mold and lupus

[Guest guest]

I just wanted to share this with you. Kelly Miller had lupus symptoms that went away when she moved out of a house that contained mold. The first letter is my response to her letter. These are found in a women's mold exposure group at .

 

Kel

 

 

HI, my name is Kelly too but I will sign my posts as KC. You guys have been fighting a good fight here. We moved into a house last year that is swimming with molds and monetarily we are unable to move out now. It is a large house with a large lawn that is taking up our money and time. I had lupus before I moved in here and the candida symptoms and allergy symptoms certainly got worse when I moved in. Even the bowel symptoms. How do I get money so I can move out? I have no idea. This house is situated on land that is ultra moist in PA.

 

I hope you don't mind but I am going to share some of your info with my lupus and natural healing group. I believe that lupus can be eliminated or toned way down by eliminating exposure to certain things and by changing diet. You have written somewhat of a testimony to that effect in the last line of your letter.

 

You have a great group here!

 

Kel (KC)Kelly Miller <ebayaddict31 wrote:

 

 

 

 

 

Carla, hives were my first reaction to my moldy home. It was instantaneous, as soon as I took possession, and that was 6 years ago. Toxic mold was not an issue at that time like it has come to the forefront in the past couple of years, so I continued to live in my house for 5 more years until I actually SAW the mold and the pieces of the puzzle started to come together.

 

I was a workaholic, typically 70+ hours a week, so I was out of the house more than I was in. It was only when I got so sick that the doctor insisted I go on short-term that I got sicker and sicker, i.e. as I was in the mold 24/7 at that point. Lupus was what was suspected and what they were treating me for, despite the fact that they couldn't diagnose that.

 

 

Long story short, when I actually SAW the mold eating through my wallpaper (which had been primed with 3 coats of Kilz prior to hanging) that I started to investigate mold and then everything came together.

 

By that time, my indoor stachy reading was something like 60 MILLION spores as opposed to 100 spores outside. Within that same month, my kitten died and my Yorkie nearly died a week later - both bacterial infections in their bowels.

 

We got the he!! outta dodge and haven't looked back. btw, the doc says now that the lupus symptoms were a result of the molds, and cleared up once I moved out.

 

 

Kelly

 

----

 

 

ToxicMoldandWomen

07/07/04 10:56:40

ToxicMoldandWomen

[ToxicMoldandWomen] new to the group

 

Hello everyone,

 

My name is Carla, and I am soon to be 35 yrs old (this month). This

is going to be a lenghthly post, but there is just no way to shorten

it. Sorry.

 

2 year ago, I was working in a building that had some water issues

when it would rain, the toliets would flood, and run into the halls,

and the basement would flood as well. The town the building is

located in is notoriuos for flooding and water problems to begin

with, which I had no idea it would ever pose an issue for myself.

Anyway...I had worked there for about a month, and everyday after

that, I would come in, and within 45 min to an hr, I would develop

this rash, on my arms,face,cheeks, and the back of my neck. This

rash was very large raised whelts, and itched severely. This was

everyday I was there, and continued til I would leave the building,

and would begin going away about 45 min after I was out of there,

and then would start all over upon returning. Never before being

there did I ever have a problem with rashes, or anything.

 

In April 2002, I had gone into the building to work, as any other

normal work day. It was approximately 1pm, and the day was typical,

with the rash and itching, I was just getting ready to begin the

activities to wrap up the day, after lunch, when I started feeling a

very strange feeling, I felt a tingling, and a very very strange

sensation in my throat. I had no idea what was going on, but I knew

something bad was happening. I then felt a large lump in my throat,

and it felt as though I was having to swallow "over" a golfball. I

was very scared, and went to the person in charge that day, and she

looked at me and instantly said.."Oh My God" They rushed me to the

nearest clinic (I still did not know what was happening to me) and I

recieved shots of epinefrin sp? and benydryl, and was monitored for

several minutes. I then found out, that I had gone into anaphalatic

shock! Everyone around me knew of the rash, and itching everyday,

and KNEW it was happening at work, I would come in fine, then after

awhile of being there, it would start, and it became routine to go

to the person in charge in the mornigs to show my arms and face and

such, so she could see it was not there before coming in. Onward we

go.....

 

The administrator had me sent to allergy specialist's, to try to

determine the cause...I tested high for dog's, housedust, ragweed,

and MOLD. They made it clear to me that dog's, housedust, and

ragweed would not cause anaphalaxis, but mold could for sure.

Anyway...over the course of the next 2 yrs, when it would be

warm/hot, I would get a rash on my neck, and arms..(I always had

this "spot" on my neck, it was smooth, and very distinictive) and

would most always be the first place to itch. I knew it was from

the initial rash from the workplace, but NO ONE would listen to me.

I still got the rashes, although not as severe. I have had ongoing

rashes, and itching since that time period of being in that

building, and now it is summer 2004, and about 4-5 weeks ago, I was

helping my husband mow, and I was in the sun for quite some time (a

similiar situation happened last yr as well helping my dad,) and I

had finished, and went home. In no time, I had this HUGE raised

rash on my arms and several spots on my face. Very very itchy too!

After several hours, this "rash" turned into strange blister looking

things, as so did the ones on my face. Finally they "broke" and

crusted over like nothing I had ever seen (I was NOT sunburned) I

got very concerned, and went to the Dr. They had no idea what it

was, and sent me to a dermatologist, who said I have Lupus! A

biopsy was done, blood tests, that revealed I have elevated RA

levels, and then last week I had an ANA done. Those results will

not be in til tomorrow (thursday) I have seen several doctors, and

they all "believe" I have Lupus. The dermatologist called me a

couple of weeks ago with the biopsy results, and said.."Nothing is

concrete in this world, but everything points to Lupus" He started

me on Plaquenil immediately after I saw an eye Dr. My joints are

killing me now, my wrists, fingers, ankles, knees, and even my back.

They have prescribed vioxx for the RA.

 

What my concern is at this point....

 

Lupus is VER VERY hard to get a proper diagnosis on, is it LUPUS, or

is it something else that is still within me from that building??

Has anyone had ANYTHING like this happen before?? I admit, I have a

lawyer, and we are fighting this, and it is not a large money

situation at all, as it is so hard to prove, but it is MORE just for

the fact..What was I exposed to??? If anyone has anything that they

can tell me, I would love to hear from you. Could whatever I was

exposed to have caused this, and it just finally became more and

more severe??? My doctors that are treating me now really dont want

to speculate about what happened to me "then" I am sure it is for

insurance reasons, although they dont say that, they just try to

avoid answering any questions I have about "back then" If anyone

can sheld some light, please let me know....

 

Sorry this was so long, but like I said...really no way to avoid it

to give the best details.

 

 

Carla