The health dangers of mold
Just because you can’t see visible mold like you can in this picture, doesn’t mean its not present and wreaking havoc in your environment.
Prior to this year, I thought of mold as that pesky thing you wanted to avoid accumulating in the shower. I didn’t know anything except that it could permanently stain grout and that its a surefire sign that your bathroom cleaning skills need work! But it’s so much more than that.
Mold is an insidious fungus, consisting of small organisms found almost everywhere (in the home, school, gym, office, outside). Mycotoxins are the chemical toxins secreted by a variety of molds, preventing growth of other organisms in its space.
The molds and mycotoxins associated with water-damaged buildings can be the most dangerous to our health and unfortunately that’s what I’ve been exposed too.
In my early twenties, I lived in a cute lower-level, one bedroom apartment. Inbetween my bathroom and bedroom was a mini hallway closet that had a trap door in the floor. There was a sub pump below to clear up excess water that was under the entire complex at times. I remember it periodically not working and needing repair. The neighborhood I lived in had nearby creeks and were prone to flooding during the rainy season.
I think by the second year of living there, was when I noticed a musty smell in the closet area and a musty smell on my clothes. However, it took one scary night for me to realize there was a big problem and I needed to move.
I was awoken very suddenly gasping for air. I was shaking, coughing and couldn’t breathe. My boyfriend at the time, tried to calm me down thinking I had a bad dream but that wasn’t it. I was having a very bad reaction to the accumulation of mold and mycotoxins, leaving me struggling for air.
I quickly notified the landlords who knew I had been having periodic problems with the sub pump and moldy smell. But now they were made aware of how it was actually affecting my health. Being so young, I knew nothing of the dangers of mold and longterm concerns. If I did, I would have taken a urinary mycotoxin test to see what mold strains I was dealing with and I would have worked with a healthcare provider to began a binder therapy right away. This helps bind the mycotoxins and move them into the gastrointestinal tract to be removed during bowel movements.
I remember having to throw personal items and clothing away, because it had gotten so bad. I quickly was able to get out of my lease and temporarily move back in with my parents until I found my next home.
Little did I know, that what I had just been exposed to would come to haunt me years later.
Mold illness and exposure symptoms can range from allergy-like symptoms like nasal congestion, cough, sore throat and rashes. They can also be a bit vague and less-assuming like fatigue, body aches, headaches, dizziness, brain fog or forgetfulness, anxiety, depression, insomnia and difficulty concentrating. Abdominal symptoms like constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, recurrent bladder infections (or feeling like you have one but don’t), can be signs of accumulation of mold or mycotoxins in the body.
Exposure to indoor toxic mold is far more common than you might think. In fact, research indicates that 45% of U.S. homes are affected by persistent dampness and mold.
Awareness of mold illness is spreading in the functional medicine community, as it can often be mis-diagnosed as asthma, chronic fatigue and even mental illness. Neuroinflammation (inflammation of nervous tissue, especially of neurons in the brain) is one of the most common features of mold illness. There haven’t been conclusive epidemiological studies (yet) linking mold exposure to dementia, however there is evidence to suggest mold exposure contributes to cognitive impairment.
Inflammation and Immune Dysfunction: Mold spores act as irritants, which trigger the body to create an immune response, leading to inflammation and potentially chronic inflammation in the body.
As I started my journey with my functional medicine doctor and team, a whole host of tests were taken not just for mold, but to provide a more well-rounded picture of my current health. It should be no surprise to anyone that my urine mycotoxin test came back showing I have some carcinogenic mycotoxins to deal with. It also showed inflammation in my gut and a few other symptoms I feel strongly are all one way or another connected to my mold exposure.
If you’ve been reading my previous blog posts, you’ll see that beyond the labs I took, I also went on a detox and elimination diet, discovering food allergies and ultimately ridding my body of foods in my diet that were worsening the neuroinflammatory effects of mold. Things like gluten, processed and refined foods, dairy and industrial seed oils should be avoided.
I’m also on week 10 of a gut healing protocol, something you need to do first and foremost before you attempt to remove mycotoxins from your body.
As you can see this is a multi-step process and I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface with what I’ve learned and will continue to learn about mold, so expect to see what can be done to help support your body, how to test your home, the remediation process and so much more.
Feel free to ask questions in the comments below.