About 8 months ago I got really sick. Ever since I have been on a journey to get back to my normal self.
It all started with some flowers. I was really into buying flowers for my house and this particular week lavender was in season so I thought oh, lets buy something different. When I got home, I put them in a mason jar and placed them on my living room coffee table.
A few mornings later, I entered the living room and started coughing and could barely breath, kind of like a massive asthma attack, (which I don’t have) I thought this was super strange so I then looked around the room, finally discovered that my lavender was covered in MOLD! What? ! I kind of panicked because I am actually allergic. (Not just a little, A LOT.) I quickly got rid of the lavender.
A few weeks passed and I become super ill.
First I thought it was the flu, then allergies. But as the weeks went on I got worse. I was the only one in our house that was ill as well, so at times I felt a little crazy. I thought back to the flowers and thought what If it was the mold? Maybe I inhaled some of the spores? My husband and I did some research on symptoms of toxic mold exposure, to name a few: mental confusion, sinus infections, flu like symptoms, lung infections, blurred vision, migraines, headaches, hair loss and in extreme cases death, (which were found in people exposed for years.) I ended up with most of the symptoms because I am allergic to mold. The rest of my family just had minimal to none. Which is also common. First thought was maybe it was just the lavender, that’s why I was just sick. Second was its not worth the risk of our whole family,
Lets just test the house for mold to be safe.
Sure enough it came up positive. We looked around the house, we opened the vents and there was mold everywhere! What? Our whole family was breathing in this? Everyday!
After finding it we literally packed up our things and fled like Zombies were attacking, No joke.
There were the five of us crammed in a hotel. Within days of leaving we started to feel better. Who knew?
We inquired with an environmental allergist here in Charleston. (I seriously owe him my life.) During the evaluation they ask you questions about your symptoms, and after listing most of them he told me: without testing you it sounds like you have been exposed to toxic mold, and you may feel alone, or crazy but you are not. We see a majority of people with toxic mold exposure. You are not alone and we have a plan for you to get better. I can promise you that.
I was beyond relieved that there was an answer to the last few months of madness.
The short version is he got me on a plan for detoxing and recovery. He gave us things for the kids too but he said to keep an eye on them if they are better after leaving the house then they should keep healing quickly and be okay. My predicament was slightly different, he said because of my health history this mold exposure was like the straw that broke the camels back. Your body stopped fighting and healing itself. The amazing thing was it was an answer. Along with a road to travel down to actually get better.
Part of the plan is I have to be on a “special” (not the good kind) diet because of the mold and candida (yeast) that I am allergic to. They basically feed off each other, and my body went on a feeding frenzy. The purpose of the diet was to starve the Candida/ fungus overgrowth, which then leads to die off and creates normal levels in your body. The best way to describe the diet is it’s a low sugar version of Paleo. No grains, no dairy, no vinegars, no beans, no foods containing any time of fungus. These foods actually feed the Candida and make it grow, so if you eliminate them then the candida dies off. (This alone wont “cure” the candida, like I said this was just one part of the treatment plan.)
Basically my culinary palate has been starving for months. All I want is to eat a piece of bread, with cured meat and cheese on it, or better a big fat piece of melting pizza!
Looking back to a few months ago I have made leaps and bounds, I no longer feel like a sick person trying to get well. My family is well and safe and things are starting to feel less like we were running from Zombies, to feeling like “well now we know how to survive when Zombies attack”.
Over the past few months I have come up with some creative ways to make my really boring food exciting. I love bon appetite’ mag and stumbled upon an awesome Gluten Free Chocolate cookie recipe. The main ingredients are coca powder and gluten free powdered sugar (Which you can substitute or add less if you desire to do so). The cookies are so simple to make your 6 year old child could do it!
So stop listening to me ramble about my life and get up and make some awesome mouth watering cookies. You will not regret it!
Thanks for stopping by, look forward to hearing from you friends!
Recipe below
-Best
Nicole
