May 24, 2018, is a day I’ll never forget. That morning, I woke up with hives spread across my entire body, a distended belly that felt pregnant, overwhelming gas, and explosive diarrhea. At the time, it seemed to strike without warning, but in hindsight, I realize the signs had been stacking up for a long time.
The next few years, I would get married and live as a family with years of unexplained symptoms and declining health. Not much of a honeymoon!
Well, we are now finally getting somewhere!
I think most would do the same thing; It’s become a FULL-TIME job, trying to navigate the WHAT IS THIS and WHY IS THIS? My faith in Jesus and my hope in HIM has ONLY grown with all of this and the fruit has shown in various places (my family growing closer to Jesus, my husband and I becoming closer, and my daughter’s compassion for others to name a few). But, the amount of TIME AND MENTAL energy I have spent on this is truly would span (it feels like a lifetime). Same would say I’m obsessed, but when you want your life back, you care about a SOLE thing. Remember:
The healthy man wants for many things
The sick man longs for only one
When you have tried everything, yet your body doesn’t seem to be getting better, you must dig deeper. For example, my brother had debilitating symptoms for seven years, yet nothing was showing up on blood tests that would suggest how sick he felt. He later found out he had Lyme disease! I had this same issue, but I knew it wasn’t Lyme!! I have felt CRAZY since I didn’t look “that sick” on blood tests, but other markers showed otherwise. More on this later.
ENTER MOLD MYCOTOXIN TEST: About 2 years ago, I tested high for two toxins. We blew it off since I was kind of “out there” as to conventional medicine. However, I have been getting worse and worse. Just this past week, I just had another mycotoxin test. I scored VERY HIGH for the same plus one more. They haven’t gotten better but have progressively grown. Here are two of them.
1. Ochratoxin A (OTA)
– Produced by: Aspergillus ochraceus, Penicillium verrucosum
– Common exposure sources:
• Water-damaged buildings (especially in dust and HVAC systems)
• Contaminated foods: coffee, wine, dried fruit, grains, nuts, spices
• Porous materials like books, cardboard, upholstered furniture
– It can remain stored in fat tissue for years and recirculate if not detoxed properly.
2. Gliotoxin
– Produced by: Aspergillus fumigatus and sometimes Candida albicans
– Common exposure sources:
• Moldy environments (ducts, insulation, behind walls)
• Inhalation of airborne spores
• Overgrowth of Candida in the gut (especially with past SIBO or yeast issues)
– Suppresses immunity, worsens oxidative stress, and is linked with elevated eosinophils.
OK, so what!? Well, the levels of toxins (especially the ones that just showed in my test) explain:
- Chronic fatigue
- Sleep fragmentation
- Muscle weakness
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Dysregulated nervous system (feeling activated or wired but tired)
- Histamine reactivity
- Gut motility issues
- Regurgitation and reflux-like symptoms
- Temperature dysregulation (feeling hot/cold without a fever)
And each one of these I have felt to the max. You know what this means? We’ve spent $$$$ on supplements, Rx’s, and doctors to help all these individual symptoms. That means LOTS of different doctors who don’t really communicate …and lots of meds/supps that possibly interact.
THE STATE OF HEALTHCARE TODAY!! (and why it’s a TRAZILLION$$ industry)
Toxins like mycotoxins and other environmental contaminants directly damage mitochondria (one’s body’s energy factories), cause inflammation, and dysregulate the immune system. My symptoms have textbook overlap with what mold, citrinin, and other mycotoxins can do when they’ve built up for years.
I have not been crazy: I am not broken. My body has been fighting an invisible war.
But wait! Don’t all people have some type of MOLD or TOXIN???
YES! A lot of people have some mold exposure, yet not everyone crashes the way I have.
Here’s why I have felt so much sicker and why my situation is very real and makes perfect sense once I now see it clearly:
- The perfect storm of mold exposure + vulnerability (probably from my years of being so underweight!)
- Long-term exposure: Perhaps from various living spaces before this one (my mom’s, my old condo that flooded even if it wasn’t visible)
- Cumulative burden: Mold toxins don’t just go away when I moved out. They bioaccumulate inside my fat cells, brain tissue, nerves, and even inside my mitochondria.
- Every year I live somewhere, I add more onto my already stressed body .
- Not everyone’s detox system is the same.
Some people can naturally clear small exposures.
Some people (like me) cannot detox mold efficiently because of genetics, immune function, or overwhelmed pathways.
This brings me to this: I took a DNA test five years ago (I was curious!). Yet, I never had it interpreted so I just had these hieroglyphics of information sitting in a cobwebby desktop folder.
It was for THIS moment to understand.
Well, I learned this:
Here is why I might struggle more:
HLA-DR Gene Variants: About 25-30% of people (me) have a genetic inability to clear mold. Their immune system doesn’t tag the toxins properly, so the mold toxins stay stuck inside the body.
Glutathione depletion: Mold burns through your natural antioxidants (like glutathione). When you run low, you cannot clean up damage anymore.
Mitochondria damage: Mold injures the mitochondria directly so your cells cannot make enough energy, even if you’re eating and sleeping.
Autoimmune activation: Mold toxins can turn on autoimmune pathways, which create additional fatigue, pain, histamine problems, etc.
So two people can live in the same moldy house and one can seem fine while the other slowly crumbles.
My toxin levels were really high compared to functional health norms.
From my toxin test (and the previous history of my old mycotoxin test too, like that DHC/Citrinin level of 36.35), I am way over what would be considered abnormal body burden in a healthy detoxing person.
(And that’s even with me being super disciplined …imagine if I wasn’t!)
My DNA makes me highly sensitive to toxins, stress, and immune dysfunction, which — when combined with real-world hits like mold exposure — pushed my body into exhaustion, inflammation, nausea, and autoimmunity.
Here is a flow chart of what I have learned:
Mold Exposure or Toxin Load
↓
GSTM1/GSTT1 Deletion → Poor Toxin Clearance
↓
Glutathione Depletion (Also worsened by MTHFR mutation)
↓
Oxidative Stress (SOD2 Weakness)
↓
Mitochondrial Dysfunction (Energy Factories Burn Out)
↓
Fatigue, Muscle Weakness, Brain Fog, Nausea
↓
Histamine Overload (DAO Impairment + COMT Slowdown)
↓
Nausea, Migraines, Regurgitation, Skin Flares
↓
Immune System Over-Activation (VDR + HLA Sensitivities)
↓
Autoimmunity, EoE, Inflammation, Emotional Sensitivity
These genes made my body susceptible
- MTHFR Mutation
- GSTM1/GSTT1 Deletion
- SOD2 Mutation
- COMT Slow
- HLA-DR Mold Susceptibility
- DAO Impairment
- VDR SNP
- NOS3 SNP
Then these core problems caused by the genes
- Poor Methylation (Detox Impaired)
- Glutathione System Weak
- Oxidative Stress Build-Up
- Slow Breakdown of Stress Hormones
- Mold Toxins Get “Stuck”
- High Histamine Levels
- Low Vitamin D Response
- Poor Blood Vessel/Nitric Oxide Support
They get exacerbated
- Mold Exposure (past home, flood history)
- Chemical Exposure
- Food Sensitivities (histamine-rich foods)
- Stress Events
Body’s Response to Overload
- Mitochondrial Dysfunction
- Immune Dysregulation
- Nervous System Overactivation
Symptoms I Experience
- Chronic Fatigue
- Muscle Weakness
- Nausea and Regurgitation
- Histamine Intolerance (rashes, GI upset)
- Brain Fog, Mood Swings
- Autoimmune Flare (EoE)
- Cold Sensitivity, Poor Recovery
I had a depleted system from the start, but no roadmap to see it.
BEHIND THE SCENES FOR YEARS: My labs and tests over the years tried to tell the story in pieces: (I PRAYED FOR WISDOM AND CLARITY!!)
– Depleted glutathione levels
– High toxic burdens (mycotoxins like Ochratoxin A and Gliotoxin)
– Low thyroid function
– Elevated autoimmune markers (ANA positive, anti-cardiolipin antibodies)
– Gut inflammation and permeability
– Histamine sensitivity
Still, for the longest time, I didn’t see the genesis. I only saw the symptoms—and fought each one in isolation. One day my thyroid, the next my gut, the next my histamines. It felt endless. Discouragement seeped deeper each year as every attempt to “fix” something triggered something else.
This is why everything “triggered” me. My body wasn’t fragile by nature—it was overwhelmed by toxic load, mitochondrial collapse, and immune system paralysis. I wasn’t weak. I was fighting a war with no weapons.
Every food, every breath, every movement felt like a risk. Anything even slightly “off” could trigger a cascade of misery. I wasn’t just sensitive; I was fragile. I was terrified to live fully because it seemed my body could not handle life itself.
This was especially devastating because I used to be an athlete. I loved movement. I loved pushing myself. And now? Even walking could leave me depleted for days. Vacations became battlegrounds. Friendships drifted. Ministry opportunities slipped away. My marriage, my relationship with my mom, and—most painfully—precious moments with my daughter—all dimmed under the heavy fog of “trying to survive.”
But today, I see it differently.
Today, I understand that my body was *screaming* for help all along—not sabotaging me. It wasn’t random. It was a slow, logical breakdown from a body that was overburdened, under protected, and misunderstood.
Today, I’m beginning to *understand* my symptoms. They are not enemies to silence. They are messengers I can finally listen to. And slowly, with God’s mercy, scientific clarity, and a fierce will to fight for the life I long for, I’m stepping out of the “triggered” state and into the healing story God has always had for me.
This isn’t the end. It’s the middle.
And I’m finally seeing the light.
HERE IS MY Healing Roadmap
- Kill the toxins: Biocidin
- Support Detox: Glutathione, binders (GI Detox, Chlorella), gentle infrared sauna
- Protect Mitochondria: CoQ10, NAD+, phospholipids
- Clear Histamine: DAO enzyme, low-histamine diet, quercetin, Zyrtec.
- Strengthen Antioxidant Defense: Vitamin C, ALA
- Support Methylation: Methylfolate, B12, B6.
- Calm Immune System: Vitamin D, gut healing, gentle anti-inflammatories.
- Balance Nervous System: L-theanine, magnesium, prayer
- Remove Environmental Triggers: Air filters, clean water, mold-free environment.
- Gentle Rebuilding: Muscle work, slow reintroduction of foods, patience, prayer, walking
My DNA is not my destiny — it simply shows me the areas I need extra support.
I am rebuilding my strength daily with God’s help, wisdom, and persistence. Being triggered isn’t the enemy. It’s the beginning of understanding, of rebuilding, of becoming whole again.
(and get that lighthearted-silliness back in my life!)
