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 the Other Systems
Without going into as much detail, other organs, tissues, and systems experience direct or indirect harm from mold toxins. These include the joints, the skin, the eyes, the bladder, the respiratory system and the cardiovascular systems. As before, not everyone experiences every single symptom in every single body system. If you have seen (or been one) one mold patient, you have seen only one example of a broad spectrum of mold presentations. If you have seen a hundred mold patients (or several hundred) as we have, patterns develop across patients, but still each one is unique in some way. While many of these symptoms aren’t consistent in showing up across patients, usually one or two pops up in each person. As discussed in prior sections, mold toxins come in dozens of specific types which also means that different toxins will lead to different symptoms depending on which one or more is present in a given sufferer. Combining multiple toxins creates an even greater diversity of symptoms that are mentioned below.
The joints of our body may suffer directly or indirectly, leading to musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction. Direct chemical inflammation or indirect autoimmune attacks may be caused by mold. As individuals continue with months and years of fatigue or avoiding exertion due to pain, they may also lose strength and sometimes lose flexibility from deconditioning. This deconditioning can add to the aches and pains of physical activity. In others, hypermobility, or increased joint range of motion may develop, adding to the joint pain.
The skin may also suffer directly and indirectly. Indirectly, GI malabsorption and malnutrition from mold toxicity can lead to deficiencies affecting our skin. Mold can indirectly initiate or exacerbate allergic responses which produce hives and weird rashes as well as random unusual sensations. Further, when mold directly damages the various fatty acids that keep our skin healthy, it causes aging, a result that nobody looks forward to.
The eyes may suffer in various ways. As with the skin, the allergic processes triggered by mold may cause itching and irritation. Through effects on the metabolism of eye muscles, vision can grow a little blurry from eye muscle fatigue. Decreased blood flow in the brain or retina (back of eyes) can lead to visual changes also. None of this is wanted by those already struggling with so many other effects of mold.
The bladder may get caught up in the wave of dysfunction. It may become overactive through nervous system dysfunction or suffer inflammation from interstitial cystitis. With an impaired immune system, recurrent bacterial or yeast infections can contribute to urinary symptoms. Nervous system dysfunction or kidney dysfunction can lead to incontinence.
The respiratory system is not forgotten by mold either. Sufferers often experience symptoms like shortness of breath, coughing, and air hunger. The severity can range from annoying to frightening. Allergic processes, inflammatory processes, and fibrosis can underlie these symptoms. At times, even nervous system dysfunction in the form of neuropathy can impair the sense of breathing leading to air hunger despite adequate oxygenation. Rarely if ever are these symptoms life threatening as with other respiratory diseases, but they can be very annoying, even debilitating.
Last but not least, the cardiovascular system may experience blood flow imbalances in extremities or even evidence pressure changes in the heart. This may worsen fatigue and frighten the patient who suffers from unexplained palpitations, trouble breathing or unexplained limb swelling. Symptoms of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) may leave patients struggling with walking, driving, and other daily activities which require upright positions.
In summary, every mold patient is different. Any one or two of these symptoms are annoying, but for those who have five or ten or more of these symptoms, their lives can be adversely impacted even to the point of disability. The uncertainty and lack of answers from conventional medicine for these myriad symptoms only compound the challenge of living with mold toxicity. But you don’t have to live this way for the rest of your life once you discover the underlying reason (or root cause) for your long list of symptoms.
TAKE HOME POINTS
Several other systems are affected to lesser degrees.
Joints – Inflammation, pain, dysfunction, deconditioning, loss of flexibility or hypermobility
Skin – hives, rashes, weird sensations, aging
Eyes – allergies, blurry vision, pain.
Bladder – overactive bladder, incontinence, interstitial cystitis, inflammation, infections.
Respiratory – cough, short of breath, air hunger
Cardiovascular – poor blood flow, Postural orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, palpitations, limb swelling
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.
