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   Mercola.com     
      
   How to Recover from Toxic Mold Exposure   
      
       
   Forget Antibiotics, Steroids, and Medications - Starve Mold Out of Your Body   
   November 01, 2011 | 1,033,178 views   
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   Story at-a-glance +   
   By Dr. Mercola   
      
   Illnesses caused by mold exposure are a growing problem that few people are   
   aware of, including most primary care physicians.   
      
   Environmental health experts are seeing increasing numbers of individuals with   
   a complex myriad of symptoms directly related to mold exposure.   
      
   This has resulted in the proposal of a new term to describe this multi-faceted   
   syndrome: Mixed Mold Toxicosis.   
      
   Because mold-related disorders are so often unrecognized and misdiagnosed, I   
   have been posting a series of articles about mold and its potential dangers,   
   as well as approaches to treatment.   
      
   In the first article, I gave you an overview of the types of mold and the   
   numerous mycotoxins molds can produce, as well as a few tips about how to go   
   about mold remediation if you find yourself in the unfortunate position of   
   having a mold-infested home.   
      
   In the second article, I outlined the range of health problems that can be   
   directly caused by mold exposure and recommendations about how to find a   
   knowledgeable physician.   
      
   In this third article, my focus will be on how you can regain your health   
   after being poisoned by mold, what your best options are for treatment, as   
   well as what to avoid.   
      
   Accurate Information Can Shorten Your Road to Recovery   
      
   Unfortunately, there is no precise formula for rebuilding perfect health if   
   you have been damaged by mold or its toxins. No one set of interventions will   
   work for everyone. Treatment depends on many factors--the type of mold you   
   were exposed to, length    
   of exposure, your overall health, medications, allergies, genetics, and a host   
   of other factors.   
      
   Your best approach is to find a well-informed physician who has expertise in   
   environmental medicine. Together you can devise an appropriate treatment plan,   
   based on your own unique physiology and situation.   
      
   That said, there is much to be learned from those who are on the other end of   
   what you're going through. You are definitely not alone! By finding some good   
   resources and arming yourself with the best information, you'll decrease the   
   amount of time-   
   consuming "trial and error" along your path to recovery. Many people have   
   suffered for years because they simply didn't have information like what I am   
   presenting in this report.   
      
   One excellent resource is the book Mold: The War Within by Kurt and Lee Ann   
   Billings. The Billings learned the hard way about the damaging health effects   
   of mold--and the level of ignorance about mold's effects by the medical   
   profession as a whole.   
      
   Living in a home in the outer impact zone of Hurricane Katrina, the Billings   
   family suffered a progressive array of symptoms for which their physicians had   
   no solution. They later discovered their illness was due to mold infestation   
   in their home. What    
   started as tightness and burning in their chests and itchy eyes soon   
   progressed into severely diminished lung capacity, thyroid malfunction, and   
   numerous other symptoms that did not resolve, despite moving out of their home.   
      
   After extensive research and eventually recovering their health, they wrote   
   the book Mold: The War Within in hopes of educating a poorly informed and   
   disadvantaged public about Mixed Mold Toxicosis. Many of the suggestions I'll   
   be making come as a direct    
   result of the diligent footwork they have been kind enough to share in the   
   form of a book, for which we can all be grateful.   
      
   Physicians All Too Quick with the Prescription Pen   
      
   In the early stages of their road to recovery, the Billings went through many   
   physicians who either didn't believe mold was behind their suffering, or whose   
   treatments were little more than shots in the dark. When they did eventually   
   find physicians who    
   agreed their problems were related to mold poisoning, they offered little help   
   other than prescribing dangerous antifungals and other drugs that contributed   
   nothing to their recovery.   
      
   It took years to find the help they needed. I suspect this experience is   
   probably not unique to the Billings family, as the treatment of mold-induced   
   illnesses is an area for which most physicians are simply ill equipped. All   
   too often, drugs are    
   prescribed that don't address the underlying problem and have side effects   
   that further compromise immune response, further impairing your body's natural   
   ability to heal itself.   
      
   As an example, consider four of the common drug approaches to treating fungal   
   infections (of which mold is just one type): Nasal corticosteroids,   
   antibiotics, antidepressants, and antifungal medications.   
      
   Nasal Steroid Inhalers and Cortisone   
      
   Nasal steroid inhalers have become very commonly prescribed for chronic   
   sinusitis. Because people often experience short-lived relief from symptoms,   
   they sometimes believe this treatment is working--at least, initially.   
      
   But is it really?   
      
   The steroid may temporarily decrease inflammation, which may make you feel a   
   bit better for a short period of time. However, steroids suppress your immune   
   response. If your immune response is compromised, then the infection is   
   actually encouraged, which    
   perpetuates the underlying problem.   
      
   It's like pouring gasoline on a fire...   
      
   The fact that steroids suppress your immune system is no secret. Just read the   
   package insert or patient information sheet for any steroid medication--it   
   will warn you that exposure to pathogens like chicken pox or measles while   
   using the drug could    
   result in serious complications, even death, due to immunosuppression.   
      
   Board certified environmental medical specialist and pediatric allergist Doris   
   Rapp states that cortisone (a steroid drug) tends to allow infections that   
   normally would be confined to a certain area of your body to spread to other   
   parts of your body. Dr.    
   Rapp is concerned this may be having dire implications for asthmatic children.   
      
   Asthma, like sinusitis, often has a fungal origin that is missed in children   
   and adults, so is often inappropriately treated by medical practitioners.   
   Physicians usually prescribe cortisone and steroid inhalers if you or your   
   child has asthma. In fact,    
   cortisone has been one of the "preferred" methods of treating asthma in the   
   U.S. since 1976. And since that time, the mortality from asthma has TRIPLED in   
   the U.S.   
      
      
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