How Important is Water to YOU?

I haven't talked about this on my blog and it's personal but a big part of my life. I don't have health problems but there is one thing that can change my health in minutes, and that is chlorine. Funny thing is I developed this allergy while I was lifeguard/swim instructor. Apparently it was caused by over exposure to chlorinated pools. I had it under control, and it didn't completely alter my life until I was full swing into my life as an "aquatic therapist". I worked about 5 hours a day in a pool with special needs children and adults doing physical therapy. The allergic reaction became so bad that the slightest smell of chlorine would send my body into full meltdown (borderline anaphylactic shock). Now chlorine is serious business around this house.


I know it sounds crazy but Chlorine is found in more than just a swimming pool (or your laundry room). It is used in drinking water/tap water as a purifier,and it's in most artificial sweeteners like splenda, aspartame and saccharin. Did you know that sucralose is sugar that has been so HYPER chlorinated; it's injected w/ chlorine to remove the calories in sugar but leave a sweet taste behind. Sounds good right, no calories but a sweet taste? But chlorine is extremely toxic in large amounts to the human body and it's my Kryptonite in any amount.

To explain how intense my allergy is, I began drinking a meal replacement beverage last winter. It was sweetened with sucralose (which at the time I didn't know was made w/ chlorine). Within a few days of starting the drinks I became strangely ill. My eyes were burning so bad they were fire red and tearing constantly. My skin became so dry it was cracking. I literally felt like I was raw on the inside, burning from the inside out. The pain was unbelievable. I didn't realize what was causing it right away, but once I did I began flushing my system out with large amounts of purified water. Several weeks went by and I decided I better go to my doctor. I was told I should have gone straight to the ER and they would have flushed my system by putting me on dialysis. Yes, it was that severe.

I am sure ya'll are concerned as to how I survive since we need food, WATER and air to live. In order to remove chlorine from tap water I need to run it through a good water filter, take that water and run it through my distiller. Then I can safely drink it. It's a fairly long process. It takes approximately 5 hours to make 1.2 gallons of water. There are many things that I cannot eat or drink when we go out. It's just part of my life and we work through it.
Through trial and error I've learned that I can drink Dasani bottled water. I can safely drink it. I've not found another bottled water that I can drink and not become instantly sick. I don't drink it often b/c it so much cheaper to "make my own water", but it's nice to keep a case of it around to grab and go if I should run out of "my water". One thing I checked into was the availability of Dasani water before we moved to Okinawa. Yep, they sold it in the commissary, not a problem.

Not any more... the Coke Cola Company, who bottles Dasani water, has pulled Dasani from the shelves of all commissaries around the globe. Why, who knows, but they didn't renew the contract is all I know. What does that mean in my little life, I'll be making more water. I did, however, scour the bases over here and bought all the bottles of Dasani water that I could... a whooping 10 bottles. That will last me a little bit, but certainly not the next 30 months we are on island.