Our journey with Black Mold Poisoning began back in 2006 when we were living in a rental home that was infested with mold. We first discovered this when black mold began appearing on the walls of various rooms in the house. We knew before we moved in that there had been a house fire and that there had been significant water poured from fire hoses on the house, especially in the kitchen where the fire had started. Also after living in the house for a winter season, we noticed that there was very poor drainage around the foundation of the house and that there were no rain gutters on the roof. This allowed more water to funnel towards the crawl space of the house instead of away from the house. Later we learned from a professional that the entire crawl space under the house was badly infested with black mold. We treated the mold in the house on the walls as best we could, but very soon we began to experience many symptoms that the medical doctors could not find cause for.
The symptoms of Black Mold Poisoning are many and varied. This is because there are different types of toxic black mold and each mold produces many different mycotoxins. This makes it very difficult to know whether or not you are experiencing black mold symptoms. In our cases, we just became sicker and sicker.
The first major symptoms we both experienced were sinus related. They were burning, itchy, watery eyes, blurred vision, sinus headaches, earaches, and constant sinus drainage, which produced a constant tickle in the throat and a related cough. In addition, we noticed that when some would come to visit that immediately after they walked into the house, they began experiencing some of these same symptoms.
Later as time went on we began to experience many other symptoms and daily quality of life just slipped away even though we were doing all we knew to do with natural supplements. Remember, the medical doctors simply did not know what to do for us because the medical profession and insurance companies do not recognize this as a legitimate illness. We will let you decide why that is.
Here is a list of some thing we learned that are suggestions to help you determine if you may be experiencing toxicity from black mold.
- If your symptoms cannot be explained by a known medical condition and doctors don’t know what is wrong with you. Consider toxic black mold syndrome.
- If your symptoms change frequently, either from day to day, week to week or month to month. (This was what happened to us, which made it very difficult to pinpoint the real problem. We began to think we were going crazy!)
- If your symptoms started after a flood (perhaps in our case, after a fire where lots of water was dumped on the fire) in your home or workplace or if you have recently moved to a new home or workplace.
- If you can smell mold in your home or workplace.
- If other people in your home or workplace are complaining of similar or new onset symptoms.
A List of Most Common Symptoms of Black Mold Poisoning
We have italicized and bolded the symptoms one or both of us had so that you can see how many symptoms we experienced. Thank you to Dr. Mary Ray, DO who listed these symptoms on her website http://www.toxic-black-mold-syndrome.com/
Muscle pain, cramps, burning, unusual shooting (ice pick-like) pains
Headaches
Fatigue, weakness, flu-like symptoms, fever, chills
Shortness of breath, cough
Abdominal pain, diarrhea
Chronic sinusitis, sore throat
Burning eyes, red eyes, sensitivity to light
Difficulty with thought processes, memory loss, loss of concentration, confusion, disorientation, ‘brain fog’
Dizziness, balance problems
Metallic taste in mouth
Numbness and tingling
Night sweats
Temperature regulation problems
Excessive thirst and urination
Rash
Excessive menstrual bleeding
Mylar flush (face flushing
Chest pains
Kidney disease
Increased infections
Less Common Symptoms of Black Mold Poisoning
The sensation you are going to pass out
Panic attacks
Tremors
Attention deficit disorder
Vision problems
Swollen lymph nodes
Anxiety, depression
Difficulty losing weight
Ringing in the ears
Hearing loss
Chronic fatigue
Multiple chemical sensitivity
Nose bleeds and pulmonary hemorrhaging
Bruising, hives
Infertility, miscarriage
Fibromyalgia
Multiple sclerosis like symptoms
Dirt like taste in mouth
Cancer
Hair loss
Joint pain
Irregular heart beat
Heart attack
Seizure
Muscle twitching
Anaphylaxis
Air hunger (can’t get a deep breath)
Child development delays
Apathy
Lateness
Difficulty handling any kind of stress
Mood swings, irritability
Frequent upper respiratory infections
Sensitivity to sound
Nausea, vomiting
New food allergies
Jaundice
Stomach ulcers
Death in extreme cases
As you can see, we had many symptoms and without the Lord’s direct leadership, we would still be suffering today. Now we’d like to share with you just how that intervention came.
In December 2010, Father provided for us to make a move from the home we were renting. The physical move was most taxing because by this time we were both very ill. After the move, we began seeing some slight improvement but we were continuing to fight different and changing symptoms, sometimes daily. By the Fall of 2011, we were completely spent and ministry was becoming more and more difficult for us. In desperation one morning, Gerri cried out to Father, “we must have some answers, Daddy.” Immediately she saw her computer screen and typed in the search box were the words ‘Black Mold Poisoning.’ Keep in mind that she had already been searching the web listing ‘Black Mold’ and had researched a great deal about that. But this particular morning Father added the word ‘poisoning’ to the search. She immediately found Dr. Mary Ray’s website and our healing journey began. We read all of the information on the website, purchased her book and also had a 30 minute personal phone consult with her.
After talking personally with her, we decided to follow her suggestions and begin a major detox with Brown Seaweed Extract. This product was discovered after the nuclear explosion in Chernobyl, Russia when massive detoxification was necessary for radiation poisoning. We began the long-term, extensive detox process in late September of 2011. We ended the detox at the end of March 2012 after six months.
The detox protocol itself was intense and when we were nearing the end of the process, we were unable to continue with ministry and we took a sabbatical to rest and recover physically from all that our bodies had been through. Slowly we began to recover and little by little our symptoms began to wane.
During this time we were introduced to Dr. Bruce West who has for over 30 years been helping his patients get well through the use of natural vitamin and mineral supplements produced in the laboratories of Standard Process. All products are from natural plant forms and are not synthetically produced in a lab. We began to see some major improvement at this time and now 6 months later we find that we are 90% symptom free.
While we both had significant symptoms, Rog had major problems with an irregular heartbeat, which began in November of 2009. At that time he was admitted to the emergency room and had a complete heart workup including echo cardiogram and stress test among others. NOTHING showed up in ANY of the tests and the doctors just sent us on our way with no answers. The problem of the rapid, irregular heart beat continued to increase until finally his heart was out of rhythm more than it was normal. This was extremely stressful for us both. It was complicated in his situation because he also suffered from Vasovagal Nerve Disorder. When he coughed or laughed hard, the vagal nerve would pinch and it would cause his heart to beat irregularly and very slowly. Now we had two heart problems which the medical doctors had no answer for…a rapid, irregular beat and a slow, irregular beat! We searched and prayed and prayed some more for answers. This is about the time that we came in contact with Dr. West, Standard Process products and specifically Dr. West’s heart protocol of natural supplements. After one month on this protocol, he is much, much improved. He is sleeping restfully each night and we are both finally beginning to feel well again.
This past August we saw our optometrist for eye exams. She confirmed that the eye symptoms we were experiencing were gone; however she determined that Rog needed cataract surgery on both eyes. We made the appointment with the surgeon and scheduled both surgeries two weeks apart.
After the first surgery just before he went to recovery, his heart began an irregular and very rapid beat. It totally freaked out all the doctors and nurses and while we found ourselves at peace in the situation, total chaos and panic overtook in the recovery room. The doctors refused to listen to anything we had to say and basically ignored all we had learned from our experience of the heart issues over the many months we’d been dealing with it at home. As a result, the surgeon and anesthetist refused to proceed with the second eye surgery unless we could get a release from a cardiologist. So, off to another round of doctor visits to get clearance. They Lord made way for us to see a fine cardiologist who spent 45 minutes hearing our hearts and considering closely our experience. He reviewed the records and told us immediately that without running any more tests, he could clear Rog for the second eye surgery. He assured us that his heart problems were not life threatening as we had previously been told by the anesthetist. He did ask us to return for a follow up visit with him and suggested that he have another echo cardiogram run so that he could compare the one from 2009 to the one he wanted to run. He indicated that this would confirm whether or not there had been any damage to Rog’s heart. Last week we had the follow up appointment and the second echo done. He passed with flying colors. There is no heart damage and the cardiologist said again, ‘whatever you are doing at home, continue because it is working well for you. I won’t need to see you again unless you have questions or something else should come up that you would like to discuss with me.’
RELEASED to walk in newness of life! Hallelujah!
Readers, we have learned so much through this long, difficult battle. One thing is for certain, while we may not know the reasons why Father has chosen this pathway for us, we do know that He has walked every step of the way with us. We have made a decisive choice that we will NOT take any prescription drugs unless it is absolutely our last option. We have found that by taking natural supplements instead that we rule out the numerous possibilities for drug side affects. While this is not a popular choice among the medical profession (and they usually oppose you at every turn), it is the way Father has directed us. More and more we are running into people who have surrendered to taking prescription drugs and then in turn they suffer from multiple side affects of the drugs and end up taking more and more scripts to treat the side affects. The result is often over medication which highly restricts quality of life. We also recognize that the pathway Father has chosen for us may not be the pathway He chooses for everyone.
What we wanted to accomplish by this article is two fold: 1) that many, especially in areas where there is high humidity, may be suffering from the affects of Black Mold Poisoning and not know it, and 2) to help inform that there are successful, alternative treatments outside the medical profession and their expertise. There are some doctors within the medical profession who are making the shift to more natural alternatives to physical and emotional problems. For example, we’ve already previously mentioned Dr. Bruce West. In addition, Dr. Julian Whitaker, MD from Newport Beach,CA has for 30 years been working in this arena and has established the Whitaker Wellness Centerwhere one can go for inpatient and outpatient evaluation. His practice has been very successful. Both of these doctors have websites that can be accessed by using their names in a web search.
We hope that our testimony will bless you. We are so thankful for all of you who have prayed for us during this difficult journey. We are eternally grateful to our Father for seeing us through and teaching us so much along the way and we are thankful to Jesus Who is our Great Physician. As always, we know there is much more to learn, but through this article who hope that we have provided others with information that will help them along in their own journeys.
Sending you our blessings and His,
Roger and Gerri