Guest guest Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 Who would I call to get mold samples or go sniff them? a Dr Marinkovich told me "I've seen many people with your level ofsensitivity but no others who have trained themselves to detect it soprecisely". That's what I did. I got a sample of mold and trainedmyself to recognize it. Yes I have taught other sensitive people todo this too. No, this probably won't work for people who aren'talready sensitive, but for them it hasn't become a critical factor intheir well being.- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 a, Anyone can become more aware of their exposures. But they need a reason, a motivation. Once they experience the need and the realization then they can sort it out themselves -- given several years and IF they start to improve fairly quickly. I learned the hard way beginning 20 years ago with 2 years of intensive personal experimentation and then by beginning to work with others. It took another 10 years to recover sufficiently to work full time -- as long as it was my time. I still wasn't able to always work on demand. The basis of my private consulting is to teach people how to improve their identification of their exposures -- by experience, which does not include breathing spores!!! -- and prioritize their actions based on the severity of the impact on their life. For example, one person may react to extremely slight levels of cat dander but with only hay fever type symtoms. They may also react with a life threatening asthma attack to perfumes, but only at fairly high levels. Which would you work hardest at avoiding? Another indivdual may experience just the opposite, or something entirely different. My purpose is not to tell my client what is happening. To do so makes them reliant on my instruction. Which is fine as long as I live with them and can be available to them 24 hours a day. (Wouldn't I like those consulting fees!) So it is more important for them to learn how to do it themselves. That is the focus on my methods. And it is based on exactly what you asked -- Can anyone become aware. One example was a client about 8 years ago with itchy eyes, severe congestion and migraines that said he couldn't smell or otherwise detect anything. After I described what I do, we toured his house, including a damp crawlspace with rotting carpet on the dirt. When we returned upstairs to generate an action plan, he mentioned that his eyes began to burn near the crawlspace and now he was congested. By the time I left his migraine had strarted. Was he as finely tuned as ? No. But it was a beginning. He now knew he could detect whatever was in that crawlspace and that was what was causing his complaints. That was all he needed to know. He had the crawlspace cleaned out -- without cross contaminating the rest of the house -- plus a few related things, and his complaints went away. Then he didn't need to become more finely tuned. Can this method be proven? There is no objective proof for groups of one because groups of one -- individuals -- are by definition subjective, not objective. So we have to learn, by trial and error or with expert guidance, to trust our experiences and act on our own. For those that are severely impacted for long periods of time, it is a very isolating and lonely journey which even our loved ones don't wish to have us share with them. Carl ------------------- > > > , you are so aware of where the mold plumes are and are not. Do > you think the rest of us can become this aware or is this due to your > supersensitivity which others of us MAY not have? > a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 2, 2004 Report Share Posted February 2, 2004 again, a spore plume that reaches me I call a "hit". Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 3, 2004 Report Share Posted February 3, 2004 , Your comparison to hang gliding is excellent! Carl ---------------- > Wow! Carl, we're doing the same thing. > I've been frustrated when people ask me to " just point at the mold and > get it out of my life so I can go on " and I have to tell them that > this would be useless. They must learn to assess their own response > and " comfort level " and act accordingly. Living with this type of > sensitivity means that no one can do it for you, (unless you are > living with them full time as you say). > I used to be a hang glider instructor and we would run into the same > problem with students who didn't want to learn to assess appropriate > flying conditions and that just " ain't gonna fly " . That's not much > good when you're in a situation without an experienced person to show > you the way. > > To answer " what is a spore plume " . > Mold colonies send off a cloud of microscopic spores when disturbed. > Think of these " plumes " of spores acting exactly like cigarette smoke. > You can stand right next to a colony that isn't disturbed and have > times when you feel nothing. Or when it is windy you can be hundreds > of feet away from a colony and if it is blowing a plume toward you, > your life will be hell. - > > > FAIR USE NOTICE: > > This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not > always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are > making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding > of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, > scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this > constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided > for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title > 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed > without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in > receiving the included information for research and educational > purposes. For more information go to: > http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use > copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go > beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright > owner. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 an hour is good. It takes me three days after a hit like that Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 Good God! Don't sniff mold!-Okay, okay. I won't. I promise. I had a new experience. Thursday I had my annual eye exam. I felt fine going in. When I used the restroom while waiting I saw a sign which said, "Don't use too much toilet paper. The commode floods." I was in this building about 1 1/2 hrs. During this time I developed a horrible headache, anxiety, tearfulness, and anger. While the tech was flipping the lenses I wanted to knock the machine away and yell at her. I am a really nice person, honest. This was out of the frame for me. Then I sat in the docs room waiting and just wringing my hands hoping I could survive until I could get out of that building. I managed to survive and rode home with the car windows down. I was okay in about an hour. I'm gonna volunteer to be the mold dog. a Carnes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 an hour is good. It takes me three days after a hit like thatJanet Janet, do you feel normal except when you get a hit? I have Lyme disease, but I am pretty stable, not normal though. I guess I never really know how much I may be still affected by a hit since I always have some level of symptoms. I did know enough at this point to come home, wash my clothes and shower and wash my hair. I was really exhausted and didn't feel like doing that, but did. I would be interested to hear more about other people's experience. a Carnes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 Wow, I also have always noticed that "shower effect";....thanks for the explanation...Jeri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 , you mention the "concerted mycotoxin avoidance strategy" that you began in 1998, and your increased tolerance now. As someone really suffering now with what you would say are slam after slam, I would love to hear more about that strategy.....I would love to hear that there is hope out there......Jeri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 It surprises me to find that shortly after a hit of some magnitude..that a hot shower can reduce its effect. My MCS is always reacting to some exposure...so I rush to the shower and get relieved a whole lot. I have no idea why this works ! Ruth On Sat, 7 Feb 2004 04:00:52 -0800 "a Carnes" <pj7@...> writes: an hour is good. It takes me three days after a hit like thatJanet Janet, do you feel normal except when you get a hit? I have Lyme disease, but I am pretty stable, not normal though. I guess I never really know how much I may be still affected by a hit since I always have some level of symptoms. I did know enough at this point to come home, wash my clothes and shower and wash my hair. I was really exhausted and didn't feel like doing that, but did. I would be interested to hear more about other people's experience. a CarnesFAIR USE NOTICE:This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 Very interesting information, as usual. I guess between working on the Lyme infection and trying to clear out the mold hits quickly I must be doing okay for now. Your comment on the Peppermill makes me wonder if the wind changed direction during the two days Pete and i were there. Or maybe the worst of the mold was in the airducts. Even that day Pete and I left I did feel better in a couple of hours as I recall. a Ritchie Shoemaker calls a response that lasts more than a few hours a"mold slam". The lesser ones are just "hits".When I first started a concerted mycotoxin avoidance strategy in 1998,"mold slams" would make me sick for 3 or 4 days. Now my tolerance isup to a level in which even the very worst places have been reduced to"hits". I am never sick for more than an hour now. I'm even workingfull time in a building where I formerly couldn't stand momentaryexposure. Though as I described to a when we were at thePeppermill across the street from the Park Lane mall, if the ParkLane plume blows toward me I have to leave the area.- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 It surprises me to find that shortly after a hit of some magnitude..that a hot shower can reduce its effect. My MCS is always reacting to some exposure...so I rush to the shower and get relieved a whole lot. I have no idea why this works ! Ruth Well, several on this list have suggested that hair will retain a lot of mold spores. So will clothing. I get my clothes in the washer and don't leave them in the laundry hamper. I also wash my hair. a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 a, I always seem to have some level of symptoms but put near mold and my brain goes to mush and I go into asthma. It will take me three or four days to recover. I have to wear a mask to my pschychiatrists building as it is an old building and i smell the mold. I seem to always have some degree of sinus trouble and muscle pain off and on Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 a, I always seem to have some level of symptoms but put near mold and my brain goes to mush and I go into asthma. It will take me three or four days to recover. I have to wear a mask to my pschychiatrists building as it is an old building and i smell the mold. I seem to always have some degree of sinus trouble and muscle pain off and onJanet Janet, does the psychatrist or anyone else in the building recognize there is a problem? One doctor I went to seemed manic to me. His building made me sick. Fortunately I didn't have to go back and see him. Here in Las Vegas it doesn't seem to be old or new buildings. IN fact there aren't many buildings in this city older that about 15 yrs. I think the buildings with problems have had water leakage, flood damage (yes we have horrible floods when it rains) or are sealed too airtight to clear. Often it does seem to be related to carpet for me though. For instance the airport here is all carpeted. I can't stand it. a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 a, I have a lot of problems with rugs in busy places. Here in New England most of the buildings are old and/or historical. I call it the "old building smell". Its amazing what we feel after being compromised by mold, isn't it? I can "feel" it and "sense " it as well as smell it. I went to a new church last Sunday and the rig there bothered me. It wasn't the building. I do not know if anyone else in my phschiatrists building have noticed it or not. To me, I want to run as soon as I go there. I wear my 3m mask when I see him. I never would have believed three years ago that I would be this sick and lose my whole life to mold. It is like mold is thy enemy. It almost becomes a living breathing monster breathing down your neck. I have now lost my job as the Federal facility I got sick on wanted to cover up everything and terminated me. None of my work friends have gotten in touch with me in almost a year. Some have been told to stay away from me as Im just a crazy woman. No one seems to "get it" unless you have lived through it yourself. I put my mask on and it brings to me hatred for mold, for people gone I thought were friends, to living with my aircleaners and not going out much, to the loss of my mate of ten years as he couldn't handle my illness and had me leave his home with no place to go. Well, I didn't mean to go on and those as hypersensitive as I am know what I am talking about. I wish all of you well and God Bless, Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 a, I dont mind. Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 Janet, I am sorry your life has been so harmed. May I have permission to forward this to my friend who has MCS. I think she would appreciate hearing of someone else's life. She also lost her job and has had a hard time. She was not as sick as I and has been able to get a job working in the outdoors. She is also athletic which helped. Anway, let me know if I may send her this. a a, I have a lot of problems with rugs in busy places. Here in New England most of the buildings are old and/or historical. I call it the "old building smell". Its amazing what we feel after being compromised by mold, isn't it? I can "feel" it and "sense " it as well as smell it. I went to a new church last Sunday and the rig there bothered me. It wasn't the building. I do not know if anyone else in my phschiatrists building have noticed it or not. To me, I want to run as soon as I go there. I wear my 3m mask when I see him. I never would have believed three years ago that I would be this sick and lose my whole life to mold. It is like mold is thy enemy. It almost becomes a living breathing monster breathing down your neck. I have now lost my job as the Federal facility I got sick on wanted to cover up everything and terminated me. None of my work friends have gotten in touch with me in almost a year. Some have been told to stay away from me as Im just a crazy woman. No one seems to "get it" unless you have lived through it yourself. I put my mask on and it brings to me hatred for mold, for people gone I thought were friends, to living with my aircleaners and not going out much, to the loss of my mate of ten years as he couldn't handle my illness and had me leave his home with no place to go. Well, I didn't mean to go on and those as hypersensitive as I am know what I am talking about. I wish all of you well and God Bless,Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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