As I said before, mold can be tricky, and no one understands this better than this very client of mine.
My client's journey was marked by years of uncertainty and misdiagnosis.
His time began when he was bitten by a tick at 7, causing a bullseye rash and swollen lymph nodes, the classic signs of Lyme Disease.
However, his primary doctor failed to recognise and link these symptoms at the time.
For years after this initial exposure, he experienced persistent ‘unconnected’ symptoms that left him feeling "off”.
But he soldiered on, white-knuckling through life with determination.
Looking back, it's evident that the tick bite introduced him to the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which is responsible for Lyme Disease.
Twelve years later, during a trip to Canada, his life changed dramatically when he unknowingly stayed in a mold-infested building.
Being exposed to mycotoxins at such extreme levels caused his immune system to fall apart, leading to a ‘resurfacing’ of his Lyme Disease.
Extreme anxiety, crippling fatigue, brain fog, depression, debilitating physical discomfort and a whole list of other symptoms were now his daily reality.
It was a time when he couldn't get out of bed, couldn't tolerate sunlight, and felt like his brain was on fire.
Things got so bad that he cut his trip short and immediately flew back to the United Kingdom for treatment of this ‘mystery’ illness.
The severe symptoms he experienced resulted from the Mold Illness, creating an onslaught of cytokine storms within his body.
Mycotoxins overwhelmed this immune system response, which allowed the dormant Lyme Disease to resurface.
An immune system battling mycotoxins has difficulty keeping Borrelia burgdorferi in check.
The same goes for the Epstein-Barr virus and Cytomegalovirus (which I've seen in my other clients).
Upon returning to the United Kingdom, he embarked on a frustrating and bewildering journey of medical consultations and tests.
Lyme Disease, Mold Illness (also known as Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, or CIRS), and their complications do not appear on standard medical tests.
When it comes to Lyme Disease and Mold Illness, you may have markers on your blood work that are high or low, but there will be no explanation as to why your body is reacting like this.
In some cases, even bloodwork can look ‘all normal’, but symptoms can be terribly severe.
Of course, this left him in a loop of misdiagnosis and unexplained symptoms.
Unfortunately, this individual remained in the dark regarding what had been causing his illness for a long time.
At this stage, many patients are either misdiagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia or given lifetime prescriptions for anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications.
Many individuals might accept such a diagnosis and rely on pharmaceutical drugs for life.
But this patient refused to give up.
After visiting numerous doctors, he finally encountered a dietician who ran the Organic Acid Test (OAT).
At this point, the individual was still unaware of Mold Illness, CIRS, or Lyme Disease.
However, the OAT results provided a crucial clue that changed the course of this individual’s life.
As you can see in the above screenshot, the individual was positive for 2 mycotoxins:
(Please note that the Organic Acid Test has over 6 pages and 75 markers; this is just a tiny snapshot from the test itself).
Funnily enough, even though this clinical pearl had been uncovered in this individual, the dietician was not mold literate, so gave these markers no further thought.
Months on the dietician's protocol yielded no results, leaving the individual frustrated and confused.
Determined to find answers, he began to analyse the OAT results himself, starting with deciphering the high Aspergillus markers.
During a Google search for answers, he stumbled upon Mold Illness, CIRS, and the work of Dr. Shoemaker.
This discovery brought hope, and within a week, he had flown thousands of miles across the globe to visit a Dr. Shoemaker-certified practitioner in the USA (at this point there was no practitioner working internationally like myself or in the UK).
The diagnosis was confirmed: Mold Illness.
However, the road to recovery was far from straightforward.
A severe reaction to cholestyramine (CSM), a vital component of the Shoemaker protocol, raised alarm bells.
It was an indication that Lyme Disease was lurking beneath the surface.
Subsequent ELISA and Western Blot tests finally confirmed Lyme Disease, shedding light on the condition hidden for 12 years.
As you will know, if you’ve read my Got Mold? page, Mold Illness impacts every system, making male health increasingly frustrating when it comes to mold.
Mold Illness can drive your testosterone down while increasing your estrogen by order of magnitude.
The above test results are from the same client.
As you can see, his hormones are all over the place.
And although he had seemingly 'above range' AKA high testosterone he felt like the complete opposite, which is indicating that his inflammation is so high from the mold that his androgen receptors cannot signal correctly, are no longer sensitive and are being outcompeted by estrogen, this is otherwise known as Testosterone Resistance Syndrome.
Why?
Because mycotoxins up-regulate aromatase, an enzyme responsible for catalysing the last steps of estrogen biosynthesis from androgens such as testosterone and its androgenic partners.
Therefore, increased conversion of testosterone to estrogen can occur in mold and mycotoxin illnesses.
Mold can also impact cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which can cause symptoms to intensify, as you can see below.
Both men and women with Mold Illness will have incredibly skewed and 'off' hormonal axis due to the impact mycotoxins have on the master hormone regulating glands of the brain and knockout of proopiomelanocortin (POMC), leptin and alpha-MSH.
But it doesn't stop there.
Being a moldy patient means you're body becomes highly susceptible to other co-infections and opportunistic pathogens that see their chance to overrun and take it.
This is increasingly common in the gut.
It's not a one stop shop.
After you’ve cleared the mold, you then have to fix your leftover issues.
Below you can see we found an overgrowth of Klebsiella pneumoniae, a rather nasty dysbiotic bacteria in the gut.
We also found a horrible strain of Clostridium difficile which is a known bacteria that pumps out endotoxins into the system of humans.
All of these pathogens thrive in a moldy body because the dysregulation of the immune system gives them free rain!
Many times when it comes to mold, you’re left with mitochondria in Cell Damage Response (CDR), which is evident from my client’s Organic Acid Test results.
A mitochondria in CDR cannot use fuel metabolites correctly to create energy, otherwise known as adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
Below you can see the high and low markers meaning that either these fuels are 'spilling' out of the mitochondria and energy cycle, thus not being used, or there is a lack of that specific fuel.
The results above are a small insight into how mold can impact the mitochondria.
This is one of the main reasons why people with Mold Illness suffer from fatigue.
So, we’ll continue the story.
After my client had finally received the correct diagnosis, a tailored treatment plan was implemented.
Yet, years of pain had already been lost in the diagnostic process.
The case of this individual is not an isolated one.
Approximately 22% of the population carries the HLA gene, predisposing them to Mold Illness/CIRS.
Like many others, he suffered for years with a ‘mystery’ illness, investing thousands in unsuccessful treatments and travelling extensively to find the answers needed for recovery.
Today, we continue to work together to address the residual effects of Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, cellular damage, brain atrophy, and additional health challenges.
This includes addressing Candida overgrowth, a Clostridium infection, GI issues, hormone dysregulation, and ADH/osmolarity problems.
CIRS can wreak havoc on every system in the body, leaving no aspect of health untouched.
In my experience, the more complex the case, the more captivating it becomes.
We've set a goal of 12 months to address these remaining issues.
I consider myself fortunate; cases like this provide invaluable learning experiences for everyone involved.
Please feel free to reach out at jessica@jessicalana.com or book a call via here, you have any questions or would like to learn more about this case or our approach to treating Mold Illness.
Your journey to recovery can start here.
