A Fungus Among Us
When most people think of mold, they think of the disgusting bit of green fur that grows on bread and cheese, or sometimes in the bathtub. And their thoughts on it end there.
For anyone who has gone through mold-related illness and subsequent remediation, mold is something much, much bigger. It is an elusive, persistent poison that has the ability to make you feel so bad that you think you are dying. (No exaggeration, my daughter and I both thought death was imminent when we were sick with mold.) It becomes bigger than life, to the point that any kind of musty smell stirs up an almost PTSD-type of terror.
Due to genetic factors, only one in four people will become ill when exposed to mold. (It is not good for anyone’s health, to be clear. But not everyone feels sick from it.) By ill, I mean headaches, GI issues, sinus problems, skin rashes, neurological issues, asthma, dizziness, brain fog and extreme fatigue. If you go to a doctor with these symptoms, they will likely run standard labs, such as a CBC panel, that show no abnormalities. It is only when labs are run specifically looking for mold that a diagnosis is made...and this happens VERY rarely. Making matters worse, people living or working in the moldy environment will display varying degrees of symptoms, from none to several. Therefore, environment is seldom considered as a cause.
The bottom line is if you have mold illness, it will likely be a long, ugly haul of suffering before someone finally figures out what is really going on. (Whenever I see that a celebrity is suffering a “mystery illness” I almost always suspect mold, and more often than not I have been right.)
It is estimated that 70% of homes have mold, with Aspergillus, Penicillium and Cladosporium being the most common. Spores can enter through the air, or attach to people or pets. It grows in moist environments with humidity over 50% wherever it can find a “host” such as wood, cardboard and fabric. In homes, the best place to look for mold is in ceiling tiles, basements, attics, showers and crawl spaces. If you have had water breach the building, it needs to be dried within 24-48 hours to prevent mold growth.
As mold grows and spreads, it enters the air and can then affect people through inhalation. The most common initial symptoms are allergy-like symptoms, such as scratchy throat, itchy eyes, runny nose and congestion and asthma. As it progresses, it can affect the lungs more intensely, and lead to neurological problems and fatigue.
There are a few ways to determine if mold is your health issue. First, a doctor can run blood/urine tests to check for mold “alarm.” Urine mycotoxin tests can be very expensive. In my case, my functional medicine doctor tested for mold allergies, which were extremely high. Other blood tests can include TGF Beta- 1 and C4a. (These tests were never mentioned by traditional doctors.)
A building inspection can also shed light on mold exposure. Our inspector declared our basement one of the moldiest he has ever seen, and noted that he and his employees began experiencing symptoms within minutes of walking into our house. This damning information confirmed mold as the likely source of my symptoms even before any tests were run.
Here is more bad news. If you have a mold problem and are symptomatic, you should leave the infested building immediately. So here you are...you have a large problem, you need to do something about it, and you can’t. Very frustrating. But stirring up mold by cleaning it can lead to very intense symptoms (I can personally confirm this). It is best to call professional remediators, who have all the tools and knowledge needed to do remediation the right way. Referrals are very important, as sloppy remediators can do a tremendous amount of damage to your building and health. The cost of remediation depends on the size of the area and the depth of the problem. Because our mold problem was centered in a large, cluttered basement, the cost came in at about $30,000.
All spores need to be removed to improve your health and eliminate the future growth of mold. This means removing or cleaning all mold-infested items. (The inspector can advise you more on this.) We threw out nearly the entire contents of our basement. I was able to wash clothing in a special detergent, but large items such as couches were discarded. (Another fun aspect of mold illness…losing nearly all of your possessions.)
Here is the good news: if mold is your problem, once you are away from it, you will feel better. Our inspector said it takes two weeks to clear the system, and I noticed tremendous improvement in exactly two weeks. Since I thought I was dying of cancer or ALS, the idea that I could possibly feel better was encouraging. And I learned so much in the process, knowledge that has already helped my friends and family. And it is my goal to inform as many people as possible about the health ramifications of mold, so they at least know to ask their doctors if it could be a problem.
