Hi Helios,
Apologies for being so tardy in replying. It's been nuts these last weeks/months. Health declining even worse (with all that entails), a move from one bad apartment to another one that is turning out to be as bad, disposed of all my possessions before moving into the current apartment, trying to get some ordinary things accomplished (easier said than done as we all know) and trying to not buy anything other than the bare necessities since they will only get recontaminated (already recontaminated the new vehicle), trying to start detox treatment through Dr. Rae's office as an outpatient (misery), trying to read/learn more about my condition (especially mold) and wanting to find a safe living situation (is there such a thing as a safe place to live in DFW?), trying to make some decisions/plans on how to apply what I've learned (if I can remember it or find my notes), and all that jazz along with all the typical cognitive/brain fog problems and exhaustion we all experience. It is confusing, frustrating, and beyond me how we're supposed to get well without fleeing to the god-forsaken-wilderness.
I have been slow on the uptake about a lot of detrimental health factors and still am a dunce about how to put all the pieces together that have caused my debilitating illness. I finally realized that 2, possibly 3, of the 6 apartments I've lived in since 2004 were very moldy and the rest were probably moderately moldy. I gave up testing my living quarters since it is very expensive, no one listens, and it doesn't solve anything when one is a renter. One recent experience of staying in a hotel for 4 days, which gave me time to unmask a bit, made me aware that I became hyper reactive to mycotoxins in a remediated building. I didn't smell anything, but felt the hot spots. The experience was like the portrayals of Superman and kryptonite. Unfortunately, I seem to have become masked again.
In a nutshell, I moved from northern Colorado, where I lived most of my life, to an apartment in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of DFW, in 2004. I became increasingly sick in the apartment, saw the "top" doctors in Dallas for around 7 years and was pronounced: "depressed and anxious" since they could not find a cause from the slew of blood, urine, stool, and allergy tests, plus the numerous CTs, MRIs, colonoscopy, endoscopy, and even a PET. I couldn't tolerate the different SSRI's that they prescribed (even at minuscule dosages) and most medications (especially antibiotics) made me more bedridden than usual. Natch, my body's adverse responses to these doctors' treatments were blown off by the doctors rather than taken as a clue that there might be something biological causing my reactions and illness.
I found mold after three years in the first apartment and had tests taken that showed high numbers of 5 toxic molds. I had already told the doctors about the flooding in my apartment from wastewater backups. I also told them that there were times where I felt like I was being poisoned and asked about lyme disease and bacterial infections. All to no avail. What seemed important to me, doctors blew off as irrelevant. I was still in the stage of "bowing to the experts" wondering if I was losing my mind and yet knowing I hadn't. Brain fog is a royal pain.
I finally started going to the alternative doctors. The ones I found were either clueless or quacks. I finally went to an allopathic physician who had turned away from that construct and recognized my symptoms as possibly lyme disease. My test results were equivocal, but that doesn't mean much. I had also been bitten by ticks in my first apartment, which was on the edge of an enormous wooded area with lots of wildlife, and remembered the bullseye rash from one bite.
For seven years I had classic symptoms of lyme disease and mold poisoning with no diagnoses other than psychosomatic. If I had the money, I would probably be diagnosed with CFS or ME by the doctors specializing in it. My symptoms fit pretty much to a T.
For the past 3 years, I have mostly learned about lyme. I was caught in a dead end because I couldn't tolerate antibiotics or herbs since I am prone to severe diarrhea. The only ILADS trained lyme doctor retired shortly after I was finally diagnosed and the alternative doctor gave up when he ran out of ideas on how to help me since nothing he tried seemed to make a dent in my health and many times made me worse.
The mold exposure had yet to be acknowledged as a much of a contributing factor. Last year, I went to Dr. Johnson in Richardson, Texas. He is an EI doctor familiar with mold treatment. He tested me for tricothecenes and prescribed CSM when the test came back positive. I had bad reactions to 1/4 of the dosage and I cannot afford his hyperbaric oxygen treatments, so I have now switched to Dr. Rae in Dallas since his detox program is more affordable.
It was stumbling upon input on different forums and blogs about/from Erik Johnson and Lisa Petrison on their experiences that the light bulb finally went off dimly in my addled brain. I believe Erik and Lisa (many thanks to you and others!) are on the right track. I wish they would write a book. I have so much to learn and apply. The plumes of "ick" and the way mold works with nano particles to make everything worse makes particular sense in my location.
Frisco, Texas has a battery recycling plant that emits 35 hazardous materials in their work. The main one is lead and one in which they have exceeded the supposedly safe emissions level is ridiculous. It wasn't until after I moved from Frisco to Plano (8 miles south) that I learned about the recycling plant. Thanks to Lisa and Erik, I now understand and recognize several areas where there is a consistent plume of ick. Just to the west of me, in Fort Worth area, we have also seen tremendous Frack drilling over the last few years. The levels of nano particles and expanding EMF types of radio waves that influence or react with our high mold levels are increasing, too.
I am too sick to do much at the moment, but hopefully, will eventually learn avoidance and move away. It's a bit of a catch 22. The doctors I have finally found who seem to understand how to address the problems with lyme and mold are here, but I need a pristine/safe place to live. Natch, there is the ever present challenge of how expensive it is to live, receive treatment, eat healthfully, and so forth. Sorry to ramble on. The brain is scrambled and overwhelmed.
Susan
