For better or Worse
“I am 44 years old and have been employed since 2000 at a large German airline as cabin staff. In summer of 2013, I experienced within two months, two so-called ‘fume events’, the second with no real smell. In June 2013, a colleague mentioned on a flight from Frankfurt to Berlin an acrid smell at the door of an A321. The captain asked me to check it. I also noticed the smell immediately. Within a few minutes I felt dizzy, got a headache, felt nauseous, with severe abdominal pain, a strong metallic taste and tingling in my hands and certain disorientation. I was barely able to equip our new pots and anyone who has already done this, knows that it is not an intellectual achievement. The colleague at door No. 2 had not been in the rear section of the plane, and she was still good, so she took over my duties. After landing, two colleagues and I were taken to the hospital. I had an exceptionally high blood pressure. In the hospital we were observed for 24 hours and then released. In the urine they nothing was found [surprise!]. Even the medical service of my employer found no exceptional values. In the following weeks how I felt went in waves but uphill. After 5 weeks, I reported back for duty. However, a slight dizziness and nausea accompanied my daily life.
“In August 2013 I was re-contaminated on a flight. On board I noticed in myself and other colleagues increasing fatigue, headaches and lack of concentration, but no abnormal smell was noticeable. On the way home, which I can hardly remember, I arrived home and fell into a state of delirium, I literally collapsed. In the following days I still could not concentrate more than only a few minutes at a time. After two days, my partner said, I had to do something because ‘with your eyes closed, you look as if you had just died’. The next three days I spent in a professional hospital. Again, no exceptional values were found, only the oxygen saturation of the blood was slightly below average. I suffered from severe dizziness, visual and audio effects, numb fingers, absolute lack of libido, insomnia, neck pain, headaches and nausea. A state which did not improve for a long time. Three days later an environmental doctor who knew immediately what was wrong took care of me, but too much time had now elapsed to find plane typical poisons, however, there was a high concentration of insecticides found with which aircraft are regularly treated.
“Until this summer, I was a sports enthusiast, after these incidents I could hardly get up the stairs. Many detoxifications later and a total avoidance and contact with chemicals such as fragrances, etc., it has taken about 1.5 years in waves to slowly come uphill, and a significant improvement in my condition has taken place. But to date nothing has really changed in the visual effects; I still have a tunnel vision as after excessive alcohol consumption, the tinnitus has remained the right more than left. Some days I have strong muscle twitches in different body areas, almost all joints ache sometimes. The vertigo is weaker, but still noticeable. My memory performance has improved significantly, but is still below average.
“Before I got sick, I had taken heed of the issue of contaminated cabin air only in passing, and had imagined it to happen about as frequently or rarely as a plane crash. Looking back, I certainly had suffered in previous years already from significant toxicity. Permanent respiratory problems, frequent headaches during or after the flights, nausea on board, insomnia at home and during the layover etc. In 2012 I was hospitalised due to severe vertigo, which was then dubbed after diagnosis of exclusion, as neuritis vestibularis, today I rather suspect that it was also a result of contaminated cabin air.”
(Anonymous, name known) (from The Air I Breathe-it’s classified by Bearnairdine Beaumont) back to previous page
“I am 44 years old and have been employed since 2000 at a large German airline as cabin staff. In summer of 2013, I experienced within two months, two so-called ‘fume events’, the second with no real smell. In June 2013, a colleague mentioned on a flight from Frankfurt to Berlin an acrid smell at the door of an A321. The captain asked me to check it. I also noticed the smell immediately. Within a few minutes I felt dizzy, got a headache, felt nauseous, with severe abdominal pain, a strong metallic taste and tingling in my hands and certain disorientation. I was barely able to equip our new pots and anyone who has already done this, knows that it is not an intellectual achievement. The colleague at door No. 2 had not been in the rear section of the plane, and she was still good, so she took over my duties. After landing, two colleagues and I were taken to the hospital. I had an exceptionally high blood pressure. In the hospital we were observed for 24 hours and then released. In the urine they nothing was found [surprise!]. Even the medical service of my employer found no exceptional values. In the following weeks how I felt went in waves but uphill. After 5 weeks, I reported back for duty. However, a slight dizziness and nausea accompanied my daily life.
“In August 2013 I was re-contaminated on a flight. On board I noticed in myself and other colleagues increasing fatigue, headaches and lack of concentration, but no abnormal smell was noticeable. On the way home, which I can hardly remember, I arrived home and fell into a state of delirium, I literally collapsed. In the following days I still could not concentrate more than only a few minutes at a time. After two days, my partner said, I had to do something because ‘with your eyes closed, you look as if you had just died’. The next three days I spent in a professional hospital. Again, no exceptional values were found, only the oxygen saturation of the blood was slightly below average. I suffered from severe dizziness, visual and audio effects, numb fingers, absolute lack of libido, insomnia, neck pain, headaches and nausea. A state which did not improve for a long time. Three days later an environmental doctor who knew immediately what was wrong took care of me, but too much time had now elapsed to find plane typical poisons, however, there was a high concentration of insecticides found with which aircraft are regularly treated.
“Until this summer, I was a sports enthusiast, after these incidents I could hardly get up the stairs. Many detoxifications later and a total avoidance and contact with chemicals such as fragrances, etc., it has taken about 1.5 years in waves to slowly come uphill, and a significant improvement in my condition has taken place. But to date nothing has really changed in the visual effects; I still have a tunnel vision as after excessive alcohol consumption, the tinnitus has remained the right more than left. Some days I have strong muscle twitches in different body areas, almost all joints ache sometimes. The vertigo is weaker, but still noticeable. My memory performance has improved significantly, but is still below average.
“Before I got sick, I had taken heed of the issue of contaminated cabin air only in passing, and had imagined it to happen about as frequently or rarely as a plane crash. Looking back, I certainly had suffered in previous years already from significant toxicity. Permanent respiratory problems, frequent headaches during or after the flights, nausea on board, insomnia at home and during the layover etc. In 2012 I was hospitalised due to severe vertigo, which was then dubbed after diagnosis of exclusion, as neuritis vestibularis, today I rather suspect that it was also a result of contaminated cabin air.”
(Anonymous, name known) (from The Air I Breathe-it’s classified by Bearnairdine Beaumont) back to previous page
