I recently got a new iPhone 6 and after having it for a good few weeks I discovered it had been zapping me with EMFs (electromagnetic fields) even when it was on airplane mode.
It was affecting my sleep, making me twitchy and agitated, leaving me feeling exhausted and more jet-lagged than usual (I had just travelled to the USA and then back to Australia) and making my right arm/mouse arm “thick” and slow when working on my PC. I have a feeling it played a role in my worsening lower back pain too!
I was NOT happy! I was actually fuming!
I have my phone on airplane mode most of time because in the last 6 months I’ve discovered I have some degree of EHS or electromagnetic hypersensitivity. This is a very real condition and many people are not even aware that EMFs may be playing a role in their symptoms.
This abstract summarizes EHS well: Characteristics of perceived electromagnetic hypersensitivity in the general population
Health problems evoked in the presence of electrical equipment is a concern, calling for better understanding for characteristics of electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) in the general population.
The present study investigated demographics, lifestyle factors, frequency and duration, coping strategies, proportion meeting clinical criteria for intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (EMF) and comorbidity. Using data from a large-scale population-based questionnaire study, we investigated persons with self-reported (n = 91) EHS in comparison to referents (n = 3,250).
Middle age, female sex and poor perceived health was found to be associated with EHS. More than 50% in the EHS group reported having EMF-related symptoms more often than once a week, and the mean number of years experiencing EHS was 10.5. More than half of the EHS group reported that their symptoms started after a high-dose or long-term EMF exposure, that they actively tried to avoid EMF sources and that they mostly could affect the EMF environment. A minority of the EHS group had sought medical attention, been diagnosed by a physician or received treatment.
Exhaustion syndrome, anxiety disorder, back/joint/muscle disorder, depression, functional somatic syndrome and migraine were comorbid with EHS.
The results provide ground for future study of these characteristic features being risk factors for development of EHS and or consequences of EHS.
Fortunately, I used my Cornet meter and figured out something was up. Unfortunately, it took me some time to connect the dots. I figured I wasn’t feeling that great because of my recent trip and spending time sitting in planes and being exposed to so much WiFi in airports, planes, hotels, and conference rooms. I also drive a keyless car for 4 hours! Also, when you’re in the midst of this type of thing you’re kind of slow in figuring things out!
I’m going to share the lessons I learned so they can help you prevent something similar.
Lesson #1: When you toggle airplane mode off it via the swipe up feature it also activates Bluetooth and WiFi. BUT when you turn on airplane mode when using the swipe up feature, both Bluetooth and Wifi stay on unless you turn them off first in settings! This must be the default for new iPhones (and may even reset back to this with a software upgrade).
A: Airplane mode off (blue color plane) and Wifi is on and Bluetooth is on
B: Airplane mode on (orange color plane) and yet Bluetooth and WiFi is still on – this is not good if you’re using your phone next to your bed or in a car or close to your body
C: Airplane mode on (orange color plane) and Bluetooth and WiFi is off (they have a line through them) – make sure it’s like this when it’s next to your bed or in a car or close to your body
Lesson #2: Watch to see if 3G goes back to 4G when you toggle airplane mode on and off. I have changed my phone from 4G to 3G in settings in order to reduce EMF exposure when my phone is on. If you don’t know how to do this: settings/cellular/cellular data options – enable 4G toggle. Some folks are saying the airplane mode toggle reactivates 4G. I’m guessing it’s specific to the phone version as it’s not an issue on my phone.
Lesson #3: When you get a new phone or any new device, check everything and even if it’s not new, upgrades to software may change things.
Lesson #4: Distance is your friend when it comes to EMFs. I believe this impacted me more because I thought the iPhone was safely in airplane mode and not emitting EMFs. I had it close to me: in my handbag during the day when out and about, on my side-table next to my head at night, on my desk near me during the day, and in my money-belt right over my belly on the plane for 15 hours flying back!
Lesson #5: Trust your gut if you feel something is off and keep searching for a solution. I knew something was off and was prowling around trying to find what WiFi had been turned on in our home and looking for new hotspots in the area (I recently blogged about how a WiFi modem with a public hotspot caused seizures, vertigo, headaches, insomnia and heart palpitations in a woman with a history of West Nile virus)
Lesson #6: Get a meter so you can be proactive and actually measure this stuff. My Cornet meter is awesome! I’m still a newbie at this but when I see red flashing lights I know I’m onto something.
I owe much appreciation to Nick Pineault, author of The Non-Tinfoil Guide to EMFs (my Amazon link) for his amazing ElectrosmogRx practitioner training. I’ve learned so much about how EMFs are impacting our health and want to share this with you because I truly believe it’s a big player when you have ongoing anxiety, insomnia, pain, brain fog and with more serious health concerns too.
I even got to see Nick at the event I attended in the USA and got a signed copy of his excellent book!
When I shared this story on Facebook it was received with much interest and two people shared similar issues. One person said this:
Since I’ve moved I’ve been using my iPhone 6 as an alarm and getting disrupted sleep every night! Time for change!
And then shared this a few days later:
I want to report that I definitely slept better without my iPhone in the room last night!.
Someone else shared this:
Since getting the iPhone 6 I have been experiencing an overactive brain when trying to sleep plus heart palpitations. I usually sleep so well and turn off my thoughts and relax with no problems. I just thought it was a culmination of work, stress deadlines and hormones.
Too often I hear comments like this: “it’s all around us – what are we supposed to do?!” There is so much we can do!
Once I made the simple change of making sure the Bluetooth and WiFi stayed off when I toggled airplane mode on, my sleep improved, the twitchiness and agitation abated, my exhaustion ramped down and my slow mouse arm started to work normally again. My back pain is slowly but surely easing too.
As a nutritionist I always use everything at my disposal and so I’ve also used GABA for my back pain and tryptophan for the agitation and sleep issues and plenty of rosemary essential oil, together with grounding/earthing on a daily basis.
Thank goodness for my Qlink too! I’d probably have been feeling much worse had I not been wearing it 24 hours a day.
My wish now is for more folks to take this seriously!
Do you use your iPhone (or other smart phone) as an alarm without switching to airplane mode? Have you checked if Bluetooth and WiFi is off when you do switch to airplane mode?
And has disrupted sleep or other issues like anxiety, agitation, heart palpitations, pain issues, brain fog or fatigue resolved when making these very simple changes?
I’d love some feedback if you have a smart phone other than an iPhone – to share what happens on your phone and how you addressed it.
I was just given an Acousticom 2, a meter for radio frequencies. I found my wireless mouse was really bad (I should have known, but it didn’t occur to me). I was able to find a low cost wired mouse at Walmart and its fine.
My iphone 6 plus doesn’t have super high readings, but i keep bluetooth off all of the time, and its on airplane mode most of the time too… I still don’t like having it next to my head for calls even if the meter readings arent super high…
I finally got a land line, and tried using my old home phone from a few years ago. Its got the regular desk top phone, plus a hand set…I knew the handset was not good, even worse than cell phones usually, so I just tried using the desk phone………….until I got out my Acosticom meter and the radio frequency reading was very high. It took some investigating but found out that those phones with a separate wireless hand held phone have wireless built into them! So even without using the handset, we are getting zapped. I now have a desk phone with an airtube headset, and all seems to be well . Though the phone itself, without using the airtube , is high in electromagnetic frequencies… I had borrowed a Triaxial meter from a friend and discovered that .
And the keyboard on my laptop is too high, tested with the Triaxial meter. So I’m going to find a wired keyboard. I’ve discovered that Lessemf.com is a good source for lots of products.
Sorry to be so long winded, but thought sharing my experiences might be helpful to others. I’m so glad this topic is more in the limelight these days. Oh, there is a summit on EMFs coming up with Loyd Burrell, can probably sign up at his website.
Kristin
Long-winded is good as this are all excellent tips for everyone!
I was also using a wireless mouse and keyboard a few months ago but they have now been replaced!
The phone you’re referring to – was it cordless base and handset (these are known to bad!) or just cordless handset? I wasn’t aware you could use the airtube headset on a regular phone. I encourage you to measure too as I’ve heard the readings can be high where the hollow tubes meet which is often at chest height.
Love Lloyd Burrell and I’m sharing some of my EMF journey on his upcoming summit!
The phone I referred too was not the cordless handset, it was the base that plugged into an electrical outlet as well as the phone jack. It has a handset but I wasn’t using it and it wasn’t even plugged in to anything. What apparently was happening is that the base sends out its own wireless trying to connect with the cordless handset. Bad news…but so good to know. I used that phone for years up to a couple of years ago, and without testing it with my meter a few days ago, I would be using it again!
The headset I have came with the new landline phone, from Lessemf.com. Its not actually an airtube but looks like it has copper wiring plus an airtube the last 6 inches. There is only one ear bud. After reading your reply I tried to test it with both the RF meter and the Electromagnetic meter and the levels did seem to rise to another level and I’m confused as to how that could be. I will call lessemf.com on Monday and see what they say. It could also be the ambient radiation and magnetic fields that I have in my home. I’m exploring how to reduce those fields, they aren’t extremely high but I’ve had chronic fatigue, mitochondrial infection (according to a naturopath I saw for a year) (now I think its a retrovirus, as Dr Klinghardt is now saying are at the bottom of most illness) for 7 years and I want to minimize wherever I can to see if it helps.
Hi Trudy; thank you for addressing this. My 9-yo son’s autism symptoms and emotional regulation seemed to take a nosedive when he switched from a Kindle Fire to an iPad (I don’t want to talk about my kids using iPads…I already feel bad about it). I have an iPhone SE (came out between 5 and 6), and have a hard time sleeping through the night. I have considered buying a Qlink to see if it helps ME (in hopes that it does, then I’ll buy one for my son). Do you have any blog posts about your Qlink?
Hi dawn, there are blue light blocking filters that fit over iPad , ones that can be removed. Besides the wifi, the blue light from screens reduces dopamine and melatonin. Retina in eyes need sunrise sun for melatonin to be created in am and released at night in darkness. Check out Dr hack kruse FB page and web site. Learnt all the above from him. Since watching my first YouTube interview of him I NEVER look at my iPhone or iPad with our my bluelight backing glasses on. You will be amazed how relaxed your eyes feel.
Hi there. Wondering why you believe link pendants work. Just speak to Lym from EMR Australia she is a wealth of knowledge.
Thank you for this article I will be checking my phone settings. Can I please ask you one thing. I read Bluetooth headsets are terrible. What about using Bluetooth in your car so and can speak hands free. Is that bad for you as well.?
Lara
Bluetooth in the car uses WiFi and is also harmful. Also there are now studies showing talking hands-free while driving is as dangerous as holding a phone and talking – because you’re easily distracted. Also a phone on in the car is a big no-no because of all the radiation bouncing around the inside of the car as it looks for the next cell tower.
WOW! Excellent article! Thank You Trudy!
I have a ‘dumb phone’ for emergencies only when away. I have a CORDED land line phone with an EXTENSION cordless handset in my bedroom that is plugged in to recharge electricity ONLY. My previous CORDLESS would get HOT in my hand. They can be worse than Cell Phones!
I am WEARING a D-FUZE to protect my own ‘Subtle Energy’- also with Schumann’s resonance. So inexpensive compared to Q-Link. I have 1 (or 2 on Modem) on every digital/electrical appliance including Smart Meter and refrigerator. I have 1 on my laptop also to BLOCK EMF. D-FUZE is infused for LIFETIME with Vital Force Technology.
From 12 yrs research by Dr. Yury Kron-Quantum Physicist working with Stemtech Health Sciences.
Sharon
I’m all for corded landlines! Thanks for sharing your experience with D-FUZE – I’d love to hear how you feel with them and without them?
I did remove the link/phone number as it’s not appropriate to sell from my blog
Of Australian interest : Inquiry into sleep health awareness in Australia Submissions from individuals and organisations are invited by Thursday, 18 October 2018.
https://stopsmartmeters.com.au/2018/10/06
Dana
Thank you! I’ll share with my community in Australia.
And sharing an excerpt from the above: “A PubMed-listed, peer-reviewed study entitled Self-reporting of Symptom Development from Exposure to Radiofrequency Fields of Wireless Smart Meters in Victoria, Australia: A Case Series found that the most common symptom as a result of exposure to the pulsed radiofrequency fields from smart meters was insomnia. Forty eight percent of the people in the 92-case study reported insomnia, sleep disturbance, or sleep disruption.” and the link to the study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25478801
I am one of 3 people who have had an Afib diagnosis and swear it’s from EMF. Asked the cardiologist if related to exposure and he looked at me and said, “ something is definitely going on” Walking in walmart electical dept. only, I feel as if I am being pulled to the side. Very odd off balance type feeling. Any store that uses anti theft devices do this too.
I shut off my wifi at night and wear a qlink. I have tested the qlink with looking at blood cells under a dark field microscope and when it’s removed there is definitely clumping of red blood cells. They move fine with it on. Have had a history of pulmonary embolism. Lyme added to this but EMF made it worse for me. Hear 5 G is going to be extremely worse. Grounding barefoot daily is imperative and if you can do it walking in nature even better. Knowledge is power! Avoid exposure as much as possible.
Dawn
Thanks for sharing your experiences and glad you have made the EMF connections. Sadly, too many don’t. And yes the EMF Lyme effects are bad and grounding and nature is so valuable!
Thanks for sharing about the qlink! I love my qlink and would love to see my red blood cells under a dark field microscope before and during.
I’m just wondering, when out shopping or going to the movies, would it be better to turn the phone completely off rather than place in airplane mode. I ask this since I’ve heard there is still some radiation from the phone in airplane mode.
David
If you don’t need it on keeping the phone off is always best