Re: new person intro and questions

[Guest guest]

Dear Kata, I am very sorry you are sick, but you have come to the

right site, as most of the people here have been sick from toxic

mold, some for a very long time. Some time spent reading the

archives will give you alot of good information

That said , Dr Shoemaker is next to God in reliability to most of us

here, and you should get his book, Mold Warriors , and read it.

It is very dificult to remediate a home for a person who is mold

susceptible and primed. Staying with friends or relatives while you

recover, with clean, new clothes would be the best thing,and getting

a perscription for Cholestramine immediatly . After your family has

hepa vacummed and cleaned, renovated everything and you have spent

at least several weeks outside the home, you could try and return.

Unfortunatley, depending upon your reactivity and the amount of

contamination, you may or may not be able to live safley in your

home again. This sounds harsh, but even stronger measures may be

necessary for your recovery, only time will tell.

>

> Hi,

> I'm new to the group. Here's my story and then I have some

questions.

>

> Almost three years ago I moved into this house, this will be my

third winter. Last December I got very ill, coughing, wheezing,

waking up in the wee hours feeling like I was drowning. I slept

sitting up in the living room a lot. I had dizzy spells, which I

attributed to being overweight and out of shape. I had balance

problems. I had sprained my shoulder falling down half a flight of

stairs preparing for my move, but it didn't bother me until I lived

here a while and then it became increasingly more painful. I

sprained an ankle on vacation and was still able to get around and

even went to the zoo with my friends. Six months later, it was

limiting my ability to walk. Anyway, a comment that a friend made

to me in the spring made me start doing some investigating into my

home. Without going into all the details, I ended up sending a bulk

sample of the drywall in the master bath to a lab and it tested

positive for toxic black mold. When it was remediated, the entire

back side

> of the walls surrounding the tub were covered, in spite of the

fact that I had been told it was normal for a little mold to grow in

the caulking and on the ceiling in a shower and to keep treating

with bleach. The only indication I had that there was a problem

with this minimal amount of growth around the edges of the tub and

that I got so ill. There was no diclosure of water damage by the

previous owners. However, while the other bath/showers in the house

had tiled walls, the master was covered with that plastic bath stuff

they use to cover ugly tile. When the plastic was pulled back, it

was obvious the tile had been pulled out to make repairs to the

shower, probably a leak. There is a mold rider on our homeowners

insurance, so it has been an expensive process. I am now in healing

mode and have a lot of questions:

>

> 1. There is mold growing on the caulking and a little bit of the

grout in the other baths. The IAQ test came out negative in those

bathrooms, so I am assuming it is the " bathrooms are moist and mold

will grow " normal, not more walls full of black mold. There doesn't

appear to be any cover up in there except a spot of paint that

peeled off the ceiling, revealing mold underneath. So, my

question: if not bleach, then what are you cleaning mold up with

and why not bleach?

>

> 2. What's the deal with cedar? I never thought it would be a

problem until I read about it here and it put some light on a

puzzling experience I had two weeks ago. I had been feeling a lot

better since the mold was cleaned up, though not as symptom free as

I was when I was out of town. When it got cold two weeks ago, I

took a blanket out of my cedar chest that I had stored there for the

summer. As soon as it got near my face, I started to cough and

wheeze. It was another 3 or 4 days of sleeping on the couch and my

dear family washed all the bedding and cleaned my room thoroughly

for me so that I could sleep in there again. So, again, the

question is: what is significant about cedar? Why does it make

people ill?

>

> 3. So, I am trying to educate myself on mold toxicity and what

all I need to do to heal, if anything, besides just getting it out

of my house. Doing a little surfing on the net, I ran into:

www.chronicneurotoxins.com and took their VCS test, which came out

negative. Before I spend money on his protocol and/or a phone

consultation, has anyone heard of this site and is it reputable?

>

> 4. When I fixed the bathroom I put cultured marble, not tile, on

the walls. Does anyone know what, if anything, cultured marble off-

gases? Have I traded one environmental health disaster for another

or is it a good choice? Could it be part of the reason I am not yet

symptom free?

>

> 5. I need to replace the kitchen floor in my house. The house is

thirty years old and I think vinyl tile on the floor is the original

and it's a mess. What are safe materials to replace it with? I

have been looking at laminate, tile and vinyl. I have shied away

from ceramic tile because I have a very busy household and I am

afraid I will not be able to keep the grout clean. Any

recommendations would be appreciated.

>

> Thanks for listening and helping me with the next step.

>

> Kata

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Sorry to hear about your dilemma.

I have gone through the same thing, as have many of the people on this list. I

am still in

the process of remediating. I thought I was done, but still kept reacting to

something in

the basement- it turned out to be the shower. I believe there is NO SUCH THING

as

harmless mold in a tiled bathroom. In my experience, it has consistently meant

there is

drywall behind the tile, and the drywall is moldy, either one side or the other.

I had the

handy man pop tiles off in the section likely to be moldy, sure enough, there it

was.

I had everything torn out, to the cement walls. Now I am positive there is no

more mold,

and I absolutely refuse to put drywall in- if it gets wet, it molds, as sure as

you're born.

In the upstairs bath, I had the same situation as in the basement, but much,

much, worse.

After remediating, I put in cement board, and tiled that, and sealed the grout.

Maybe I

could have used a solid surface product, and maybe I would next time.

I used to clean the mold off the shower curtain with bleach, and when it started

growing

back in a short time, I knew there was a hidden problem. I could not see any

problem in

the basement bath- but had the handyman pop off the tile for good measure- it

can be

glued back on if there is no problem. But there it was.

When the painter was sealing up the basement walls (with outdoor paint good for

cement

or aluminium) I had problems from the chemicals, but it is much better now that

it is

cured more (2 weeks).

It is NOT normal for a little mold to grow on the tile caulking- I think it

means there is a

source behind it, from my painful experience.

Question 4- I was thinking of putting that solid surface marble like stuff in a

bathroom

too. I like the solid nature of it- nowhere for the moisture to cause trouble

etc. I don't

know if it will offgas. I decided upon a fiberglass shower for the basement,

when we get

around to it.

My bet would be the tiled bathrooms, instead of the possible offgassing of the

solid

surface marble.

Cedar. I am thinking that it has to do with VOC's. Volatile Organic Chemicals.

Mold puts

them out in large quantities, and I think it sensitizes us to similar VOC's

existing in other

things, like cedar.

My kitchen floor is a mess, too, and I would be interested in any comments on

that as well.

The handy guys don't want to do a tear out of the floor, for reasons including

possible

asbestos in the old tile that is covered up. So, they want to cover up the old

stuff- all of it.

There is water damage in front of the dishwasher (evidently old, but the vinyl

tile is gone),

so I am not sure if leaving it is a good idea.

Good luck,

>

> Hi,

> I'm new to the group. Here's my story and then I have some questions.

>

> Almost three years ago I moved into this house, this will be my third winter.

Last

December I got very ill, coughing, wheezing, waking up in the wee hours feeling

like I was

drowning. I slept sitting up in the living room a lot. I had dizzy spells,

which I attributed

to being overweight and out of shape. I had balance problems. I had sprained

my

shoulder falling down half a flight of stairs preparing for my move, but it

didn't bother me

until I lived here a while and then it became increasingly more painful. I

sprained an ankle

on vacation and was still able to get around and even went to the zoo with my

friends. Six

months later, it was limiting my ability to walk. Anyway, a comment that a

friend made to

me in the spring made me start doing some investigating into my home. Without

going

into all the details, I ended up sending a bulk sample of the drywall in the

master bath to a

lab and it tested positive for toxic black mold. When it was remediated, the

entire back

side

> of the walls surrounding the tub were covered, in spite of the fact that I

had been told it

was normal for a little mold to grow in the caulking and on the ceiling in a

shower and to

keep treating with bleach. The only indication I had that there was a problem

with this

minimal amount of growth around the edges of the tub and that I got so ill.

There was no

diclosure of water damage by the previous owners. However, while the other

bath/

showers in the house had tiled walls, the master was covered with that plastic

bath stuff

they use to cover ugly tile. When the plastic was pulled back, it was obvious

the tile had

been pulled out to make repairs to the shower, probably a leak. There is a mold

rider on

our homeowners insurance, so it has been an expensive process. I am now in

healing

mode and have a lot of questions:

>

> 1. There is mold growing on the caulking and a little bit of the grout in the

other baths.

The IAQ test came out negative in those bathrooms, so I am assuming it is the

" bathrooms

are moist and mold will grow " normal, not more walls full of black mold. There

doesn't

appear to be any cover up in there except a spot of paint that peeled off the

ceiling,

revealing mold underneath. So, my question: if not bleach, then what are you

cleaning

mold up with and why not bleach?

>

> 2. What's the deal with cedar? I never thought it would be a problem until I

read about

it here and it put some light on a puzzling experience I had two weeks ago. I

had been

feeling a lot better since the mold was cleaned up, though not as symptom free

as I was

when I was out of town. When it got cold two weeks ago, I took a blanket out of

my cedar

chest that I had stored there for the summer. As soon as it got near my face, I

started to

cough and wheeze. It was another 3 or 4 days of sleeping on the couch and my

dear

family washed all the bedding and cleaned my room thoroughly for me so that I

could

sleep in there again. So, again, the question is: what is significant about

cedar? Why does

it make people ill?

>

> 3. So, I am trying to educate myself on mold toxicity and what all I need to

do to heal, if

anything, besides just getting it out of my house. Doing a little surfing on

the net, I ran

into: www.chronicneurotoxins.com and took their VCS test, which came out

negative.

Before I spend money on his protocol and/or a phone consultation, has anyone

heard of

this site and is it reputable?

>

> 4. When I fixed the bathroom I put cultured marble, not tile, on the walls.

Does anyone

know what, if anything, cultured marble off-gases? Have I traded one

environmental

health disaster for another or is it a good choice? Could it be part of the

reason I am not

yet symptom free?

>

> 5. I need to replace the kitchen floor in my house. The house is thirty

years old and I

think vinyl tile on the floor is the original and it's a mess. What are safe

materials to

replace it with? I have been looking at laminate, tile and vinyl. I have shied

away from

ceramic tile because I have a very busy household and I am afraid I will not be

able to keep

the grout clean. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

>

> Thanks for listening and helping me with the next step.

>

> Kata

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click.

>

>