Case Study- My Daughter- From Disabled to Thriving!
After 15 years of battling my own chronic illness, I was symptom-free. Finally, I had gotten healthy and the war was over. Just as I was getting used to living a normal life, it threw me a curve ball. I now had a daughter and because of neglect, I had to get custody of her. After I finally won the custody battle, little did I know that we were beginning a “health battle” that would last over six years.
Watching my daughter suffer for six years was difficult, but it was also one of the greatest learning experiences I’ve ever had. Before helping my daughter get better, I was not half the health coach that I am today. In this article, I will review what happened, what I did about it, and, most importantly, what you can learn from it. Though it may be a lengthy post, trust me, it is well worth the read. Let’s first discuss my daughter’s health history.
Daughter’s Health History
Grasping at Straws – Nothing but Faith to Guide Me
When I got custody of her at 18 months, she had a chronic cough, skin issues, red face, and loose green stools. Clearly, both her immune system and gut were a complete wreck. Unfortunately, she had been given over 15 courses of antibiotics and had 17 vaccines by the time I got her. For these reasons, her gut was a wreck, and her mast cells were on high alert.
We met with several medical doctors and specialists who were baffled by her symptoms and received no useful help from them. I tried simple things like removing gluten and other common food allergens. Though I saw fewer behavioral issues, there was limited progress otherwise. Since it seemed like I had read every holistic site on earth, I thought maybe I should start looking through scientific studies. From that point, I chose to ignore the holistic sites and start reading studies ONLY. This was one of the best decisions I ever made.
Mast Cell Symptom Connection Finally Discovered
I could not stand to watch my kid suffer anymore. Not only did it hurt to see her struggle, but it reminded me of the trauma of my own health battle. I was a mess, but I had to do something, or I’d get lost in the trauma. Eventually, I decided that even if it meant risking my health, I would do anything to find the answer to her problems.
After several months of nearly killing myself from researching 18 hours per day, I finally discovered the cause of all her issues: the mast cells. Little did I know, these immune cells were involved in causing all of her symptoms and flare-ups. I realized that I could win the battle with her health if I were able to get the mast cell under control.
After researching various supplements and their effect on mast cells, I tried these things on my daughter. Unfortunately, none of these things provided lasting success, and many of them even triggered her into flare-ups. Even the raw colostrum was causing her to have asthma attacks. The very thing that had nearly saved my life was backfiring on her. Unsure of what to do next, I thought, let’s focus 100% on diet and see what happens.
Elimination Diet Helps but Can’t Fix All of Her Issues
After seeing my daughter react to foods like meat, eggs, sweets, dairy, bread, candy, and nuts, I figured it was time to get serious. We started with an elimination diet focused on eating mostly vegetables, fruits, rice, potatoes, and beans. Over the next few months, I seemed to be able to keep her relatively stable, but clearly, she was not getting over her health issues.
Now that I had tried everything with diet and supplements, I asked my higher power to please show me what was causing these problems. I knew something was irritating her immune system, but I just couldn’t figure it out. I had suspicions about mold in the past, but I never thought it could cause so much immune dysfunction. Refer to the pic below to see how bad her eczema was. She was itching it until it bled!
Environmental Sensitivities Now become Obvious
Through my dietary changes, she had become mostly stable, but clearly there was still something impairing her. We moved to a new place and started her at a new school. Within a few weeks of school starting, she started to exhibit strange symptoms, like eye crossing, severe eczema, red dots all over her skin and face, memory issues, convulsing in her sleep, erratic behavior, and emotional swings.
I noticed these things would get better by Monday morning but always be the worst by Friday. Finally, I had made the connection that something in the school building was triggering her significantly. Because of this, I was forced to remove her from school and start homeschooling. At the time, I thought this was all due to cleaning chemicals and fragrances in the building, not mold.
Take a look below at what her face used to look like after picking her up from school. She would get this reaction when she was exposed to cleaning chemicals or fragrances. It turned out that they were applying cleaning chemicals daily with no ventilation and also had glade plugins releasing toxic fragrances all through the building. What a brilliant idea! Poison the kids with chemicals while we are teaching them.
Can’t Use Supplements Due to Severe Reactions
Now that I was homeschooling her, I thought I was eliminating her exposure, but little did I know the place I lived in had black mold.
She did make some progress because she was out of the school environment, which was clearly triggering her. I thought to myself, maybe it was just that school, so we tried another one. The same thing happened within two months or so of being there. She had erratic reactions, and there was nothing I could do about it because she would not tolerate supplements. The only thing I could do was identify what was making her worse and make changes.
I Finally Buy into the Mold Theory 100%
Luckily, we caught a big break by going on vacation for 10 days. Over that time, I could see her symptoms gradually reduce, and she started to appear more and more normal. Once we returned from vacation, all of her issues got much worse within five days. Finally, it was clear that there was something in the place I was living in that was contributing to her illness. I had done the petri dish test in the past and saw that black mold popped up, but I didn’t truly believe it. Now, there was no question in my mind that mold was potentially the answer I was looking for. Take a look below at the test results from her bedroom. The black mold is stachybotrys.
Now She Could Tolerate Binders and Other Supplements
I did not want to sign a lease because my daughter was so reactive at the time to EVERYTHING. I made that mistake two times in a row and was stuck in places that made her sick. My only option was to try a mold elimination experiment at a hotel. I found one that allowed me to keep the windows open and was affordable. I bought four air purifiers and a box fan for my little hotel room and started my experiment. We spent most of our time outdoors and came in pretty much only for food or sleep.
Within 30 days, I could see the severity of her flare-ups reducing. Now, she was not reacting as much to foods, chemicals, or fragrances. Her behavior was stabilizing rather significantly. Most importantly, she could now tolerate the supplements.
Over the next several months, I gave her fermented raw colostrum, inulin, apple pectin, carbonized bamboo, detox clay and zeolite. Gradually, I started to see her do better and better until she became symptom-free. This took about 6 months of eating the right foods, taking the right supplements and minimizing exposure to environmental irritants.
Finally Symptom-Free After Six Years of Chaos
Though it took a long time, finally, my daughter was symptom-free. It was obvious to me that her immune system was finally calming down, and as long as I kept her from being triggered, she would remain symptom-free. I stepped outside our normal diet and gave her food from restaurants, and there were no problems. We were also in the presence of chemicals and fragrances with no issues. Since I saw this several times, I thought that maybe she isn’t sensitive to mold now either.
Re-Exposed and Flared Up Again Briefly
We were out of town, and she had been symptom-free for months now. There were no problems from all the dietary detours we had taken recently. To save some money, I stayed at a friend’s place. Unfortunately, this place was in the same building where she had gotten sick prior. I thought that it was only the apartment I lived in that had the issue, not the whole building. Little did I know, I was VERY wrong!
Within five days of staying there, her eczema symptoms started popping up again, her left eye started crossing more, she started to have more behavioral outbursts, and I could tell something was clearly not right! I finally realized that it was ALL because of the place we were staying. We then went to another place that we were confident about, and within days, all of her symptoms disappeared again. On one hand, this made me sad because I thought we were past all this. On the other hand, at least I now knew how to keep her symptom-free.
Back to Living a Symptom-Free Life
If you have a chronic illness, your goal should be to be symptom-free. You do not have to “cure” the condition to win the war. This is something that I learned after her last flare-up. Though I wanted to believe she was completely cured of this sensitivity, the truth is, that’s not what is important. What’s important is, knowing what to do to keep her living a symptom-free life. Now that I know what to do, I can keep her happy and healthy, even if she still has a mold sensitivity lingering in the background. The plan moving forward is to keep doing what I have been doing but also to go heavy on prebiotic supplements to make sure she has adequate bifidobacterium and other immune-modulating microbes.
Frequently Asked Questions – Kelsi’s Healing Story
What type of mold made your daughter sick?
Though she did have some issues with penicillium mold, the symptoms were not as severe as they were from the black mold, a.k.a. Stachybotrys. This mold produces trichothecenes, the most toxic of all mycotoxins. I have seen trichothecenes cause health issues in plenty of my clients as well. The truth is, trichothecnes are no joke, and they far are more prevalent than you think.
How did you confirm this was the cause of her symptoms?
Once I saw the high levels of penicillium and black mold on the petri dish, I met with a functional medicine practitioner. We did a mycotoxin urinalysis which confirmed the presence of black mold toxins. After following in extreme anti-mold protocol, the severity of my daughter symptoms gradually dissipated.
Have you seen similar symptoms in other clients?
I have seen this with myself when I was sick and with plenty of clients. After living through these experiences, I believe indoor air quality is almost as important as diet. In fact, in many cases, it can be even more important! The truth is, if indoor air quality is poor, you cannot get over the hump simply with diet and supplements.
Is mold sensitivity something that is lifelong?
It depends on the person. If someone is continuously exposed, then symptoms will persist. You must eliminate the mycotoxins if you want to overcome the sensitivity. Once the mycotoxins are eliminated from the body, it may take six months to three years to become no longer sensitive. In some cases, this sensitivity can be permanent.
Do you have to change your diet to recover from mold illness?
It is best to transition towards a plant-based diet when dealing with mold illness. Mycotoxins impair protein digestion and assimilation. For this reason, your diet cannot be protein and fat-dependent. Instead, it must be mainly carbohydrates and fiber. This reduces stress on the kidneys, liver, immune system, and elimination channels.
What are some of the signs that mold may be triggering your symptoms?
Mold can cause nearly any symptom. If you have issues with your sinuses, lungs or head, mold is likely to be a problem. Examples of this are coughing, sinus constriction or congestion, runny nose, shortness of breath, clearing throat often, headaches, tinnitus, etc. Though these symptoms are not always a positive indicator, they are more often than not in my experience.
Is mold sensitivity common among people with chronic illnesses?
Yes, absolutely! You must consider indoor environmental irritants in every chronic illness. Remember that most flares come from something you ingest, inhale, or some form of stress. Once you identify the cause of the flare, you can make changes and see improvement. Learn more about how mold exposure triggers autoimmune symptoms in the article linked.
What I Learned from My Daughter’s Health Journey
I learned several things from my daughter’s health challenges. Below are some of the most important pieces of wisdom relating to mold and it’s impact on health. Hopefully, these points will help you avoid some of the suffering we experienced.
11 Bits of Wisdom About Mycotoxin Sensitivity
If symptoms do not improve greatly from dietary changes, you must consider indoor air quality as a contributing factor.
It doesn’t matter how much mold is in the place; it matters how sensitive you are to that particular mycotoxin.
Most mold tests are not as accurate as they claim to be and do not ensure safety.
Every single house will have mold; the question is how much and what type. These are the determinants of everything.
To heal from mold illness, protein intake must be limited. Plant fiber intake must also be high. You cannot heal fully from mold illness by eating meat two times per day or eating carnivore. The more plants, the better.
Once you realize you have mold sensitivity, remember that the goal is to be symptom-free, not cured of this sensitivity. Your sensitivity level and lifestyle choices will determine how long you are sensitive.
The petri dish test is good if you follow the modified collection plan I created. The ERMI test can be helpful if there has to have been no cleaning in the last month or so. The trichothecene swab test for mycotoxins is excellent because it detects things that most other tests don’t.
High-powered air purifiers are helpful to some degree because they collect mold spores and other particles in the air. However, using air purifiers combined with box fans to push air out the window appeared to be the most effective. This would ensure that any spores or mycotoxins released would fly out the window.
If a place is newer, it doesn’t always mean it is better. Though older buildings are typically higher risk, do you want to ideally look for places that are newer, without carpet, with plenty of windows and ventilation.
Just because you don’t see mold doesn’t mean it’s not there. Mold can be in your carpet, in the walls, or in the cracks, pretty much anywhere. Most of the time, it is not even visible when it is causing someone issues. In addition, it is rarely detectable with traditional mold tests like the air box collection.
Mold Mycotoxins are Hidden Cause of Various Symptoms
To summarize, mold must be considered strongly if someone has chronic symptoms. Whether they are dealing with migraines, respiratory issues, mental health disorders, gut problems, or other issues, mold mycotoxins are always a possibility. The reality is that mold exposure can induce nearly any symptom you’ve heard of. The reason is that the exposure is continuous, and mold creates a unique type of immune response. Wherever your body is weak, it will be the part that inflames, causing you symptoms.
If you would like to determine if mycotoxins are impacting your health, feel free to contact me.. I have several years of experience in this area and look forward to helping however I can.
Happy healing everyone!
Matt Nedin, B.S.
Certified Holistic Nutritionist
EndSickness, Founder
Phone: (734) 846-8619
WhatsApp: +17348468619
Email: endsickness@@gmail.com
