Can PMR be triggered by exposure to electo-magnetic fields?

[Janstr]

We have been getting some electrical work done & found out that the roof of our house has been live since the roof was replaced in January 2017. Apparently the contractors put a nail through a cable. My PMR symptoms started in March 2017. As I'm not a stressful person & had no major stresses in my life that I thought could have caused PMR, & by the time I was diagnosed in January 2018 couldn't remember having a virus that could have triggered it, I wondered if the prolonged exposure to electro magnetic fields could have contributed. I have searched the net & found that studies on rats demonstrated that exposure to electricity induces metabolic effects similar to those of stress. This is by no means proof, but interesting.

[SheffieldJane]

It is an interesting theory. However, having had my own house completely re-wired, I found the whole process of tearing my house apart, extremely stressful. Never mind the issue with your roof. I am sure that it didn’t help. It may have been the final straw for you.

[Constance13]

PMR isn’t always caused by stress. Mine came out of the blue with no apparent reasons why. I’ve had an easy life, with few problems, so far, until dxn. Soon after arthritis stuck big time, so NOW I have problems. Still find life good though. 💐🍾🍸🍷🍁🍀

[SnazzyD]

Hello. How do you mean the whole roof being live? The EMF will come from anything conducting the current, which the roof won’t be because of the material. So, a nail through and a wire won’t then make the rafters and tiles live. Or have you got a metal roof? If not the electrician might have been over dramatic or meant that any conducting material in contact with the nail and circuit might be live. I’m amazed it didn’t trip a fuse.

Anyway, recently I’ve been getting waking in the mornings feeling a bit heady, headache and stiff neck. Not feeling like it was GCA or PMR. Never been happy about my husband’s lighting system which means mains electricity near my head. I got a hand held EMF meter for about £20 and went about the house, great fun. Wires near my head didn’t register. However, found out that the shower transformer which is the other side of the stud wall to my head was giving off 80 micro Teslas! The health and safety guidance says 0.4mT is in the concern about leukaemia range. It had been recently replaced. You’ll get a fair amount of EMF from any transformer, that’s normal, but you don’t normally put your head by it for hours on end. My daughter’s bedside clock was pretty bad too. So, to be a bit more scientific about it, I got my OH to randomly turn on and off the transformer before bed without me knowing which, low and behold, headache after on nights and no headache after off nights.

[Hidden in reply to SnazzyD]

Wow, I'm impressed!

[Rimmy in reply to SnazzyD]

Very interesting - I'm looking about now with great curiosity - but fortunately no headaches lately - pleased your 'experiment' worked though !!

[SnazzyD in reply to Rimmy]

If you go round the house with a meter you can alarm yourself quite nicely as it goes red and beeps around certain things, but it’s a case of range. The WiFi router was red hot but by about 30cm away nothing at all but we don’t generally sleep with a router on our bedside table. Anything with a transformer will glow but again the field drops off quickly within a small distance. Appliances like the induction hob is pretty ‘good’ too but exposure is not prolonged. It’s a case of putting it into context.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to SnazzyD]

As in "The devil is in the dose"! Which applies to everything really.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to SnazzyD]

Certain material can be live if they are damp - there was a damp wall in a flat we rented in Germany and while I was wallpapering it I got a shock if my foot touched the dishwasher behind me! The lanlord wouldn't believe it - caused some nasty moments before we left.

[Hidden]

WOW! I hope not because I just had two MRIs!!!!! 😱

[SnazzyD in reply to Hidden]

Yes, but it isn’t sustained like living under a major electric pylon.

[Hidden in reply to SnazzyD]

Thank goodness!

[Twopies]

I read about this years ago...an article which said electro magnetic disruption depends where you are on the circuit. We are at the end of our circuit in our neighborhood ...the worst place to be, according to the article. I forget the remedy...something to do with using an aluminum foil wrap around the bottom of the house to counteract the emanations from the circuitry. Interesting article because I started to get autoimmune symptoms shortly after we moved into our new house 24 years ago. However I’m not better at our winter hone in florida although I’ve always wondered about this issue.

[Grants148]

It sounds very worrisome to hear that your roof was affected like that without you even knowing,thank goodness the area affected was well out of reach.l know that it is not good to live near electricity pylons,but cannot say whether the problem in your roof could have caused PMR.

[nickm001]

It is hard to separate fiction from real when people talk about EMF. I think distance is a key. For example , I would worry more about mobile phone then electrical wiring in the house, because we put the mobile phone next to our head.

As far as roof being "live" I am not sure of the material it is made. If it is not metal, then it is a nonissue. For EMF to have any impact, you need current to flow and roof, even if it is metal had no significant current going thru, otherwise you would have ground fault protection kick in.