When Will I Feel Better

Healing From Mold Protocol #10 - From the "Step By Step Protocol"  To Healing From Mold

When Will A Person Feel Better?

The individual should begin to feel better at one month after removal from a moldy environment, supporting organs of elimination,  and beginning appropriate binders and possible other treatment . Some will have a detox reaction, and feel worse at first. I suggest examining any new or exacerbated reactions to get an idea of what is causing it. The person can be reacting to the binder, the movement of mycotoxins as they leave their tissues, and are redistributed, and removed in the bile, or it could be a reaction of the binder binding a medication if they take them together (although they should not take binders with their medications). These are just a few thoughts as to what could make a person feel worse. The Cholestyramine link goes into more detail on how binders might cause issues. All binders can cause similar side effects as cholestyramine does. The cholestyramine data on how to take it, as well as the side effects can be extrapolated to other binders. A person should check with their physician that prescribed the cholestyramine, or other binder if they have a reaction. Their Doc can explain the reaction usually, and decide if anything needs to be changed, or if it is a normal detox reaction.

If the person is not feeling a little better after a month or a lot better after three months, they need to examine their surroundings to make sure there is no continuing mold expsoure. They need to address all buildings they go into. They need to be sure they are not down-wind of a neighboring building that has mycotoxin air wafting towards them. (Yes, some people are indeed that sensitive.) If the person is sure they are not being exposed, I would then question the binder or binders. It is possible the mycotoxins they are exposed to are not going to be removed well enough with binders. Animal research shows some mycotoxins are not effectively removed by binders. If you have not read my article on binders, do so now. Most folks notice they are much more sensitive to all chemicals as they get better. They notice chemical smells they never noted before. I personally think this is our bodies natural method of warning us of danger, and when we are under chronic onslaught we tend not to notice any more. As we clear the toxins out of our body, we beome more aware of all toxins in our environment.

If the individual is no longer exposed to mold, and they have taken the binder in prescribed amounts for a month, and do not feel better, they may need more time on the binder, but it is more likely they are either missing mold in their environment or they may have Lyme's, Multiple Antibiotic Resistant Coagulase Negative Staph (MARCoNS), a chronic viral illness, or some other major issue keeping them from feeling better.

Regarding The Enhanced Acute Sensitivity To Environmental Onslaughts

The extra sensitivity that many people feel initially tends to disappear over time. So, they should not be worried if they are going through a mold mycotoxin protocol with their practitioner, and find they are more sensitive to chemicals, and moldy environments. It is probably an acute reaction they are noticing, whereas before they were so sick from a chronic reaction that they did not notice the acute problems. Over time most folks find these acute reactions get toned down, so they will not be so intense.  For some people they need some serious work with their biotransformation systems. You can find some detailed data on these systems specific to mold folks here. There may also be mast cell activation that needs to be addressed as best possible.

If however a person has just started treatment and has acute exacerbations, it may be the movement of toxins in their body rather than from outside toxins. They simply can't deal with the toxic load they are harboring in their body. They were filled to the brim and the house cleaning is too much for them. Consider decreasing the treatment regimen. They may need to take extremely tiny doses of everything. Doses you think will not work, but they will over time. Also do not give up on this person. They are just going at a slower pace to recover.

Here Are My Musings Or Considerations On Why A Person Might Not Feel Better

Some Things I Would Consider

• Mast cell activation
• Lyme Disease or other associated bacteria such as Bartonella or Ibecia.
• Look at the history of the person for any viral or bacterial or parasitic disease that may be a current issue.
• Mitochondrial Dysfunction - Mitochondria are inhibited by mycotoxins. Mitochondria are ancient bacteria and mold is well known to make many mycotoxins that kill bacteria or at least slow them down. Mitochondria can get stuck in cell danger response and need some assistance to move forward. They can get damaged too. Don't despair as there are solutions. The most important thing in my opinion is making them safe by getting rid of exposure to the source of toxins and then making them feel safe.
• Look for other toxins that may be an issue - pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, building toxins, consider the water/air/soil/buildings aroundthe person.
• Conditions related to treatment - for instance taking sulfur containing substances such as glutathione, N-acetyl-cysteine, alpha lipoic acid or others can feed sulfur bacteria in the gut and exacaerbate some forms of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)
• Our body can get stuck in what should be helpful warning systems and reactions, but when chronically provoked or brought up, they need to be retrained to feel safe and know there is no longer a danger.

 

If a person is attempting to remove mycotoxins, but is still living, working, going to school or otherwise spending time in a water-damged building, they will not get well. They must remove themselves from the mycotoxin environment. Later, when their body is able to biotransform better they may be able to handle these environments better. However, people who are genetically susceptible to issues with water-damaged buildings will do best staying away from them as much as possible.

I often hear people question why it is that a person with "mold sensitivity" or the "chemically sensitive" individual can go to a "clean" environment and heal and then after a period of time (months to years) they can return to past environments, and be better able to with-stand the environment that imemediately overwhelmed them previously? In my opinion this is due to the body getting out of the continuous onslaught or toxins long enough to be able to heal the mitochondrial irritation/damage, and irritation/organ damage.  Additionally, their biotransformational/detox system is allowed to be nourisihed, repair, and rebuild as needed. This is the short answer to that question as there are many details that are involved in the repair of their body, and any organ can be involved in the inflammatory damage, but this is bascially what takes place.

The next question I get in response to the answer I just gave, is "Why can some people with "mold sensitivity" clean up their environment, or go to a clean environment, get well and then they can spend time in varying degrees of water-damaged buildings without reacting to them?" What it appears to me from my studying this, and working with people, is as follows: Most people with CIRS due to water-damaged buildings (mold/bacterial/chemical sensitve folks) have had some sort of instigating incident, such as a car wreck, infectious illness, severe emotional upheavel etc that has initiated their problem. Often there was more than one incident all at one time or a series of incidents, each one following the other. Additionally, this may have activated dormant endogenous retroviruses, regular viruses, bacteria, parasites or other pathogens. They may have other additional insaults such as heavy metals or other stressors. This leads to continual inflammation in the body which causes "leaky" gut, and blood brain barrier compromise, and the biotransformational system of the body can't keep up with what is asked of it. This leads to a down-ward spiral. Once they get out of this spiral and their body repairs itself over a period of time, they now have the fully intact defenses to support and protect them when they return to a less than desireable environment. However, if they are not fully recovered, or if they have another instigating incident, they can once again be overwhelmed. Each persons genetics play a part in this, and this means people have varying degrees of how much of any one toxin, or toxins they can withstand. Sometimes they need continual supplements due to some type of inadequacy of their genetics, or they may be able to do little about it and just need to stay away from toxins as much as possible. However, most people can get some sort of relief, and the more you know about inflammation in the body and support of your biotransformational pathways, the more you can help your patients.

It is possible that the person who does not get well has mitochondrial changes that need to be attended to. Usually the treatments used for this illness will support the structure and function of mitochondria and help them heal as well as the overall body. However, it is possible that genes have been turned off or on that are continuing to affect a person. I would suggest considering this and  making sure the mitochondria are supported as well as seeing if there is something in the persons biotransformation system that could be better attended to.

Bile secretion is critical for removal of conjugated toxins including mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are largely removed through the bile and urine. A person who has light colored stools and may have some difficulty with bacterial gut overgrowth, inability to fully absorb fats ( lighter colored stools, stools tend to float due to fat content, bloating, gas), is a person who may have some issues with flow of bile and further invetigation into this is important. Consider that the bile is released in response to cholecystokinin and deficiency of CCK has been reported in patients with celiac disease, short bowel syndrome, in diabetics, in newborns with infantile colic and in patients receiving total parenteral nutrition. Also consider other causes of decreased bile such as liver and gallbladder inflammation/disease as well as investigate bile acid conjugation, lack of suffiicent cholesterol to make bile acids (Yes, I did say lack of sufficent cholesterol), etc. Some folks with mold sensitivities have lower cholesterol levels in general. They also tend to need some bile stimulation with bitters, or help with bile acid conjugation which is usually helped with taurine and glycine. There are many choleretic (bile producing) and cholagogue (bile flow stimulating) herbs that are helpful. A few examples are artichoke, dandelion, and rosemary. As a last resort Ox bile/bile salts are used as a treatment method. Of course it is contraindicated to stimulate bile production if there is any kind of obstructive liver or gall bladder disease. Regarding bile, it is interesting to note that animals tend to loose their appetite when they eat food with mycotoxins. It has been found in research that the peptide hormone cholecystokinin (CCK) is stimulated by the mycotoxins studied. CCK causes increased production of bile and release of bile from the gallbladder as well as digestive enzymes from the pancreas. It additionally decreases appetite and causes nausea. (Another odd thing it does is causes anxiety. - There is an abundance of the peptide in the brain. It is used to cause anxiety in research on drugs to treat anxiety.) So people under constant onslaught from mycotoxins will be releasing CCK more often which will help with bile production but also may produce anxiety. Bile acts as a slight laxative and many people with "mold sensitivity" have looser bowels initially, replaced by constipation sometimes later on. It may be related to excess bile creation and release initially, followed by not enough later in a more chronic stage although this is just conjecture on my part. Click here for an in-depth article on bile.

Heavy metal toxicity can lead to depletion of glutathione and lack of enough glutathione for glutathione conjugation. Heavy metals should be check for. A standard urine test for heavy metals, followed by a provocative urine challange test can give an indication of heavy metals in tissue. Removal of heavy metals is necessary for a person to have a fully functioning biotransformation system including glutathione conjugation ability.

Bile acid binders and mycotoxin binders can be used to remove mycotoxins in food as well as mycotoxins that are being recircualted in the enterohepatic circulation.

NRF2 activation

We need NRF2 to upregulate our detox in our cells. The mitochondria create oxidative stress as a byproduct when they work. It downregulates the mitochondria as it builds. NRF2 is needed to deal with oxidative stress.  Luckily, it is usually turned on by oxidative stress. When we have a chronic inflammatory condition and chronic oxidative stress it does not work as well. You will notice many of the things that help to bring NRF2 back on line in a healthy manner are also anti-inflammatory.

NRF2 activation increases Phase II biortransformation, as well as production of glutathione, which have been shown to be used for removal of various mycotoxins. Consider using supplements and foods that have been shown to activate Nrf2.

• Vitamin C - small doses through-out day
• Curcumin found in Curcuma longa
• CBD
• Silymarin found in Silybum marianum
• Resveratrol found in Polygonum cuspidatum, grape skin and red wine, as well as some berries
• Catechins found in dark chocolate, raw Cacao - Theobroma cacao, and Green tea - Camellia sinensis
• Cinnamaldehyde from Cinnamonum spp.
• Caffeic acid in Thymus vulgaris
• Sage - Salvia officinalis
• Spearmint - Mentha spicata
• Star anise - Illicium verum
• Alpha lipoic acid
• Alpha tocopherol
• Lycopene
• Apple polyphenols (chlorogenic acid and phloridzin)
• Gingo - Ginkgo biloba
• Capsaicin from Capsicum spp.
• Hydroxytyrosol from olives
• Allyl sulfides from Garlic - Allium sativum
• Chlorohyllin from chlorophyll Xanthohumols from Hops - Humulus lupulus

One of the strongest activators of NRF2 has been found to be the isothiocyanate called sulforaphane which is derived from the Brassicaseae family plants such as broccoli as well as plants such as Wasabi - Wasabi japonica, and the common radish.

Most people with mold related illness, or CIRS due to water-damaged buildings will have excessive inflammation in the body and they initially need to focus on damage caused by it as well as quenching it. Many of the things they would do to decrease the inflammation are supportive of removing mycotoxins. You will find some more details about healing from inflammation here.

We need to be more aware of mycotoxins in our food also. People in 1st world countries think their food is safe from mycotoxins but this is not true. Not only is there very little testing for known mycotoxins, there are masked mycotoxins that we can't test for. Additionally, the change in the worlds climate has caused an increase of mycotoxins on food. Governments make the decision to allow higher levels of mycotoxins in food to keep people from starving, and while this is only an issue in third world countries currently, it could easily become an issue everywhere as the climate changes and as we populate the people with an ever increasing amount of humans.

I could continue to go on theorizing on why any particular person might not get better, but ultimately the practitioner and the patient need to put their detective hats on, and come up with ideas as to how each individual person may still be exposed to mycotoxins, or other toxins, as well as come up with other ideas of additionaly factors that may be causing them to continue being ill. There are many different factors that can present similarly as a health condition. Take on the challange, and don't give up. Eventually, you will figure it out.

 

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