Like that of millions others, my trip with the toxicity of molds did not start with clear answers, or even a diagnosis – it started with mysterious symptoms that have taken years to understand.
At the start, there was no unique symptom that shouted “mold” – there were many signs, which all started once I moved to my room in Miami, and all of all that I tried to attribute to something else. I felt tired most of the time, but I blame professional work exhaustion. I noticed a mold of mold in my house, but I thought it was a part of the cigarette in part, the neighbor’s CVC system. I developed IBS type problems, but I assumed it was a bad meal or two. There was a completely rational explanation for each problem, but none, in my mind, was linked to mold.
Over a few months, I became so tired that I had very few functional hours during the day and I spent most of my time in bed. ” There would be times when people were talking to me, but I couldn’t treat what they said. I started losing a large amount of hair – so much so that I got involved in a bob to hide the missing sections. I started to gain weight quickly, despite a minimum of changes in the diet. My mental health fell; I had the impression that life went from complete Technicolor to something bland and dismal.
I did what someone else in my post would do it: I planned an appointment with the doctor. However, because each symptom is vague and non -specific, the whole table went unnoticed by my primary care doctor and a host of specialists, including a neurologist, a functional health doctor and an immunologist / allergist. Laboratories and imaging have appeared largely normal.
My symptoms were only intensifying. Why could these doctors not find what is wrong with me? The only thing that kept me attached during these moments of panic was that I still had physical symptoms to prove that it was real – regardless of the number of laboratories normally.
During this Ping-Pong Doctor process, a friend with clinical experience gave me the missing index that changed my life: my symptoms can be linked to mold. In fact, she had a strong feeling that there was mold in my apartment. I went back to my doctors and I mentioned mold, several times. They rejected the notion and attributed to the mold to an allergic and fungal infection.
Despite their skepticism, I contacted my owner. They sent an inspector, but the person they hired was not certified by mold, and the samples appeared largely normal (with the exception of certain black molds under the kitchen sink). So I hired my own certified and highly rated inspector. He quickly detected highly toxic mold levels in all my house and advised me to find another place to live immediately.
I left that evening for a hotel, an option that I had the privilege of having, but many others in my position do not do so. In a few days, I got rid of almost everything I had – I couldn’t risk any more exposure. When I ended my lease due to health problems in the unit, my owner kept the full $ 5,400 for warranty deposit. The loss has bitten, but again, absorption was a privilege that many in this situation are missing.
Thanks to the serendipity, I was connected to a world renowned expert doctor, trained in the shoemaker’s protocol, who diagnosed me with CIRs, sometimes known as mold toxicity, a chronic condition that affects the brain, the immune system, the lungs, the intestine, and more. It is still a little shocking to write: I developed a chronic condition by missing something obvious – mold – in just 6.5 months.
In fact, more than 20 million people in the United States can live with CIRS, although most do not even know the term. Their symptoms are labeled as anxiety, chronic fatigue, early neurodegeneration, IBS or fibromyalgia. Under the surface, the deep cause (prolonged deregulation of the immune system) is not recognized.
My doctor led a laboratory and imaging battery that was far from all that my previous doctors had recommended: a laboratory panel for CIRS markers (such as MMP-9, TGFB-1, MSH) and neuroquant (MRI imaging to see volumetric changes in the brain). My laboratories and my imagery were extinguished. We started treatment with a drug outside AMP, Coleevelam, generally used to treat CIR / Molde toxicity.
In just two weeks, I had significant symptoms for recovering what was most for me: being able to think more clearly. I came across the ground and cried with the emotional wave that came to me. I finally felt functional and more myself.
Why do more people with mold toxicity benefit from help earlier? The estimated delay between the appearance and diagnosis of symptoms is 2 to 5 years. In some cases, it can flow up to 20 years. Insurance almost never directly covers the toxicity of molds, just specialized references which can or not work – which means that patients can spend tens of thousands of lace dollars for repeated specialized visits, stranded prescriptions, mold correction and lost working days.
Part of the response is that mold -related disease is absent from traditional medical education. Only two university establishments (George Washington University and Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine) offered courses on diseases related to biotoxin. Apart from these, independent programs such as the CIRSX Institute and the CIRS Proficies Partners certification offer in-depth training.
A health care provider does not need to be certified to make a difference. They can ask patients if they have lived or worked in a place with visible molds, mold odors, humidity problems or signs of water caused by water. If these align with unexplained symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, headache or intestine problems, a more in-depth investigation is necessary. These patients may have to test their homes or workplaces for mold, and will also undergo laboratory tests for specific CIRS markers.
Today, the trip always takes place in several ways: I continue to know more about this disease and the means to best serve patients. I continue to maintain a healthy lifestyle and prophylactic drugs to feel like my best me and manage my condition.
More importantly, I also saw all the beautiful ways that this experience was for me, not against me – it gave me fire and the aim of resolving access to the care of the toxicity of molds, for humanity.
Photo: Only flags, getty images
Ariana Thacker is the founder and CEO of MLUDCO, and a chemical engineer has become a venture capital with a passion to meet neglected challenges. After having succeeded in founding Conscience VC, a business at an early stage investing in science startups, Ariana’s own experience with the toxicity of mold led her to create MLUDCO, the first and the only platform focused exclusively on the diagnosis and treatment of environmental toxicity and large-scale molds. Today, the company is evolving quickly to meet growing demand, offering advanced laboratory tests in 46 states and counting.
The mission is to fill the gaps in health care and empower patients through innovation and empathy, based on its expertise in engineering and the experience of striking businesses. She is an expert in the field in toxicity of molds with an overview of pathophysiology, biomarkers, treatments supported by research and emerging science.
This message appears through the Medcity influencers program. Anyone can publish their point of view on business and innovation in health care on Medcity News through Medcity influencers. Click here to find out how.
