Re: sick from debris cleanup

[Guest guest]

Dear T,

We are so sorry to hear what you are dealing with. What you are

experiencing is our worst nightmare - that many people who have been exposed to

mold in the clean up efforts after the hurricanes will become very ill,

including children.

Although I don't know if they will help you or not, you should let the

CDC know what you are experiencing. My suggestion would be to call Dr.

Redd and tell him how sick you are. Ask him what they are doing to

warn

people of this and what are they doing to help people receive proper medical

treatment. His phone number is 800-311-3435. Please let us know what

response he gives to you.

Sharon Kramer

PS Then come back to this board to get some legitimate advice of what

others have done to get better.

[Guest guest]

Hey, T. -

Well, you came to the right place. Many of us have been (sadly and angrily)

expecting you and many others from the area. You're probably going to need to do

several things, and I know how horrible that word " do " can be when you're sick

like this. I can't say anything about the other bacteria and stuff you came into

contact with, but I can tell you about the mold problem. I first got sick some

years back while managing thousands of heavily contaminated rental properties. I

got better after a couple of years away from it without really understanding the

cause of the illness. Then I got exposed again in a building I was working in,

got horribly sick again, and finally realized what was causing it all along -

which is how I came to be here.

Here's the down and dirty version:

Mold can make you sick in 3 different ways - you can be allergic to it, you can

develop fungal growth inside the body, or you can be poisoned by it. I'm

assuming poisoning because I know you were heavily exposed, and because you say

you are very fatigued.What they call Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is what happens

when you've been poisoned.

First off, you need to get away from anything and everything that got

contaminated while you were working in the mold. I don't mean in the next room -

I mean completely, and any way you can do it. The toxins from the mold don't

dissipate easily or quickly, and they can't be removed from carpets, upholstery,

or paper at all by cleaning. Once you've gotten poisoned, you're going to learn

some new things about how to survive it, and this is the main one. Once you've

gotten clear of it, most of the respiratory stuff _should_ begin to clear up. I

say do this first, because no doctor on earth is going to be able to treat you

successfully as long as you are constantly being re-exposed. The folks here can

give you clear instructions on how to clean your belongings.

The next thing, of course, is to get medical treatment. You are going to find

that very, very few doctors have any idea how to treat this. The government and

the insurance industry have been very busy obfuscating and downright lying about

this for a very long time now, and it's muddied the waters horribly. And I am

hesitant to limit what I say to you to just mold, because of all the other stuff

you were exposed to. You need to see someone who can make a good call as to

what all may be going on with you at this point.

Several good docs are listed in the files section of this board. If you don't

have private insurance, then you need to get into the public health care system.

The poisoning problem is chronic, and there is no cure - only treatment. If you

react to mold toxins, that won't change. You can also call the Red Cross. I know

they did a rotten job at some points along the way, but they WILL call you back,

and although they don't know anything about this illness, they should be able to

recognize that you have now become one of the Katrina victims yourself. They

have a call center in Baton Rouge where you should be able to get whatever other

numbers you need. They don't know a darned thing about mold, but the volunteers

there are great folks - mostly medical people.

You don't say what state you're in, but if you're comfortable with doing so, you

can probably get whatever local recommendations there may be from people here.

If you can afford it, there is actually an online vision test you can do for the

toxicity problem. It'll cost you less than 10 bucks, and it's very accurate.

(The toxins sit on your optic nerve and affect your vision, which can be tested

easily and quickly.) Go to www.chronicneurotoxins.com. The site belongs to Dr.

Shoemaker in MD, who has written on this subject. He has a book called " Mold

Warriors " , which you can order from there as well. I know you don't want to

incur expenses right now, but these two things, you need. NEED. You have to

understand what's really going with you, if you want to have a shot at getting

better.

And lastly, don't be hesitant to ask for help! From friends, family, or anyone

else - even with the little things. I can't even tell you how much suffering

I've managed to cause myself by insisting I can do everything and handle

everything just like I always did. Expect confusion. Expect to feel fine one

moment and lousy the next. You aren't crazy, you aren't a hypochondriac, and you

aren't imagining all the oddball roving symptoms - that's just how this thing

goes.

I'm so sorry for the all reasons you're here now, but I'm very glad you found

us! Please let us know how you're getting along. The membership here is well

over 1,500 and growing. There are an awful lot of us who do understand and care

about this. Just hang in and don't give up. You can get better!

Serena

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[Guest guest]

--- In , Kathy <kathywnb@y...>

wrote:

>

> I would suggest you see a pulmonologist as soon as possible. Your

symptoms sound like you could have hypersensitiviy pneumonitis, toxic

dust syndrome or an infection. Even if you don't have insurance, you

need to go. It will cost you more in the long run if you don't get it

treated now. It could be a toxic reaction and others can comment on

that, but I would definitely pursure these other possibilities first.

>

Hi T, sorry you had to meet us under these circumstances. Unfortunately

we have been writing like crazy since the hurricanes because we have

expected many ill to show up here. They are not warning the people in

NO or anywhere else how dangerous this mold can be. We all stick

together. That is all we have at the moment.