I love the great outdoors…I love horseback riding, raising and training horses to trust humans, skiing, hiking, finding waterfalls and lakes to photograph, finding great natural health information to help someone… Those all bring me joy, and I praise God for it!
I don’t take them for granted, because I couldn’t always do the things that I love because of mold illness (and especially my mold illness emotions).
Struggling With Mold Illness
I think I was born with mold illness, but it wasn’t until I got more exposure as an adult that I really went downhill, especially in my attitude.
As a child I constantly had a green runny nose, asthma attacks, lots of allergies, and constipation. As an adult, I got to a place where the least little reason for my body to catch every cold and then turn into pneumonia and pleurisy happened multiple times per year.
These things really angered me!
I had so many things I wanted to do with my life. I did not want to spend my life in bed asleep or watching TV because I was too exhausted and weak to do anything else.
That’s exactly where I was about 5 years ago. I stared out the window wishing I could go do something out in my beloved wilderness. I quit feeling like I had a purpose in life and wanted to die if this was how I had to live.
Thankfully, our creator changed all that for me. But before then, I was dealing with some really difficult emotions because of mold illness.
The Difficult Mold Illness Emotions
Have you experienced difficult emotions because of your mold illness? Some of the mold illness emotions that come up include:
- Denial
- Overwhelm
- Confusion
- Lack of Confidence
- Hopelessness
- Fear and Anxiety
- Shame
Here is how I have experienced them…
Denial
At the very start of my mold illness journey, I felt a rush of denial. Oftentimes, it is just too much to accept that my house or workplace is contributing to my declining health.
Overwhelm
I can start to feel overwhelmed, because of the impact of the illness to the limbic system in the brain. Plus, having to deal with limited resources in your thinking, energy, and/or finances adds to the overwhelm.
Mold illness sends your brain into fight or flight until you can get rid of the mycotoxins and reboot your limbic system.
Confusion
The impact to the limbic system also presents confusion and thinking, “I am not sure why I am having these symptoms.”
It doesn’t help that some days are good and some days are bad with symptoms. Our healthcare professionals don’t have answers for us. And, because we are in fight or flight our rational thinking is impaired by the mold mycotoxins.
Lack of Confidence
Mold illness can also bring on a lack of confidence and socially awkwardness. Confidence deflates when we don’t know how we can cope with this in the future. And things can get socially awkward when we look perfectly fine and no one believes we are sick.
Hopelessness
With mold illness, we deal with so much…
- Extreme fatigue
- Lack of being able to think rationally
- Wondering, “am I ever going to get over this?”
It’s hard not to feel hopeless. You just ask yourself, “where can I get out of the mold?”
(Hint: Don’t go online at this point to find info because you will find things to feed your hopelessness.)
Fear and Anxiety
You may also experience fear and anxiety due to your mold illness because of impact on the limbic system. You can feel fear out of nowhere and to high degrees for no reason that you can see. Panic for no apparent reason is very common.
Shame
When we are in fight or flight, it can be easy to get fixated on something. We can ruminate on things and even become aggressive. Then this leads to feeling a lot of shame associated with that, because this is not you.
Mold Illness Emotions Aren’t All In Your Head
These difficult emotions that you’re feeling because of your mold illness are not all in your head! These are all real and common things to feel when you have mold illness or Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS).
Mold is an invader to our bodies. Our immune system recognizes it as such and attacks our body. But most of us with mold illness have genetic problems that cause us to have a chaotic inflammation response to it. As a result, we can’t get it out of our body.
So our brains get sent into fight or flight because of the danger to our body. Our automatic response then is to have a rush of hormones to help us fight or flee. So then your heart starts beating faster, your breath gets shallow, your digestion stops, and all the energy goes into the big muscle groups for your fight or flight.
But your limbic system doesn’t know the difference between an internal stressor and an external stressor. So just your thoughts or the mold can set it off and keep the stress loop going.
Limbic System Overload
If you feel stressed or anxious for no apparent reason, then you activate your limbic system. The following symptoms are good indicators that you’re in limbic system overload:
- Sudden palpitation of the heart
- Nausea
- Shallow breathing
- Tingling in the fingers and toes
- Restlessness in the muscles
- The thought that you are losing control
- A real sense of fear and dread.
You may just wake up in the morning feeling these symptoms or suddenly feel it anytime.
Remember, your automatic response is to start scanning your environment for danger. Consequently, you will perceive most things as stress. It could be something someone said to you. Or it might be you are stuck in traffic. In mold illness (CIRS), parts of your brain can even shrink, atrophy, and cause this problem.
What To Do About Difficult Mold Illness Emotions
Don’t worry! You can soothe difficult mold illness emotions by simply cleaning up your system and rebooting it.
So what can you do to make things easier for yourself? A few ways to reduce the stressful emotions that come along with mold illness include:
- Increasing Your Self Acceptance
- Adjusting Your Diet and Supplements
- Gradually Increasing Exercise
- Getting Enough Rest
Increase Your Self Acceptance
To manage this mold illness, you need to increase self-acceptance and know that this is really hard for you right now because of the illness.
- Be aware that it is not your fault. You are not doing anything to feel that way, it’s just your illness.
- Tell yourself you are going to work on it. You don’t want to be aggressive, and you will work on managing your temper.
- Acknowledge that things are a lot harder for you, but they will get easier!
- Remind yourself you are safe, it’s just part of your illness
- Notice what is happening in your limbic system. Take a few moments to take some deep slow breaths to help you come out of there.
- Don’t judge yourself for these feelings you are having; it’s not your fault. Remember, you don’t need to respond to the stressor you perceive in front of you.
- Check in with yourself to see how you are feeling from time to time. How does your body feel during the day? Practice the calming breaths and lack of judgment upon yourself. It helps to reduce the inflammation that happens in the body that is causing all this.
- Work on things like mindfulness and meditation. Listening to your favorite music that soothes you. Think about the future you want and what it will look like.
- Try to spend time with loved ones who you feel accepted by and feel refreshed by, even after you leave them. Talk about interests like art, music, whatever is important to you (just not your illness) to keep your interests alive in you.
- Have a supportive health care practitioner who you feel supports, understands, and listens to you.
Adjust Your Diet and Supplements
Make sure you know what your nutritional needs are to help you with your mold illness. When in doubt… Test; don’t guess. Listen to your body. It will tell you what it needs and what causes problems.
Avoid processed foods, including:
- Grains
- Dairy
- Sugar
- High carbohydrate foods (even fruits for the most part)
On the other hand, make sure to eat:
- Protein every time you eat
- Lots of good vegetables (except those that have a tendency for mold)
- Good fats like coconut oil, grass fed butter, and fatty fish
If you’re not getting everything you need from your diet, make sure to take the supplements that are right for you at this time. Don’t go without them!
Gradually Increase Exercise
When dealing with mold illness, each day can come with different feelings. Don’t do more exercise on the days you feel better and less on the days you don’t. Instead, start out with just a little less than you can do on your bad days and gradually work up to doing more everyday – even if you don’t feel like it.
If you are bedridden, then do some movement to help yourself. Make sure you are doing something to move your lymph, which only moves if you do. Try to add some gentle stretching into your routine.
Walking seems to be the best for most people, if you can manage it. Try to work up to an hour of walking by doing what you can and increase by 2-5 minutes a day. As you get better, try to incorporate weight lifting into your routine.
Remember to start out small, and gradually add more. Make sure you don’t overdo it! It is not good for any part of you, much less your emotional health with mold illness, to become so exhausted that you can’t do anything.
Get Enough Rest
If you need rest, stop and do so. If you need to lay down, do so if you can. To manage difficult emotions that come with mold illness, do the following:
- Try to sleep around 8.5 hours every night. For instance, being in bed at 9 pm and up at 5:30 am.
- If you can’t sleep, then try to meditate. This helps to clean the brain out of the mycotoxins and anything else that doesn’t belong there.
- Reduce blue light exposure at least an hour or two before you go to bed. This means no computer, phone, TV, and non-incandescent lights. Use candles or blue-blocker glasses. This will keep cortisol from going up to stop your sleep and increase your melatonin to help you sleep.
Fight Mold Illness. Be Good To Yourself!
To help your brain and emotions, you need to be good to yourself. Don’t judge; just work on knowing you are safe!
Take the supplements you need to complete your nutrition. Don’t overdo anything, especially bad thoughts and exercise. And eat right for you and this illness.
If you, or someone you know, is suffering from a mysterious illness and want to regain your strength and energy so you can live a purposeful life again, schedule a complimentary consultation with me today. Let me help you bring function back to your health.
Have an abundantly healthful day!
