Hello everyone, I have a question about a major life decision that I'm hoping to get some feedback on. I have had a severe mold allergy (with milder corresponding MCS more recently) and CFS/ME for over 10 years, and am now looking to finally relocate to a truly clean environment where I can hopefully heal. Below I will give some more details about my history, though it is not absolutely necessary for the question of what to do now. I'll include a TLDR at the end of the next few paragraphs if you prefer to skip. If any info that could be relevant is missing feel free to ask before giving your thoughts on the question. Thanks, here goes!
I am a 26 year old male. I have suffered from CFS/ME for a bit over 10 years. It was triggered by my time in an extremely moldy rental as a child. I then went to a middle school which was also toxic, and became so ill that home schooling was necessary. From that time I was largely home bound with varying degrees of poor health. Then, a couple years ago, my condition took a turn for the worse. My fatigue escalated to the point that taking any classes in college (from home due to my mold allergy) was very difficult. My brain fog was also worsening, as was my long standing IBS and pain. I also began noticing MCS that was not there before.
I began working with a new naturopath and moved through most of the usual treatments. Some would help for a while, but for every step forward I seemed to take two back. Hypothyroidism, mitochondrial dysfunction, heavy metals and detox -- we identified and treated those and more, but my core health was not improving. Up to this point I had been living in the same house with my parents which we moved to after being in the toxic house for so long. I never reacted to it in an obvious way, and as far as we knew there was no mold issue. However, my naturopath had the idea of testing some inflammation indicator in my next round of blood work (the name escapes me). To my surprise it came back quite high -- I was reacting to my house.
That test was the trigger for me investigating the rabbit hole that is severe mold sensitivity. I realized that my and my parents belongings from the old house were almost certainly a problem. We had a mold remediator come out and found some limited mold in the attic and HVAC system as well. After some soul searching I decided it was time to leave my house and all my possessions and head out west to try to find a mold free house to heal. On my doctors recommendation, my first stop was the southwestern desert.
My journey was filled with mistakes, as at that time I did not understand just how sensitive I had become. I did improve to the point that I could travel and take care of myself alone, but I was still quite ill and kept being exposed to places that I reacted to. My health roller coaster continued as I traveled from NM, to AZ, CA, NV, UT, and finally CO. This whole trip my goal was to find a rental that felt good in a healthy place (the locations effect was always on my mind). I found good locations, but I never managed to find a rental that worked well. Finally, I settled in a ski town in CO in a decent rental. Here I'm far better than in my old house, but I am not where I want to be.
TLDR: I'm a 26 year old male who left home after my condition worsened due to steadily increasing mold sensitivity. I've traveled a while but have been unable to find a decent place to live.
I've come to the conclusion that the best option for me is to build a small, healthy house in the high desert. I've realized through my travels that horse stables, farming, and 'urban decay' -- things left out in yards to rot, dirty buildings, and so on -- are bad for me. That rules out huge swaths of NM and AZ. I also need at least DSL internet for work. Finally, I know I want to build either adobe or ICF for mold, but to find builders that are in my price point I can't get away from NM and AZ even if I wanted to. Mild summers are also important to avoid having A/C issues which rules out a good bit of the desert.
At this point I've found builders I'm happy with, and I plan to build a small Rastra or Adobe home in northern NM. The top candidate right now is Los Alamos because it has no horses, no farming/agriculture, and feels generally good to me (particularly Bandelier). The areas around Santa Fe are also on the table if min sqr footage requirements are workable, particularly the neighborhoods northwest of Santa Fe. Beyond that it's tougher as I have to balance internet and covenants versus the obvious desire to be in a rural, low pollution, good feeling area.
My question is simple -- am I doing the right thing? Is there some alternative I have not considered? Is the location sensible? I know at this point that the environment is a key component of my poor health this last few years, and I won't get any better than I am now until I'm in a place that does not cause me to react. I've considered other options like RVs, mobile and/or tiny homes, even long term camping, but none of them make as much sense to me. Any opinions are welcome, especially anyone with a similar mold allergy and/or CFS/ME who has successfully relocated. Thanks for taking the time, I look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts.
I am a 26 year old male. I have suffered from CFS/ME for a bit over 10 years. It was triggered by my time in an extremely moldy rental as a child. I then went to a middle school which was also toxic, and became so ill that home schooling was necessary. From that time I was largely home bound with varying degrees of poor health. Then, a couple years ago, my condition took a turn for the worse. My fatigue escalated to the point that taking any classes in college (from home due to my mold allergy) was very difficult. My brain fog was also worsening, as was my long standing IBS and pain. I also began noticing MCS that was not there before.
I began working with a new naturopath and moved through most of the usual treatments. Some would help for a while, but for every step forward I seemed to take two back. Hypothyroidism, mitochondrial dysfunction, heavy metals and detox -- we identified and treated those and more, but my core health was not improving. Up to this point I had been living in the same house with my parents which we moved to after being in the toxic house for so long. I never reacted to it in an obvious way, and as far as we knew there was no mold issue. However, my naturopath had the idea of testing some inflammation indicator in my next round of blood work (the name escapes me). To my surprise it came back quite high -- I was reacting to my house.
That test was the trigger for me investigating the rabbit hole that is severe mold sensitivity. I realized that my and my parents belongings from the old house were almost certainly a problem. We had a mold remediator come out and found some limited mold in the attic and HVAC system as well. After some soul searching I decided it was time to leave my house and all my possessions and head out west to try to find a mold free house to heal. On my doctors recommendation, my first stop was the southwestern desert.
My journey was filled with mistakes, as at that time I did not understand just how sensitive I had become. I did improve to the point that I could travel and take care of myself alone, but I was still quite ill and kept being exposed to places that I reacted to. My health roller coaster continued as I traveled from NM, to AZ, CA, NV, UT, and finally CO. This whole trip my goal was to find a rental that felt good in a healthy place (the locations effect was always on my mind). I found good locations, but I never managed to find a rental that worked well. Finally, I settled in a ski town in CO in a decent rental. Here I'm far better than in my old house, but I am not where I want to be.
TLDR: I'm a 26 year old male who left home after my condition worsened due to steadily increasing mold sensitivity. I've traveled a while but have been unable to find a decent place to live.
I've come to the conclusion that the best option for me is to build a small, healthy house in the high desert. I've realized through my travels that horse stables, farming, and 'urban decay' -- things left out in yards to rot, dirty buildings, and so on -- are bad for me. That rules out huge swaths of NM and AZ. I also need at least DSL internet for work. Finally, I know I want to build either adobe or ICF for mold, but to find builders that are in my price point I can't get away from NM and AZ even if I wanted to. Mild summers are also important to avoid having A/C issues which rules out a good bit of the desert.
At this point I've found builders I'm happy with, and I plan to build a small Rastra or Adobe home in northern NM. The top candidate right now is Los Alamos because it has no horses, no farming/agriculture, and feels generally good to me (particularly Bandelier). The areas around Santa Fe are also on the table if min sqr footage requirements are workable, particularly the neighborhoods northwest of Santa Fe. Beyond that it's tougher as I have to balance internet and covenants versus the obvious desire to be in a rural, low pollution, good feeling area.
My question is simple -- am I doing the right thing? Is there some alternative I have not considered? Is the location sensible? I know at this point that the environment is a key component of my poor health this last few years, and I won't get any better than I am now until I'm in a place that does not cause me to react. I've considered other options like RVs, mobile and/or tiny homes, even long term camping, but none of them make as much sense to me. Any opinions are welcome, especially anyone with a similar mold allergy and/or CFS/ME who has successfully relocated. Thanks for taking the time, I look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts.