Are you feeling sick and not making progress with your treatment plan? It could be due to mold. I work with a lot of people who are exposed to toxic mold and most are unaware that it is contributing or causing their symptoms. I find mold toxicity is still being under diagnosed and often overlooked and my intention behind this post is to bring more awareness to this issue.
Mold can be misdiagnosed as seasonal allergies, chronic sinusitis, anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, nephritis, mast cell activation syndrome, sarcoidosis, dementia, cancer … to name a few. The person may have these diagnoses but what is the root cause?
The list of symptoms that exposure to mold can cause is long because mold and it’s components create inflammation, cause immune dysfunction and can affect many systems in the body. There is no single diagnostic symptom and each individual will react differently to mold exposure based on genetic susceptibility and overall toxic burden. So you must look at the totality of the symptoms, history, and do appropriate testing.
SYMPTOMS:
Fatigue and weakness
Memory problem including difficulty finding words
Difficulty concentrating
“Brain fog”
Tinnitus
Headache
Changes in vision including blurry vision, red eyes, hypersensitivity to light
Personality changes, mood swings, anger, frustration, procrastination
Sinus congestion
Cough
Shortness of breath
Sugar cravings
Difficulty sleeping
Increased need to urinate and increased thirst
Numbness and tingling
Static shocks
Tinnitus
Lightheadedness and vertigo
Confusion and disorientation
Joint pain, including morning stiffness
Malaise post exertion
Muscle cramping and soreness
Abdominal pain, digestion difficulties, bloating, diarrhea
Feeling better when outside of environment that has mold. Often people will say that they felt so much better when they were on vacation and as soon as they came back to their home or work their symptoms worsened. Most people assume it is stress related not suspecting mold.
Drunk feeling
Symptoms worsening on rainy days
This is by no means an exhaustive list but some of the symptoms that I see most often.
HISTORY:
Think of all the places where you have spent time (past and current), ie. your home, work, school, college housing, camp, vacations and see if any of the following apply:
Water damage (think about visual discoloration on the walls, ceiling or air vents, flooding events, leaks in the roof)
Musty smell (the musty smell comes from mold chemicals which need air for you to be able to smell them; so the mold can be trapped behind a wall and you may not know it)
Poor ventilation and high humidity (50% or more; moisture is needed for mold growth)
Remember, mold is NOT an old building problem. Under the right conditions, mold can begin to grow in any building within 24 to 48 hours of a water-damage event.
If any of the above are true for you and you have symptoms that have not been responding to treatment I would highly suggest exploring possible exposure to mold as the cause of your symptoms with your doctor.
TESTING:
There are various tests available and there is no perfect mold test. Below are the most common ways I test.
In office I do a form of muscle testing called Autonomic Response Testing to see if mold is a problem.
I also use urine testing to look for mycotoxins, which are toxins produced by some molds. Mycotoxins Profile from Great Plains Labs and / or Mycotoxin Panel from RealTime Labs.
Some of the other tests out there include a blood panel developed by Dr. Richard Shoemaker, a nasal culture looking for MARCoNS (Multiple Antibiotic Resistant Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus), and Visual Contrast Sensitivity testing (VCS) which is a screening test you can do online.
For initial screening of the building for mold I recommend an ERMI (Environmental Relative Moldiness Index) test from Mycometrics, which checks for mold DNA in dust samples. And recommend that patients connect with a knowlegeable mold inspector for potentially additional testing of the building and more guidance around the remediation process if needed.
Disclaimer: this post is for informational purposes only and is not meant to treat, diagnose, cure, or prevent any disease. Please do your own research and consult with your own personal licensed health care provider before making any treatment decisions.
Updated 10/13/2022