[notslow]

We recently learned that the chronic illness in our family was due to long-term toxic mold exposure. Here's what we have learned over the last 10+ years:

1) Learn to advocate for yourself. One wise doctor told us "we're all just guessing". I don't know exactly what you are dealing with, but do your own research and seek out health practitioners that are on the leading edge of that community. 2) Learn your "dose". Every body is unique and has its own limits. There is no "normal" with chronic illness 3) Trust your gut. Remember that the struggle is real. There are a lot of doubters, questioners, and "helpful" people. You know what is best for your body. 4) Seek out a community of faith/meditation/prayer/therapy/etc. Dealing with Chronic illness is often more mental than physical.

[elric]

Woah. Glad you figured out the cause! That reminds me of a Reddit post where someone thought they were being roofied and raped, but where bed bugs were found to be the ultimate cause of all their symptoms.

[shock]

I'll just leave this here since it was eye opening for me: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5377931/

[notslow]

Wow, yes. All of that. That is basically our story.

[shock]

My email is in my profile if you want to reach out.

[tashmahalic]

How did you discover that toxic mold exposure was the cause?

[notslow]

After trying lots of other things, we finally got tested for mycotoxins, a mold byproduct, and after that test we started testing our house and discovered mold there. Neil Nathan's book "Toxic" was super-helpful in teasing out the many confusing and overlapping symptoms associated with many chronic illnesses.

[heavyset_go]

Did the symptoms go away after treating the source of the mold? I'm also curious about the symptoms that were experienced if you're comfortable sharing.

[notslow]

No, the symptoms haven't gone away yet, but we are improving. We moved out of our house 6 months ago. Other folks we talked to that have dealt with mold have taken 1 year or more to get back to some semblance of normal

[KKPMW]

Can I ask what symptoms you had that were caused by mold?

[notslow]

Mold illness is nasty. Each of the three of us experienced different symptoms. Some of our symptoms included increased food sensitivities, brain fog and neurological symptoms, mood swings, random muscle aches ("knots"), occasional random sharp pains, redness and/or swelling of hands or feet. None of those were particularly consistent but did reoccur over time.

[febed]

I developed vitiligo a few months after moving into a new apartment which had a mild sewage leak. I'm pretty sure the apartment caused my condition as there is no other case of vitiligo in my family and it is known to be triggered by chemical irritants.

[notslow]

You may want to consider testing your apartment for endotoxins (or just moving if possible). Endotoxins come from the cell walls of gram-negative bacteria for which the most common source is sewer leaks. Endotoxins are toxic and can cause a range of symptoms. Unfortunately, our house tested high for those as well.