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BLACK MOLD - anyone know about it?

Messages
3
Location
Lincoln, NE, US
My illness began in a moldy house. In fact, both of my roomates were sick while we lived there as well. I am the only one who stayed sick in the 2-3 years since we left. The first couple of weeks out of the house I felt markedly better...well, after herxing like crazy for a few days. When we moved I new that I had to leave behind much of my stuff. I tried keeping my finished wood furniture but had a total relapse the day after we moved it in, so it all went as well. We ended up refurnishing through free stuff on Craigslist...but that was worth it to regain my health. As we moved stuff in I wore a respirator from the hardware store rated for mold and cleaned everything that we could keep. The bedroom door stayed closed with a towel at the bottom of the door so that the things we were bringing in didn't send their lovely spores in there before they were cleaned. Sentimental books/photos/other went into big ziplock bags, then into rubbermaid totes, then into a large coat closet that we kept sealed off.

Unfortunately, the toxins in the moldy house seemed to have flipped some sort of switch in me that I have yet to get flipped back off. I remember that there is some sort of genetic component involved, which is why some people do not get so sick from it while others do. If my memory wasn't gone with the wind, I could say the precise mechanism...it's locked in this head of mine somewhere. Lol.
 

Sparrowhawk

Senior Member
Messages
514
Location
West Coast USA
We just found black mold In our house along with a plumbing issue. Important that those that do the testing are not the ones who do the remediation. Will let you know if some weeks away make me feel any better. Of course we still had to bring some of our stuff with us so may not be a true test vis a vis the good discussion and tips above.

I now know I react to it because when I was in the laundry room showing the mold to our plumber I got dizzy, within ten min I also got racing heart, arrhythmias, panicky feeling. By afternoon I was fine but that was hours later.

This idea of exposure creating later sensitivity has me intrigued. When we were in our first home it had aspergilis in the basement which we didn't know until I got it in my ears. The ENT Doc literally had to pull it out in chunks out of both ears. Bleah! So I wonder if that made me more sensitive.
 

globalpilot

Senior Member
Messages
626
Location
Ontario
My recent blood tests for Mold all came back negative btw.

Which bloodtest was that snowathlete ?
I had my mold IgG tested at Labcorp and several molds tested high. I don't know yet though if that means I was just exposed or there really is a problem.
My house was clean at the time but I may be colonized.
 

snowathlete

Senior Member
Messages
5,374
Location
UK
Which bloodtest was that snowathlete ?
I had my mold IgG tested at Labcorp and several molds tested high. I don't know yet though if that means I was just exposed or there really is a problem.
My house was clean at the time but I may be colonized.

Mine was a mold panel test from Redlabs.
 

Sparrowhawk

Senior Member
Messages
514
Location
West Coast USA
Just got the report that our remediation failed the mold testing, so they have to go back in and figure out what they missed. Molds found included Stachybotrys, which is bad, and Aspergillis which is also bad but slightly less so. Good news is the master bedroom where I have been running the Aerocide filter is the lowest levels of any molds for the whole house, and no Stachy there.
 

antares4141

Senior Member
Messages
576
Location
Truth or consequences, nm
[quote=" wipe me out.[/quote]

I didn't see where you listed your itching symptoms. Mine mostly subsided but used to have it on my arms, head and neck. Intense itching that had to be scratched. Also got the feeling like bugs were crawling on these areas. Of course there weren't any. Get itching around anus, has to be fungal because when I treat it with an antifungal it goes away but it always comes back.
I suspect the other itching I had on head, arms, neck went away cause I quit eaten gluten and dairy and got out of the moldy house. does seem the more measures I take to prevent symptoms the more sensitized i am to these items when I get re-exposed. I never really seem to get better it's always downhill.
 

antares4141

Senior Member
Messages
576
Location
Truth or consequences, nm
The situation of what to do In a moldy dwelling is really tough. Pouring a bunch of money into remediation can drain you financially and ultimately might not work. After I tried to remediate my house myself I sold it to a bargain hunter.

Probably the smartest thing I tried which didn't work was going to craigslist and finding somebody with a relatively new house and a bedroom for rent. Ultimately that didn't work either but at that time I didn't know about my gluten sensitivity. Now I live in a very special Building custom made for my needs.
http://s185.photobucket.com/user/antares41_41/media/house1_2.jpg.html?sort=3&o=29

Most my issues now seem to be food related. Still struggle with mild flulike symptoms all day long and have very little excess energy to throw around. Try to conserve it and use it on the most important chores that need to be done. Long for a life worth living.