severely so. Restrict the reading/scanning time necessary for list participation by avoiding the re-posting of old messages when you respond to another post. Simply quote a key line or two of the prior message to remind readers of the topic at hand.

Please see our expanded version of these rules for more detailed explanations, a discussion of our remedies for rule violations and our moderation policies.

When in doubt, remember that you are a guest in ‘our home’. We wish you to be comfortable and enjoy your stay, but we do not allow anyone to abuse our hospitality and discomfort our other guests!

When a post is reviewed and found to be in violation of posting guidelines, it is “rejected’ by our administrative staff. That means, yahoogroups allows us to return the post to the author and add our comments about it. These comments explain the nature of the error and will appear at either the top of the post being returned or at the end of that post. You are free to discuss the problem further if the comments are unclear or simply make the corrections and resend your message.

We do not edit the posts of our members unless they request our assistance with composing a difficult post. On occasion, we may remove non-content material (e.g. yahoo ads) but this is rare since it is an imposition on the limited time of our adminstrative staff.

When a member repeats their errors over and over again, we may begin deleting their error messages without explanation since the nature of the error has already been addressed repeatedly.

Unmoderated members may be shifted to moderated status by virtue of their posting one or more unacceptable messages to the list. Such posts may be deleted from our website. The author is informed about their error. The severity of the error made can lead to that member being placed on moderated status for an indeterminate length of time at the owners’ discretion.

Moderation is not intended to be a punishment! It is designed to allow all subscribers to participate in this forum without causing unintentional harm to other subscribers or interfering with the efficient administration of the list (remember, administration staff are sick too!). We are here to help.

Members who appear to be causing intentional harm to other members (e.g. flaming, posting of harmful practices, endorsement of illegal activities etc.) will be counseled as to the unacceptable nature of their actions. The owners reserve the right to place such members on permanent moderation, ‘read-only’ status (loss of posting prividges) or to ban them from list participation altogether. We do not wish to cut off any sufferer from contacts with others in the community and have only banned a few persons (less than five) in all the years of our existence. However, we cannot accommodate persons who detract from the well-being of our membership or demand so much of our time that it threatens our abilities to administer the list as a whole.

Our staff is comprised of two list owners and several list members who offer their time and energies to keep our list functioning efficiently. All administrative staff are volunteers receiving NO compensation of any type for their work. All administrative staff are also sufferers of this illness, some severely disabled by it. All understand the needs of our membership. All share the owners’ commitment to our mission and are here to help members follow the guidelines imposed which allow us to accomplish that mission.

The owners are extremely grateful to all our volunteers, without whom we could not continue to provide this list to our 500+ subscribers. It is often a thankless task!. Their intelligence, compassion, generosity and perseverance in their own difficult lives is an incredible example to us. Thank you, Moderators!

Members who wish more information about moderation staff and practices should contact the owners. Members who wish to volunteer their services to help administer the list should do so as well.

However, announcements are often quite important or useful, and we feel responsible for carrying them in a convenient fashion for readers. This means a given cause or event, in which the sponsors do not have any financial conflicts of interest, may be suitable for posting on the discussion group once or twice a year depending upon the nature of the effort. The rest of the time, we keep such announcements in the public eye by placing them on the business announcements pages, where readers have access to them on a continuous basis.

To place a business or housing announcement ad, send 75 words or less to the owners’ address: ChemicalInjurySupport-owner@yahoogroups.com.

Members are also permitted a single, discreet link beneath their name in each post. This enables all members to view each other’s special interests and activities. It also ensures that discussions are held between interested parties and not those only engaging in dialogue for advertising purposes. You are the member, not your company or organization.

We also have requirements about respecting fellow members by offering full disclosure about the nature of your advertising. When chronically ill people of limited financial and personal resources are asked to join a group, sign a petition, participate in a demonstration, purchase a product, etc., the decision to participate must be based upon an understanding of such details as organizational status (profit, non-profit), sponsoring and affiliated organizations, type of participation requested from readers, costs or donations expected, product ingredients, etc. These disclosures also show that your effort is professional, well planned and likely to be successful.

Also, while we certainly understand the need of our list members to post anonymously when discussing their personal lives, we ask our advertisers to conduct their business openly under their real identities.

Lastly, please do not demand space for an incompletely developed idea or concept and count upon the owners to assist you with it. Our committments to the management of this list are very time-consuming and we cannot pick and choose among all of the requests sent to us each week. You may take out an ad in the announcements pages requesting volunteers to aid you in planning for your project.

We hope this clarifies our policies in retaining the integrity of this list as a discussion group while still providing exposure for everyone’s special activities and/or businesses.

1. Chemical Injury Support goup is open to membership by individuals with chemical injury. We do not subscribe “Groups” per se and posts to CIS must be made by individuals only. All subscribers are free to place the URLs of their groups or individual websites/businesses in the signature line of posts sent to the CIS list.

2. A general announcement about internet groups owned or managed by a subscriber will be welcome if it contains certain basic information:

-Name of Group
-Information about the owner or sponsor (at minimum a name)
-Method of communication used, i.e. chat, email or message board?
-Moderated or unmoderated?
-Purpose of group
-URL to site

3. If the group accepts or intends to accept donations for any purpose, it should be listed only on the monthly business announcements page and must have non-profit corporate status to do so. Individuals with their own web groups may not advertise for donations without that official status.

4. The owners of CIS will add a rider to your announcement stating:
Chemical Injury Support group has no affiliation with the group advertised and is not responsible for its content.

We hope these guidelines will be useful to you in writing an announcement about your group for posting on the Hope2 list. Please feel free to write to us with any further information you require.

To send a message to this group, send it to:
ChemicalInjurySupport@yahoogroups.com

Changing your subscription status

To receive an invitation to join this group, send your request to:
ChemicalInjurySupport-owner@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send a blank email to:
ChemicalInjurySupport-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Message delivery options

To receive message digests instead of individual messages send a blank
email to:
ChemicalInjurySupport-digest@yahoogroups.com

To stop receiving messages via email (you may still read messages on the Web),
send a blank email to:
ChemicalInjurySupport-nomail@yahoogroups.com

To receive individual messages again, send a blank email to:
ChemicalInjurySupport-normal@yahoogroups.com

Contacting the group owners

To contact the owners of this group, send an email to:
ChemicalInjurySupport-owner@yahoogroups.com

On the web

Our Yahoogroups Home Page

Policies and Guidelines

Yahoo! Groups Help

Flaming refers to an attack made on a fellow list member, usually resulting in a “war” between various list members who jump to the defense of one another. Here is a definition found on www.whatis.com:

On the Internet, flaming is giving someone a verbal lashing in public. Often this is on a Usenet newsgroup but it could be on a Web forum or perhaps even as e-mail with copies to a distribution list. Unless in response to some rather obvious flamebait, flaming is poor netiquette. Certain issues tend to provoke emphatically stated responses, but flaming is often directed at a self-appointed expert rather than at the issues or information itself and is sometimes directed at unwitting but opinionated newbies who appear in a newsgroup.

The Chemical Injury Support group doesn’t allow flaming, even in response to ‘flamebait’. It’s very upsetting to be on a group that substitutes insults for information and negates the reason for our existence – support for chronically ill individuals. It causes people pain, drains the limited energies of our membership and damages our community as a whole. Many listserves have been permanently damaged by flaming, which led us to “ban” discussions of certain subjects that tend to provoke this nasty behavior, such as religion and politics. Readers are directed to our guidelines page for details of what constitutes ‘off topic’ discussions. As illness does not bring out the ‘best’ in people, taking the time to review one’s messages to ensure they are civil in tone, is well worth the extra time required.

Backchannel

“Backchannel” refers to email exchanges between members that are conducted off the public list. Members may wish to thank another member for their advice or perhaps discuss a topic with more detailed, personal information than is appropriate to offer in a public forum. Some members are hesitant to publish their information because of concerns they may receive negative/unfriendly responses from others. Since members meet one another and conduct backchannel messaging based upon posts sent to the public forum, we feel members have the right to expect the same courtesies off-list that are required for posts sent to the regular discussion list.

If anyone feels they are being harassed via ‘backchannel’ messages and prefers not to continue such contacts with a fellow list member, any or all of the following measures are recommended:

• request the party cease writing to you in a politely worded message.
• delete messages coming to you from that party without reading them. Most people will stop sending messages if they are ignored.
• adjust your server to reject messages sent to you from that email address.
• notify the list owners that you are experiencing unpleasant contacts. You can forward innapropriate messages to us for review if you wish. The owners can then notify the unwanted correspondent that they must cease all contact with you if they wish to remain a member of the listserve.
• Contact the server of the unwanted correspondent if their messages blatantly violate conditions for internet use or ask the owners to do so if you provide proof of violations.

Remember that correspondence can be unpleasant but it is still just a message and you are free to ignore it or insist it stop. The majority of your contacts on and off the list will be positive experiences and the owners are committed to making this listserve as stress free an experience for everyone as is possible in a large forum. After all, we are all subscribed here because life is complicated! The internet is a remarkable tool and should never be used as as a weapon.

If anyone has difficulty in formulating a post due to problems with anger management, feel free to contact the owners and moderators for assistance with your writing.

The major researchers in the field recommend avoidance (a rather unpopular choice) and all agree there is no cure. Various treatment options are available that seem to alleviate symptoms for some people and are determined by unique individuality, exposure history, duration of time living with chemical injury, and other variables. There have been a number of treatment surveys done by reputable chemical injury researchers outlining results with many of these treatment options.

Chemical injury is not to be confused with allergic reactions, and the treatment options for histamine-type reactions do not work for chemical injury.

As with any other illness, charlatans target desperate sufferers touting miracle “cures” and take money from unsuspecting, trusting chemically injured people, who not only do not get well, but often are encouraged to dangerously re-expose themselves to poisons with very dire consequences. It is foolhardy to think that any treatment will turn poison into “not poison.”

Prior to taking anyone’s word–please take the responsibility to fully investigate all claims thoroughly, get more than one opinion, ask for full credentials, and know enough about your own individuality prior to embarking on any course of treatment. The very last thing anyone wants to do is make their own health worse, and there are some treatments out there that can very well do that.

As they say, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!