posted
We just started renovating a room in our house and found visible signs of extensive mold damage. Ugh. I now assume that I have been feeling better in recent weeks because we have had our windows open in our house now that it is spring.
I know I read a bunch of mold related posts on this board. We need to get rid of the mold or I'll continue to be sick. Any resources regarding getting rid of mold (should we leave the work to professionals or try to DIY), concerns for someone fighting Lyme that has mold in their house, etc. would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Posts: 274 | From United States | Registered: Feb 2012
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Dogsandcats
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 28544
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I personally don't have much experience with this. If you put in the search box above - in medical - mold, you will get plenty of links to look at from back posts.
Also, the weekends can be a little slower, keep your post up at the top. I know there are plenty of people who have dealt with this and will chime in.
Take care...
-------------------- God will prepare everything for our perfect happiness in heaven, and if it takes my dog being there, I believe he'll be there.
Billy Graham Posts: 1967 | From California | Registered: Oct 2010
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- For a start:
NOT a DIY project. Sorry. Some phases may be but expert advice is essential before you do anything.
Do NOT further expose yourself to that room.
Bummer. Just a bummer. And this will be a project for the professionals, at least until a proper consult with an expert.
Good news is that if the mold is managed, you will have a better chance at regaining health.
Do NOT expose yourself to that room. Seal it off until you can get professional consult on it.
Do not remove items as that can carry mold spores all over the house. There are other safety tips that go along with this but it's best to find that on a professional site.
Call a CERTIFIED Mold Remediator.
Be sure to check their credentials that ensure accreditation and education. They must know what they are doing and have the proper equipment & tools.
Be sure their certification is current and they abide by the current laws in this matter.
You might find some from your local chapter of the
American Lung Association. They are well versed in mold issues.
Identifying Environmental Illness and Mold Exposure in Patients with Persistent Lyme Disease.
Lisa L. Nagy, MD Video $15.
(She is NOT A LLMD, however, she understands the kind of toxicity issues faced by many with lyme. She did not have lyme but overcame very serious MCS. She spoke at the recent ILADS conference.
It's a great presentation to see. The DVD can be ordered. Great detail about toxicity issues also here:
CIIN - Chemical Injury Information Network -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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TF
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 14183
posted
These are the notes I took of the Lisa Nagy talk that she gave at the Toronto Lyme Conference. Notice that it is not JUST about mold exposure but also about environmental illness.
2011 ILADS Conference
Identifying Environmental Illness & Mold Exposure in Patients with Persistent Lyme Disease
Dr. Lisa Nagy 10/29/11
The toxicity of mold is not well understood. Mold illness leads to chemical sensitivities. Many lyme patients have immune suppression/immune system damage first (due to mold, etc.) then they get lyme disease.
Usually, the cause is indoor mold from water intrusion. The key to this is a musty smell in the basement or other part of the house. A person with mold illness typically will have a white cell count of 3-4.
Mitochondrial disease: Dr. N. had this plus chemical sensitivity. Mold exposure in her home was the problem. (When she bought the house, the living room had a large, built-in aquarium in the wall complete with koi. A shed outside sheltered the aquarium. The mold from this structure was sucked into the house and sent throughout the house.) As a result, everyone in the family got Addison�s disease.
There is a $699 urine test to test for mold problems (it is a mycotoxin test).
Symptoms of a person with mold illness include: clothing tags itch them so they cut them off, bra gets too tight as they wear it (due to skin�s reaction to it)
If the mold is very toxic, you have to get rid of all of your possessions, including all clothing. It cannot be salvaged. If you wash and dry your moldy clothing at another person�s house, you will infect their dryer.
If you have this type of illness, you should prewash all new clothing.
Once a person with this problem gets away from mold, they will get sick the first 5 days (called �unshielding,� I believe), so they must stay out of stores for those days. Don�t go shopping. She advises giving these patients oxygen during this period. She recommends 2 hours per day for 18 days.
She also advises IV nutrients if they can afford it. She advises them to spend 10 minutes in the sauna after a few weeks away from the moldy environment. If they can tolerate that, they can slowly work up to 30 minutes.
She also advises 4 grams 4 times per day of cholestyramine.
She said that Dallas has the best allergy testing. She gave the following website: EHCD.com
She advises this type of patient to build a safe bedroom to detoxify all night. They cannot drink water in plastic ever again, only in glass containers. She mentioned Mountain Valley water as coming in glass containers. Then, you carry your water with you in a small glass container throughout the day.
Regular detergent and fabric softeners make these patients sick, also air fresheners, perfume, diesel exhaust. Husbands often disbelieve that these things are making the wife sick, and the marriage suffers. Women generally show these sensitivities before men. The men just go right to severe illness and skip the sensitivities phase.
If the patient has adrenal insufficiency, they may notice that they get teary at movies and commercials that are sentimental, etc.
She mentioned giving patients DHEA, 5 mg per day for 2 weeks and then increasing the dose. This helps with anxiety.
Toxicity may now have become the most common cause of adrenal insufficiency.
These people will have dysautonomia (usually diagnosed as POTS). They will go to sleep for hours after eating. So, to avoid going to sleep at work, they will skip meals. (She had this and she did this. She also described how weak the condition made her as a practicing MD. She eventually had to stop work.) The following website explains how to treat POTS: NDRF.org She stated that dysautonomia must be treated.
She gives alpha lipoic acid to all of her patients.
Posts: 9931 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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GiGi
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 259
It takes care of many problems to which the body is not responding in the proper way, thus making you not feel well. You still need to do the necessary detoxing and lightening the load to where the body can be at peace again. Read the thread that is running here and don't get frightened away by some of the naysayers.
Read "Surviving Mold" by Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker. At least go to around page 700 if you can't read that much. I hope that some libraries have it.
Take care.
Posts: 9834 | From Washington State | Registered: Oct 2000
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- For brief overview, "Surviving Mold" might be on Google books ?? Just a hunch.
It's hard to really read much there but you can request a certain page number and it can give you an overview while you wait for the book to arrive from library or a vendor. ------------
Re|shelter is a non-profit, charitable 501(c)3 corporation founded to address the urgent need for housing alternatives for people with environmental sensitivities.
Our vision: to transform the homes, health & lives of people with environmental intolerances through renovation grants and the construction of non-toxic housing and healing communities.
Our mission: Re|shelter is a charitable 501(c)3 organization committed to addressing the current housing crisis and high rates of homelessness and suicide within vulnerable populations affected by disabling environmental sensitivities. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- You did say "everything" - so here's a bit more to consider if your body has responded with MCS.
The Allergie Immun site has good detail.
In addition, and beyond eliminating the source of exposure, there may be certain liver support methods to consider:
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
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