Re: My story - Any advice???

Hey Keri,
my story is kind of similar to yours. I moved into a new apartment in the summer of 2008 and shortly after that I started getting sick with really weird symptoms. At first I thought I had a cold because my throat was sore and my glands were swollen. I'd wake up in the night with night sweats and had any other symptom you can possibly imagine. Anyway I finally after almost 2 years of living there a friend suggested to me whether or not it could possible be mold. I had never even thought of that before since I had no idea mold could make you sick. Anyway I had a mold test done and it did confirm elevated levels of penicillium mold in the apartment. I immediately moved out of the apartment once I found out...this was 2 years after I had moved in there.

Anyway what I didn't realise completely at the time was that I should never have taken my belongings with me...especially couches, mattress, pillows...anything porous that can't be washed and that can hold the mold spores. I moved into my new place in august of last year and immediately I started to feel a lot better. However as time passed and fall came and we closed up the windows and stuff I noticed that my symptoms started to return. Not as intense as they were at my old place but they definitely were coming back. Now here we are April, and I am still not well. I have insomnia at night, itchy skin, my eyes water all the time, I don't have any energy, and many other symptoms. I have since thrown out all my furniture that can't be wiped down and I've thrown out my mattress too. I've bought the best hepa vacuum cleaner that you can to try and vacuum up any spores that I brought with me and now that it's spring I have my windows open all the time. However things still aren't really getting any better.

I recently just returned from a month long trip to the Philippines and it took me a few weeks when I was over there to start feeling 100% again. However upon my return back home, in about 2 weeks I could gradually feel myself going back downhill which is SO unbelievably frustrating.

I am currently in the process of saving up a downpayment to buy a condo but it's going to take me about 6 months and I'm not sure I can stand living in the place for that long. I'm really hoping now with summer on the way and the windows open 24/7 that I will start to feel better but I'm not very opptimisitc. One thing for sure is that when I do buy my new condo I am bringing NOTHING with me...the risk is not worth it. I didn't beleive that bringing your belongings with you could reinfect your old place but it certainly does.

So my only advice to you is what I am trying and what I have been told to do is to get rid of any furniture that you can't wipe down such as couches, mattress, pillows, things like that. From what I've read in many forums you can wash your clothes and stuff and it should remove the spores. I haven't thrown out any clothes yet but then again I'm not sure if the washing is actually getting rid of the spores either.

It's a bit of an nightmare and I totally understand what you're going through. This happened to me when I was 29 and am now 32. I used to be in excellent shape, going to the gym 4-5 times a week and now I don't have the energy or motivation to go. I used to be so happy and would never complain...and now I am so negative all the time. The thing that gives me hope is that I know as soon as I can get out of this place and into a new place with all new stuff I start to feel better again. I just have to get through these next few months.

If you have any questions feel free to ask me and i'll try and give you any tips that I've learned along the way.
Take care and good luck!
Mark

Here's my email if you'd like to contact me that way:

markdsavoy@hotmail.com Tweet