For sdarrah

sdarrah said:

“ WBF I asked because as you know I tested positive in Dec 2020 for exposure to severe levels of black mold I had been exposed to in my work office, a result of a huge water damage inxident 10 years ago! I left the office and have worked from home ever since and began treating for mold w/Dr M R out of Washington State, he immediately stopped my Lyme/bab/bart treatment and I have not been treating since for it.

I lost my independence since I began mold treatment and stopped treating Lyme and Co. It just dawned on me after the Doctor mentioned last month that we will probably need to go back to looking at Lyme. THAT IS WHEN MY DECLINE began and I lost my independence.

I reviewed my personal notes and the timeline and I can see that although removed from the mold and some symptoms got better, I got worse and have many babs symptoms that have progressed and/or returned.”

Interesting. When I first learned mold was part of my problem, confirmed by mycotoxin testing, ERMI tests on home and workplace, and HLA-DR genetic susceptibilities, I moved out of my parents’ house and in with a relative whose HERTSMI-2 score was much lower (4 vs 10 at my parents’ house. I replaced all my belongings. I took glutathione, high dose EPA/DHA, NAC, binders and only felt worse, as I was unmasking. The unmasking period lasted a full 8 months for me. I had constant burning pain in my tissues from the toxins. It was horrible. My chemical sensitivities went through the roof.

Some of the symptoms I had got better - balance issues, breathing problems, mucus, tremors are some I remember. However, I knew that my original mystery illness that began in 2009 and had continued from that point on with symptoms that mysteriously appeared and disappeared was not from mold. The idea that mold was the sole problem did not fit my history.

At that point, I pressed the doctor for more information about Lyme and found out the testing was not very good. I tested with Igenix and was still “negative” with a 41+ and 39 Ind. Then I tested with DNA Connexions and got a positive for Lyme and Ehrlichia. This gave me the confidence that Lyme was my original mystery illness.

That doctor did not want to treat Lyme, so I continued researching online until I found out about Buhner and then this forum. I started Buhner’s protocols in July 2017. At first, I only did Japanese knotweed, and supportive herbs like C. skullcap and danshen. It wasn’t until I added houttuynua for bartonella that I started to make real progress, confirming my suspicions of bartonella based on clinical signs since early childhood.

From that point on, I continued to address and attempt to avoid mold while also treating Lyme/co. I have come to realize in the past few years that MCAS is probably causing a lot of my symptoms now. Gut dysbiosis has been and continues to be a major issue for me due to my own refusal to do whatever it takes to heal my gut.

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Enough about me, LOL!!!

Some things I am wondering about your case.

1. Did you ever do an ERMI or HERTSMI-2 on your house? If not, you have no way to confirm what you might continue to be exposed to at home.

2. Have you considered cross contamination of possessions - clothing, books, papers, purses, laptops and such that you may have had in that office that are now in your house?

3. Are you able to differentiate your mold symptoms from your Lyme/co symptoms? Honestly, it took me years as my symptoms were all over the place and rotated like a merry-go-round. It was maddening for me.