To be on the safe side, it's best to avoid breathing in large amounts of mold, for instance if you're cleaning up after major water damage. In rare cases, some people may need medical treatment due to the effects of mold exposure. But there's no evidence that “detoxing” from mold is necessary or effective.
Activated charcoal can be taken as a supplement for assisting in the removal of mold from the body. Because of the adsorbent properties of activated charcoal, it quite literally traps toxins (like mycotoxins) in the body, allowing them to be flushed out so that the body doesn't reabsorb them.
Detoxing out mold (after confirming the individual has a clean environment) takes around a year in most cases. For these reasons, working with a professional is necessary. Please contact our office if you suspect you or a loved one has mold illness.
A solution of warm, distilled water and saline can also help rinse your nasal passages of mold spores and remove congestion. OTC medications. Antihistamines, like cetirizine (Zyrtec) or loratadine (Claritin), reduce your immune system response, minimizing airway inflammation.
According to one clinic that specializes in treating mold exposure in people, nutritional deficiencies they commonly find in their patients include the B vitamins (especially folic acid, B-6 and B-12), COQ10, magnesium, vitamin D, and zinc.
Vinegar: Spray undiluted white or apple cider vinegar on the mold and let it sit for an hour. Afterwards, wipe the mold. There is not reason to wash it off, as this will create more moisture.
These symptoms usually first appear 2 to 9 hours after exposure and last for 1 to 3 days. Other affected persons have progressive shortness of breath and cough, as well as weight loss. Work-relatedness may only become apparent over long holidays if symptoms resolve and then recur on return to work.
After prolonged exposure, these mycotoxins find their way into the person's bloodstream. The circulatory difficulties stemming from black mold exposure include irregular heartbeat, heart inflammation, internal bleeding, and blood clots.
In rare cases, some people may need medical treatment due to the effects of mold exposure. But there's no evidence that “detoxing” from mold is necessary or effective.
Long-term mold exposure can have a negative effect on memory, specifically short-term memory. Mold exposure can cause issues with concentration, judgment, and overall brain function. Luckily, memory loss caused by mold is often reversible once the mold is eliminated from a home.
For a natural solution for getting rid of black mold, combine one part baking soda with five parts distilled white vinegar and five parts water in a spray bottle. Alternatively, you can use a chemical-based mold and mildew remover, all-purpose cleaners, bleach or dish soap.
These molds can also become lodged in the air sinuses and cause sinusitis that fails to improve with antibiotic and decongestant therapy. In some cases infection can spread to the brain or even enter the blood stream resulting in spread throughout the body.
Your doctor will need to take a sample of your blood and send it to a lab for testing. They will check to see how the antibodies in your system react to various mold species, black mold included. When they test your blood, they will also look for toxins that indicate mold poisoning.
Those who process toxins well can see their symptoms disappear as quickly as a few days. Others who eliminate toxins slowly can experience symptoms for much longer. They could be ill for months or even years after the source of mold is eliminated.
The most common black mold symptoms and health effects are associated with a respiratory response. Chronic coughing and sneezing, irritation to the eyes, mucus membranes of the nose and throat, rashes, chronic fatigue and persistent headaches can all be symptomatic of black mold exposure or black mold poisoning.
The three major classes of modern antifungals used in the treatment of mold infections consist of: the triazole antifungals (posaconazole, voriconazole), the echinocandins (caspofungin, micafungin, anidulafungin) and AMB-based therapy.
Use dehumidifiers to keep relative humidity indoors between 30-50%. Utilize windows, doors, and exhaust fans to keep bathrooms and kitchens dry. Clean shower curtains and bathroom tiles regularly with mold-killing products. Vent appliances that produce moisture to the outside whenever possible.
Use undiluted white vinegar on hard surfaces in kitchens and baths. A bleach solution also works to kill mold. Mix one cup of bleach in a gallon of water, apply to the surface and don't rinse. Mix a 50/50 solution of ammonia and water.
Vitamin D may be an effective therapeutic agent to treat or prevent allergy to a common mold that can complicate asthma and frequently affects patients with cystic fibrosis.
Protect Your Body With Probiotics
One of the best supplements for fighting the symptoms of mold exposure and mycotoxins is a very good probiotic. When you use antibiotics, they kill off all the microflora in your gut.
Researchers have found that vitamin D may be an effective therapy to treat and even prevent allergy to a common mold that can cause severe complications for patients with cystic fibrosis and asthma.
There are various treatment methods out there for mold exposure, like “sweating it out” and even gut health cleanses that claim to “detox” the mold—but none of them have been proven by studies to treat anything (just like so-called mold toxicity can't necessarily be proven as a medical condition).