Mold Results

That’s high on all the positive ones.

My results were:
Ochratoxin A - 19.8 (high)
Gliotoxin - 3482.63 (very high)
Zearalenone - 111.09 (off the charts)

Mine were with Great Plains. My report did not list a range for negative/positive, only a common positive range. My doc said I had the highest gliotoxin of any of her patients. The above labs were the results of the 2nd moldy house. After I got out of the 1st moldy house and retested 18 months later, all levels were below positive range and gliotoxin was completely cleared.

I wish the MycoTox test was covered by insurance. I would like to test again, but I can’t waste money on tests now.

“I’m assuming if I was living with mold my results would likely be in the hundreds like yours were.”

- I would not assume that. Yours are not as high as mine, but they’re still high. In my experience, that indicates current exposure.

I understand the difficulty in determining where you’re being exposed. You will have to use your senses as much as possible and ask questions.

- is there visible mold or water stains?
- is there a musty or unidentified smell?
- any evidence of current or past leaks?
- what’s the history of the building - past leaks, construction issues, flooding, renovations, vacancy, etc?

Observe the buildings you live and spend time in.
Look at the outside - are the roof and shingles in good condition, are there gutters in good working condition with downspouts that direct water away from the foundation, are there sign of water staining or mold on brick walls, are there gaps around windows where water could come in? Are there signs of water, mold, or wood rot around bottoms of exterior doors and doorframes?
Look at the inside - look up all around you (this is where I find the most visible evidence); water stains, brown ceiling tiles, black spots or gray stains on tiles around HVAC vents (indicates mold in the HVAC system); look at baseboards - are they clean or grimy (grime is damp dirt = mold food); if baseboards look bad there is likely mold behind them; water stains or visible leaks anywhere; walls, doors, or windows that are bowed or warped or don’t work right; look in cabinets for signs of leaks or mold.

There’s much more I could say. A mold savvy person will likely observe far more issues than your average maintenance personnel. Maintenance people are used to responding to calls and complaints not keen observation and critical thinking skills. Even observant people can miss a lot in the environments they spend the most time in. You tend to not notice things in a very familiar environment.

If you observe issues in your dorm/apt, classroom buildings, library, gym, workplace, etc, notify someone in authority who can do something about it. Keep a personal record of who you talked to and when and what was discussed. Follow up to see if they repair the problem in a reasonable amount of time. Current leaks should be reported and fixed immediately, but water damaged materials should be replaced and often they are not. The materials that have had water damage harbor toxin producing microbes that illicit inflammatory immune responses in susceptible people.

I would at least do an ERMI test on your parents’ house, though.

Hello Walking by faith, I would like to know your treatment to be able to get rid of the mold the first time, which I suppose u are doing again. I have Ochratox high, tried cholestyram like 6 mnths, not to much because it gave me constipation and reflux, tried welchol but made me feel worst. I tried cholest from compund pharmacy and prescription. I have not used for a while, but my symptoms are the same, so I want to have hope.
Thanks for any info,

I showed the same three toxins in my Great Plains test.

My results were (almost a year ago):

Ochratoxin A - 12.07 (Common Positive Results Range is 4-20)
Zearalenone - 6.62 (Common Positive Results Range is .05-10)
Citrinin - Very slight - less than 10 (Common Positive Results Range is 10-50)

Regarding the results, my doctor (at that time) told me I had concerning levels of two mycotoxins.

I was also treating for Lyme & Co-infection at this same time and made very good improvement. It seemed that all symptoms were improving. Doctor had me go off ABX I presume thinking that most of my remaining symptoms were mold, and I relapsed within about a month. This was back early 2019.

I am now aggressively treating Lyme & Co with a different doc. I think most if not all of my symptoms are due to the infections but don't know for sure. Apparently, you can also get mold from foods but as to how it can affect your levels, I don't know. We do take precautions for mold like dehumidifier in basement, air purifiers in house, try to keep things dry, etc.

Hey, guys! I saw your questions/comments regarding my results. Let me clarify. I have been tested 3 times. First 2 were from Realtime Labs done about 18 months apart.

First Realtime a month after moving from my moldy house that had a HERTSMI-2 of 10 to a relative’s house that had a HERTSMI-2 of 4:

Ochratoxin A negative, 0.01 ppb (not present if than 1.8 ppb)
Aphlatoxin Group negative, 0.03 ppb (not present if less than 0.8 ppb)
Trichothecenes negative, 0.00 ppb (not present if less than 0.18 ppb)
Gliotoxin positive, 1.01 ppb (not present if less than 0.5 ppb)

My mother tested positive for gliotoxin and trichothecenes.
—————————————————
2nd Realtime about 18 months after first test, still in relative’s house:

Ochratoxin A negative, 1.463 ppb (not present if than 1.8 ppb)
Aphlatoxin Group negative, 0.325 ppb (not present if less than 0.8 ppb)
Trichothecenes negative, 0.006 ppb (not present if less than 0.02 ppb - note lab change)
Gliotoxin negative, 0.00 ppb (not present if less than 0.5 ppb)

My mother’s followup test reflected similar changes, but she was still positive on one of them. My lab values increased but still not positive for all except gliotoxin. Gliotoxin was completely cleared. I found the changes in our results correlated to the changes in our exposure from our house to the relative’s house based on the ERMI tests I had done.

I was on glutathione and binders the whole time. My mother got one month of Welchol and no other treatment.

In June 2019, I did another HERTSMI-2 on the relative’s house, and it was a whopping 14. I did the Great Plains test in Sep 2019 (results in the post above). The ERMI/HERTSMI-2 does not test for Fusarium, the mold that produces Zearalenone. I found some information online about a study done where they tested the kitchen sinks of 86 houses and 66 of them had Fusarium. (I am stating this from memory, so it may not be 100% accurate.). My relative found a leak under the kitchen sink in July.

Hope this gives a more clear perspective.

Lightlife,

1). I don’t know.

I looked at my report and did not see any notes or explanation. I interpreted it differently. I assumed it meant that that was the common range among people who test positive.

For example, Zearalenone common positive range is .05 - 10. Mine was over 100, so 10x higher than the highest common score. They’re all problematic.

2). Yes.