When I was in my twenties my brother and I were roommates in a small duplex in a quaint well to do little Texas town. The duplex was more than thirty years old and definitely dated. Its location was ideal and the perfect size and cost for my brother, myself and our dog.
We lived here for four plus years when my brother started developing the most bizarre symptoms.
He was experience intense gut pain and had an everlasting rash and whelps that would not subside even with antihistamines. Then our dog started to develop whelps so of course we thought a rash on the dog meant it was being exposed to poison ivy or oak in the yard and through contact was rubbing off on my brother. So we began to treat for that with zero improvement or results. In fact the symptoms began to intensify with severe pain and brain fog. The dog even became clumsy and lethargic at times. We ran through every scenario and could not come to any conclusions.
Doctors and testing came up with zero results. They administered steroid pack after pack and the symptoms only became worse and worse with each dose. We were desperate for answers and relief. It was getting to the point where he could barely function or work because the pain and irritation was so intense by this point.
I began looking into sick building syndrome and other environmental hazards that he may be getting exposed to. I was not experiencing the same symptoms I had headaches and some nausea but my biggest thing was I was packing on weight like crazy for no reason. So one day while digging for answers I come across this article of a Texas family suing their insurance company because their home harbored black mold (Stachybotrys Chartarum not to be mistaken with common mold and mildew from humidity.) and their two year old had permanent neurological damage from the extended exposure to the fungi. They were seeing a specialist and listed a whole slew of symptoms and side effects. It gave me an epiphany so I got in the attic and started digging around. Sure enough there was mold by the AC drip pan over the hall with the vents directly leading into our bedrooms off the unit. Is it black mold? How do we know? What do we do? This created a whole new problem in itself.
Shortly after it started seeping like sap through the drywall down into my bedroom and put off the most awful pungent and almost sweet odor that instantly blurred your vision and gave you a headache. After seeing probably 15 doctors we finally found one that was like get out of that house. He wrote a medical prescription for us to move due to the detriment of the living situation to justify our breaking our lease. The landlord refused to properly correct the problem. He came over and smacked some killz all over it and called it a fix. It came right back through the killz with a vengeance and we could not get any compassion or cooperation from our landlord of five years now. When we sent the formal letter and prescription from the PCP he turned around and evicted us!! So we moved, but it didn't solve our already saturated health problems.
My Delayed Reaction:
While we were in the house I was not having issues as severe as my brother and dog but I had gained like 50 lbs my periods were completely out of whack and I had terrible migraines regularly.
About six months after moving I became so sick with strep throat. I went to the doctor and he said it was a strain similar to strep throat and he put me on antibiotics and steroids. I became more sick after a few days of the steroids! I couldn't eat because I was unable to swallow. I developed this horribly painful and irritating rash that was somewhat similar to shingles, it was under my breasts and all over my stomach it almost looked like mumps but it wasn't, I started passing kidney stones and was in various forms of severe pain with fever for weeks at a time. The doctors had no solution or explanation for what was happening, they prescribed stronger antibiotics and stronger steroids to try to solve the problem. My health was only further deteriorating I couldn't get out of bed and by this point my mouth was pooling with blood periodically. I stopped taking the meds from the doctors and found the strength to research why antibiotics and steroids would make me more ill.
You know what I found? LEAKEY GUT!!!! OMG!
For a few years while living in the duplex I was religiously taking probiotics and a blue green algea supplement because it was supposed to help boost metabolism for weight loss. So this was helping my gut store the toxins from the mold to protect my body .When they gave me the meds paired with my shitty diet it caused leakey gut and released years of build up of shit to wreak all kinds of havoc on my body all at one time! I was only getting small doses of it at a time before, enough to cause weight gain, menstrual disruptions and headaches. Now the gates had been opened my guts were thrashed and my body had zero defense left and it was all down hill from here!
What I Did To Begin To Recoup:
I found every detoxing aid I could get my hands on and researched it. I found any article on mold poisoning and mycotoxin invasion that was out there. I found a foundation called moldhelp.org and received some much needed answers from there and I successfully began to suffocate the mold and yeast and heal my gut. It was painful at first because the mold gets real pissed when you start starving it out and you feel flu sick for days on end. Then you start to see the light on the other side of feeling like hell all the time. At this point any amount of relief is incredible and welcomed at all costs. I found a holistic doctor that validated everything I had found and done to this point and he commended me for taking charge of my situation. When he peformed the live blood panel on me he exclaimed that in 22 years he had NEVER seen mycotoxins colonize in anyones blood stream as they had in mine. He told me that my body had been packing and storing fat around my cells as a defense mechanism to defend them at all costs. ( Another post to come on this subject alone.) As a result of all of this damage my brother and I had developed 'Rapid Acting Auto Immune Diseases' that was causing neuroligical damage, tissue damage and kidney damage. And he helped me tweak the protocol I had already put in place and added some things paired with treatment and we were on our way.
Here I Am Today 14 Years Later
I was inspired to learn holistic healing I was mostly raised this way anyways. Through my own struggles helping people heal became my passion and I cant get enough content on the matter to feed my love for it! My life was saved by this and I am a true believer! I became certified as a holistic health and wellness coach with training to specialize in various fields to work with seniors and diabetics as well as families on fertility health and pregnancy. I became certified specifically in hormone health and fertility coaching years later to expand my knowledge and help women heal their bodies to achieve their dreams of having a family. ( Also a trained birthing Doula! I love all things life!)
Dabbling in social media on different sites I have come across so many women with chronic health problems and hormone dysfunction and it breaks my heart. I want to share my experiences and my knowledge of the hidden dangers of mold/yeast overgrowth. Plus the fertility issues and the constant battle I had to stand on the front-line of to heal my self. It took years and a lot of effort to come back from all of this. But today my blood work is nearly perfect, I have zero inflammation markers and my auto immune disease is mostly in remission as long as I stay on my regiment, which I am happy to do because the alternative is miserable. I have some long lasting effects that cant be shaken, my left kidney died or is atrophied but my right one is a champ and my HPA axis suffered permanent damage leaving some hormonal and thyroid issues to keep in balance. (Losing weight is a bitch now)
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