I find so much joy in my children, my husband, my garden and my chickens - but I have to admit, finding joy can be tough! Mold illness has a way of taking the joy right out of life! Everything from the brain fog, chronic pain, isolation and nervous system disregulation of this illness. I heard someone say that “mold illness is a traumatic illness, it is traumatic for the body, traumatic for the mind and traumatic for the soul.” I related to this on every level. I look forward to learning from you all and finding some healing and laughter together!

@Coleen Huebert This is wonderful, I don’t think that healing from mold illness could fully be addressed without a trauma informed approach!

Thank you for this post, I could talk for hours about mold (and often do!). There are so many questions I have and things I want to know, but for starters I would love to better understand what happens to our bodies when we leave the mold and how to know the difference between anticipated detox vs re exposure. Thanks!

@Coleen Huebert Thank you Coleen! I have lots of questions, but I do not want to overwhelm the chat, so I am trying to think of the most pressing. I understand the importance of getting out of mold as quickly as possible, but this is also not an immediate option for most of us - especially when we first learn about the environmental impact from the homes we are living in, the places we work, or the schools we attend (or after a failed remediation or move and finances have already been strained). I would love to know more about a short term, emergency protocol, for how to survive in the water damaged buildings, before long term environmental changes can be made or detox protocols can even be considered. So my next questions would be “What measures can be taken to gently support the body while still exposed to the harmful environment?” “What markers need to be observed to differentiate between mold illness inflammation and the onset of chronic conditions that cannot be reversed. In other words, how can someone tell the difference between mold illness and when that mold illness has become an irreversible condition?” (Of course this will be different depending on the biodiversity of the environment, lifestyle factors and genetics, but are there clear markers of inflammation that should be considered immediate emergencies?) “How do we talk to allopathic partitioners about our condition in these emergency situations, without being dismissed or referred to psychiatric specialists?” “What are some of the signs and symptoms of mold illness in otherwise healthy children. Are we looking for chronic fatigue/pain/inflammation, or would these symptoms show up initially as nervous system/emotional dis regulation, learning disabilities, hyperactive disorders, sleep disturbances, ARFID eating patterns, etc?” “Do the healing protocols change for children?” “Are there science backed alternatives to extreme binders or the Shoemaker protocol? Some of our systems have been so stressed and overwhelmed, intense binders may not be the best solutions.”

I love the Wahls Protocol. I really appreciate Terry Wahls and her focus on healing through food over pharmaceuticals. I spent many years feeling ignored by doctors and trying to find answers on my own, reading healing focused books became a lifeline and I jumped into many of the autoimmune protocol books. I found the Wahls protocol to be thorough and loved the scientific backing of her work. I have spent much of my journey focused on food, but environmental factors were a missing link for me. As a society, I believe we have made huge progress in medicine, healing through good foods, the importance of clean water and lifestyle factors, but we have gravely neglected the environmental piece of the puzzle when it comes to health!