is there any way to treat brain fog caused by mold senstivity?

Who and where are these CIRS doctors?

My doctors just say it’s all in my head. I must be crazy !!!!

@winnievo-
I would be interested in hearing any details of your treatment protocol and any associated symptom improvements that you are comfortable sharing.
I am a retired, non-medical research scientist who has lived with a mold-induced multisystem/multisymptom illness for over 50 years. For the past 20 years I have maintained online access to a medical school library and regularly search Pubmed for articles that are relevant to my illness.
When articles about mold-induced illness began to appear in the popular media, I knew that I responded to both indoor and outdoor molds. The mold toxicity theories that were originally put forward by Shoemaker and others were limited to indoor mold species that were known to produce highly toxic bioaerosols.
I decided to consult a ‘mold doc’ in 2002 and I selected Vincent Marinkovich from the group of qualified MD’s. (https://www.globalindoorhealthnetwork.com/marinkovich). My choice was primarily based on his academic credentials and research accomplishments.
Marinkovich did not know the specific mechanisms that caused mold-induced illness but his patients (myself-included) typically presented with significant levels of mold specific IgG, little/no IgE. and systemic symptoms. In 2004 he published a paper in Medical Mycology (https://docslib.org/doc/5581273/fungal-hypersensitivity-pathophysiology-diagnosis-therapy) that summarized his diagnostic criteria and treatment protocol. He did not think that mycotoxins caused mold-related illness and wrote: “Hyperactive immune systems responding to the influx of fungal antigens following chronic exposures are much more likely to be a cause of symptoms in most individuals.”
The research papers on fungal immunology that have been published in reputable scientific and medical journals for the past 20 years have supported Marinkovich’s conclusion. For example, the recognized North American authority on mycotoxins and mycotoxin-related illness (J David Miller https://carleton.ca/chaimcentre/2016/david-miller/ ) published a paper in 2023 in which he clearly states that the health effects of mycotoxins are insignificant in comparison to the innate immune response to a fungal beta glucan compound. He also talks about this in Episode #731 of IAQRadio (https://www.iaqradio.com/j-david-miller-phd-bioaerosols-health-effects-secondary-metabolites-endotoxins-more/). The relevant portion of the interview video begins at the 42:10 time mark and ends at 56:00.

Marinkovich’s treatment protocol can be described in one word – avoidance. In his 2004 paper he wrote that “it is important to recognize that there are three sources of exposure: The airborne particles, mostly spores, which result from water intrusion at home, school, and work; ingestion (as in the enormous amounts and types of fungal products used by the food industry); and colonization of skin, lung, sinuses, and other mucosal surfaces.” In my case, Marinkovich’s treatment has worked, and I am currently able to stay symptom-free for weeks at a time. Unfortunately the lifestyle modifications, financial investment, and engineering skills that were required to get to this point were significant. For this reason, I don’t think that most people who suffer from mold-related illness will be able to reduce their symptoms to a negligible level. The good news, however, is that almost every reduction in my mold exposure has resulted in a noticeable health improvement. You don’t have to be symptom free in order to feel a whole lot better and I believe that almost all reductions in exposure level are helpful.

I don’t know if I can sustain my current level of avoidance as I age and wouldn’t hesitate to make an appointment with a CIRS-certified physician if I knew that Shoemaker’s treatment protocol was effective. I have searched for detailed ‘success stories’ from people who have gone all the way through the Shoemaker Protocol and so far I haven’t found any. I would appreciate any detailed info that you and other members who are currently on the Shoemaker protocol are willing to share.

@jeff1047 You might be interested in this practice in Texas. It's not near you, but this was the practice of Dr. Rea (since passed) who pioneered the field of Environmental Medicine. They do treat mold toxicity. https://www.ehcd.com/mold-and-health

I tend to get sinus infections and what works for me is to treat it with some Mupiroicin antibiotic ointment placed inside the nostrils. I had to do this as a pre-surgery treatment to avoid a staff infection. It helps me stop an infection from moving into my lungs and clear my lungs if that had happened by treating for a few days. My doctors let me have this prescription to treat as needed.

I appreciate your inputs but I am not interested in being treated by someone who espouses a mycotoxin-based theory of mold-induced illness. My opinion after a significant amount of research and living with debilitating brain fog and fatigue for over 50 years is that mycotoxin-based theories are internet-amplified pseudoscience.

There is very little in the credible refereed literature that supports Shoemaker or Rea but there is a growing body of evidence that the symptoms that I live with have an immunological origin. In addition to the Miller reference that I cited in my original post, Harding has demonstrated fairly conclusively that you don’t need the mycotoxins in Stachybotrys to cause cognitive dysfunction (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7231651/). It’s hard to predict how long it will take for the immunologists to put all the pieces together but I believe that some combination of trained innate immune processes and sickness behavior will ultimately explain my illness. In the meantime I will continue to practice the avoidance techniques that have proven to be effective.

@jeff1047 I was looking at the article you referenced which had this in the discussion.

"Although we cannot rule out an allergic response to mold, and certainly there are people for whom mold is an allergen, the responses observed in this study fit the innate-immune-activation model."

I am not sure I understand the difference between an allergy and an innate immune activation. I know I am very allergic to mold and it triggers my asthma and sinus irritation. It does cause swelling in my nose, sinuses and lungs, and I need to treat my asthma with inhalers. I have done allergy shots for a lot of allergens including molds, but I'm lazy about doing it, so it's often easier to take an antihistamine, but that isn't enough if there is a significant exposure. Just driving through an agricultural area a couple days ago, I thought I was getting sick with breathing issues and a sore throat. After I got home, those symptoms cleared a lot when I got back into the filtered air of my home. With asthma, my blood oxygen levels vary depending on my lung condition which can make me very tired.