Hello,
I am brand new to this forum. I was diagnosed with Lyme, Babesia and Bartonella in May. Apparently I also have mold toxicity. My Naturopathic Medical LL doc told me to go on a mold detox diet for a month before I am to begin Lyme and co infection treatments. She mentioned a few things, like avoiding sugar, dairy, soy and gluten, etc. but didn't get too specific. I googled "Mold Detox Diet" and came upon this site Surviving Toxic Mold with a super strict mold detox diet plan.
Basically it's zero fruit for 6 months except one granny smith green apple a day, lemons, limes and avocados. Incorporate berries in towards the end of the 6 months. Of course, zero gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, corn. Zero pork--only chicken and beef and wild caught particular fish, etc. Zero spices, only homegrown ones and pink salt. Only hemp milk and spring water and a specific tea or two. Limited seeds and nuts--only Almonds, Walnuts, Pecans, Sesame and Pumpkin. No spicy food. Plain limited veggies--only those with a carb content of 12 grams or less. Fats are unsalted butter (though I have a casein allergy), cold pressed olive oil and coconut oil. All organic on everything of course. All of this is on the Surviving Toxic Mold site.

It's a really boring diet. Even the Wahl's Autoimmune Paleo diet looks exciting compared to how I've been eating the last two weeks. I'm wondering if I even need to be this strict. I don't totally understand my personal mold toxicity level or how bad it is or not. It's also something I found online, not something my doc specifically told me to look up and follow. I have will power and can continue, but I'm wondering if it's necessary to be quite this strict?

My blood results showed Allergen Spec. (M2) IGG Cladosporium Hormodend at 35.7 H (<28.0 mcg/mL)

C4a Level 140924 H (0-2830 (ng/mL)


I also have active EBV (doc said I am 6x the upper limit of normal when I asked how she could tell, since EBV is supposedly in 90% of people or whatever), Mycoplasma. Hypothyroid cells. My cortisol level is 0.8 (ug/dL) and has been that low on a few different tests at different times, My Natural Killer Cell range is 3 LU30. I have a positive ANA IFA result--but I think that is how most people with Lyme disease test. I don't know if any of this information helps with my question about diet, but it possibly could, therefore I included it just in case.
Thank you!!

Hi Maryancilla,
Welcome to our community! I'm glad you chose to join our community!

I know very little about mold issues - I've been one of the lucky ones that haven't had to treat for that - but my post will bump your post up to the top of the forum again for more views.

Did your doctor recommend any treatment for your EBV? There are some natural treatments that you can look into if they didn't.

For understanding your cortisol levels, it's best to get a 4 point saliva test done, so that you can see what levels of cortisol you have at each of those 4 times of day. The blood tests only measure for the point in time that you had the blood draw. There are natural things you can use to support your adrenals or there are pharmaceuticals that can be used to support them, depending on what your doctor suggests.

Hi Traveler and Girlie!

Thanks for the replies :D

I wasn't following Dr Shoemaker's diet for Lyme--I had found this site: http://www.survivingtoxicmold.com/mold_detox_diet1 and am following her diet, which is the one I am wondering if I really need to follow!

I will look into Dr Shoemakers. I don't know what Cholestyramine is, but I will research that as well. Thank you!

I have done the saliva test for cortisol--that is the first test my first Naturopathic Med doc ordered. He was wonderful, but my case was too complex for him so he recommended me to the doc I see now, whom I also like so far. My cortisol saliva results test were 6-8 am: 13, 11-1pm: 3, 4-5 pm: 2 and 10-midnight 2. My new doc has the results for the cortisol saliva test and also ran the blood test on cortisol.

For the EBV, I take Valacyclovir HCL 1 gram tablet as well as Life Extension Super Bio-Curcumin 400 mg. What else is good for EBV?

I have been lurking on this site for a month or two now, and just decided to join last night. Glad I did--thanks!!

The reference range for the saliva cortisol test are 6-8 am: 13-24 nM (I had a 13), 11:00-1:00pm: 5-10 nM (I had a 3), 4-5:00pm: 3-8 nM (I had a 2) and 10-midnight: 1-4 (I had a 2).

For the Blood cortisol, I had a 0.8 (ug/dL)--normal is anywhere from 2.7-19.8 depending on the time of day. I cannot recall when I took the blood test but I believe it was in the late morning.

Thank you for the Lysine and other info for the EBV :D I'll look into that as well!

I honestly don't know what I'm doing specifically to support my adrenals other than diet and Cortisol SR 5mg, and I guess also Testosterone cream--low dosage. I'm new to all this and have been researching like crazy and finally going to the right doctors, but it's still a lot to take in and keep track of. I had bought the Adrenal Reset Diet book by Alan Christianson some years ago when I was self diagnosing after doc after doc couldn't find anything wrong with me, but I really just started eating somewhat properly for this type of thing around 3-4 months ago, before I knew I had the 3 B's or the mold issue. I've kicked it into high gear since then as far as diet. I know I'm taking a crap load of supplements and some medicines.
I haven't started the treatment for the 3B's yet, but my doc told me I would be doing the Buhner protocol with Alinia and some Byron White formulas added in. Perhaps some LDA injections.

I am on T3 XR for the hypothyroid cells as well as Thyrodine.
Cortisol and Chrysin, Testosterone cream for balancing hormones. I take Estrogen cream and progesterone around period time to slow the drop or hormones because I get crazy migraines.
X-hist for immune support.
Low Dose Naltraxone
IP6MAX3 for the low natural killer cell count I have--but I haven't started taking this yet because one of the ingredients is a mushroom, and I'm not sure I should be ingesting mushrooms with my mold toxicity issue......
Curcumin for the EBV and for joint pain
Valacyclovir HCL for EBV
Fruit Pectin and Bentonite Clay to bind the mold toxins
Supplements: Mega B, Vit D, Vit C, Fish Oil, Twice Daily Multi and a ton of Magnesium. I also take Bulletproof XCT oil, Blessed Seed Black Seed oil and a probiotic. I just ordered Great Lakes gelatin for collagen since apparently the microbes eat collagen (?! little craps!) and a Thieves essential oil (more affordable knock off ) to diffuse in the air for general health.
I was taking Maca for adrenals, but I ran out and feel like I'm already taking so much and spending so much that I haven't added it back in. Additionally, I don't feel any better with all this, other than the fact that my migraines have reduced greatly to which I am so happy and grateful!
I drink a juice of carrots, green apple, ginger and garlic daily to help with the mold issue. I got that recipe on the mold toxin diet site I mentioned.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Yes, my testosterone was tested--it was also low, though not as bad as the cortisol.

I've been on the cortisol since 5/12--so not long. The bottle does have SR on it, so yes.

I've also been on the Thyroid meds since 5/12. I believe my reverse T3 levels is why the doc put me on the thyroid meds, though they don't seem out of range on my blood work test. I believe she said my cells are hypothyroid rather than the thyroid itself. I don't really know what all this means as far as the test results themselves but I'll write it.
The Anti-Thyro part was circled by my first doc and he wrote "brakes are on, fix cortisol first" (I believe he said that thyroid meds lower cortisol even more, but could be mistaken) but my current doc is the one who put me on the thyroid meds and talked about the cells being hypo. And I took some flex test or something that also indicated this--though I don't know how accurate it was. Thyroflex result:134 Range >100=Hypo.

Anti-Thyroglobulin Antibody (IU/mL) <10 Reference Interval < 115
Anti-Thyroid Peroxidase (IU/mL) 12 Ref Int <34
Reverse T3 (ng/dL) 19 Ref Int 8-24
T3, free (pg/mL) 2.9 RI >19 yrs-2.0-4.4
T3 (ng/dL) 106 RI 80-200
T4, free (ng/dL) 1.50 RI 0.93-1.70
T4 (ug/Dl) 9.3 RI 4.5-11.7
TSH (uIU.ml) 1.53 RI 0.27-4.20

When I look at these results, it looks to me like I am in range everywhere, but I'm also not a doctor. But at least it seems like the thyroid aspect isn't a huge part of my issue...