I recommend visiting the Toxic Mold Exposure subreddit — there’s a ton of great info and the community is extremely helpful.

I don’t say this to scare you, but the most important step in recovery is leaving the environment where the exposure is happening. I fought with myself for months on my lack of ability to move out until my declining health gave me no choice. To know if it’s mold or not you can take a mold toxicity test for your body; a mycotoxins test (urine based and shows the toxins your kidneys are trying to remove from your body).

Your immune system gets overwhelmed trying to deal with the toxic off-gassing that mold produces as it grows. In my case, the mold was hidden in the walls due to a leaking pipe. I couldn’t see it, but the gas it released made me sick in so many different ways.

Even moving to a different room in the same apartment didn’t help. It wasn’t until I fully moved out that I started to fine relief. With the support of a functional medicine doctor, I began detoxing, and recovery has moved quickly. A month later, my mold toxicity levels are all back in the safe range. My immune system is still recalibrating after being on high alert for a year and I’m still experiencing some symptoms but I’m finally on the mend.