My story of mould illness recovery

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Having recovered from mould illness myself, I can safely describe it as the grimmest experience of my life. In January 2022 after moving into a new flat with an unremediated leak, I started to experience some strange health problems. I began to feel sick after eating certain foods, whilst I could recall information normally I lost the ability to remember anything past the current day and became unable to complete even basic cognitive tasks like reading beyond a page (a common issue with mycotoxicity). This was particularly surprising considering my job is reading long legal agreements, making calculations and working long hours in a fast paced environment. In a few weeks I had essentially lost my ability to work even at a basic level, forcing me to stop work entirely - despite desperately trying everyday to do even small tasks. Despite becoming incredibly thin, I had no other physical issues, and I even managed to play tennis. My gluten, dairy and other food intolerances became worse. Various infections spread throughout my body in response to the weakness in my immune system. Over the course of 3 months not a single private or NHS doctor could explain the source of my health problems. A couple of months into being off work, I decided to clean small patches of black mould in the bathroom. At the time, I knew very little about the dangers of mould, except a couple of anecdotal stories of people with serious illnesses from mould exposure. In an almost fate of coincidence, this would be the peak of my health crisis but also the start of my recovery. Within a couple of days I began to movement in the muscles in my face and experienced difficulties speaking. My emergency doctors appointment referred me to the hospital where during the long wait in A&E the movement in my face actually started to return and I could speak normally again (this is because I was no longer exposed to mould in my flat and my immune system was no longer reacting). However, my body was full of the mycotoxins that had gone straight from the bathroom tile and into my body. The next few weeks were by far the worst, whereas before I was simply reacting to the mould in the air in my flat (and therefore causing my cognitive problems), now I was full of mycotoxins that were causing havoc on my body/ organs (later proven by mycotoxin tests sent to America). I couldn't step foot back in my flat, otherwise I would go straight back to hospital with loss of movement of my muscles again. Luckily I was taken in by generous family friends nearby. Now the mycotoxins were inside me I began to decline quite rapidly. Fatigue began to creep in, and each day the mycotoxins made my body weaker. I had also developed extreme sensitivity to moulds (which are basically everywhere) with Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) where your immune system over reacts to the presence of toxins in the air. When I sat on a bus seat, the dust would fly into the air and I would feel a layer of separation in my head, no longer understanding time, very bad confusion and struggling to complete basic tasks, the symptoms reducing only a couple of hours later when no longer exposed to the moulds in the dust. Even an old carpet in a bookshop or a leak from the refrigerator at the supermarket felt like something that would set my immune into response again. This is the world that many people who have suffered from mould illness/ CIRS are familiar with. Soon, I was forced to retreat from outside contact as much as possible and went back to live at home outside of London. As my body became weaker, the affects of the mycotoxins inside of me became stronger, I woke up later, went to bed earlier, looking forward to going to sleep where I didn't have to face the horrible feeling of these toxins inside of me. Meanwhile my GP was searching for specialists, not just in the NHS but in universities and other faculties hoping they might know how to treat mould illness. Unfortunately, mould toxicity is completely untreated and ignored by all standard medical care (NHS or private), except in America. The only result we could find was a clinic that treats illness through non pharmaceutical drugs. As it turns out, treating mould toxicity with non pharmaceutical methods like enzymes (e.g. glutathione), phospholipids, anti biofilms, natural anti fungals and more, is the only way to detoxify the body and restore it to full health. Within a few weeks of a specialised mould detoxification program and living in a mould free environment, I was already improving and was back at work, capable of working reduced hours to 5pm. Within c.5 weeks I returned to London and had 0 inflammatory reactions, capable of taking the tube, attending meetings and living a normal life again. It would be 3 months in total before I was capable of working my usual hours and intensity again and my body was mostly mould free, in what still feels like a miraculous turn around. 

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This is why mould illness is so amazing. It is capable of destroying the life of someone who is completely healthy (as well as genetically susceptible). But it is also completely curable under the right conditions, without complex hospital or pharmaceutical based care. My mould practitioner (Daisy Ilchovska) is everything healthcare should look like, targeted, effective, founded in deeply scientific methods. Today, like thousands of others, I have to be aware of my genetic susceptibility and plan my life accordingly. Under no circumstance can I live somewhere with mould growth (hiding in kitchens, under the sink, in carpets, accumulated in dust). I don't drink alcohol to keep my body in the healthiest condition, I sauna several times a week to sweat toxins out of my body as well as exercising regularly. Once a year I do a detox program where I take glutathione, a high grade activated charcoal and eat no sugar to kill and remove any accumulated toxins from my body. 

 

Over the past couple of years I have met too many people who have suffered from mould illness, from a student who was forced to leave university with 2 years of chronic fatigue, to a woman in America who was forced to take 8 months of work and leave her home because of a leak in the flat above her, to a music teacher reduced to living on people's sofas for a year and accepting state benefits, and many others, the stories are all too common. I have also realised this mystery illness is actually perfectly treatable with widely available remedies, but only under the right conditions.​ Everyone’s case is different but generally the ‘right’ conditions means

1. Removing exposure to mould, most crucially in the home to both reduce accumulation of mycotoxins in the body and allow the immune system to relax;

2. Accurate testing to identify the type of toxins that have collated in the body - if at all;

3. A toxin removal program from the body, administered by a practitioner;

4. A schedule of rebuilding the systems of the body that have been impacted e.g. liver, lungs, stomach/ gastro intestinal, blood brain barrier, skin, nervous system.

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Recovery from mould illness is both simple and complex at the same time. Simple because treatment can be administered by specialist nutritionists, and doesn’t rely on complex hospital based care. Complex because the conditions of a mould free home and balancing recovery in the context of the pressures of everyday life can be surprisingly challenging. 

 

The  ability to treat mould illness outside of hospitals and pharmaceutical drugs shouldn’t be confused with the severity and complexity of the symptoms. The effects on the body can be wide ranging and evidence has shown that people can experience auto-immune like responses in reaction to the presence of mycotoxins.

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Living in a home that makes you ill, can create a negative spiral that is difficult to stop without a significant change in circumstances. Many people are forced out of work, which makes paying rent or a mortgage even less manageable. Even if the person is aware that mould is the cause, paying to remediate the home or for treatment can be financially challenging even whilst in paid work. Personal and financial intervention often becomes necessary from friends and family to set things in the right path. 

 

The purpose of this site is for sufferers, recoverers, doctors, public bodies, employers, friends and family, to help shift the question from ‘what does that mean’ to ‘how can I help’?