Mold and biotoxin illness
Mold can be visible but most often is hidden in the home, behind walls, in attics, under floors and in AC units and duct work.
Mold Is a Serious Problem — and It's Being Missed
Mold is a big problem in the United States. Experts say that around 70% of homes in the U.S. have mold that could harm your health. In places like Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Petersburg, Florida, where there have been recent major hurricanes, that number may be even higher.
Even brand-new homes can have mold. Sometimes, moldy materials are used during construction, or mistakes happen that let mold grow quickly after the home is finished.
There’s a Lot of Confusing Information About Mold
Looking for info on mold on the internet can be confusing. This is seen with:
I help people cut through confusion dealing with mold.
Mold Illness Can Be Hard to Recognize
Many people have mold illness and don’t realize it. They may go from doctor to doctor trying to find out what’s wrong but don’t get any lasting help. Even some doctors who call themselves “functional medicine” practitioners might miss mold illness if they aren’t trained to recognize it. They often treat the symptoms without addressing the real cause, which goes against what functional medicine originally aimed to do.
In many cases, when someone is exposed to mold or other environmental triggers and gets sick, the diagnosis they may receive is called Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS). It’s a name that describes the body being inflamed for a long time, which causes many different symptoms that can show up in different ways in different people.
Mold affects everyone differently. In a family, one person may be very sick while another has no symptoms at all. This can cause a lot of stress and conflict at home.
There Is No Perfect Test
There isn’t one single test that can say, “Yes, you have mold illness.” Blood tests, urine tests, vision tests, muscle tests — none of them work for everyone every time.
That’s why I spend a lot of time talking with each patient and learning their story. The first appointment includes a deep look at health history, and then we decide what testing makes sense based on that.
Mold illness often shows up alongside other conditions like Lyme disease, Epstein-Barr virus, or expresses itself as Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS). But trying to treat those other things without first dealing with mold usually doesn’t work. That’s because mold weakens the immune system and makes it hard for the body to fight off other problems.
The Most Important Step: Remove Mold Exposure
No matter what else you do, the most important step is getting away from the mold. That means leaving the moldy environment.
There are treatments and things you can do to manage symptoms while trying to leave, but if you stay in a moldy place, real healing is impossible to achieve.
My Story and My Approach
I’ve been through mold illness myself. My home made me and my family sick. I made mistakes. I also learned a lot — both through personal experience and by studying with experts like Dr. Jill Crista, who specializes in mold and biotoxin illness.
I don’t follow one standard plan for everyone. While I know many ways to treat mold, I don’t treat people based only on one expert’s method. I build custom treatment plans using a wide range of tools and knowledge.
If you're looking for a doctor who uses a strict, step-by-step plan that is the same for every patient, I may not be the right fit. But if you want someone who listens and builds a plan around you, that’s what I do.
I'm also a therapist
If you are being treated by another mold doc but are in need of counseling/psychotherapy I can also see you for those services only. Mold illness is a major stress on the individual and family. Help is out there!
Mold appointments can be in-person or online if you are a resident of Florida.
Mold is a big problem in the United States. Experts say that around 70% of homes in the U.S. have mold that could harm your health. In places like Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Petersburg, Florida, where there have been recent major hurricanes, that number may be even higher.
Even brand-new homes can have mold. Sometimes, moldy materials are used during construction, or mistakes happen that let mold grow quickly after the home is finished.
There’s a Lot of Confusing Information About Mold
Looking for info on mold on the internet can be confusing. This is seen with:
- What mold can actually do to your health
- How to look for mold in a way that actually finds it
- What to do when mold is discovered
- How to help someone heal from mold illness
I help people cut through confusion dealing with mold.
Mold Illness Can Be Hard to Recognize
Many people have mold illness and don’t realize it. They may go from doctor to doctor trying to find out what’s wrong but don’t get any lasting help. Even some doctors who call themselves “functional medicine” practitioners might miss mold illness if they aren’t trained to recognize it. They often treat the symptoms without addressing the real cause, which goes against what functional medicine originally aimed to do.
In many cases, when someone is exposed to mold or other environmental triggers and gets sick, the diagnosis they may receive is called Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS). It’s a name that describes the body being inflamed for a long time, which causes many different symptoms that can show up in different ways in different people.
Mold affects everyone differently. In a family, one person may be very sick while another has no symptoms at all. This can cause a lot of stress and conflict at home.
There Is No Perfect Test
There isn’t one single test that can say, “Yes, you have mold illness.” Blood tests, urine tests, vision tests, muscle tests — none of them work for everyone every time.
That’s why I spend a lot of time talking with each patient and learning their story. The first appointment includes a deep look at health history, and then we decide what testing makes sense based on that.
Mold illness often shows up alongside other conditions like Lyme disease, Epstein-Barr virus, or expresses itself as Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS). But trying to treat those other things without first dealing with mold usually doesn’t work. That’s because mold weakens the immune system and makes it hard for the body to fight off other problems.
The Most Important Step: Remove Mold Exposure
No matter what else you do, the most important step is getting away from the mold. That means leaving the moldy environment.
There are treatments and things you can do to manage symptoms while trying to leave, but if you stay in a moldy place, real healing is impossible to achieve.
My Story and My Approach
I’ve been through mold illness myself. My home made me and my family sick. I made mistakes. I also learned a lot — both through personal experience and by studying with experts like Dr. Jill Crista, who specializes in mold and biotoxin illness.
I don’t follow one standard plan for everyone. While I know many ways to treat mold, I don’t treat people based only on one expert’s method. I build custom treatment plans using a wide range of tools and knowledge.
If you're looking for a doctor who uses a strict, step-by-step plan that is the same for every patient, I may not be the right fit. But if you want someone who listens and builds a plan around you, that’s what I do.
I'm also a therapist
If you are being treated by another mold doc but are in need of counseling/psychotherapy I can also see you for those services only. Mold illness is a major stress on the individual and family. Help is out there!
Mold appointments can be in-person or online if you are a resident of Florida.