I didn't know… toxic mold could make us sick.
Until 2010 – when my son got suddenly sick. Everyone in our family had different health problems. Tempers, sleeping more, asthma, sniffles, nausea, vomiting, getting sick multiple times a year, headaches, bloody noses and forgetfulness, to name a few.
When my son got sick it was different. He was sick for 9 months — without any good days.
He was dangerously sick and there were days all I could do was pray and reassure my son that it would get better.
I was researching what could be making him so sick. He had a positive Lyme disease diagnosis – but why was he not getting better with treatment. We had an LLMD who was prescribing multiple – combo antibiotics and even put him on IV antibiotics when he wasn't responding to the orals. That's when his white blood cell count dropped to an all time low – 2.7 – and I asked what happened when he gets to zero.
No More Antibiotics!
I felt it was the medicine making him worse. So, we stopped all medication and started supplementing vitamins according to the HPU protocol – If Someone is NOT getting WELL with Lyme Treatment
We eventually discovered – after ruling out everything else – there was toxic mold hidden behind the walls and worse – it was in our air! Mold was in the air and that mold was “toxic mold” – a mold that releases mycotoxins – and that is why we were getting some nasty symptoms.
We were breathing massive amounts of mycotoxins.
According to the U.S. Dept. of Defense, “During the 1970s and 1980s, the trichothecene mycotoxins gained some notoriety as putative biological warfare agents when they were implicated in yellow rain attacks in Southeast Asia.” Read the Entire chapter on Trichothecene Mycotoxins from Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare
We did air testing and dust testing. Both can be helpful in diagnosing a toxic mold problem.
We had Stachybotrys (stachy for short) come back very high on air testing and moderately high on the dust testing. Stachy releases trichothecene mycotoxins – which explains how sick we were.
We had over 80% of the symptoms listed in the Stages of Mycotoxicosis. We had almost all the symptoms in Stages 1 and 2 – and Stage 3 was a look into Scrooge – if something did not change – we would see Tiny Tim's crutch by the hearth.
I didn't know… toxic mold could make us sick.
What I didn't know did hurt us.
That's why you should test – especially if someone is sick.
A HERTSMI TEST is $155 plus shipping – you do it yourself and plug the results into a scorecard. It couldn't be easier. If you want to test for more molds you can get the full ERMI or add a couple of molds. For a fee, you can add the quantitative PCR detection of Streptomyces spp., which resembles mold but is a Gram-positive bacteria that is often found in people.
Full instructions on how to do A HERTSMI TEST and read the results
Another test that can be done by anyone is the HOME AIR CHECK There are tests for tobacco smoke, formaldehyde, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), mold and a test for all of these – it's an air test and they send you the machine to use and the tests. I used to recommend this as a service – but the cost of 2 air tests for mold, formaldehyde and VOC's has risen to $430 – that's a lot! It used to be about $300 for 2 – if I remember correctly. Too bad.
I have a Zefon air testing machine that I bought on ebay when I found a good deal. I got mine for a few hundred dollars a little over 3 years ago. I saw one for $500 today with a quick glance.
I paid a few hundred dollars instead of a couple thousand for the full kit with the calibration tool. It works great. The Air-o-cel cartridges are less than $50 which includes the lab looking at them. There are several labs that you can have analyze them. I use Quantem Labs.
There are monitors you can get for your home or office too – I like the Foobot – there are others too – there was a recent article in Healthy Indoors Magazine on indoor air quality monitors that swayed me to the Foobot – check it out – this should link you to the online magazine… page 23
Now that I know that toxic mold can make us sick I monitor and clean my air. I watch for leaks using an infrared camera and I run Hi Tech Air Solutions in my home and any building I spend time in – it's the only thing I have found to truly clean the air.
