Mold Questions

[Guest guest]

I originally sent this message to Doug Haney, but he hasn't answered

(perhaps he is out of town), so I am sending this to the group:

After testing our house for Mold we found higher than normal levels of

Penicilium and Aspergillus. Sure enough, the MAST test I received by Dr.

Marinkovich revealed high antibody levels to Penicillium and Aspergillus.

For the first time in 9 months I had a blood test that actually points to a

possible (likely?) diagnosis!! I am still so skeptical having been to so

many doctors and having been mis-diagnosed numerous times, but this time I

am hopeful. I do have a number of questions though :

1. Dr. Marinkovich described what I had as " chronic serum sickness " . He said

it was a " normal reaction to an abnormal exposure " . Apparently it has

nothing to do with allergy (I guess I have no allergies). Would this then be

characterized as a fungal infection or hypersensitivity to mold or what? I

have a tough time explaining it to family and friends.

2. Why me? Any idea why it would affect me and not my wife and children?

Does it necessarily indicate that my immune system was somehow previously

compromised and that's why I was so susceptible?

3. Is there any way to get a feel for how long I will be affected? I lived

in this house for about 6 months before I became ill and now have lived

here for a total of 15 months. There was no Stachybotrys, just Penicilium

and Aspergillus. Is there any way to tell (now that I am on Sporanox and

Nizoral) how long before I can expect to feel better? Dr. Marinkovich said

he thought I'd start feeling better in about 2 weeks. What do you think?

4. Our house was tested by an (expensive) firm called " Restoration

Consultants " . How do know where the source of our mold is? We suspect our

carpets, We know it's damp in our living room. We're getting some drainage

work done for our crawlspace and putting down some plastic sheeting etc. But

my concern is that we'll do all this work and there will still be mold. How

do we know for sure? And how can we test the levels without having to spend

$2-3 grand each time?

5. Dr. Marinkovich also gave me alist of foods containing mold. How

important is diet in all of this? Should I really strive to eliminate all

molds (cheese, brad etc. ), or is it just something to be aware of and not

to overdo?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to answer these questions.

---

Rich