Living Nightmare: How Smart Meter Radiation Led to Headaches, Hearing Loss

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Susan Brinchman
LaMesa Patch

One day in the middle of May 2010, SDG&E workers came to my La Mesa home to install a new meter for both my gas and electric service. They did the same for my neighbors. I remember their trucks and the boxes on the sidewalk. How quickly they did it and left. How we turned off our computer and TV to prevent a power surge.

When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge, it is sometimes said. 

I really didn't pay much attention to these installations, assuming that they were similar to the old ones, just digital. Boy, was I wrong. As an active, retired educator, I never expected that the challenge would come in the form of harmful radiation coming from these new utility "smart" meters installed by SDG&E. But that is just what has happened.

Please note that everyone in our county and throughout SDG&E's territory had these installed in the past year and a half, except for a handful of people. None of us were told of any risks. 
Shortly after, when I began to have ringing ears and sleeplessness, I wondered why but kept thinking it would disappear. I'd hear ringing in my ears no matter what time of day. Even in the night, and it would be more apparent when it was quiet, it seemed.

At night, I'd wake up suddenly around 2:00 or 2:30 AM, the same time every night, wide awake, and have trouble getting back to sleep for several hours. Some nights I didn't sleep much at all, just a couple of hours.

This was also occuring to other members of the household, at times. There were peculiar symptoms that some of us experienced that we could not explain but was making life very complicated.

Last summer was a rough time as a result. There were some headaches. I spent time reading in my room, something I like to do to relax. By fall, things didn't get any better, but worse.

Add to the list, by October, a rapidly growing skin cancer on my face, looked like a largish pencil eraser, you could practically watch it grow ... and it hurt.

The doctors took a bit of time to schedule me in and removed it in January — cut it out, leaving a scar. By the end of November, I noticed in addition to the ringing ears and other symptoms, that I suddenly was extremely nauseous, dizzy, and developing headaches when I used my computer or cell phone.

I'd always kept a good distance from the cell phone for safety sake, used speaker mode, but that wasn't helping.

In frustration, I called a local environmental doctor I'd seen for a workplace mold exposure many years before. I remembered he knew something about electro-sensitivities and thought he might know what was going on. I told him about the computer and cell phone reactions, but nothing else, as I didn't think those things were pertinent. Wrong again.

He asked if I had a smart meter on the house.

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