“Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) is very REAL and diagnosed by specific blood tests, vision tests, and a cluster of predictable symptoms.”

• 24% of people have the gene that makes them susceptible to CIRS (Read: That’s one quarter of the world’s population)
• The gene must be ACTIVATED FOR THE IMMUNE SYSTEM TO BE TRIGGERED

“Once the gene is activated, every exposure to a water-damaged building will make them sicker & sicker. Water-damaged buildings, however, are the cause for 80% of CIRS.” (Excerpt from the book, Mold Illness: Surviving And Thriving)

“It is estimated that well over a million people in the United States may be affected by mold toxicity in some way.” – Neil Nathan, MD

ADDITIONAL REMARKS: 

“In terms of the financial devastation that it can cause, toxic mold illness is a really terrible disease. Sometimes people who have been poisoned by the mold in their homes or workplaces find that their entire local area has become a problem for them and that they need to move to a different part of the country or world in order to recover much of their health. In many cases, inexpensive housing is too moldy for these mold-injured individuals to tolerate. Bills for medical treatments often are an additional out-of-pocket expense. And of course, many people who have been poisoned by toxic mold are too sick to work very much or at all during this particularly difficult time in their lives. While no one ever wants to have to ask others for money, this is an illness that has the potential of wiping out the finances of anyone, no matter how responsible they have been in the past and no matter how frugal they are currently being.” — Paradigmchange.me

“This crazy-making illness broke me. All human pretense was lost, and what was left was an animal crying, sobbing on the tiles beneath the showerhead, bereft of all grace, while the water washed away all denial and delusion. For more severe cases such as mine, or those not correctly diagnosed for years upon years, many CIRS-trained doctors consider this illness deeply traumatic: Your body and brain are affected, your life, career, and friendships, even your own history and identity, your material possessions and wealth, while wondering if you’ll ever find a healthy location, and all while battling an often hostile, often dismissive medical system. But all of that pales at the insidiousness of an illness that seems to target and destroy every mechanism the brain has for creating love and joy and purpose, leaving you gasping at the absence of a psychological air you had never before noticed you were breathing… In case anyone claims I exaggerate or indulge in too much self-pity: I recall patients in a support group comparing their mould illness with other ailments they had endured. For a soldier wounded with broken bones and burns over two-thirds of his body? Mould was worse. Lung cancer with part of their lung removed plus over a metre of their bowel and a major tachycardia event during the operation? Mould was worse. Scalp ripped off, five fractures in their spine, and severe vertigo for two years following a car crash? Mould still won. Traumatic brain injury, skull fracture, and even a brain hemorrhage? That was described as desirable compared to the thought of enduring CIRS again.” — Toxicmould.org

“People understand and can empathize when they hear the words cancer, pneumonia, meningitis, car accident, flooding, fire, etc…That is because these events have been widely publicized and accepted as serious and life threatening. Mold exposure and contamination has not been accepted in the same manner. The majority of doctors in mainstream medical, are not even taught about mold illness and therefore also fully do not understand how devastating mold can impact one’s health. Someone who has been exposed to mold and is taking active, often life changing steps, to heal; can be left feeling isolated and alone. Unfortunately, due to the taboo nature of mold, people will often not want to accept that mold is an issue, may not understand the severity of mold exposure or simply would rather not deal with it at all. This reality can divide marriages, friendships and have family members disengage. We want to change this, by educating and spreading awareness to the public about the truth of mold and how serious and life threatening it truly can be to those affected.” — Malachismessage.org

“Everyone deserves health. It is a social good that should not be reserved for only those who can afford it. A person cannot reach his or her potential, compete in the marketplace, or participate effectively in society if they are sickened by their living environment. It does not take much thought to see the financial, social and cultural implications of CIRS. This may be the largest, and most expensive, unrecognized public health crisis of the modern era… Overall, the clinical imperative should be to heal patients more quickly, build resiliency and resistance to future exposures, and ensure complete resolution in all tissues and organs. Unfortunately, there is currently little (read: no) extramural funding for CIRS… Additionally, we do not have nearly enough properly trained practitioners, PCPs in particular, to manage the millions of CIRS patients currently living in the US. The amount of resources required to match health services to this particular population is underfunded and grossly under-recognized by medical institutions… But we have approached the point of no return. CIRS is real. CIRS is common. It has enormous socioeconomic and health services implications that deserve its own social movement for change.” — The Future of CIRS

“How do biotoxins get into the body and why doesn’t the immune system take care of them? As mentioned, biotoxins can enter the human body through inhalation, ingestion, tick or spider bites, and direct contact with contaminated water sources. The biotoxins can cause acute illness, but for people who are genetically susceptible, they can cause lasting chronic illness. For many people, biotoxins are recognized by the immune system correctly, broken down, and removed from the body. However, genetically-susceptible people have immune systems that do not recognize the biotoxins and fail to remove them, leaving the biotoxins circulating in the body indefinitely, and causing inflammation throughout the body.” — Understanding CIRS

“Be aware that mold biotoxin illness is not the same as being allergic to mold. In mold biotoxin illness the toxins are triggering widespread inflammation and the result is that you feel terrible, just terrible. This is the same illness first described decades ago as sick building syndrome, also written off as a fad diagnosis, sufferers accused of being whiners and dismissed by physicians. Again, about 15% of employees in old office buildings reported chronic illness when they came to work. Many needed to file lawsuits to get transferred, and once out of the building and in a better environment they improved… Perhaps you’ve heard about the Chicago Blackhawks captain, his long illness, and the good news that he’s back on the ice. After saying in December that feeling drained and lethargic had kept him from playing, the three-time Stanley Cup Champion said last week that he had CIRS, chronic inflammatory response syndrome... Never heard of it? Don’t feel bad. Most conventional doctors are clueless about CIRS. The handful who are aware of it know it’s tied somehow to mold and generally write it off as a fad diagnosis, along with candida, chronic Lyme, and mercury toxicity… My sense is it’s too easy to blame Covid for causing something that’s not understood by most doctors–namely CIRS and the mold biotoxins and chronic Lyme that cause it.” — David Edelberg MD

“CIRS is a brain on fire. A dominant clinical feature of CIRS is the common cognitive complaints by patients, including memory loss, mood disorders, brain fog, loss of executive function, and fatigue. This is not a surprise considering that this is a key component of the innate immune response.” — CIRS Specialist in VA

“Studies have shown that mycotoxins can cause myelin loss, leading to symptoms similar to multiple sclerosis, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, and other demyelinating disorders. In the peripheral nervous system, loss of myelin can be to sensory nerves, motor nerves, or both. One survey of 119 patients exposed to mold and mycotoxins in whom the mycotoxin antibody test was positive in blood serum observed demyelination of nerves.” — Mold and Mycotoxin Exposure and Brain Disorders

“The brain and nervous system are common targets for mycotoxins. Exposure to molds and mycotoxins triggers inflammation in the brain, contributes to nerve damage, and causes symptoms associated with neurotoxicity…When mold colonizes in the body, it can make mycotoxins long after someone leaves a moldy environment…Recovering from mold illness requires complete healing of cells, tissues, and organs affected by mycotoxins.” — Dr. Todd Maderis

“This journey asks so much of people. You have to give up your job, your hobbies, your loves. You have to give up and grieve the changes in your abilities. There’s a huge financial burden, there is having to explain yourself to friends and family of what’s going on and trying to educate them. There’s dealing with the friends and family that don’t believe you and the friends that disappear… This illness is real and you can make progress.” — Melanie Pensak, The Heart of CIRS Podcast

“One in four Americans (adults and children) have a genetic susceptibility towards Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome. It’s vital to understand the symptoms of CIRS. Diagnosing this condition can even cause problems for professionals. The symptoms of CIRS are often misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia, ADHD, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and the list goes on. Researchers even suggest that type 3 Alzheimer’s disease is a result of CIRS and should be treated accordingly. If not properly diagnosed, the Alzheimer’s disease may be treated incorrectly.” — Dr. Jessica Jellison, MD

“The health effects of Lyme disease and of molds and their mycotoxins frequently present in the similar manner. The symptoms often overlap with other conditions, such as: Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Infectious Mononucleosis, Systemic Lupus, Alzheimer’s, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS), Rheumatoid Arthritis, Thyroiditis, Allergies, and Chemical Sensitivity.” — Andrew W. Campbell, M.D.

“Every neurodegenerative disease, from autism and multiple sclerosis to Alzheimer’s and ALS, has studies that revealed evidence of fungi in the brain. Mold toxins destroy myelin, axons, causes neurodegeneration, kills olfactory neurons, and damages our cell membranes and mitochondria.” — Suzanne K. Gazda, M.D.

“An Australian woman, Amie Skilton, has revealed how a secret mold infestation in her Sydney home led her to being diagnosed with dementia and even forgetting her own name. Mold-related afflictions are one of those conditions that not many health professionals are trained in, meaning most people end up being diagnosed with things like chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia because they have similar symptoms. Normal blood tests aren’t enough to show what is actually wrong.” — ‘Perfectly Healthy’ Woman Left With Dementia

“Mold destroyed my health. It destroyed my kids’ health. The crazy thing? We all experienced symptoms that took nine years for my youngest daughter (JJ), seven years for my oldest daughter (AJ), ten years for me, and fourteen doctors/healthcare practitioners/healers to figure out. Fatigue, joint pain, muscle aches, brain fog, seizures, dizziness, GI infections, weight gain, hair loss… AJ and I were barely functional for months… then years. AJ missed three months of school but had to go back sick so she wouldn’t flunk out. I stayed in bed most days. The doctor didn’t know what to tell us and said we could try anti-depressants. ’What’s worse? It could have been much less time’… We had a mold tester come out, a tester recommended by a friend who worked at a reputable environment agency. He visually inspected the home, took some tests, charged us a fortune, and assured us that we had no mold. HE WAS WRONG. But it took us four more years to find that out. .. As for me, I usually took 3-hour naps. I had to save trips up or down the stairs because once a day was about all I could manage. I couldn’t drive most days because I was dizzy with fatigue. My brain fog was so awful that for the first time in my life, I had trouble reading and comprehending books. My hair fell out in clumps. I didn’t sleep well. I gained about 50 pounds. (Even though I was eating Paleo and Autoimmune Protocol.) JJ’s stomach aches were bad. AJ’s body hurt, her headaches got worse, and she felt dizzy all the time. Over the next five years, I took both girls to three different pediatricians, many specialists at Children’s Hospital, and many alternative medicine practitioners. I went to a naturopath who gave me tinctures, foot baths, and sauna treatments. I went to Reiki. I drove an hour to Boulder twice a month to see an acupuncturist who gave me (disgusting) Chinese herbal teas. I went to a second naturopath. I spent month-after-month searching for answers as well as thousands of dollars on supplements and treatments that did not work. Was I crazy? What was going on in my body? Then we found a functional medicine doctor who saw all three of us. It took him nine months to put the pieces together. We all had mold toxicity. But do you know what? We did not get better even though we were on the doctor’s mold protocol. Why? Because we were still living in a toxic environment… Because that’s when we noticed that on the ceiling (in a closet that we’d never used in the basement), underneath there had been previous water damage.” — Our Mold Story

“More than 50 percent of buildings have moisture problems. In fact, a report by the Federal Facilities Council found over 40 percent of buildings they examined had current water damage, and over 80 percent had past water damage. Even in buildings without water damage, mold and other fungi and bacterium can develop when indoor humidity levels reach around 50 to 60 percent.” — Mold Illness 101

“I saw doctor after doctor – conventional, integrative, alternative – and spent thousands of dollars on initial consultations, chasing some kind of explanation. I was dismissed by many doctors as difficult or ‘sensitive’, for a man? Even my family questioned whether the ailments were ‘in my head’?… As I look back now, it’s all understandable, but at the time it made me feel like some kind of hypochondriac loon. Odors became overpowering… I experienced chills, tremors, premature ventricular contractions that felt like my heart was stopping, and rolling panic attacks, each one sending me speeding to the hospital in search of answers that never came… With a new diagnosis came new hope. I learned that the combination of Lyme and mold is particularly potent because the body loses its ability to detoxify and clear out the mold.” — One Man’s Decades-Long Struggle With Mystery Illness

“Kimberlyn, a 46-year-old married mother living in Arizona is not your average patient. She is highly detailed, analytical, logical, and carries with her a master’s degree in pattern analysis. When Kimberlyn got sick, she applied as much as she could from her work life to try to uncover what was adversely affecting her. Even so, coming to the right diagnoses took a lot of work and required outside help. Out of nowhere, Kimberlyn went from a highly-effective, busy, working mother, to a disorganized, uninvolved, confused individual who couldn’t focus long enough to put together cohesive, coherent thoughts. She was no longer able to make decisions for herself and struggled to even get dressed in the morning. Insomnia, anxiety, and a loss of appetite accompanied the confusion. ‘It was like I lost my personality,’ says Kimberlyn.  Her doctor, family, and friends told her that they thought she had depression or even bipolar disorder. Kimberlyn sought out another doctor who performed a series of tests and suggested that maybe Kimberlyn was suffering from mold illness, also known as toxic mold syndrome. Toxic mold exposure has also been linked to more serious, long-term effects like memory loss, insomnia, anxiety, depression, trouble concentrating, and confusion. In a 2003 study by the Environmental Health Center-Dallas, 100 participants were examined in an effort to uncover how toxic mold exposure can affect the brain and lead to cognitive and emotional impairments. After the mold exposure, nervous system challenges were observed in all 100 patients. Brain SPECT imaging scans also identified abnormalities in a significant portion of the patients studied.‘When my brain swelled from the mold exposure, I was getting almost no blood flow to my prefrontal cortex, to see the scans and to know that you are not bipolar, you are not depressed. To see what I knew in my own gut backed up on the scans… it’s so validating and powerful,’ said Kimberlyn.” — Toxic Mold Syndrome – Loss of Personality

“Mold allergies and mold toxicity are not the same illness. Mold allergies are due to mold spores that are inhaled and cause hay fever like symptoms. This is different than toxic mold, which is due to the volatile toxic vapors produced by mold that can cause a chronic inflammatory response, (CIRS), an auto-immune reaction caused by poor clearance of biotoxins in vulnerable individuals… Mold toxicity can manifest with so many different and diverse symptoms, that it is frequently misdiagnosed. It is likely that some cases of chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, mast cell activation disorder, histamine intolerance, irritable bowel and leaky gut, multiple sclerosis and post-treatment Lyme syndrome, which do not respond to treatment, are due to a chronic inflammatory response caused by toxic mold. Unfortunately mold toxicity is not on the radar of many practitioners, and thus they do not include it as part of the differential diagnosis… The good news is that once the diagnosis is made, this is a very teatable condition. It can take a long time because it must be done very carefully and slowly, or symptoms can be exacerbated by the treatment itself, as the mold toxins are mobilized.” — Mold Toxicity: A Common Cause of Psychiatric Symptoms

“In 2007, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information reported that 4.64 million cases of asthma in the U.S. are due to dampness and mold exposure. Other studies have found that chronic mold exposure can have a wide-ranging impact on multiple organ systems, including the respiratory and nervous system, as well as on cardiovascular and reproductive health. In fact, the health battles can last long after someone leaves a moldy environment. Across the United States, thousands of people struggle with mold growth in their homes. It is often hidden behind walls, buried under flooring or lurking in air ducts.” — Toxic Mold Dangers For Homeowners

“Mold infestations in homes can be common and multifaceted. Mold spores and their toxins can be systemically distributed via the ventilation system of a home. Large concentrations of mold can travel from crawlspaces, basements, attics, or other unfinished portions of homes. Millions of mold spores can be released into the air if disturbed during remodeling demolition. Molds can also make a home inside our bodies where they continue to reproduce. The body’s ability to metabolize toxins operates similar to a bucket overflowing once it’s filled with water. Toxic exposure over time fills your ‘bucket.’ Given that these hazards can result in a lifetime illness, large problems should be remediated by a professional with proper containment to avoid spreading the mold to other portions of the home, especially the HVAC system. DIY removal on such a large project can place you in a severe health risk situation. Any disruption to the mold during cleaning will release millions of spores and toxins into the air. If this occurs, the mold can then be distributed throughout the home via stacking effect and through the HVAC system. Simply living in such environments can lead someone to reach their toxic load quickly, causing them to have to deal with a lifetime of debilitating sensitivities when exposed to minimal amounts of mold or chemicals thereafter.“ — The Body’s Toxic Load

“Autoimmune and chronic illnesses are on the rise because of the literally thousands of toxicants, we are all exposed to every day. For many people that accumulated total burden becomes so great that it overwhelms their bodies’ ability to eliminate them and they begin to suffer. At the extreme stages it can disrupt the lives of chemically sensitive patients as many everyday things can make them sick… These effects can take many forms from fatigue to aches and pains that won’t go away to even more serious or life threatening problems like autoimmune diseases, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, heart disease and even cancer… Environmental illness is often overlooked when treating these conditions but it’s often essential to allow a patient to get better.” — Dr. Michael Bauerschmidt, MD – Founder and Medical Director of DEEPER Healing Institute of Medicine

“According to Dr. Raj Patel, if you have been treated for chronic Lyme disease and are not getting better, toxic mold could be a contributing factor. In his experience, one half of all unresolved Lyme disease cases are due in part to inflammation caused by mold illness. Dr. Patel says mold is the number one cause of uncontrolled inflammation involving the innate immune system. Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) happens when repeated exposure to toxins causes the immune system to go haywire. CIRS can be triggered by the combination of mycotoxins, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and other inflammatory toxins found in water-damaged environments. Once the mold is eliminated and the inflammatory markers have come down, you can begin treatment for Lyme and co-infections. If treatment is begun before the CIRS is under control, the patient will not get better.” — Lyme and Mold Connection

“Mold toxicity is one of the biggest epidemics that hasn’t been talked about, that we understand so far. It’s estimated in the States that at least 10 million people right now have some degree of mold toxicity…part of the problem…is to recognize the myriad symptoms that mold toxicity can present with. Like Lyme, mold is the great masquerader. Like Lyme, the inflammation which triggers it can manifest in people very differently based on their genetics and biochemistry, so it can show up in any system of the body.” — Dr. Neil Nathan

“Mold illness symptoms closely mimic lyme disease and other diseases related to the effects of stealth infection and the two disorders often coexist in the same patient. Symptoms of illness differ among people with mold illness and lyme as a result of differences in sensitivity and patterns of immune response.” — Dr. Wally Taylor, MD

SOME CELEBRITIES AFFECTED BY TOXIC MOLD (CIRS)

Bianca Jagger, Beyonce and Jay-Z, Brittany Murphy, Dave Asprey, Doctor Oz, Ed McMahon, Erin Brokovich, Jonathan Toews, Lou Ferrigno, Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Ryan Sutter, Shemane Nugent, Star Jones, Suzanne Somers, Tori Spelling, Louis Gossett Jr, Olivia Farabough, Rachel Brathen.

“Singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor reported missing almost three years of school starting in sixth grade due to mold in her school in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Part of her family ultimately moved three hours away so that she could resume her schooling.”

“In 2013, tennis champion Serena Williams blogged about a major mold problem in the South Florida home that she shared with her sister Venus Williams. Both sisters had been having health problems that interfered with their tennis play – Serena with bouts of fatigue and periodic viral infections and Venus with Sjogren’s syndrome. Since moving from the home, both sisters have remained among the world’s leading tennis players and are reportedly doing well in terms of their health.”

“Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra have moved out of their California mansion due to a mold infestation. The pool and spa…had ‘porous waterproofing’ which caused ‘mold contamination and related issues,’ read a lawsuit filed by the couple’s trustee…The infestation made the premises ‘virtuallly unlivable’ and ‘dangerous from a health perspective to occupy,’ according to court papers.”

SOME CELEBRITIES AFFECTED BY “LYME” (Similar Symptoms of CIRS – Toxic Mold)

Justin Bieber, Avril Lavigne, Debbie Gibson, Amy Schumer, Shania Twain, Mark Ruffalo, Andrea Gibson, Glennon Doyle.

Everyone’s experience with CIRS is unique.

Click here to read about a life-changing story from a CIRS warrior…