Not Just Mold Toxicity
As mold toxicity becomes more and more recognized as a legitimate medical malady, more and more providers are trying to treat it- with some success. We are thankful for this recognition and the fact that more sufferers are being freed from their prison of an invisible diagnosis, but I have some words of wisdom for the providers and receivers of that mold detox care. While some with mold toxicity only have mold toxicity and will improve with a standard detox protocol and avoiding mold, there are many who suffer from mold’s friends and copycats. These patients will only recover partially with mold detox and need more than the standard protocol. Beyond those aspects of excellent mold detox care, I add a few closing thoughts to what patient care should look like for mold toxic patient.
Without going into an exhaustive list of mold’s friends and copycats- I’ve written other articles on the topic-, I will offer enough examples that my words of wisdom are taken seriously. Consider EBV, the viral cause of mono, and its friendship with mold. I would consider this virus and yeast overgrowth to be two of the most common mold-friends. When some mold toxins disrupt our immune system’s ability to keep this virus in check, EBV slowly begins to replicate, building and building until it amplifies or at least adds to mold’s symptoms. As good friends often do, the behaviors of EBV and mold toxicity often overlap in terms of symptoms. EBV can add to the fatigue and overall achiness of mold toxicity besides hitting the sufferer with waxing and waning viral symptoms like swollen lymph nodes and brain fog.
While there is some truth that treating mold can improve the symptoms and activity of EBV, often more is needed. Even after mold toxicity is dealt with, most need some EBV therapy as well. For the new providers to the mold detox world, lack of EBV awareness might lead them to keep pushing on detox or possibly blaming the patient when in reality, the suffering patient may just need more than mold detox. Several other so-called friends of mold could be substituted into this same scenario. Seeing a provider familiar with more than mold will lessen the risk of missing these secondary diagnoses and thus a better chance of recovery.
Mold doesn’t just have friends; it has copycats, other infections and toxins whose symptoms can look just like mold toxicity. For the one-track-approach providers who see mold everywhere without checking for other copycat root causes, they may not see what is really going on in their patients. A systematic history, physical, and targeted lab evaluation can avoid this pitfall early on. Then ongoing monitoring of a patient’s progress can pick up subtle signs and clues that a patient is dealing with “more than mold” during the detox course.
Obviously, many other factors go into excellent functional medical care in general beyond these factors, but I will close with this foundational additional wisdom. Even when the provider knows the facts of mold and its friends or copycats, having a provider you can trust is critical. That kind of trust requires quality time with a provider just like a child needs quality time with a parent. Quick visits solely over the internet are not optimal, though sometimes that’s the only option available.
Helping our patients restore healthier, more abundant lives takes longer visits starting with a lengthy in-person visit where we learn not only your medical condition but also your desires and preferences, your goals and how to best communicate with you as a unique individual. With that start, we can then apply our years of experience in caring for mold toxic patients, for patients with more than mold, and for patients with mold copycats to the best of our ability until we see smiles and lives restored.
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Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more… offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
Dr. Eric Potter graduated from Vanderbilt Medical School and then went on to specialize in internal medicine (adult) and pediatric care, spending significant time and effort in growing his medical understanding while caring for patients from all walks of life.
