Mold Guide Series Part 14
For those not aware of our Mold Symptom Therapy Guide website, let this “Rewriting Mold” series serve as a reminder of both what we offer our patients and what we offer the general public in terms of understanding mold toxicity illness. Over the coming weeks, I will be reviewing and reposting sections of our Mold Symptoms Therapy website one or two at a time. It has been over 3 years since I first wrote this 30 plus page guide and posted it online. A few things have changed since 2020 (yes, an understatement), but the basic principles emphasized in 2020 continue with minimal change.
As this provides me an opportunity to update any advancements, it also offers the opportunity for you to ask questions and even contribute to edition number 2 of the Mold Guide. By leaving comments and questions, I can identify areas where I can offer even more to patients and the public in terms of education and empowerment over mold. Please take 2-3 minutes to be a part of helping others restore healthier more abundant lives with your questions and feedback. You can leave comments on Facebook or our website not only for each week’s section, but any section off the website which I have not addressed yet.
This Week: Mold and Pain
While not a body system, pain is a symptom of mold toxicity that deserves special attention. Mold toxic patients suffer more pain for a variety of reasons and this pain disrupts life in a variety of ways. After considering the mechanisms, we’ll consider the impact of mold-induced pain on patients’ lives.
First, mold works through a variety of mechanism to cause and amplify pain. At a more simple level, damage to the nervous system alters how pain is perceived. The oxidative stress of mold toxins causes nerves and their wiring (axons) to misfire. If the misfiring occurs in pain related nerves, tingling, stinging, or just aches can occur. Beyond the direct injury to nerves, damage to other tissues and impaired healing processes create ample opportunities for pain. When tissue is damaged, inflammation ensues and brings pain followed by dysfunction.
There are other mechanisms besides damage to nerves and tissue which can lead to pain. For example, excessive histamine can trigger migraines in some individuals and irritable bowel pain in others. In other cases, many individuals are diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a disease of increased pain have mold toxicity underneath their symptoms. Unfortunately, mold toxicity sufferers can hurt and hurt without seeming explanation for long periods of time until they receive proper root cause diagnosis and therapy. The conventional system does not recognize mold toxicity as a trigger or amplifier of pain, so these patients continue to suffer, sometimes being blamed for their symptoms.
Besides the actual experience of pain which others cannot visibly see nor understand fully, the unpredictability of the pain can leave many unsure if they should try to work or exercise or go out one day or not. When they try to push through it, they may suffer for days or weeks with worse pain. When they try to rest in order to avoid the pain, they become deconditioned and hurt more. They feel like they cannot win and never know when the next wave of pain will hit. Day in, day out, they hurt, and they can’t help being disheartened.
However, once these individuals have someone identify mold or other biotoxins like Lyme behind their pain, proper therapy can lead to relief and a healthier, more abundant life. Without the mold-triggered pain, they can return to work, play, sleep, and life.
TAKE HOME POINTS
Mold and Pain
Secondary to various dysfunctions
Nervous system injury
Tissue destruction
Histamine release and migraines
GI – Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Sometimes diagnosed as fibromyalgia
Sometimes patients are left with chronic unexplained pain
The pain interferes with life and can be unpredictable
There is hope when the mold toxicity is identified and properly treated
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
