Mold-what are the consequences?

[justinekno]

Any suggestions on a brand/model of a good air purifier? Maybe that can be my husband's Father's Day present

 

A high end HEPA air purifier in the most lived spaces/rooms in the house.

www.mycometrics.com is a great website for mold inspection, remediation etc.

Jodie

[justinekno]

I think that congrats goes to juliafaith! Hopefully we will be there soon

 

Justine, so glad to hear that your son's energy is coming back! That is awesome news.

[MichaelTampa]

We just discovered a few weeks ago that there have been multiple leaks under our kitchen sink & a black mold is growing on/in the cabinet's pressed wood (at least it doesn't have that greenish-black look of the classic kind of toxic mold - as you can tell, I'm trying to cling to what comfort I can manufacture).

 

We are worn out & nearly broke. How can we clean up the mold in the house if it's already a wreck?

I know we need to get a mold remediation company in here, but the house is a mess as I have been "triaging" our family's various problems for about a decade now - since we moved in to this new house.

 

(Currently: My DH just got his hours cut AGAIN by another 3 so that his once 42 hr wk is now down to 34. And we just had to replace our computer's hard drive, had to have our dryer repaired yesterday, & now the mbath toilet is making jackhammer noises every time we flush that we can't get to stop no matter what we replace, so we're going to have to pay for a plumber on top of the possibility of having to pay for 2 IVIG treatments. And the things that have helped my ds19 the most - taekwon do lessons & the lomatium herb - we're not even sure if we can afford to keep doing)

 

Anyway, sorry, my brain is hyperventilating over here. What do y'all think would be the best thing to do? I'm thinking go ahead & fast track a clean up job on the house as if we were moving & then get a remediation co. in here to advise. We've lived with the mold obliviously for who knows how long at this point, could a few more weeks to a month be that much worse?

 

(Though I am asking this even as another stomach bug(?) has hit my ds8, who just threw up, and half of us are feeling nauseous. I have never felt so overwhelmed & helpless as I do now.)

 

 

We have also been slowly tackling long-standing mold issues in our home. There is only so much we can do at a time, with time and money being limited resources for us as well. I remember being told on a yahoo group to move out immediately because the mold can be so toxic. But I also felt, gosh, these have been long-standing problems, my health continues to improve with other treatment, so decided to just stay in the house and do it as we can. In these situations it seems to me some key things to keep in mind are, is health at least hanging steady or improving, and, to be careful of increased exposure during the remediation--that can be a dangerous time.

[GraceUnderPressure]

We just discovered a few weeks ago that there have been multiple leaks under our kitchen sink & a black mold is growing on/in the cabinet's pressed wood (at least it doesn't have that greenish-black look of the classic kind of toxic mold - as you can tell, I'm trying to cling to what comfort I can manufacture).

 

We are worn out & nearly broke. How can we clean up the mold in the house if it's already a wreck?

I know we need to get a mold remediation company in here, but the house is a mess as I have been "triaging" our family's various problems for about a decade now - since we moved in to this new house.

 

(Currently: My DH just got his hours cut AGAIN by another 3 so that his once 42 hr wk is now down to 34. And we just had to replace our computer's hard drive, had to have our dryer repaired yesterday, & now the mbath toilet is making jackhammer noises every time we flush that we can't get to stop no matter what we replace, so we're going to have to pay for a plumber on top of the possibility of having to pay for 2 IVIG treatments. And the things that have helped my ds19 the most - taekwon do lessons & the lomatium herb - we're not even sure if we can afford to keep doing)

 

Anyway, sorry, my brain is hyperventilating over here. What do y'all think would be the best thing to do? I'm thinking go ahead & fast track a clean up job on the house as if we were moving & then get a remediation co. in here to advise. We've lived with the mold obliviously for who knows how long at this point, could a few more weeks to a month be that much worse?

 

(Though I am asking this even as another stomach bug(?) has hit my ds8, who just threw up, and half of us are feeling nauseous. I have never felt so overwhelmed & helpless as I do now.)

 

 

We have also been slowly tackling long-standing mold issues in our home. There is only so much we can do at a time, with time and money being limited resources for us as well. I remember being told on a yahoo group to move out immediately because the mold can be so toxic. But I also felt, gosh, these have been long-standing problems, my health continues to improve with other treatment, so decided to just stay in the house and do it as we can. In these situations it seems to me some key things to keep in mind are, is health at least hanging steady or improving, and, to be careful of increased exposure during the remediation--that can be a dangerous time.

Thanks, Michael! That seems rational. It also turns out that one of the girls in my kids' tae kwon do class was throwing up last Wed so we may have actually caught another gut bug after all. (Never thought I'd be praying for a stomach bug!) Last night I began feeling nauseous & this am one of my other boys complained of the same. The symptoms have been building up for days & is lingering though which is not like any stomach bug we've ever had before. I thought I would just wait for it to pass, but now I'm thinking maybe we should be doing something - but what? Is it possible we are experiencing a combination of both mold exposure AND a stomach bug at the same time?

[JuliaFaith]

We just discovered a few weeks ago that there have been multiple leaks under our kitchen sink & a black mold is growing on/in the cabinet's pressed wood (at least it doesn't have that greenish-black look of the classic kind of toxic mold - as you can tell, I'm trying to cling to what comfort I can manufacture).

 

I'm thinking maybe we should be doing something - but what? Is it possible we are experiencing a combination of both mold exposure AND a stomach bug at the same time?

On the mold itself: The first thing I would do is cover the mold area (as much as possible) with plastic and tape it completely around the edges. At Home Depot we found a pretty inert spray to seal in mold until you can remove it (before enclosing it). It seems like you have to apply it weekly (MoldControl - by concrobium)

 

Healthwise: Two things we are doing while looking for mold and remodeling is the air filter (blueair - bought from Costco) and a propolis vaporizer in the two rooms my ds spends the most time in. In addition, we are using Matrix Microbes (BioPure) which you mix with water and spray into the air wherever you think mold spores may be as needed. When my son went in the bathroom to take a bath, I would spray it in there since we had not remodeled in there yet (have since found mold in there as well!).

 

We are in the middle of all of this right now and it does seem overwhelming! After cleaning/remodeling the house, we were instructed to do the ERMI DNA test again to see how it comes out and to see if we can stay in our house. We are also thinking that a HEPA filter added onto our current heating system may be in the near future (we only have an electrostatic one now). Oh, and just read on Dr. Shoemaker's newsletter today that they are trying to develop an inexpensive 'wand' that can be used to indicate mold or not. Sounds like one of those pregnancy tests. Will be looking for that in case we have to look for a new home in the future. Although, in our neck of the woods (PNW) it seems that to find a house with no mold would be a miracle!

[Familyof5]

I think that congrats goes to juliafaith! Hopefully we will be there soon

 

Justine, so glad to hear that your son's energy is coming back! That is awesome news.

oops, you are right, that is what I meant!

[Familyof5]

We just discovered a few weeks ago that there have been multiple leaks under our kitchen sink & a black mold is growing on/in the cabinet's pressed wood (at least it doesn't have that greenish-black look of the classic kind of toxic mold - as you can tell, I'm trying to cling to what comfort I can manufacture).

 

We are worn out & nearly broke. How can we clean up the mold in the house if it's already a wreck?

I know we need to get a mold remediation company in here, but the house is a mess as I have been "triaging" our family's various problems for about a decade now - since we moved in to this new house.

 

(Currently: My DH just got his hours cut AGAIN by another 3 so that his once 42 hr wk is now down to 34. And we just had to replace our computer's hard drive, had to have our dryer repaired yesterday, & now the mbath toilet is making jackhammer noises every time we flush that we can't get to stop no matter what we replace, so we're going to have to pay for a plumber on top of the possibility of having to pay for 2 IVIG treatments. And the things that have helped my ds19 the most - taekwon do lessons & the lomatium herb - we're not even sure if we can afford to keep doing)

 

Anyway, sorry, my brain is hyperventilating over here. What do y'all think would be the best thing to do? I'm thinking go ahead & fast track a clean up job on the house as if we were moving & then get a remediation co. in here to advise. We've lived with the mold obliviously for who knows how long at this point, could a few more weeks to a month be that much worse?

 

(Though I am asking this even as another stomach bug(?) has hit my ds8, who just threw up, and half of us are feeling nauseous. I have never felt so overwhelmed & helpless as I do now.)

 

 

We have also been slowly tackling long-standing mold issues in our home. There is only so much we can do at a time, with time and money being limited resources for us as well. I remember being told on a yahoo group to move out immediately because the mold can be so toxic. But I also felt, gosh, these have been long-standing problems, my health continues to improve with other treatment, so decided to just stay in the house and do it as we can. In these situations it seems to me some key things to keep in mind are, is health at least hanging steady or improving, and, to be careful of increased exposure during the remediation--that can be a dangerous time.

Thanks, Michael! That seems rational. It also turns out that one of the girls in my kids' tae kwon do class was throwing up last Wed so we may have actually caught another gut bug after all. (Never thought I'd be praying for a stomach bug!) Last night I began feeling nauseous & this am one of my other boys complained of the same. The symptoms have been building up for days & is lingering though which is not like any stomach bug we've ever had before. I thought I would just wait for it to pass, but now I'm thinking maybe we should be doing something - but what? Is it possible we are experiencing a combination of both mold exposure AND a stomach bug at the same time?

Being chronically exposed to mold will weaken your immune system so that it cannot fight off those stomach bugs, viral infections, bacterial/sinus infections, etc. that your boday was always exposed to and could handle before mold. I kid you not when I say that my children were frequent visitors to the pediatrician before we found mold as the cause of our health issues. At my daughter's well visit this year, i asked the doctor to tell me when the last time we were at the doctors....he looked through the file, looked up and smiled and said, "last year, at her well visit". I said to him, "do you realize that I haven't been in to see you for any of my kids since we moved out of the moldy home?". He basically just nodded, because he is not a firm believer that mold was the cause of my children's health issues. My youngest daughter just received the "perfect attendence" award at school---I almost dropped my coffee when I saw it. It hadn't even occurred to me that she was not sick all year long!

[justinekno]

Haha, I figured as much. Just didn't want to take take juliafaith's kudos!!

 

I think that congrats goes to juliafaith! Hopefully we will be there soon

 

Justine, so glad to hear that your son's energy is coming back! That is awesome news.

oops, you are right, that is what I meant!