(Last updated April 2023.) Here are the 30-odd conditions and annoyances that I and a few guest authors have attempted to solve over the past decades with nutritional therapy and other non-prescription treatments.
A few notes first:
- Notes in italics are included for those entries which do not have posts yet, or if I am behind in updating the linked post to my current status.
- Most issues have been resolved to a great extent. The ones I have had no success with are eye floaters, disappointing fingernails, tinnitus, and the failure of the world to recognize my true genius. The post on geographic tongue, by a guest author, also does not have a firm resolution.
- Many of the earlier posts focus on nutritional therapy. Here are some definitions of supplements and nutritional therapy.
- I did not have all of these issues at the same time, and some of them just made fleeting appearances now and again. Shoddy housing and lack of sun definitely played a part in some of the issues.
The afflictions, in alphabetical order
A – B
- abdominal pain
- adult acne
- anxiety: This improved freakishly with vagus nerve stimulation exercises, and even more with Peter Levine’s “Somatic Experiencing” exercises and, I am very sad to say, quitting chocolate. Also avoiding caffeine, obviously. Not so obvious: Transcendental Meditation made it A LOT WORSE. No lie.
- appetite, lousy
- arthritis, mild (Guest Author!)
- brain fog/difficulty concentrating
- breathing, suppressed, but not technically asthma This improved a lot when I started doing vagus nerve stimulation exercises, but I still have to avoid a lot of foods. I also was taught how to breathe differently by a Somatic Experiencing practitioner. That thing about belly breathing is a bunch of hooey.
C – F
- carpal tunnel syndrome
- cravings, maddening — aka compulsive eating
- depression: read about my depression or about Guest Author Dave’s
- digestion, lousy
- eye floaters
- failure of world to recognize my true genius
- fatigue, perpetual but not officially “Chronic”
- fingernails, weak and sad
G – I
- gallbladder obstreperousness (Guest Author!)
- geographic tongue (Guest Author!)
- hair loss/hair thinning (the hair loss part)
- headaches and migraines
- hearing, oversensitive
- hypoglycemia
- hypothyroidism
- insomnia, extreme
- iron levels, extremely low but with only occasional mild anemia, along with intolerance to iron supplements: Iron levels improved quickly with beef spleen supplements after two years of mold avoidance.
J – Z
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The content on this page or post was originally published on June 2, 2011 and updated on October 22, 2020, March 30, 2023, and April 19, 2023.
Hi!!
Just back to see how things were going. I’m working and reworking lots of issues. Anyhoo, after much research on mold issues ive.come across many “cured” by daily bentonite (liquid) or digesting various edible clays. I haven’t tried them yet, but apparently one can tell right away.and works by binding up and carrying out mold and their toxins. I became interested in clays after ingesting diatomaceous earth and noticing various health benefits one being stronger nails, whiter teeth and less hypoglycemia. Alas, I think it may interfere with my sleep so I went in search of other clays. Diatomaceous earth is also used as antiparasite and can contribute minerals primarily silica. After I quit diatomaceous earth I started taking silica in homepathic form and find it also hardens nails.
Hope this finds you well!
Ing! Good to hear from you again. I did indeed use bentonite clay, mixed with psyllium powder, twice a day for the first year of my escape-from-mold experiment, with good, almost comical, results. Let’s just say it was very obviously working for the first four months.
Other binders I’ve heard used by experienced mold avoiders, but never tried myself, are Arabinex (arabinogalactan) and PectaSol-C modified citrus pectin. Ritchie Shoemaker doctors recommend the cholesterol drug cholestyramine powder for patients exposed to Stachybotrys. I paid $400 for it and found it unbearable, but for some it’s a miracle.
I have come to believe that you cannot recover from mold poisoning if you are still exposed to it, by the way. I think that explains why, when I was still living and working in shoddy buildings, some experiments would work like gangbusters for a month or so and then … nothing.
I was curious to try diatomaceous earth but the way it is described as shredding cell walls scared me. Your experience has me intrigued. Anything for decent nails. I might start with the homeopathic silica.
Thanks for checking in!
You have EDS. Just kidding. I diagnose everyone with it, because I want more EDS buddies. But seriously… We have all the same symptoms. EDS, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, anemia, POTS, and horrifically bad nails.
I am so tired of the bad nails. I just want nice nails. Why can’t I have nice nails? The universe is cruel.
I understand the need for the company of fellow sufferers. I finally out of desperation reached out to online support groups who had the most similar symptoms to mine, which is chronic fatigue. I found a group that didn’t require an official diagnosis to join and discovered that more than a few of the members had done the same thing I had. I’ve concluded that there’s an epidemic of sick people out there but it’s kept quiet by giving it a ton of different diagnoses, or just not giving a diagnosis at all, and by painting the people who continue to search for a diagnosis in unflattering terms.
Cheers!
It is quite possible that at one point you were exposed to mold, and fungal colonies have taken over your system. Fungal infections are a silent epidemic in this country. I am a victim who has symptoms very similar to yours. Normally I am anti-meds, but this disease almost always requires antifungals.
I’ve investigated that twice over the past 15 years but it didn’t seem to be the problem. I agree that there is something amiss above and beyond nutritional deficiencies.
Correction! I just read Mold Warriors and I do not remember ever getting tests like the ones Shoemaker describes. I’ll be investigating that this week. Thanks for the comment.
Update 1/2016: I have had a lot of success over the past 7 months with the mold toxicity (mycotoxin) angle. Had to throw almost everything I own and wear away and move house. But I started sleeping much better a week after moving.
Thanks for all your information!
About me – 43 yo, menopausal since age 37, failing health since age 25, walking around in a 90 yo body & mind from poor lifestyle, nutrition & uneducated choices. Slowly improving with extreme nutrition, supplementation & lots of mistakes along the way. The only Rx I am on is a compounded bio-identical hormone cocktail. In 2006, I was taking upwards of thirty prescriptions to the tune of $42K charged to my ‘healthcare’ plan at work. Now, nine years later, I cost my company $ 980 in 2014 for an ER visit due to a collapsed lung & chest tube placement.
Eyes: MUCH improved (DISAPPEARING drusen & macular REgeneration) with BetaCarotine (50K iu), Lutein (80+mg) and Xeaxanthin daily. I was almost blind & now I still drive & work on excel spreadsheets all day.
Tinnitus MUCH improved (went from daily to once a week or so) DELETING all sugars except one piece of fruit per day and absolutely NO sugar substitutes of any kind including sugar alcohols, pink blue & yellow packets, honey, agave, dried fruit and juices. AND acupuncture for stress AND asleep by 10pm without waking until after 7am- minimum 9 hrs sleep straight thru. Returns as soon as I eat cake, donuts, bananas, pizza etc.
Insomnia is ONLY present now for me when I make myself stay awake after 10pm, eat after 7pm, have ANY caffeine and yes, even a TBSP is too much, ingest sugars or sugar substitutes, ingest any ‘diet’ ‘sugar-free’ ‘fat-free’ and/or otherwise junk-health foods, OR work more than 12 hrs in one shift
When I fulfill my daily purpose of serving my Maker, I don’t care if anyone recognizes my genius because I already know I’m a miracle walking
Thank you for the info, and congratulations on turning your health around.