Health Triggers for Sensitive People: Become Your Own Health Detective

I first wrote this article in 2017 as Health Triggers: Become Your Own Health Detective. It is worth revisiting as I have updated with sensitive person information and additional health triggers.

In this article. . .

• Sensitive people and sensitive children are especially vulnerable to hidden health triggers — often reacting earlier and more intensely than others.
• Most chronic diseases take 8–12 years to develop — your body sends warning signals long before a diagnosis arrives.
• Common health triggers include EMF exposure, toxic load from everyday products, mold, heavy metals, Lyme disease, dental issues, and emotional trauma.
• For sensitive people, these triggers accumulate faster — creating immune system overwhelm and a body in a constant state of high alert.
• Becoming your own health detective means tracking symptoms, patterns, and environmental exposures to identify what's driving your body's reactions.
• Healing isn't about treating symptoms — it's about finding and removing the root cause so your body can fully recover. 

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If you are a sensitive person, your body may be picking up on health triggers that others never notice — and that most doctors never test for.

Sensitive people — and sensitive children — often have nervous systems and immune systems that respond more intensely to environmental stressors like EMF exposure, toxic load, mold, and everyday chemicals. Sensitive people also tend to absorb unseen energies. When these hidden triggers accumulate over time, the immune system can become overwhelmed.

What feels like a sudden health crisis is actually the result of years of quiet buildup, such as insomnia, indigestion, heartburn, constipation, headaches, skin rashes, etc.

Did you know that most chronic diseases take an average of 8 to 12 years to develop? Autoimmune conditions, arthritis, diabetes, MS — even cancer. Most people have hints something is wrong long before a diagnosis arrives.

For sensitive people, those hints often show up earlier and more loudly.

Did you know that most diseases take an average of 8 to 12 years to develop? Autoimmune Disease, Arthritis, Diabetes, MS. . . . and, yes, even cancer. Chronic conditions like asthma, allergies, or histamine intolerance are often developed over time as well. 

Most people will have a hint that something is wrong long before a diagnosis. You may have insomnia for months or even years. You may have heartburn and/or indigestion when you eat certain foods. You may have constant diarrhea or constipation, or even gas and bloating after eating. You may have unexplainable skin issues or constant headaches or brain fog. You may have a nagging pain or feeling of anxiety that won’t go away.

These are just some of the signs that something is wrong. It is when these little things show up, when you find your life is out of balance, that you need to take notice. Your body is magnificently designed and it talks to you on a regular basis. Pay attention to it. And, pay attention to the health triggers in your life.

What Are Health Triggers?

A health trigger is anything that pushes you over the edge of being healthy one day and then not feeling well, either the next day or weeks or months later. Since each of us is unique, this trigger will be different for everyone.

There may be multiple triggers. Sensitive people are often the first to feel the effects, because their immune systems and nervous systems are already working harder than average. Certain triggers — like toxic load, EMF sensitivity, and chemical exposures — can accumulate in the body over time, creating a state of immune system overwhelm that makes each new trigger hit harder.

Looking for health triggers in your life can be the difference between staying healthy and getting sick. The sooner you recognize a trigger and modify and/or remove it the better.

Health triggers can include any of the following: 

• Environmental Exposure – Environmental toxins include everything from natural plant pollen, air pollution, and mold to man-made fire retardants, chemicals, and gas fumes. New cars and car seats, new furniture, new houses, new clothes, and new toys, for instance, all contain a number of chemicals that can be breathed in and/or absorbed by your body. Sensitive people and sensitive children are often the first to react to these environmental triggers — sometimes with symptoms that seem unrelated, like fatigue, brain fog, or a persistently overactive immune system.
• Bath and Body Products – Did you know that there are no regulations for what goes into bath and body products? And, not all ingredients are required to be labeled on the package. You are potentially exposed to many chemicals and toxins on a daily basis.
• Cosmetics – There are no regulations for makeup either. For example, many women don’t know that the typical lipstick contains lead, even more natural brands.
• Food Toxins – Common food toxins include preservatives and dyes, pesticides, genetically modified foods (GMOs), sugars, bad fats, etc. Other foods may act as toxins in your body and are more specific to you, such as gluten, dairy, corn, eggs, soy, oxalates, lectins, etc.
• Household Cleaners – Another product category with few industry regulations, very similar to bath and body products, is household cleaning products. In fact, “more natural” scent-free options often use additional chemicals to cover up the scent.
• Other Household Toxins - Looking beyond cleaning products, construction materials and finishes in your home can off-gas for years, creating an additional toxic burden to the body, such as paint, carpet, cabinet glue, plastic, appliances, etc. You also need to consider furniture, toys, clothes — especially ones that contain fire retardants.
• Dental Procedures and Materials – Amalgam (silver) fillings are 50% mercury with a combination of other metals like copper, silver, and cadmium. They are very toxic. Other dental materials can contain plastic and other toxins. Certain dental procedures can also eventually cause problems in other parts of the body.
• Physical Trauma – A broken limb, a head trauma, an unexpected loud sound are just a few examples of a physical trauma. A physical trauma can create an energy blockage that prevents your body from healing. A sudden trauma can also put the body into shock and put extra stress on it as you attempt to heal.
• Emotional Stress – Emotional stress can include a wide variety of factors such as chronic work stress, over exercising, death of a loved one, divorce, etc. PTSD is another big one. Each of us has different stress thresholds and many of us were pushed past our comfort zone during the last few years: lockdowns, social isolation, masks covering facial expressions, etc. (For more about stress and the adrenal glands, click adrenal. Use this link to learn about getting PTSD from watching media.)
• Absorbing Unseen Energies – Additional stress comes from energies absorb from the environment — the emotional states of the people around you, the residual energy of places, the intensity of media and news, and the collective energy of world events. When these energetic inputs accumulate without a way to process and clear them, they become health triggers in their own right, which is not often talked about and can especially affect sensitive people.
• Medications and Injections – All pharmaceutical drugs have side effects, even over the counter medications like aspirin and (especially) Tylenol. Some effects are more severe than others and, depending on the person, can range from mild to drastic. Additional side effects can occur when more than one medication or injection is taken at the same time.
• Substandard Supplements – Even natural supplements are not all created equal. Make sure you are not taking synthetic products. Many also have fillers and excipients that can cause stress on the body, especially if you are more sensitive. (Learn more about what to look for here.)
• Electromagnetic Frequencies (EMFs) and Wireless Radiation – EMF exposures include electrical, magnetic and dirty electricity. The most common radiation sources include cell phones, wireless (wi-fi) devices, microwaves, smart meters, as well as anything that uses Bluetooth (wireless earbuds, speakers, keyless cars, etc.). (Learn more about EMFs basics here and dirty electricity here.) People with EMF sensitivity — a term increasingly used to describe heightened reactivity to wireless and EMFs — are often sensitive people who were already dealing with other triggers like toxic load or immune stress.
• Infections – We all have pathogens in our bodies. In fact, the microbiome, which previously was used to describe the bacteria in our gut, is now thought to include viruses, fungi, parasites, etc. If we are healthy, these microbes live in harmony with us, but if we have a sudden over exposure or new exposure to a “bad” microbe during a time when our body is run down, they can create havoc. Think food poisoning, flu, shingles, mold exposure, etc.

Why Sensitive People Are More Vulnerable to Health Triggers

Not everyone experiences health triggers the same way. Sensitive people — including those who identify as highly sensitive, empaths, or simply "reactive" — tend to have nervous systems and immune systems that operate at a higher level of awareness. This is a gift in many ways, but it also means that the body responds more intensely to stressors that others might shrug off.

For sensitive people, the triggers outlined in this article — EMF exposure, toxic load from everyday products, infections, mold, and emotional trauma — can accumulate faster and create a state of immune system overwhelm sooner. The threshold between "coping" and "not coping" is simply narrower.

The same is true for sensitive children. Parents often notice that their child reacts more strongly to certain foods, environments, or chemicals — but don't connect it to a broader pattern of sensitivity. Understanding that connection is the first step toward real relief.

Being Your Own Detective

For sensitive people especially, this detective work is essential — because your body is likely registering problems earlier and more intensely than average.

Once you realize that your body is not operating optimally, what do you do? You need to analyze your lifestyle to see what is out of balance. Also look back to see if you can pinpoint a certain event or other trigger. Use the list above and the questions below to help you get started.

• Is there a new stressor in your life and when did it occur or start?
• Have you ignored an old emotional trauma and need to finally deal with it?
• Do you repeatedly watch local and/or world events on the news. reliving other people’s traumas?
• Have you had a recent physical trauma like a car accident, surgery, or bad fall?
• Were you recently exposed to a chemical like a cleaning product or pesticide?
• Does your home have a moisture problem or a known mold problem?
• Did you recently have some dental work done: root canal, amalgam filling removed, tooth pulled, etc.? Or have an older amalgam filling in your mouth?
• Are you lacking specific nutrients as a result of bad eating habits, long-term exposure to EMFs, or taking medications?
• What junk foods (or even “healthy” processed foods) do you need to eliminate from your diet?
• Are you eating too much sugar? Fake sugars?
• Are there “healthy” foods that are negatively affecting you?
• What are the proven side effects of the medications you take or the vaccine you were given?
• Are there fillers and preservatives in your natural supplements?
• Did you recently start using a new wireless (or Bluetooth) device, install new smart TV or gaming system, or get a smart meter installed on your house?

Examples of Health Triggers

To help you understand how this works, from a holistic or functional medicine perspective, take a look at the examples below. Each health trigger example will help you look at your body differently and hopefully help you figure out some of your own trigger(s).

Food – Let’s use dairy as an example since it is a trigger food for a lot of people. It is hard to digest, especially for adults who have reduced digestive enzymes. Dairy is also mucus producing. You may have been fine eating it for years until something changed. You may have picked up a parasite and now it is proving more difficult to digest the yogurt or cheese. The manufacturer may have changed their source or recipe and now there is an additional ingredient that your body does not like. Suddenly, it seems like dairy does not agree with you.

Interestingly, this happens often with both dairy and gluten. You don’t even notice that they are making you feel less than optimal. However, when you stop eating them, you feel better. Or, if you stop eating them for two weeks and eat them again, you can tell the difference. (For other possible symptoms related to food, click here. Or learn more in my book, Gluten-free the Right Way!)

Pathogen – You vacation in South America and get exposed to tainted food which causes “Montezuma’s Revenge.” After a few days of being miserable, you seem to be okay again and everything is back to normal. However, when you get home you notice that you are more sensitive to perfumes and other scents. Or, certain foods you could eat before now seem to bother you. Even though the initial affects of the tainted food on your trip seem to be gone, the bacteria or parasite can still be hiding out in your body and/or creating a low grade infection you don’t notice.

Head Trauma – You may have fallen off a bike or swing and hit your head hard as a child or more recently been in a car accident where your head hit the windshield. These and other head traumas can actually affect your whole body. The trauma can turn on your immune system in such as way that it becomes overactive, thereby making you more sensitive to other things. In fact, newer research shows that all types of traumas, not just head traumas, can accumulate in the body and create inflammation in the brain. A classic example is breaking your arm as a child and getting unexplainable headaches as an adult. (Learn more about scars and interference fields here.)

Toxin Exposure – You recently decided to update your living room and purchased all new furniture. In fact, the sofa is so comfortable that you like to take naps on it. Yet, you find that you often feel worse after taking a nap. That is because new furniture is often full of chemicals. Tables can be made with substandard wood, glues and potentially finished with chemicals. Soft seating contains foam, fire retardants, fabric dyes and finishes, etc. that can potentially off-gas for months or years. And, the main ingredient in the stain resistant finish often added to sofas and chairs is Teflon, another toxic chemical. (New mattresses are also required by law to include fire retardants.) If you are healthy, your body may be able to eliminate these toxin on its own. If not, they can remain in the body and continue to accumulate, especially when you are exposed to many new items at once.

Mold Exposure – Mold and the related mycotoxins that molds produce can be especially tricky. You may have been exposed to mold after a roof leak as a child, but thought nothing of it. Years later you end up working in a moldy office building or moving into a musty college dorm. This second exposure could happen when your immune system is run down (maybe from stress) or it could react with the old mold residue possibly still in your body from childhood, causing unusual symptoms that are not always easy to pinpoint. (Certain frequencies have been found to increase mold and mycotoxin production, which may explain why mold-related illnesses are on the rise.)

Latent Virus – You had mononucleosis in college. After a few weeks of acute symptoms and a few months of extreme tiredness, you recover and move on with your life. However, years later you are exposed to a high dose of paint fumes or drywall dust while building your new house and suddenly you are bedridden. All the symptoms of the mono (caused by the Epstein-Barr Virus) come back. The toxic exposure to these building materials lowered your immune system, creating an opening for the virus to come out of dormancy. Another common example is the Herpes Zoster Virus that causes chicken pox as a child and shingles as an adult.

Amalgam Filling Removal – You recently had a couple of amalgam (silver) fillings removed and replaced, after hearing about how bad they are for your body. You felt great afterwards, knowing that the mercury was out of your mouth, but over time you started not feeling well. The dentist used a dental dam during the procedure so you assumed you were protected from the metal dust created during the removal. However, the toxic dust can get into your body even if you have full protection and a heavy metal detox should always be done after the procedure (and usually before as well). Now, weeks or months later, you can tell something is not right. (Learn about the correct way to get amalgams removed here.)

Lyme Disease – Many of us are infected with Lyme-related pathogens and don’t realize it. Lyme Disease actually consists of four main organisms, but there are also many other co-infections that can be occurring at the same time. If we are healthy, our bodies can manage the microbes without any noticeable symptoms. However, if we are exposed to extreme stress, either long-term stress or a one-time shock, the immune system becomes compromised and you could start feeling the effects of the pathogens. For example, many of my Lyme-related symptoms returned after my body went through the “trauma” of giving birth to my son. I also read about a woman who woke up with all the symptoms of full-blown Lyme Disease after being unexpectedly exposed to an extremely loud sound the day before.

EMF Exposure – Unknowingly, many of us are introducing new technology into our homes without realizing the consequences. Even a smart meter installed by the utility company, which transmits information wirelessly long-distance, can cause health issues. For me, an electrical smart meter put stress on my body and brought back all my Lyme-related symptoms one more time until I learned how to limit my exposure. For others, EMFs and/or wireless technology commonly cause insomnia, tinnitus, brain fog, anxiety, heart palpitations, among others.

Vaccines – You received a flu shot the end of last year. You remember getting a fever afterwards but did not think much of it at the time. However, now that you think about it, you have not felt quite right since. It could be a childhood vaccine, a flu shot, or other type of injection. If your body’s immune system is compromised due to a sickness or too many toxins already in the body, a vaccine could be your trigger. Studies of cord blood have proven that even babies are born with many toxins in their little bodies. The preservatives and other toxins found in vaccines add to that load and can sometimes be too much for your body.

Finding Your Health Triggers

As you can see in the examples above, sometimes finding the health trigger is obvious. For sensitive people — and parents of sensitive children — the picture is often more complex, because your system responds to a wider range of inputs. Immune system overwhelm, chemical sensitivity, and cumulative EMF exposure all interact in ways that can be hard to untangle alone.

More often, it is a combination of events and/or exposures that, when put together, paint the bigger picture.

There are several tools that can help you find your health triggers: making a health timeline, starting a food journal, and strategically removing toxins using a toxin removal journal. Each is explained below. Use them to help you figure out your triggers. (Knowing how to self muscle test can also help narrow things down. Learn how here.)

Health Timeline – One of the best things you can do to help determine your health trigger(s) is to create a timeline. Think about all the major events in your life (or your child’s life) that may have contributed to your health issues. Use the lists and examples above and go as far back as you can remember.

Here are a few more questions to help you get started:

• Do you know if your birth (or your time in utero) was a traumatic one?
• Did you break an arm as a child or fall off a swing and hit your head?
• Did any other traumatic events or stressors occur in your childhood?
• Were you extremely sick as a child and/or sensitive to certain foods?
• Do you have any metal pins, screws, or plates in your body?
• Did you have your wisdom teeth pulled as a teenager?
• Do you have any root canals and/or tooth implants?
• Do you get cold sores and, if so, when did they start?
• Did you have mono, herpes, or other type of infection in college?
• When did you start drinking alcohol or start/stop smoking?
• Did you recently have a baby and how did your body react afterwards?
• Did you recently switch to a new laundry detergent or makeup?
• Where have you lived and when did you move?
• Have you lived in an older home with water or electrical issues or a brand new home that off-gasses?
• When did you install a wireless router in your house or add any other wireless devices such as a security camera, smart speaker, etc.
• When did a smart meter get installed on your house – electric, gas or water?
• Did you recently start using a Bluetooth device?
• How new is your car and how many wireless systems does it have?
• Did you or your neighbor recently spray pesticides in the yard?
• When did you start a new supplement or medication?

Your timeline can also include important happy moments and events in your life. It can be interesting to see how these positive events also fit into the overall “health picture.”

Food Journal – If you are looking for food triggers, a food journal or diary can be a great tool. Write down everything you eat for 7 to 14 days and keep track of how you feel each day. Food reactions do not necessarily show up as an immediate histamine reaction. You might notice extreme fatigue or other symptom later in the day, the next day, or even 3 to 7 days later.

A good comprehensive food diary will contain the four categories shown below.

• Foods eaten (include all meals and snacks as well as beverages)
• Emotional reaction (any change in mood)
• Status of bowel movements (learn more about poop here)
• Brain reactions (such as easier/harder to think or recall, more/less brain fog, etc.)

For instance, I know that when I eat gluten by accident or GMO corn, I am extremely tired the next day. If I eat too many deep fried foods (like potato chips or French fries), my face breaks out three days later.

Toxin Removal Journal – To help you find other toxic triggers, I would like to introduce you to a new type of journal: a toxin removal journal. We are exposed to a wide variety of toxins on a daily basis. However, many of them are within our control. The goal is to remove as many as possible.

As you analyze your life and your surroundings and become more aware of the toxins in your daily life, start to make changes. Examples include:

• Replace at least one body product with a more natural option (or stop using one all together). Use this article to help you and learn about sunscreens here.)
• Stop using toxic dryer sheets and replace your liquid dish detergent with something more natural.
• Eliminate all toxic air fresheners from your house and car. (You can use organic essential oils instead.)
• Stop eating at least one processed food that you know contains preservatives or GMOs, especially one you eat (or drink) most often. MSG is another nasty ingredient.
• Replace farmed fish with wild-caught fish. (See more here.)
• Stop using Teflon cookware and limit your microwave use. (It is helpful to remove the microwave from the kitchen or use it for storage.) 
• Start replacing your plastic food storage containers with glass (or use stainless steel containers when on the go). More about plastic here.
• Turn off your home Wi-Fi system at night before you go to sleep. Learn many other tips here.
• Wear a protective mask and gloves if you are going to use chemicals or sand/paint something.

Look at the lists and links above to help you take additional steps. Take one step at a time, make a note of what you changed in your journal and record how you react physically, mentally and/or emotionally once the toxin is removed. It may take a few days for you to notice a difference after you make the change.

How to Move Forward

As you work through your health timeline and create your journals, you may be surprised at the patterns you see. 

You can start your healing journey by replacing your not-so-healthy foods, body products, cleaning products, etc. with more natural ones. As noted in the links above, I have written several articles to help you.

When I work with someone — whether a sensitive adult or a parent navigating a sensitive child's health — I help them identify their unique health triggers so their body can truly heal. This often means looking beyond the obvious: addressing not just diet and stress, but EMF exposure, toxic load, and immune system overwhelm — and other hidden layers that are especially significant for sensitive people.

If you are a sensitive person — or the parent of a sensitive child — who has been searching for answers without finding them, I would love to help you connect the dots.

My work bridges emotional sensitivity, environmental awareness, EMF exposure, toxic load, and immune system health — because for sensitive people, real healing means looking at the whole picture.

Contact me to work together, or explore the Calming Tools for Sensitive Kids course if you are a parent navigating your child's health triggers.