M.E., My Mold, and I: A Story of ME/CFS and Toxic Mold

Summary

Over nearly seven years of ME/CFS beginning in late summer 2010, she tried pacing with a heart-rate monitor and many supplements, including herbal antivirals, for about a year, then added neurotransmitter support (dopamine, GABA), an ATP Fuel supplement, weekly passive yoga bodywork, treatment for Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, SIBO treatment with a low-FODMAP diet and then an Elemental Diet, and genetically-guided supplements from a naturopath; later, once toxic mold exposure was identified, a Shoemaker-certified doctor prescribed the binder cholestyramine (CSM) and she relocated out of the contaminated house. She began housebound and severely limited, reaching only about 20% of her former self on the early interventions, then roughly 30% (with occasional 40-50% "good days") after the neurotransmitter and gut-focused protocols. After leaving the moldy house and starting cholestyramine, her daily steps roughly doubled, from about 4,000 to regularly over 8,000 and occasionally over 14,000, and her brain fog "significantly cleared," letting her resume cooking and grocery shopping, though her recovery is described as incremental and plateauing rather than complete by the time of writing.

What they credit

Credits Alternative therapies, Antihistamines & MCAS, Antivirals, Diet, Mould avoidance, Pacing, Supplements, Elimination and ketogenic diets, Herbal and Chinese medicine, Meditation, yoga, breathwork, Mold avoidance / CIRS protocol, NAD+ boosters (NMN, nicotinamide riboside, NADH, ATP), Pacing and the energy envelope, Relocation and environmental change.

Symptoms mentioned

Symptoms: Brain fog, Gut problems, Mast cell (MCAS) & allergies.