What is Mold Illness?
Mold illness or sickness is a constellation of symptoms that result from a combination of the mold spore colonisation in the body and toxic load due to the mycotoxins they produce. The mycotoxins can be particularly damaging to every body system and this is what can make mold illness difficult to identify and why it often gets missed.
A few ways that mycotoxins may affect the body include:
- Mycotoxins can induce damage by increasing oxidative stress (the balance between damaging reactive oxygen species and protective antioxidants). This damage can specifically target and damage cells in the nervous system.
- Trichothecenes (one specific type of mycotoxins) can induce mitochondrial dysfunction which impacts energy, brain energy and cognitive function.
- Mycotoxins interact with the neuroimmune axis, triggering inflammation, inflammation of the brain and cognitive dysfunction.
- Mycotoxins can impair neuronal plasticity which can contribute to cognitive dysfunction, depression, anxiety and other mental health issues (including psychosis, agoraphobia, depersonalisation and derealisation).
- Mycotoxins compromise the integrity of the blood–brain barrier, crossing into the brain and exerting neurotoxic effects on neurons.
- Mycotoxins can trigger the Cell Danger Response (CDR) and bring about associated changes in methylation, amino acid metabolism, vitamin D and vitamin B6 metabolism, glutathione production, histamine production and metabolism.
Possible Symptoms of Mold Illness
Some of the most classic symptoms of Mold Illness are:
- Electric shock sensations
- Ice pick-like sensations
- Vibrating or pulsing sensations running up and down the spinal cord or specific segments of the spine
If you experience any of these sensations it is definitely worth testing for Urine Mycotoxins, especially if you have known exposure to domestic molds or have lived in a water damaged building, even if it was many years ago.
Other symptoms which may also be associated with mold include:
- Muscle weakness
- Numbness and tingling in different parts of the body
- Dizziness
- Disequilibrium
- Severe anxiety
- Depression
- Fatigue
- Headaches and migraines
- Cognitive impairment
- Joint and muscle pain
- Gastrointestinal symptoms
- Chest tightness and pain
Mold Illness and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)
Not all people who experience Chronic Fatigue have mold illness but fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of Mold Illness.
Although research linking Mold Illness with CFS is limited, a paper by Brewer et al. (2013) tested 112 patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for mold mycotoxins. 104 of the 112 patients (93%) tested positive for at least one mold mycotoxin with 30% of cases testing positive for more than one mycotoxin.
90% of these cases had a current or historical exposure to a water damaged building (WDB).
Where exposure was current, environmental testing was performed in the WDB and potentially mycotoxin producing mold species were identified as mycotoxins specifically.
Healthy controls with no prior or current exposure to WDB did not test positive for urine mycotoxins.
How Do You Test for Mycotoxins?
The best test of mold mycotoxins in the Mycotoxin Test by Great Plains Laboratories. In the UK you can access this test through Regenerus Laboratories for £285.
What To Do If You Have a Positive Result?
The very first step if you test positive or even if you strongly suspect you are being affected by mold, is to prioritise getting to a safe environment.
If you are unsure whether or not your current home is the source of the problem, it is worth investing in a reliable testing company who can assess your home and offer advice on remediation requirements.
You may need to decide if moving home is the best option for you or if you are prepared to invest in remediation work. It is important that moving or remediating are appropriately managed to avoid contamination with your belongings from your moldy home.
Once you are in a safe living space, you can then turn your attention to other parts of your support plan which may include the following phases:
- Avoidance; avoiding mold exposure in your home end through your diet
- Preparation; supporting detoxification and drainage pathways
- Binders: Binders are used to help carry toxins out of your body. They are best introduced when the drainage pathways are working well.
- Remove Phase: depending on your progress in stages 1-3 we can initiate a remove phase where we can use antimicrobial herbs to kill mold spores that may be colonised in the body.
- Maintenance: this includes what you want to be aware of longer term.
In addition to addressing mold directly, there may be other body systems that need rebooting or rebalancing. You may also need to:
- Support your nervous system (somatic experiencing, brain retraining)
- Support your mitochondria
- Support your kidneys, liver and gallbladder
- Address any digestive imbalances and ensure that bowel movements are healthy and regular (1-3x per day)
- Support the body with antioxidants e.g. glutathione and plant based antioxidants
- Hormone support
- Address any nutrient deficiencies created by the binders
Recovering from Mold Illness is possible but it can be a challenging process. If you suspect that mold illness could be at the root of your fatigue or at the very least, contributing factor, then you may want to receive help and support. If you would like my help and support you can explore your options for working together here.
