Mysterious Illness - Part 3

Toxic, epidemic, and result

We made it Part 3. Parts 1 and 2 if you missed them.

Finally. After four years of searching. An answer.

From Sarah the physio.

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Toxic

You should get tested for mould. She said.

Mould? I thought. Seriously?

Sure. I ventured. Let me see how I get on with the gut healing and then we’ll see.

Unperturbed, Sarah gave me details of a Functional Medicine Specialist as I made my exit.

And that was the last time I gave any I thought to that.

Until, that is, that fateful day in Mabel.

As I pondered my predicament Sarah’s suggestion popped into my mind.

It still sounded faintly ridiculous. How could mould possible concern us here? But by this stage I was out of ideas.

So, upon my return to London, I suppressed my scepticism and dug out the details.

A week later my tests were on the way.

Whilst waiting I decided to do my own investigating. I was obviously familiar with mould but only as an aesthetic annoyance in one’s home. Beyond that I was stumped.

Some googling quickly got me to a condition called “Mould Toxicity”, and then a book: Toxic by Dr. Neil Nathan. Intrigued, I ordered a copy.

The book arrived.

It took all of 10 minutes of reading to realise this was it. I’d found the culprit. No test required.

It was all here.

And then I thought back and it all feel into place:

The mould in my flat during lockdown when this all began.

And then there was Epping, when things really deteriorated. We were right next to the forest meaning the flat got extremely damp. A few weeks after moving in and our bedroom wall was covered with mould, right next where I slept. After a couple of months I cleaned it up, but, as I was reading, that’s not enough. Billions of spores take to the air.

There was no doubt in my mind, this was it.

I finally had my answer.

It was the bloody mould…

Epidemic

What I read was unbelievable.

An undiagnosed epidemic… Causes everything from brain fog, depression and leaky gut, to chronic fatigue and serious autoimmune conditions… An estimated one million Americans are living with this undiagnosed.

Surely not all from household mould? I thought. How have I not heard about this before?

We’re exposed to toxins all the time: “Biotoxins”

From heavy metals, to chemicals, to the worst of the lot: mycotoxins, emitted from spores of household mould.

For 75% of the population this is manageable. They can detox them just fine. And then there’s the other 25%. They carry a gene making them far more susceptible to biotoxin sickness.

The toxins can get into their very cells. Once this happens the toxins start to shut down the body’s detoxification system making the individual sicker over time.

(yes, I appreciate the irony that I lost my own ability to detoxify whilst running a digital detox startup…)

These toxins cause a cascade of autoimmune issues as the body tries in vain to fight off the danger. Which, in turn, can lead to decades of severe life-altering issues.

Sounds like I’d caught it early.

Result

The results finally arrived.

Confirmed: Extremely high in something called Gliotoxin, one of many mycotoxins. And high in Mercury amongst other markers out of wack.

Gliotoxins are particularly damaging to the brain even being cited as a likely cause of Multiple Sclerosis. Yikes.

To add to the complication the test, a urine test, only shows the toxins your body is able to discrete. There maybe other toxins that you’re so saturated with you can’t even get them into the urine.

Therefore it often happens, so I’ve read, that your toxin levels can go up during the first few months of detoxing, as your body regains some detoxing abilit.

So the Gliotoxin might not be the end of it.

But regardless; I had an answer. An immense relief.

So what happens next?

Well.. The good news it’s completely curable. There are stories of people treating mould toxicity and multi-decade conditions such as Crohn’s Disease completely disappearing.

The less good news is it takes a long time. Six months if you’re lucky, to multiple years in many cases. It’s also a particularly awkward process.

But one I’m excited for.

It’s been a very long time since I’ve felt truly well. Yet I have not-a-shadow of a doubt that I’ll get back there.

And for that, I can’t wait.

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That’s Part 3 done! Back next week for a Part 4, the final chapter; on treatment and reflections. See you then.

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A Final Thought 💡

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.”

- Dr. Seuss

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