Is Mould making you sick?

• Do you live or work (or have done in the past) in a building that has visible mold, smells musty, or has been water damaged?
• Do you feel worse when you in your home/work place/car, and better when on holiday?
• Do you feel worse when your air con or evaporative cooling is on in your house or car (air con units and ducted heating can harbour mould)?

This is a real problem with debilitating effects on susceptible people’s health. The World Health Organisation estimating that somewhere between 10-50% of buildings across North America, Europe, Australia, Japan, and India have dampness problems and so it’s also widespread issue.

A toxin is simply a poison. It’s common sense that bacteria and virus and other infectious agents make us sick by causing infections, and that eradication of the infection, makes us feel better. But it’s now becoming clear, that when some microbes are killed, they release toxins, called biotoxins as they are produced by living biological systems.

• Electric shock sensations
• Ice pick-like pains
• Vibrating or pulsating sensations up and down the spinal chord

• Fatigue and Weakness
• Muscle aches and cramps or joint pain with morning stiffness
• Headaches
• Sensitivity to bright light
• Unusual pains
• Abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea
• Chronic sinus congestion
• Coughing, chest pain, shortness of breath
• Cognitive impairment (brain fog)
• Numbness and tingling
• Metallic taste in mouth
• Excessive thirst
• Heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding (Menorrhagia)
• Disequilibrium and dizziness

• Visual Contrast Sensitivity Testing – a simple online test that can be done to track progress
• Organic Acid Test – the place I start with lab testing as it provides a great overview of metabolic health as well as mold and bacterial infections
• Mycotoxin Test – a specialised urine test that measures the unique types of toxins which helps the precision of treatment

Assessment of your property by an Indoor Environmental Professional (IEP) is also available. For a list of possibly suitable companies, see here.

With a complex illness like this, recovery also involves several stages of treatment and depending on severity and complexity may not be quick.

The first and most important step is to remove yourself from repeated mould exposure. It’s simply not possible to get well whilst you are being continually exposed. This can involve moving out of your house or work place, or remediation of the property by a mould specialist.

The second step, is to remove toxins from the body. This is highly personalised and I strongly suggest you work with a practitioner such as myself for the course of treatment which will take several months as we ‘reboot’ your system to reset itself away from it’s current inflammatory state.  My mold patients also tend to have other issues such as small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), food intolerances or mast cell activation syndrome that must also be addressed – where we start depends very much on the individual case..