Mold Toxicity

I was exposed for about 2 yrs before we found that inside our entire west exterior wall was covered in toxic black mold with 3 of the most toxic molds . Symptoms: began with my head feeling on fire some of the time which progressed to most all the time very red face and feeling very hot and head on fire . Skin rashes on arms, face, neck , chest, and these still come and go. Sores on face and arms, systic acne and cysts on back, arms , and random other parts of my body, hypertension , eyes burn and itch, trouble swallowing and developed choking problem. I now have beginning stages of asthma and I use an inhaler daily. Very low energy probably chronic fatigue. Aches and new random pain throughout body with headaches. My body is producing too much histamine now so that causes stomach problems . Nausea pretty much daily . As the months went by without knowing we had mold I continue to get worse . I feel like I have the flu all the time . I have sore throat most all the time also . I have flare ups or episodes where I have to stop and My brain is on fire and feel very bad and then it passes after 5-10 mins. 15 Drs could not figure me out . I had so many tests and lab work done and they told me to go to Mayo Clinic . After we found the mold we moved in 3 days . I contacted the Drs I had seen and most of them would not see me because they said they could not help me . I found a very good doctor in Dallas who specializes in Mold cases and he has helped me some . Toxic mold poisoning is real and it can cause: your organs to shut down, cancer, finished cognitive ability ( brain fog ), and it ravaged my immune system . Now any health issue is 10 times worse . Any allergy I had before is much worse . I take about 17 different kind of meds everyday. I definitely have brain fog, and people will think you are crazy but ignore them . I also met a great Dermologist who herself had mold poisoning and it took her 2 yrs to get back to work and she really has helped me get on the right path. There is no cure . It can kill. My doctor in Dallas did a Urine test and blood test and they found mycotoxins in my blood and urine . Which is bad so now I have to try to get my body to eliminate these out of my body. I will post more at a later time . Please take mold very serious, it can kill but at the least make a persons life miserable .

What is the doctor having you do to eliminate the toxins?

Bleach alone will not clean the mold spores . The surface black color is the mold will go away with bleach but not the spores .

No carb no sugar diet, sauna and juicing daily, nose spray , take Hydroxychloroquine 2 times a day, predisone low dose, take pain meds, a modafinil for Narcolepsy/chronic fatigue, and some other meds I will post later when I get home , there is no cure . The goal is to help your body eliminate the mycotoxins and I found a Dr in Texas that actually got mold poisoning herself and it took 2 yrs to be able to work again so it is a long slow process . The healthcare insurance industry had been trying to cover this issue up because there are millions of potential claims but the last 12-18 months the medical industry has come out and state that this is a real problem and toxic black mold can be connected to and can cause : organs to shut down, cancer, lung damage, diminished cognitive ability ( brain fog ) , and causes immune issues. If you have allergies now you will probably these will because a hypersensitivity problem.

Information about toxic mold has changed over the last 18 months and now even the CDC states that it can lead to serious health issues . I love and respect Mayo Clinic, my grandfather 50 year ago spent a lot of time there for my grandmother, but the Articles cited here are outdated . The key to proving mold damage to ones health is based on whether you have mycotoxins from the toxic mold in your blood or not . There is a simple urine test now that can be done and if you have the mycotoxins in your urine then they are in your blood also and the urine test can even prove up which mold it is and then connect that to your mold report done by a licensed mold inspector.. If the mycotoxins are present in your urine then you can pursue blood test . So with a mold inspection report , urine test, blood test you will know and then you can start plan to eliminate the mycotoxins from your body . They can cause organs to shut down, finished cognitive ability, and immune system issues. There is a intentional cover up about mold poisoning by the health insurance industry because of the magnitude of potential cases. I have been going through hell for 3 + years . My brain is on fire . ( sorry if any mistakes in grammar or spelling don’t have time to edit ) take care . More shortly . I am open for questions . Good luck

In over 50 years of living, I have never given much thought to mold. I've never lived in a building with a mold problem. I have never had allergies. I have never owned a dehumidifier or air purifier or even looked into owning one. All of that recently changed.

I recently rented a small house with a mold problem. The first time I toured it, it smelled a little musty but chalked it up to the windows being closed for a long time - i had been unoccupied for at least a couple of months. For the last three days before I moved in, it had been raining. When I arrived there was a strong mold smell. I opened all the windows. That night,, the smell of mold was intense and intolerable. I actually wore a scarf around my mouth and nose to breathe through in order to sleep. The mold is giving me headaches.

It is most intense in one room but not so that it seems localized, as it is strong throughout the length and breadth of the house. There is no visible mold in the interior living spaces. I suspect it is extensive either in the basement crawl spaces or behind the walls and attic crawl spaces. The building has a metal shell, and so I researched condensation. Whether it was basement or behind the walls or between the roof and ceiling, it was a major, extensive and had to have been ongoing for a long time. It odor was strong enough to sort of knock you out. My mold remediation research began the next morning, as soon as I woke and has consumed hours and hours and hours of my time.

The landlord sent a mold specialist who completely dismissed the notion that condensation related tot he metal shell could be the issue, pointing out that the problem always rises from below, and so he focused on the basement crawl space, which has a dirt floor. He said it needed to be remediated there, that because of the dirt floor, it needed a moisture barrier installed and then a dehumidifier installed to run pretty much all the time.

There may also be a leak in a water drainage pipe or water pipe under the floors/in the basement.

At first I thought I could make a go of it by addressing the air in the living space with a dehumidifier and an air purifier but unless the landlords do remediation in the basement, I am not so sure.

Maybe I have just been lucky, but I have never lived in a place where you can't leave a wet wash cloth on the bathroom counter for two days. I did an experiment here - I wet a thick piece of cotton jersey, wrung it out, folded it once, and left it on the bathroom counter. 48 hours later there were 8 round black mold spots on it at least a 1/4 inch wide each. I was horrified. Those spores are everywhere in the air inside and I am breathing them. I read that there is NO treatment for inhaling large quantities of mold spores and that they can get stuck in your lungs..

Luckily this is a rental and I am thinking I should just leave.

I think because of the difficulty of nailing down the science of mold exposure it gives rise to two things: 1) pseudoscience and quackery; 2) wrongly declaring there are no serious health effects caused by mold

But the fact is, from my research anyway, we have long known that moldy environments are not healthy for us and there is plenty of science on toxic sorts of spores as well. People with mold symptoms shouldn't be made to feel like they are crazy. As for me, I am looking to move. My gut is telling me that no air purifier and dehumidifier in the world (That I can afford anyway) s going to solve this for me if the landlords aren't going to remediate it at the source. I am having headaches from it on a daily basis - this is constant now. Sometimes very mild headaches but it is there, wearing my down. Moldy environments are not healthy to live in

Hello @chm, Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts on mold toxicity. I think you are spot on and I would have to agree with you especially since it's a rental property. It would be interesting to find out if the landlord/owner would be willing to remediate the mold problem. Have you considered talking with them?

Yes, the landlords sent the mold expert but I don't think they want to invest in the remediation he recommended. Unless it is possible to eke out a healthy environment with air purifiers and dehumidifiers in the living space itself, without remediating the source, which is in the basement or possibly inside the walls, I am moving. That's all they want to spring for. i am going to consult with an expert myself., and I'll take it for now - the air purifier etc - but I have to move

What kind of urine and blood test can be done to find the mycotoxins. As I believe I have mold toxicity. Been to many doctors all to be told nothing they can do. Can the mayo clinic do these kinds of test. I live in Arizona but would definitely like your doctors number see if he knows someone here in Arizona or if maybe I could come there... I'm about to have a lumbar puncture to see if I have mold induced meningitis... looking forward to hearing back

Hello @dayvu, Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I'm not familiar with Mycotoxin testing but there is some information on the Mycotoxin tests National Institutes of Health website here:

Mycotoxin Detection in Human Samples from Patients Exposed to Environmental Molds
-- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2680627/

Mayo Clinic also has some information on mold allergy diagnosis and treatment that may be helpful
-- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mold-allergy/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20351525

Also found some information from the on urine testing validity that may provide some information for you.

Notes from the Field: Use of Unvalidated Urine Mycotoxin Tests for the Clinical Diagnosis of Illness — United States, 2014
-- https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6406a7.htm

@glenb may be able to provide more information for you on the test. If you would like to seek help from Mayo Clinic, contact one of the appointment offices. The contact information for Minnesota, Arizona and Florida can be found here http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63.