Since I was diagnosed on March 28, 2022 after 2 years of being sick, I’ve been asked what mold toxicity is and how I got it, as well as several other questions. It’s difficult to explain because every body is different, and there are over 100 symptoms that can be experienced with mold toxicity.
For me, I am so tired almost every single day. No matter how much or how well I sleep. I have vertigo-type dizziness at least an hour a day. I say words that my brain doesn’t tell my mouth to say or I can’t come up with words that I know very well. Smells like perfume, or plug-ins make my throat close up or it makes me physically sick. Anxiety can overcome me out of nowhere. It's a myriad of symptoms that I never know are going to come on. I feel best when I get as much sleep as possible. I tend to lay down for bed about 7:30-8pm most nights. Sometimes I have gone to bed at 6pm from being overcome by fatigue!
The worse symptoms I feel are the GI issues. You see, mold punches holes in the intestines causing Leaky Gut. The food I eat gets broken down like it should but instead of going through my intestines and being eliminated, it gets sent out into circulation into my body which causes my immune system to rev up because that’s not supposed to happen. It causes a lot of pain, bloating, and inflammation. It also makes me malnourished because my body isn't assimilating the nutrients from my food since the food is passing through the holes and going into my systemic body. As you can imagine, eating is a frightening thing to do. I have a very limited diet yet I can still react to those safe foods. I never know how my body is going to react.
I am no longer able to lift weights like I used to. Those of you that know me, know I was a competitive powerlifter for over 8 years. I held a local record at one point. I have a powerlifting gym in my home. It wasn't just a fun hobby for me, lifting was a huge part of my LIFE. But the fatigue and weakness has taken that from me. It's sad. And to be honest, I do cry for the life I used to live compared to the life I am living now. I miss a lot. I miss all my old activities, and I miss how many things I am not able to be involved in when I feel sick. I've never missed more church in my life than I have in the last year.
I know that most people cannot understand what I am experiencing because I don't look sick. I look like my normal self. Looks can be deceiving.
I’m so thankful for the good days. I do have days where I have NO symptoms and it's glorious. It gives me a glimpse of what it will feel like when I receive my healing. It’s Easter Sunday and what today tells me is that “God is in the business of disrupting the adversaries plans” (-Pastor Wes Comer). I know my purpose is to help people with health and wellness with education and non-toxic products, and maybe He needed to make me sick to be able to help people better. Of course I don’t know His plans. His Ways are higher than what I can understand.
If you have any strange issues that don't seem to make sense (see the image embedded), please seek out help. I didn't have success with traditional Western allopathic medicine. In fact, the doctor I originally saw told me to take Benadryl. I had to find a functional medicine practitioner who ran a gamut of tests, which revealed many things with the root cause of mold. There are 12 strains of mold inside my body, with 4 of them being on the line of "high risk" - meaning these are toxic to me. It's called mycotoxin poisoning. 11 of the 12 strains of mold are from eating contaminated food, and 1 is from water damage within buildings. I'm thankful that I do not have to do home mold remediation, just within my body.
I am here for anyone that has questions, or if support is needed through the process. I know what it's like to navigate this alone and having people tell you that they don't understand because I don't look sick. It's not fun. My son is a wonderful support system, but it would be nice to have someone who has experienced this to just talk to some days. So, I'm going to do and be that for others.
Stuff that is currently helping me:
Activated charcoal - binds up mycotoxins and holds onto to them until eliminated. This is a gentle way of grabbing the mold and escorting it out since I can't kill it yet.
MitoLife supplements, Digest It All, Dissolve It All, Shilajit, and Vitamin E - heal the damage done to the GI. (discount code: ANDREA for 15% off embedded).
Appalachian Standard CBD oil that manages stress and improves sleep quality, and Green Juice to help support the detox pathways of the body. (affiliate link embedded).
Therasage 360 - Infrared Sauna supports the elimination bypassing the traditional route and allows me to sweat out the mold toxins. Dry brushing is a great pre-sauna step to help move the lymph. I also have a vibration plate that I stand on once I'm all warm from the sauna that helps move lymph as well. It's important that when we are working on toxin removal that lymph isn't left stagnant. The body needs to get that stuff out! (discount code for sauna: ALITTLELESSTOXIC).
Eqilife DNS protein powder and tests (affiliate link embedded). I put the protein powder in my breakfast smoothies every morning. The liquid before lunch approach has helped me with the malnutrition issue I think.
Liquid Collagen - it helps heal the gut lining too. It really soothes my tummy and helps the healing process. (discount code: $10off embedded).
In four months, some of these might change a little. We, my functional medicine practitioner and I will begin killing the mold once the gut is in better shape than it is now. My gut is currently too damaged and has too many holes for me to handle killing the mold right now. It would make me very sick to try to kill the mold at this point. So we are gently removing what we can with the charcoal and sweating out what I can in the sauna, along with trying to heal the holes, and support my detox pathways.
Slow and steady wins the race. I know one day He will heal me.
