Hi there,

Mold toxicity isn’t normally explored by conventional doctors and therefore often missed as a cause of chronic illness. I routinely find that many of my chronically ill patients have in fact been exposed to mold toxins, sometimes decades ago. This exposure can be from a current or past home or office. Mold toxins can trigger all sorts of unwanted symptoms. The same symptoms that plaque those with a chronic illness, like those with fibromyalgia, Long COVID, ME, and autoimmune conditions including Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Mold exposure symptoms include:

1. Fatigue and weakness

2. Headaches, light sensitivity

3. Poor memory, difficult word finding

4. Difficulty concentration

5. Morning stiffness, joint pain

6. Unusual skin sensations, tingling, and numbness

7. Shortness of breath, sinus congestion or a chronic cough

8. Appetite swings, body temperature regulation,

9. Increased urinary frequency or increased thirst

10. Red eyes, blurred vision, sweats, mood swings, sharp pains

11. Abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloating

12. Tearing, disorientation, metallic taste in your mouth

13. Static shocks

14. Vertigo, feeling lightheaded

Mold is not a plant or an animal, but a type of fungi. We eat some types of fungi, like many kinds of mushrooms and the yeast we use to make bread rise. There are hundreds of different kinds of mold found both indoors and outdoors. Mold grows in damp, dimly-lit areas.

Mold can grow and thrive in any season, indoors or outdoors, in damp, warm and humid environments. Showers, attics, basements, and damp crawlspaces are common areas where you’d find toxic mold.

Mold itself flourishes in warm, moist environments, but mold spores can actually survive in harsh, dry environments. The spores float around in indoor and outdoor air. When spores land on a moist surface, they can then start to grow.

Some molds commonly found indoors include aspergillus, chaetomium, cladosporium, penicillium, and stachybotrys (sometimes referred to as black mold, although many types of mold are black in color).

Mycotoxins are the toxic secondary metabolites produced by molds such as Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium, and Stachybotrys and are commonly encountered in water-damaged buildings and contaminated food.

Trichothecenes, fumonisins, ochratoxin, and aflatoxins are the most commonly-encountered harmful mycotoxins.

• Trichothecenes are produced by Stachybotrys and Fusarium, among other molds. They proliferate in water-damaged buildings.

• Fumonisins are produced by Fusarium, which commonly grows on corn, wheat, and other grains. Fusariumfungi are quite prevalent in temperate climate conditions.

• Ochratoxin is produced by Aspergillus and various species of Penicillium. Penicillium often grows in indoor environments on wallpaper, carpet, furniture, and fiberglass insulation. Penicillium also grows on citrus fruits and grains. The main crops contaminated with ochratoxin include grains, nuts, dried fruits, coffee, and cocoa.

• Aflatoxins are produced by Aspergillus and are thus found on a variety of foods (listed above).

Research reports that 25 percent of the world’s crops, including grains, nuts, wine, spices, and coffee, are contaminated by mycotoxins due to poor harvesting practices, improper food storage, and damp conditions during food transport and processing.

CIRS General Signs & Symptoms

Fatigue, weakness, flu-like symptoms, exhaustion, insomnia, sensitivity to environment, and possible multiple diagnoses from various doctors.

Eye/Ear/Nose/Throat Symptoms

Blurred or hazy vision, eyes sensitive to light, eyes tear easily, puffy/dark circles below the eyes, night blindness, ringing in the ears, hearing loss, dizziness, sinus/nasal congestion, nose bleeds, sensitive to odors, vocal cord polyps, nasal polyps, laryngitis or raspy voice, burning in the throat, or sore throat.

Musculoskeletal Symptoms 

Joint pain, shooting pain, ice-pick sharp pain, burning pain, stabbing pain, muscle cramps, muscle aches, muscle weakness, fleeting pain/pain that moves around, tics, spastic muscles, Charlie horses, hands curl up like a claw, toes/feet curl up, morning stiffness

Lungs/Heart SymptomsShortness of breath and tachycardia (fast heart beat) with exercise, cough, wheezing, asthma, swelling or edema, heart palpitations, heart pounds intermittently

Digestive/Liver/Urinary Symptoms Metallic taste in mouth, bile reflux, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, weight loss, weight gain, urinary frequency

Nervous/Endocrine/Immune Symptoms

Insomnia, headache, dizziness, mental confusion, poor concentration, poor short-term memory, forgetfulness, can’t remember names or words, poor word recall, disorientation, decreased learning ability, extreme thirst, low blood pressure, poor body temperature regulation, numbness, tingling, tremors, vertigo, Parkinson’s-like symptoms, mood swings, anxiety, irritability, lack of sex drive, swollen and painful lymph nodes

Skin Symptoms

Skin is sensitive, skin is itchy, feels like bugs crawling on skin, feels like bugs stinging or biting but there is nothing there, easy bruising, Itchy pimples, skin sores, bumpy skin, thickened skin, skin peeling, burning sensations, red face, sweats – especially at night, static shocks, skin reacts to sun, even through clothing sometimes, vitiligo, cherry hemangiomas, and hives.

Extremities

Cold hands/feet, discolored hands and feet such as white and red mottling, numbness in parts of the body, e.g. foot  “goes to sleep”, tingling, hands shake, and clawing of fingers or toes.

Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired?

Dr. Murphree recently returned from an 18 months retirement. Video and telemedicine consults are now available learn more at www.yourfibrodoctor.com 

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About Dr. Murphree

Dr. Rodger Murphree is the founder and past clinic director for a large integrated medical practice located on the campus of Brookwood Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. The practice was staffed with board-certified medical doctors, chiropractors, acupuncturists, and nutritionists who combined traditional and alternative medicine. The clinic provided cutting-edge treatments for acute and chronic illnesses.

Science advisor and lecturer for Functional Medicine University.

He has specialized in difficult-to-treat patients for the last 25+ years. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) and is a board certified chiropractic physician, nutrition specialist and functional medicine expert.

Dr. Murphree has written 5 books for patients and doctors including:

• Treating and Beating Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

• Heart Disease: What Your Doctor Won't Tell You

• Treating and Beating Anxiety and Depression With Orthomolecular Medicine

• Treating and Beating Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Patient's Manual

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Note: This newsletter is for education. Do not change or stop any medication without speaking with your doctor.