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: Recovering From Mold Toxicity
After the initial diagnosis of mold toxicity, our patients must face not only a new therapeutic regimen but learn a whole new way of living. The changes rival that of moving to a whole new culture where eating, traveling, and even housecleaning require intentionally learned new habits. With mold, patients require weeks and months to relearn “mold life”. The short term requires getting away from mold, starting detox therapies, and as described in a later section, learning and maintaining the new way of life.
Three Principles of Care at Sanctuary Functional Medicine
1) Systematic Processes Alongside Individualized Consideration
Though muscles combine amazing flexibility with intricately controlled force, ultimately muscles need a skeletal support for structure in order to carry out such impressive feats of coordination and strength. Likewise, while we as our patients’ guides to health must simultaneously utilize multiple clinical tools adapted to the unique situation of each patient, that broad flexibility must be attached to a systematic process that assures all the parts move together towards health restoration without missing anything.
2) Real Time Monitoring for Personalized Adjustments to Therapy
As we walk through the process, we use our portal messaging system to closely monitor for changes in symptoms or labs. While the visits are employed to make larger protocol adjustments, we use the ongoing portal interactions for more frequent minor adjustments. This allows us to adjust the patient’s treatment course in a timely manner.
3) Medical Expertise Plus Whole Person Consideration
At Sanctuary, we are aware that the whole person needs restoration. The body, mind, and spirit require careful attention in order to heal from this disabling disease. While we focus a lot of time on medical expertise, we also consider the interplay between all areas of a patient’s life and work to address the needs as we are able. During our visits, we will address not only medical symptoms, but lifestyle and emotional factors impacting your health. For those who are open and need it, we will also support you in terms of spiritual and relational health needs. When we cannot provide a specific service, we then refer our patients to others for help with needs like remediation, specialized medical procedures, physical therapy, holistic dentists, or other specialized providers.
Overall, we have found that combining these principles leads to a greater level of restoration.
Mold Toxicity Treatment the Sanctuary Way
Mold toxicity treatment approaches fall into two broad categories in which significant commonalities exist but also significant differences. Each approached was spearheaded by an experienced and knowledgeable physician yet each approached the challenge of mold toxicity from different angles. Because our patients need what is best for their unique body’s needs, Sanctuary offers a combination of these two approaches built into a stepwise and flexible method. We begin with laboratory tests more in line with one group (testing for what I call “alarm bells” before specific toxin testing) and then treat more in line with the other (using a combination of detoxification methods). However, the exact details of how we detoxify a given patient depends upon the unique needs of the individual before us.
Because our Stepwise Personalized Approach is both systematic and adaptable, we have seen many patients find the restoration for which they long. Often, a certain patient cannot tolerate one therapeutic approach but benefits greatly from the application of principles from the other approach. For others, they fly through therapy needing only one approach. Our pediatric patients especially require adjustments for their age-appropriate needs. Because we understand both approaches, we can work for the individual before us in applying medical wisdom to their unique situation.
Our Stepwise Personalized Approach
- Diagnosis
- Initiate the diagnostic work-up using a Dr. Shoemaker approach
- Confirm diagnose with Dr. Nathan (ISEAI organization) approach
- Rule in or out other biotoxins sources
- Identify other contributing or interacting medical conditions
- Once mold toxicity is confirmed
- Advise the patient on locating the toxin source
- Advise the patient on quickly limiting their toxin exposure
- Coach the patient in using a remediator to remove the toxin source
- While identifying mold toxin source
- Physically prepare and support the patient for active detoxification
- Nutritional optimization
- Symptom management
- Initiate stage 1 gentle detoxification (the 20-mph startup)
- Monitor progress
- Symptom response
- Periodic lab evaluation
- Accelerate detoxification until symptoms and labs indicate restoration completion
- Guide and empower the patient with a long-term health maintenance plan
These steps will overlap on the timeline, but this systematic approach allows us to address the primary and secondary needs of each patient. After being separated from the toxin, the toxin is then removed from the body in as gentle a manner as possible. Intense support for CIRS symptoms and co-infections is also addressed. Over time, the body is enabled to detoxify and heal from the damage. We also help the patient learn how to keep the toxin out of their body so restoration can be maintained.
All of this is aimed at restoring healthier more abundant lives to those broken by mold toxicity.
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.
