First: Time Length Of Mold Exposure
The single greatest factor in your recovery from mold is time of exposure. If you have been living in a house with a substantial mold problem for years, you are highly likely to have a fungal build-up in your body. This can take the form of fungus balls in your sinuses. It can be Candida in your gut. In extreme cases mold can be stored in and around the organs of your body.
The more mold that builds up in your body the longer it takes to remove, and the more powerful the anti-fungal you will need to stop your symptoms. If it took years to create the problem, it could take more than a year to undo it. And that is assuming that you have completely remediated the mold source and/or moved out of the problem environment. If you continue to put mold into your body you may never get truly well, you will only succeed in reducing your symptoms.
Mold Exposure Recovery Time
Symptoms of mold exposure are treatable through both prescription medicine and simple home remedies. Individuals who are experiencing runny noses and watery eyes, in addition to difficulty breathing, may be prescribed a nasal spray and eye drops. These individuals should also avoid spending time in areas where mold is present until they feel better.
Home remedies such as over-the-counter hydrocortisone cream can provide relief for those who experience itchy skin, hives, or rashes after being exposed to mold.
Exposure to mold does not usually require hospitalization. However, those experiencing respiratory problems or high fever may need to receive intravenous fluids in a hospital setting. If you suspect that you have been exposed to mold, contact your doctor right away so they can begin treatment as soon as possible.
Mold Exposure Skin Irritation
Mold exposure can cause skin irritation in some people. The irritant effect of mold on the skin may be due to an allergic reaction or the presence of harmful substances in the mold. If you have a mold allergy, you may experience symptoms such as itching, redness, and swelling of the skin when you are exposed to mold. If you are exposed to mold that contains harmful substances, you may experience symptoms such as skin irritation, burns, or rashes.
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How Long Do Symptoms Last After Mold Exposure
How long do symptoms last after mold exposure? These symptoms usually first appear 2 to 9 hours after exposure and last for 1 to 3 days. Other affected persons have progressive shortness of breath and cough, as well as weight loss. Work-relatedness may only become apparent over long holidays if symptoms resolve and then recur on return to work.
How long does it take to feel better after mold exposure? I had so much mold in my body that it took several months for the ebb and flow of flu symptoms to go away. As you kill the mold and there are less organisms in your body, you will start to feel better. It took my husband six months to become free and clear of mold while it took me a year and a half.
How do you know if mold is making you sick? Symptoms of mold exposure may include headache, sore throat, runny nose, coughing, sneezing, watery eyes and fatigue. In those with asthma, asthma attacks can occur. In those with impaired immune systems, serious infection can occur.
What are the symptoms of prolonged exposure to mold? Toxic mold exposure is also connected to more serious, long-term effects like insomnia, memory loss, trouble concentrating and confusion. Mold exposure contributes to depression and anxiety. It can even lead to muscle cramps, numbness in extremities, weight gain, light sensitivity and hair loss.
Test Your Environment For Mold
Testing your environmenthome or workplacefor mold can be very beneficial since the symptoms of mold-related illness can be similar to other chronic inflammatory conditions such as Lyme.
There are different avenues you may take to address mold testing. Options exist for both professional testing and for self-testing.
DIY Mold Testing
There are pros and cons to each so a combination of these may be used:
Find a Qualified Indoor Environmental Professionals for Inspection
An indoor environmental professional knowledgeable about the effects of mold on sensitive populations can be helpful. Their trained eyes and tools can be helpful in identifying the source of your mold. Here are tips for finding a qualified mold inspector:
- Be sure the professional offers just inspection, not inspection with remediation to avoid conflicts of interest.
- Consider a virtual or phone consultation with indoor professionals aligned with the International Society for Environmentally Acquired Illness and their standards for indoor health.
- Look for a local IEP through ACAC.org
- Find inspection professionals with the CIEC and CMC certifications.
- Find remediation professionals with the CMRS and CMR certifications.
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Why Are Mold Issues Difficult To Diagnose
Conventional medicine recognizes that mold can cause allergies but does not recognize that mycotoxins emitted by some species of indoor mold can cause a problem, says McElroy. This means that doctors unfamiliar with mold and mold treatment may miss one of the main types of mold reactionsthe chemical and inflammatory reaction. This is for a few reasons:
- There is no gold standard in testing for mold
- There is no standardized treatment protocol or drug for mold toxicity
- There are very limited human-based studies looking at the connection between mycotoxins and human health
- The presentation of mold issues is very different among patients
- Not everyone exposed to mold mycotoxins will have a reaction to them
Its no wonder mold illness can be hard to diagnose. Fortunately, holistic medicine providers consider environmental factors that affect health when evaluating patients and may have additional advanced training in treating mold toxicity.
According to McElroy, one of the biggest challenges with mold is that mycotoxins can cause only some people to launch an inflammatory response. This unpredictable response can go on for years after a long-term exposure in a susceptible individual, she explains.
A Single Exposure To Mold Only Causes A Single Reaction
The reality isfor genetically-susceptible people, a single exposure can cause a life-long problem. If you have the wrong HLA gene type, your body simply cannot target and remove biotoxins. A single exposure could cause an indefinite recirculation of these toxins, provoking chronic inflammation from a continuously triggered immune system.
If this is you, even after avoiding exposure for days, weeks, months, years, or even decades, you could suffer from CIRS. Thankfully, recovery is not only possible, its probable. Dr. Shoemaker had developed and applied a systematic protocol, The Shoemaker Protocol, to remove biotoxins from the body and re-regulate the immune response to stop inflammation and reverse chronic symptoms.
It begins with removal from exposure. Exposure must be carefully monitored throughout the entire protocol. If there is a new biotoxin exposure from a water damaged building or other source, you must begin the entire protocol from the start. In many cases, re-exposure causes CIRS patients to get sick more quickly. The sicker quicker phenomenon is backed by evidence showing an increase in certain biomarkers in as little as four hours after re-exposure.
Many CIRS patients are highly sensitive to mold and other biotoxins. The smallest exposure can trigger inflammation and feelings of anxiety, agitation, and danger. Its best to trust your bodys reaction and leave a potentially contaminated building immediately.
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What Does Penicillium Do To Humans
Penicillium is a genus of fungi that includes several species that are important to humans. Penicillium chrysogenum is used in the production of penicillin, while Penicillium roqueforti is used in the making of blue cheese. Other members of the genus produce toxins that can cause disease in humans. Penicillium can also cause allergic reactions in some people.
Types Of Mold Sickness And Symptoms
Mold can be found almost everywhere, though it thrives in warm, humid environments. It spreads by releasing tiny spores that float through the air. Some types of mold also produce mycotoxins, microscopic organic compounds that can attach to mold spores and cause additional health effects when inhaled.
Mold exposure does not always cause adverse reactions, and different types of mold can cause a person to react in distinctly different ways. However, those who are sensitive to mold or have mold allergies may experience the following symptoms after exposure, according to the CDC:
- Nasal stuffiness
Reactions may be more severe in those with:
- Mold allergies
- Weakened immune systems
- Chronic lung illnesses
If you are in one of the above groups, the CDC recommends staying away from likely sources of mold, such as wooded areas, compost piles and freshly-cut grass.
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What Are The Most Common Mold Toxicity Symptoms
In my experience, a wide array of symptoms can manifest if youve been exposed to mold spores. Symptoms will vary depending on how long someone has been in a moldy environment, what type of mold and mycotoxins are detected, as well as the overall health status of the individual, genetics and lifestyle factors.
Some patients ask me: What are the symptoms of toxic black mold exposure? and the truth is that symptoms vary because the variations of mold toxicity is extremely vast. That is why it is essential to work progressively and systematically with a health practitioner who can help you detox your body of the toxins, byproducts and address potential co-conditions.
Aspergilloma of the lung and close-up view of Aspergillus fungi, 3D illustration. Also known as mycetoma, or fungus ball, a lesion produced by fungi Aspergillus in immunocompromised patients
Common symptoms associated with toxic mold exposure include:
- Allergy-like symptoms
Multiple studies demonstrated that long-term exposure could also lead to feelings of chronic fatigue, anxiety, depression, impaired memory, decreased libido, and stomach pains. Research shows that our neurological, respiratory, and immune systems are most affected by water damage and mold. A study published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology showed that mold exposure in early childhood led to an increase in asthma prevalence in children at the age of 7.
IV detoxification & nutrients support a mold treatment protocol
Proper Medications Help With Faster Recovery
When it comes to the duration of mold symptoms, youll have to understand that medication plays a vital role in overcoming such symptoms.
So, as your bodys immune systems fight back, theyre bolstered by the right kind of medication to quickly overcome allergies or sickness caused by mold exposure.
Getting the right kind of medication largely depends on contacting the right professional. A trained medical professional should be consulted about the condition.
A series of tests will be necessary to determine for a fact that youve been exposed to mold.
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How Fast Does Black Mold Spread
Mold begins to grow as soon as its spores land on a damp, fibre-rich material and it can spread around the house within 24 to 48 hours. It colonizes in one to twelve days and grows at one square inch per day. In less than a week, it can cover surface areas of several square feet.
Unfortunately in most cases, mold is widespread and already a big problem before a problem is even suspected by the homeowners.
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Approaches To Mold Exposure Testing
When mold exposure was first identified as a health issue, the main tests used looked purely for general inflammation markers and antibodies. The test in and of itself did not actually identify true toxicity, nor was it specific. And, if your immune system is not functioning normally there was a risk of a false negative. The tests now are much more specific and well review them in detail later in the article.
Interestingly enough, mold can cause systemic effects in the body from acute or chronic exposure. Someone who understands that well and is also a pioneer in understanding how low-dose biotoxin exposure, including toxic mold and algae, impacts our health and contributes to disease-states is Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker. His website SurvivingMold.com, is a website that is coveted in the biotoxin-effected community. In 2010, a group of people working in the mold field published this consensus report based on the expert experiences of those in the biotoxin-field and dubbed mold toxicity a Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome . Its referred to as that throughout PubMed and since the report was published.
Tests I Run For Mold Toxicity Exposure:
What Does Mold Toxicity Treatment Look Like?
The use of these peptides is essential in the early stages of treatment, as they support the clearing of brain inflammation, improve energy levels, and help the immune system re-regulate.
Sauna and a binder for those healing from mold
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More On Fungus Being Mistaken For Cancer
Below are pages from a Johns Hopkins Text book called Fungous Diseases Of Man. In this book is more examples of fungus being mistaken for cancer.
- Page 11 A warning that the fungal infection called coccidioidomycosis appears to be a metastatic malignancy on X-rays.
- Page 153 The fungal infection called Histoplasmosis mimics cancers such as leukemia, Hodgkins lymphoma, and lymphosarcoma.
Fungal infections, including paracoccidiodomcosis, histoplasmosis, cryptococcocus, coccidioidomycosis, aspergillosis, and blastomycosis, can mimic both the clinical and radiological findings of Lung Cancer Mycosis 2014 57:197-208
Molds Effects On Human Health & Treatments
Mold toxicity is an important topic to address since I have seen a significant rise in mold-related symptoms here in New York City. Symptoms can vary depending on the individual and their lifestyle, and mold is often a great pretender and instigator of dormant viruses or bacteria. Unfortunately, the signs of mold toxicity are often unrecognized or misdiagnosed by traditional doctors.
Traditional doctors examine you, but without proper context, they often fail to see what is causing your health problems. Mold illness goes predominately undiagnosed due to the inordinate lack of knowledge on environmental and toxicological diseases in the US. Unfortunately, this leaves a large number of people to advocate for themselves, turning to the internet and Facebook groups to heal. Yes those are helpful but they often misdirect people into ill-timed and improper treatment paths. When you work with a functional doctor, we go over your habits and environment to paint a complete picture of your lifestyle, make sure to run the correct labs throughout treatment and get to the root cause and downstream effects of the mold toxicity in your body.
In this article, well go over the most common health effects toxic mold patients face, common mold hiding places, diseases that go hand in hand with mold poisoning, as well as my methods of diagnosis and treatments.
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Ways To Heal From Mold Exposure
Seek Social Support Restorative Resources And Adjunct Therapies
Recovering from illness caused by mold exposure can be exhausting, isolating and incredibly stressful. Social support is essential for your overall wellbeing and for a return to optimal health. Additionally, specific tools may also be beneficial in bringing your body back into balance after an overactive stress response.
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Recovery Starts With Finding Your Cause
The concept of recovery, of course, is different for everyone. Most people spend many years not knowing the exact cause of their illness which makes it tougher for true healing to begin. When talking about mold, there are many factors to consider when evaluating recovery time. Some of those factors include:
- The type of mold you were exposed to:
- The length of the exposure,
- And how well you are adhering to the very practices that can facilitate healing.
In my instance it would take almost two decades before I would get a diagnosis that would blow the doors off of my understanding of how my body broke down. Before that diagnosis however, I would continue to acquire and be diagnosed with diseases/illnesses for which mold-related sickness is notorious for mimicking.
What Do Mycotoxins Do To Humans
Mycotoxins are poisonous substances that are produced by certain types of fungi. These toxins can cause a range of health problems in humans, including skin rashes, digestive problems, and respiratory problems. Some mycotoxins can even cause cancer. Exposure to mycotoxins can occur through contaminated food or water, or through inhalation of dust particles that contain the toxins. In some cases, mycotoxins can also be found in building materials, such as insulation or wallpaper. Treatment for mycotoxin exposure typically involves removal from the exposure source and supportive care. In some cases, specific medications may be used to treat the health effects of mycotoxins.
There are many different types of mold, and not all of them will produce mycotoxins and cause symptoms of mold poisoning. Some of the most common mold types that have been linked to mycotoxin production include Stachybotrys chartarum , Aspergillus, and Penicillium.
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