Early Symptoms That Never Made Sense

I went to an elementary school that we later discovered had significant mold and pest infestations. Looking back, I remember beginning to feel unwell around age six:  headaches, the onset of visual snow syndrome, gut issues, depression, anxiety, and fatigue. These symptoms only grew more frequent and more severe as I got older.

By my teens, I had developed an eating disorder, asthma, an intermittent chronic cough, and deepening depression that led to a suicide attempt. In my early thirties, my asthma worsened, and I began experiencing many more migraines. I developed high blood pressure, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, IBS, and received a diagnosis of bipolar II. Over time, I came to see how the neurological and mood symptoms I was experiencing were connected to long-term environmental toxin exposure.

The Environments I Lived In Were Quietly Shaping My Health

Throughout my life, my symptoms rose and fell depending on the buildings I lived or worked in, although I had no idea at the time. Now I can clearly see that many of those environments had water damage and poor air quality that directly impacted my health. What I didn’t understand then was that each exposure was adding to a toxic load my body was carrying. Over the years, that load kept building, and every new water-damaged building added another layer of stress to my system.

Even my childhood home had hidden clues I didn’t recognize back then:  significant pest issues, a dirt crawlspace, and a basement that sometimes flooded, with a sump pump area that never fully dried out. Only years later did I realize these were signs of a chronically damp, mold-prone environment. Looking back, it makes sense why my symptoms began so early.

2006: When My Health Began to Unravel

When my husband and I moved into our current home in 2006, my health began to unravel rapidly. Within two years, I developed chronic daily migraines, severe histamine intolerance, hormonal imbalances, and worsening thyroid and gut issues. I saw countless specialists, went through endless testing, tried medication after medication, and continued to get sicker.

My symptoms became so disabling that I had to stop working as a postpartum nurse for two and a half years. During that time, I also turned to holistic and functional approaches. Supplements and supportive therapies for estrogen dominance helped stabilize me enough to return to work, even though the underlying cause of my symptoms was still unknown.

2020: COVID and Long COVID

In January 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic, I contracted what we believe was COVID, as testing was not yet widely available. I went on to develop long COVID symptoms on top of everything else.

2021: When Everything Collapsed

Losing My Career to Declining Health

In 2021, my symptoms rapidly worsened. I had to leave a job I loved as a therapeutic endoscopy nurse because I could no longer safely grip instruments, open devices, or stand through long procedures, especially those done under heavy lead protection and extra layers of PPE during COVID. My body simply could not manage the physical demands anymore.

Getting Worse Instead of Better

Instead of improving while being home, I got worse. At the time, I didn’t understand why. What I didn’t know was that being homebound in a water-damaged environment was rapidly accelerating my symptoms. The very place where I was trying to rest and recover was the place that was keeping me sick. 

Summer 2021: My Body Couldn’t Keep Up

By the summer of 2021,  my health had really collapsed. I lost over 40 pounds. I had severe mast cell activation and could tolerate only a few foods. I developed continual diarrhea, severe systemic joint pain, rashes, nerve pain, a persistent dry cough, unrelenting night sweats, intense brain fog and daily migraines. My chemical sensitivities became extreme. A faint scent of fragrance or smoke could cause me to collapse. I could barely use my hands or walk through my home. I required a shower chair to bathe.

Navigating Immunosuppression and Isolation

I was eventually diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and prescribed five immunosuppressant medications just to open my hands and walk to the bathroom. Because of this profound level of immunosuppression, especially during COVID, I rarely left the house. I became isolated, depressed, and terrified by how quickly my health was deteriorating without any answers.

Searching for Answers

Overlooked Symptoms, Normal Labs, and No Clear Answers

My husband and I watched my health decline at a frightening pace. Yet all of my labs through conventional physicians were considered relatively normal. I was told I likely had aggressive rheumatoid arthritis in addition to chronic migraine and long COVID, which they said was unfortunately the future I needed to prepare for.

A Nutritionist Who Asked a Different Question

Because of my rapid weight loss and my history with an eating disorder, I sought help from a functional nutritionist. I was scared by how thin I had become and wanted to make sure I didn’t slip into unhealthy patterns. She decided to test me for mold byproducts known as mycotoxins. My levels came back extremely high.

That single result shifted everything.

I had never heard that mold, especially the chemical compounds it produces, could affect health. I started to look into mold and mycotoxins and read how it could cause a wide variety of chronic symptoms.  When I asked my doctors, each one said they had never heard of mold causing anything beyond respiratory and allergy symptoms.

I Kept Researching and What I Learned Surprised Me

My husband and I both come from very science-oriented backgrounds:  mine in Western medicine, his in engineering. It was hard to imagine that mold exposure from water-damaged buildings could be the reason for my various debilitating symptoms. We kept wondering how this could be real if it wasn’t common knowledge.

We researched more and learned that certain mold byproducts are remarkably potent. Two mycotoxins:  Aflatoxin and T-2 toxin, for example, have been studied for their potential use as biological agents because of their extreme toxicity. Mycophenolic acid, a metabolite produced by certain molds, is the active compound in CellCept, an immunosuppressant used in transplant and autoimmune medicine.

Learning about this, and about the health effects of other mycotoxins, helped me begin to understand how powerful these toxins can be and why long-term exposure can impact so many systems in the body.

And when I saw how dramatically my health shifted after leaving the exposure, the reality became undeniable.

Finding the Truth

Meeting Someone Who Actually Understood

I eventually found a mold-literate practitioner trained through Dr. Jill Crista’s program. She was the first person who took my symptoms seriously and encouraged us to investigate our home environment.

A Proper Environmental Inspection

With her guidance, we hired an ISEAI-certified inspector who is specifically trained to assess the health impacts of mold, bacterial byproducts, and other contaminants in water-damaged buildings. He found high levels of mold species known to produce potent mycotoxins, as well as extensive pest contamination contributing to a high endotoxin load.

We had no visible mold, no musty odors, and no clear structural indicators. Only after the inspector looked more closely did the underlying water damage and mold issues start to surface.

Choosing to Leave the Exposure

We were hesitant to take the next step, which meant getting me out of the environment and starting remediation in the areas of the house with water damage. But my health was declining so rapidly that we felt we had to try and see if this could make a difference. 

I moved into a mold-safe environment, even though the whole process felt extreme and overwhelming.

Healing Once I Left the Exposure

The First Signs of Recovery

Once I left, my health began to improve rapidly.

Within two months, the nightly episodes of full-body jerking stopped. My intense, recurring night sweats disappeared. The collapses when exposed to fragrances stopped. My diarrhea eased, I began to gain weight, and I could tolerate more foods.

Six Months Later

Within six months, I was off all immunosuppressants and free of joint pain.

One Year Later

Over the next year, my daily migraines became occasional. My mast cell activation and chemical sensitivities calmed even more. My digestion normalized.

I also learned that my sensitivity wasn’t only to mycotoxins. I was also impacted by bacterial byproducts, especially endotoxins from moisture, pest contamination, plumbing leaks, and even biofilms in drains. 

Addressing these hidden exposures became another critical step in my healing.

Where I Am Now

Looking back, I realized I had lived or worked in at least 25 buildings over the course of my life that showed signs of water damage or mold. My health has always risen and fallen with my current environment. I just hadn’t seen the pattern.

Three years later, I rarely have migraines. I eat a full, diverse diet. Strong scents no longer send me into collapse. My rashes are gone, my gut is stable, and I no longer have symptoms of long COVID. My joints are pain-free, my energy is strong, and I feel healthier now than I remember feeling even as a child.