Tag:

chronic illness

The Elephant in the Room

by Catherine 4:12 am

Acknowledging Mold PTSD and How It Can Stand in the Way of Your Recovery

Mold PTSD is rearing its ugly head again. I am writing this post feeling very raw and very scared. I am sitting at my kitchen table with what feels like the weight of the world on my shoulders. You see, this morning my husband was outside skimming leaves from the pool when he noticed a significant amount of water coming from the condensate line that flows from the HVAC system and dehumidifiers in the attic to the outside. He alerted me, and I ran upstairs to see what was going on. Sure enough, the dehumidifier’s pan was full of water, wasn’t draining properly, and was overflowing onto the attic floor and into the attic insulation beneath it. Water marks were even beginning to spread on the ceiling of the guest room located under the dehumidifier.

Springing into action, I quickly unplugged the dehumidifier and grabbed towels and our wet/dry shop vac to suck the water from the pan to stop the overflow and damage. We then cut a hole in the guest room ceiling to remove all of the wet drywall and insulation and to direct fans into the ceiling cavity to dry out the wood framing and beams. We have done all of the right things to contain and to mitigate the damage and moisture intrusion. But, now comes the hard part: Now we have to play the waiting game of whether or not we have done enough to prevent mold growth. It is this waiting game and the unknown ahead that messes with my mind, and, in turn, messes with my body. I can feel the anxiety building inside of me. I even think I can feel some mold symptoms coming back. Is it from the drywall dust? Was the leak going on long enough to already produce mold growth? Am I getting sick again?

4:12 am 2 comments

Wellness

The Complexity of Mold Illness Recovery

by Catherine 9:15 pm

Why am I STILL Sick?

When Symptoms Persist Even When You Are Out of the Mold and Have Done EVERYTHING to Heal

Mold illness recovery is difficult. Most of us desire and need a solid support system of friends, family, and medical professionals to help us get through all of the hurdles. As a matter of fact, you probably found this blog and are reading this post right now, because you were searching for mold illness information online as part of your need for support. You may have even been seeking a shared experience with others who have also been through mold-triggered illness. I hope you found that here. I wanted to provide a supportive and positive community with this blog where stories are shared, and we can help each other feel somewhat normal again.

Knowing that you are not alone and that there are other people out there who also have to be vigilant about indoor air quality, practice mold avoidance and mold maintenance, and who have been through the trauma of losing a home or many of their possessions to mold can be comforting and provides hope. Mold illness is also very isolating (mold is everywhere and when you are forced to avoid it, socializing normally is sometimes hard), so I am grateful for the sense of community that writing about it provides for me. I like sharing what I have learned to help others recover. In doing so, though, I have identified one area of mold illness recovery that is consistently more difficult for me to be as helpful with on the blog–the “how I recovered my body from mold” part of this illness.

Obviously, I am not a doctor or medical professional of any kind, so I am ALWAYS careful with any information or opinions I present as far as body care and treatment are concerned. No matter how much personal experience I have with mold illness, it does not make me qualified to give anyone else medical advice. Thus, whenever I write about recovering my body from mold, I try to only speak from personal experience and perspective, and am careful not to offer counsel or instructions to others on that front. I know what protocols, treatments, and supplements work for me and my family, and filter all information I share with you through that frame of reference. Nevertheless, I find more and more that while STEP #1 (the hardest step of getting out of the mold in whatever form that takes, remediation or leaving) works for ALL of us in some capacity, STEPS #’s 2, 3, 4, and so on, of curing mold illness in our bodies, are not always as straightforward. As a matter of fact, the lack of positive response to even maximum treatment for some patients can be monumentally frustrating and, in the words of one reader, “just doesn’t make sense.”

This topic of unshakeable chronic illness from mold actually hinges on one central question, in my opinion:

9:15 pm 4 comments

Interviews Products Wellness

Restoring My Immune System With the Burgstiner Wellness Protocol and How to Determine if it’s Right for You

by Catherine 4:52 am

Today, I want to discuss my experience of using the Burgstiner Wellness Protocol. This unique, “amped” approach to nutritional, vitamin and mineral support has enhanced my mold recovery, restored my immune system, and increased my energy, all in noticeable ways, so I am eager to share it with you.

Last week’s post detailed my daily supplement regimen in its entirety, which also included many, if not all of the products in the Burgstiner Wellness Protocol. That was your “Cliff’s Notes” version of how I am using the products now that they are part of my “normal routine.”

This post is going to be a little different, because I want to start with explaining what a “wellness protocol” is, and why in your wellness journey you might decide to implement a protocol-based supplement regimen, rather than just adding some beneficial vitamins and minerals here and there to see what works for your body, or to make up for vitamin/mineral deficiencies as indicated by your blood panels or nutritional analysis.

Today’s post is also going to be different, because I had the pleasure to speak with John Burgstiner, Founder and President of Logos Nutritionals (the company behind the protocol and that makes all of the supplements included in it) about the protocol and the history and science behind it. In our interview, we dive into what makes these supplements unique and why this particular combination of supplements has produced such favorable outcomes for so many chronically sick people. We discuss each supplement, the reason for its inclusion in the protocol, and for his thoughts on and approach to wellness and nutrition as the leader of a nationally-renowned nutritional supplement company.

I don’t know about you, but I am increasingly concerned with the integrity of who is making the supplements I am choosing to put into my body. I am concerned that supplements contain what they say that they do. (Remember the New York Attorney General’s findings in 2015 that 80% of the store-brand supplements found on the shelves at Walgreen’s, GNC, Target, and Walmart did not contain the labelled substance, or were found to contain substances not indicated on the labels—like rice powder, for example? Since the report, all of the companies say that they have overhauled and increased the purity of their supplements.) I am also concerned that the science behind supplement groupings and dosage suggestions is solid, proven, and based on the principals of kindness to and balance for the body—restoring things to their natural and optimum levels, rather than the “detox” crazy, aggressive cleanse approach that has recently gained so much popularity. I can tell you from experience, that I was hospitalized last May for the health repercussions and a secondary infection manifested from a too-aggressive yeast detox. I learned the hard way that when mobilizing toxins to rid them from the body, more is not better, faster does not mean that you are winning, and feeling nauseous, exhausted and depleted definitely does NOT indicate that what you are doing is working.

4:52 am 0 comment