Mycotoxins/Re: Cross Contamination

[Guest guest]

you may want to take a look at the dates of the postings on Mr. Kliens site and

understand that theres more known these days about these exposures, for example,

it's well known now that theres much more to these exposures than just mold and

mycotoxins, their are MVOC's, VOC's, bacterias and other toxins involved with

these exposures.

many here can offer good advice but you have to remember that we are ill too and

may be a little slow at answering posts or forgetting to answer some. we all

have a million questions when this happens to us. but it's really easier for

everyody to ask and answer a few at a time. theres a lot that can be learned to

help us but I know for me, posts with to many questions at one time just

overwhelm me.

I cant just type up a long reply without takeing a lot of time thinking about

exactually what I'm trying to say and putting it in a way that well hopefully

help someone.

weither you want to go to the extreme of cutting everyones hair off is up to

you. you might want to try some other things to clean it,

it really depends on your exposure. mine felt like it had a layer of wax on evry

hair, it did for a long time,much longer than it actually caused any possable

reaction to accure because of breathing what

had attached to it in my water damaged home. theres things you can try that can

help.

you may want to keep the pets outside in the garage or somewhere else if

possable, at least for a while because their hair, dander, dried silava from

them licking theirself can all be airborn and irritating to your system,it may

largely depend on the level of damage you've suffered, I know I cant be around

dogs or cats at all, they irritate my sinuses like crazy and even the ones that

get baths quite often.people who haven't had this level of damage in the sinus

area may tolerate them just fine, I can only speak for myself, just like you can

only deturmine yourself if they well bother you or not and thats really going to

be hard to do until after you start practiceing a level of advoidance that well

make you not be in a constant reactive state.

here basicly how it all boils down.

no one knows how bad your exposure was and to what extent your organs and

tissues may have been damaged, it could be mild and you might recover after

getting out of that environment, or it could be worse.

no one can deturmine you level of exposure, damage or now how reactive your

system may be with re-exposures and exactly what all might cause you to have a

reaction,and actually maybe better stated ,a inflammatory reaction. this is a

multi-symptom illness and can affect any or all organs at many different levels

depending on exposure. no exposure is the same.

you will need to see a doctor that understands the illness and knows what

testing you need to have and can help you.

the cross contamination issue is a hard one because you can now be reactive to

many things in your invironment that doesn't have anything to do with cross

contamination, many mistake everything they are now reacting to as being a cross

contamination problem and thats just not allways true.

sure a mold problem in a limited area may not contaminate everything room in the

whole house but the longer it goes on the more possability of dried fungal

fragments and mold byproducts,++ that are airborn will be in the house dust and

spread to other rooms.

it's probably best if you can store some of your belongings for now, things you

would like to keep,or hope to be able to keep,

weither you have actual mold growth on your things or dried mold dust may make a

difference in what you can save or not save.

you might want to replace couches, chairs, mattresses. you might be able to set

some things outside in the sun and air and clean them and be able to tolerate

them now or at a later date.

but every situation is different so it really boils down to what you want to

try saveing now or store to deal with at a later time.

the only way you are going to be able to know if cleaning something has made it

tolerable for you is by first getting in another environment that is free from

all chemical and toxins and anything that may be irritateing to you system.

some keepsakes, you might want to wash or wipe down and store in air tight

containers until you get to haveing some level of relief where you fell like

opening that container and seeing if it makes you fell worse and when you get

some relief, your not going to want to take any chances on messing that up so

you maybe should just plan on long term storage, some things could become

tolerable to you at a later date, so it's really up to you, what you can do,

what you want to do.

if you do try cleaning things it well help to do it outside where you can be

haveing fresh air.

I would not store anything that has spots of mold growth,

for one thing, those spots well never come out and theres a chance that with

things like mattresses, couches, stuff like that could harbor moisture and that,

in a storage unit could lead to more mold growth, everything has to be very dry,

dry is key.

you may be able to save most of your cloths but again it really depends on your

level of reactivity and just how bad they are contaminated and what they are

contaminated with.

replaceing cloths for a family can be really expencieve so you may want to try

to see if several washings can make them tolerable.

I had luck useing ammonia and dawn dish soap, but it took several washings and

my stuff all had a very strong mold smell to them,

which to me says a large amount of VOC's was absorbed along with whatever else

involved. to me, if you can get rid of the smell,than you can probably tolerate

it.

I suffered for awhile longer because I did take some things with me, this was

before I knew much of anything of how to deal with all this. things I didn't

take at that time that I thought I could get later were not saveable but this

home had a very high misture problem and everything had mold growth spots on

them and I had a good mask on but the place still ran me back out so I left alot

there and of what was loaded up anyway ended up getting throwed away.

mold spores and mycotoxins are not the only things that get absorbed into

cloths, bedding,ect. voc's do to and probaly just about anything thats in that

invironment, but not all moldy environments are the same. there can also be

offgassing of things like carpet, paint,ect. that together with a water damaged

environment can lend to your tottal toxic exposure.

I believe that things that have basicly dry mold dust might be more saveable.

sure, theres a possability that everything in your home has a level of

contamination that you might not be able to deal with.

if you think about it, most objects if taken directly from the water damaged

environment and put in a new environment are going to make you ill in that

invironment,there will be a difference in smell related to weither it's dry

toxic dust or actual mold growth which with the moisture factor also means

VOC's. either of these situations and the smell means these things are putting

off something into the air you are breathing.

if you took a blanket from your moldy home and put it on a new couch the

smell,well absorb into your couch much like if someone had purfume on their arm

and rubbed their arm on your couch.

that would be tottally different than someone spraying purfume directly on your

couch. now if your now reactive to purfume, both of these situations would

bother you, make you fell bad, but the actual spraying of purfume on your couch,

being more consentrated would make you fell much worse much faster and stay at a

stronger level longer.

what happens to us is that now small amounts of these chemicals, toxins,

irritants can make us fell bad, but not everyone is affected by the all the same

things,with the same level of effects and different exposures can cause

different effects.

most of us have had to get rid of things like scented candles, scented shampoos,

laundry deturgent,household cleaning supplies that have chemicals,

tars,oil's,gas,and fumes like these also bother many of us. I cant tolerate nail

polish or polish remover at all.

now some people well say leave everything behind, throw it all away, and thats

up to you. yes, it's very important to get away from whats makeing you sick, but

no one can tell you if your belongings are saveable or not, because thats going

to be based on your exposure, you level of reactivity, which is dependent on

your level of damage to your system that you aquired from your exposure.

now, yes, avoiding things that aggervate you illness is very very important,

but it's also very important to keep the stress factor down as that doesn't help

the condition either.

this illness has a way of makeing one fell very ill, but it's important to know

that most get through it all and do get better.

you just have to stay calm and deal with things one step at a time.

your going to find out that some are sicker than you and some are not as sick as

you. being extreme about everything causes stress and worries that we dont need

on top of everything else.

and I dealt with someone that took everything to the extreme when I first came

to this group looking for help and it caused me alot of stress that I didn't

need on top of everything else.

dont let anyone cause you added stress. know that you can and well get through

this.

>

> Do we know how the life span of the spores and the mycotoxins?

>

> About one year for a spore or forever.. Ive read both!

>

> The die off is referring to the mycotoxins? And that can take 5 years? even

for clothing and cloth and leather furniture?

>

> Are mycotoxins like spores i clinging to organic material or can they be on

anything and can you wash them off of some things?

>

> About hair.. have you all found the need to cut? If clay has the same affinity

(neg or pos, I forget) as CSM then would a clay pack rinse or series be helpful?

My daughter is not going to cut her hair.. Im already taking so much from her if

we move. She is very attached to our home.

>

> I dont have much a am so attached to but some stained glass mandalas my kids

made and Im sure they have some items they would like to save.. bring with us if

possible. I can hold the stained glass mandalas but would love to be able to

wash them and take them.

>

> As for storing.. Im assuming a temperature-humidity controlled building of

some sort...

>

> Thank you..

>

> Robin

>

> --- In , " erikmoldwarrior " <erikmoldwarrior@>

wrote:

> >

> > --- Do I need to do what did and leave everything behind? At

> > this point I'd do just about anything

> > > if only I could reclaim my health.

> > Signed: " Get Rid of Mold "

> >

> >

> > That's the choice that everyone has to make.

> > And it all depends upon your own level of illness and self-

> > determined " comfort " level.

> >

> >

>