Gulf War Illness Linked to Location, DEET
USA Today released a report covering a pending publication on Gulf War Illness. Anti-nerve agent pills and SCUD missiles, along with pesticides, have been connected to many of the health problems Gulf War I veterans are facing.
Of the exposures, soldiers the most affected were those who took pyridostigmine bromine pills AND were within one mile of a SCUD missile. Heavy pesticide use with DEET was also among the highest impacted non-theater subgroups.
Gulf War I Symptoms
Symptoms include chronic headaches & pain, memory and concentration problems, persistent fatigue, digestion problems, skin abnormalities and mood disturbances.
Unifying patterns have developed after surveying some 700,000 service members. Of those, over 25 percent of veterans have developed issues. This means, 175,000 veterans have been permanently altered as a result of serving this country as a result of these exposures.
The report will be published in the Environmental Health Perspectives by MRI, which is published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
It is commonly accepted that repellants with DEET at levels above 30% are bad for your health. Meanwhile, soldiers in Gulf War I were using repellants that were 70% DEET on their clothes and skin.
Sample C&P Evidence
I have uploaded a sample C&P Summary of Evidence for a non-disclosed veteran suffering from Gulf War Illness. This veteran used pyridostigmine bromide tablets. Check this out to help understand your own condition in the context of the VA.
Michelle Goulet
I have Dercum’s Disease; so far I have had 21 Lipomas surgically removed. I currently have three Lipomas that are hurting and getting larger and larger; they too will need to be removed soon. I served in the USAFR at Dhahran Air Base, Saudi Arabia in 1995 as an Air Transportation Specialist where I was exposed to pesticides that were being sprayed on base by a civilian contractor who maliciously sprayed me three times from his fog truck. I also took the BP Pills and had all the shots that were required to be taken before departing for my tour. In addition to that exposure I worked restocking the passenger air-crafts for the Weekly Rotator Flight from the states which had to be sprayed for bugs and such. No sooner did the hazmat guys in protective gear deplane then I was boarding it to restock comfort items. I did not have any protective gear issued to me. Plus, the Passenger Terminal and the Baggage Warehouse where I worked had to be constantly sprayed with chemicals too as well as Khobar Towers where I lived. There was a real bad problem with sand fleas so the buildings and planes were constantly being sprayed for fleas. The plant life on base was also constantly being sprayed for bugs too. On top of that we were issued Deet to be sprayed on our uniforms the night before we were to wear them. Plus, the dry cleaners where we brought our uniforms for cleaning also put chemicals on the uniforms too. The water on base was not potable and so we were given bottled water to drink but our food wasn’t prepared with potable water and was prepared by civilian contractors so who knows what was in our food. I have all the symptoms of Multi-Gulf War Syndrome and I have been trying for years to get the VA to acknowledge the disorder and properly compensate me for it. As of now they have compensated me for some of the presumptive illnesses which are associated with Multi-Gulf War Syndrome but not all. In addition to the Multi-Gulf War Syndrome I came back from the Gulf with two Lipomas that the VA Hospital in Wilmington, DE acknowledged on my Gulf War Exam and had to surgically remove but at the time I didn’t know I had Dercum’s Disease as it had just manifested itself while I was in the Gulf and the VA Dermatologist just thought it was just regular Lipomas. I have Fibromyalgia which the VA acknowledged and has compensated me for. People who have Fibromyalgia have painful Lipomas. Having Dercum’s Disease and the Fibromyalgia has cause me to greatly suffer from pain with the many Lipomas I have had and continue to get. I am trying to get the VA to acknowledge the Dercum’s Disease and to compensate me for it plus compensate me for the pain associated with having Fibromyalgia and Lipomas pain.
i had this for 3 years.it was all over my arms,chest,stomach,legs,feet for 3 years and i had 4 of them in my arms taken off .The surgeon that took them off told me they would grow back,they did come back,the pains i get was killing me so I went to my doctor but all i keep on hearing is story. i went on search on the internet where i came across someone testifying about an herbal doctor curing him of his disease then i chose to contact him cause dercums was frustrating but at first i did not believe i was just giving a try of him. to my greatest surprise the herbal medicine sent to me did not only reduce them but also take them out completely and for over a year now no symptoms of it coming back
kindly email him to get yours via: [email protected] ,he’s an herbal doctor tell him i referred you to him and also he can cure other disease and sickness like; scleroderma,herpes,hives cause his a certified herbal doctor with license
Upon returning from the Gulf War, I developed tumors called lipomas. They cover my entire body and the VA has diagnosed me with Dercum’s disease. However, they do not recognize it as service related. Has anyone had similar symptoms?
I have just been diagnosed with dercums disease, I was issued nerve agent pre treatment back in the day. I completed a search and found your comments. Do you think there could be a link. I served in the British army.
This may sound crazy but I am the daughter of a Vietnam Veteran who was highly exposed to Agent Orange. I have also recently been diagnosed with Dercums Disease. I am just attempting to make a list of people that have Dercums or multiple lipomas and who were ever enlisted in the military, exposed to pesticides or the biological child of a veteran who was exposed. This list may just lie there for years….but I feel that it may be important someday, as science is becoming more advanced. Thankyou
I was a Chemical Operations Sgt (NBC – NCO) for over 21 years in the Army. I issued the PB tabs and knew that they were not EPA approved, so any use by soldiers would be a test!!! I handled everything toxic the military has for the entire time and now finally 100 % for a host of ailments that I know affected me! From radioactive sources (NBC Equipment), smoke ops (fog oil), decon ops ( DS2 and STB), PB tabs, NBC suits, decon kits, live nerve agent and blister agent in the CDTF at Fort McClellenm plus the unknown hazardous wastes I was exposed to! It is a wonder I am alive today, but it is know wonder I have the kind of life I have (Disabled)!
“Victory”
i suffer from skin rashes and memory loss and i also used the pyridostigmine bromide tablets in desert strom 1990-1991 but thet denied me gulf war syndrome so what do i do now?
I filed for GWI and was denied-even after the ‘presumptive’ language was added. Now, with this report on DEET (Which was much of my evidence) being used on skin (as a ‘lotion’ and the spray for uniforms) should I appeal or refile? I’m afraid to do it now as I have an appeal out there for an unrelated issue since July 2006, which was remanded for ‘expedited’ attention by the judge at BVA in March of this year. I’ve been told that if something new comes in and a decision is close on my ’06 appeal, it will prolong the decision even further. On the other hand, how long do I have to appeal the GWI denial. I was in the AOR in SWA. Any guidance?? I’ve used a certain vet org but found they were of no help whatsoever.
To add with my previous note, my husband did recieve treatment in the field for shrapnal in his eye which not there is no record of yet has a torn optical nerve. I was also thinking could his problem be tied to a brain injury he may have unknowingly gotten while fighting or other training as he does get 10% for hearing and hear aides, it just seems like all his problems might have a common link. Currently he is at the Waco TX PTSD in patient hopital and it would be great to have something work with as the counselor there seems interested in helping him..Thanks again.
My husband served in Panama and Grenada, both short wars and are rarely if ever discussed but my husband was in Artillery. Our problem is that after he got out in September of 1990 about 3 years later he started having some SERIOUS symptoms that made him appear completely drunk, severly slurred speech, confusion, unbalanced walking, falling but it episodic in nature. We started at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale AZ, several doctors in Bullhead City AZ, Las Vegas NV and eventually started with the VA in Prescott AZ, VA in Sacramento CA and finally in the VA at Las Vegas where a doc who was leaving for private practice so didn’t care about ordering what was said to us as over a million dollars in test and various MRI’s ect. They still could find nothing but some thinning at his cerebellum where the spinal cord meets so they diagnosed him with SCA “most likely” type 2, however when tested specifally for this condition it shows negative.
Is there anyway to find out if the chemicals he was exposed to in the above mentioned wars (what ever they were) could have any play in this? We have two kids, 22 and 18 and both fear having a family as SCA is “normally” genetic. Oh and before you ask about his family, he was adopted, there are no records what so ever. The docs can’t even commit to a mortality rate! What kinda shit is that? Anyone can help it would be great! I was just browsing and found this site and thought what the hell, tried everything else…..Appreciate it 🙂
I am presently rated at 90% for what the Army and VA have labeled as “Post Vaccine Autoimmune Disorder, Behcet’s Like. Subsequently, I was rated 100% Permanent and Total for Individual Unemployability. I suffer from skin related issues, severe and chronic fatigue, hypercoaguable state, multiple episodes of pulmonary emboli, uveitius, retrobulbar optic neuritis, and arthritis. All of this occurred at the age of 30 in the year 2007. I have been placed on the Gulf War Registry and have been treated under the auspices of having Gulf War Illness. I did not serve in or near Southwest Asia. I was not exposed to any of the many toxins documented in Gulf War Illness. However, I have learned the only thing I have in common with so many Gulf War I veterans is that we all took the same vaccinations. They actually used many of the same lot numbers from Operation Desert Storm to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The Vaccine Healthcare Center, which operates under the umbrella of the Department of Defense has done extensive research on this and made a causative relationship between the vaccines and Gulf War Illness.
I HAVE ALL THE SYMPTOMS AND MORE THAT ARE LISTED ABOVE. I SOMETIMES CANNOT HELP MYSELF WHEN I KNOW THAT I AM READY READY TO PASS OUT IMMEDIATELY. I LOSE MYSELF OFTEN IN “TIME & LOCATION”. I FORGET WHO I AM SOMETIMES & I FORGET WHO MY FAMILY MEMBERS ARE. I HAVE A PRETEND LIFE. I HAVE TRIED TO COMMIT SUICIDE SEVERAL TIMES. TUE LAST TIME… I THINK I CAME CLOSE… THEY SAID THEY TRIED TO WAKE ME UP FROM TAKING SLEEPING PILLS.. I DONT REMEMBER ANY OF THAT. I LOST ABOUT 24 HOURS OR SO OF MY LIFE MEMORY.. I DONT LIKE TO BE WITH A LOT OF PPL. I DONT LIKE TO BE IN CLOSED DOORS… I CAN SAY MORE BUT I HAVE SAID ENOUGH. THANK YOU.
I was honored and fortunate to be part of a crew that brought back a small commo unit to Ft. Stewart after thier deployment in the sandbox. The commanding General( I think from a Florida guard unit) after thanking us, told us of the illnesses of these great troops were having. Bouts of lathargy, sleeping suddenly in class etc etc, sounds like radiation poisoning as well. any comments? thanks
I’m schedule for C&P exam through the VA to a contractor QTC. Not very familiar with this company other than what I have read on the web. Ant insight would be helpful.
I know it’s a very old message, however…. Gotta love the VA , they don’t send a copy of the C file… Ask to look at the order form the doctor will have for you exam. Down at the bottom will be the notes the VA sends along with it. When I claimed sleep apnea and told the VA about the sleep issues I had while in. the Only note the doctor had was “Member’s outprocessing physical mentioned having problems sleeping.” Nothing about sleep apnea symptoms of waking up and not being able to move, Having problems waking to alarm clock. All of which was in my medical records. All they come up with is “Having problems sleeping”