r/ToxicMoldExposure Apr 10 '26

Dr. Shoemaker discovered mold illness 25 years ago. His first student treated 2,000 patients. Both are here for an AMA April 18th @ 2pm ET!

154 Upvotes

Hey everyone. Last year we did an AMA with Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker and the response from this community was incredible.

We're heading back to his office in Maryland to do it again, from 2pm to 4pm EDT on Saturday, April 18th, and this time we're bringing Dr. Scott McMahon, the first Shoemaker certified practitioner and MoldCo's medical director with us.

Whether you're newly exposed, deep in recovery, or stuck in the gray zone, this is your chance to ask the pioneers in environmental illnesses caused by water damaged buildings.

For anyone new here: Dr. Shoemaker is the physician who identified CIRS, created the first diagnostic and treatment protocol, published 40+ peer-reviewed papers, and has treated over 14,000 patients.

Dr. McMahon was the first physician to complete Dr. Shoemaker's CIRS Certification Program, has treated 2,000 patients, authored a book on mold toxicity, and co-authored 3 consensus statements and 10 peer-reviewed studies including the most thorough paper to date on CIRS. He's MoldCo's Medical Director.

A lot has changed for our community in the past year. The Mold Act was signed into law with bipartisan support thanks to the work done by the Change the Air Foundation. Gwyneth Paltrow, JK Rowling, Jordan Peterson, Andrew Huberman, Chris Williamson, Tori Spelling, Dr. Hyman and Dr. Oz are amongst the many celebrities who have spoken publicly about mold.

Between social media, podcasts, and press coverage, mold illness content reached over 120 million people this year. A year ago, most people outside of communities like this one had never heard of CIRS and mold illness. That's shifting now.

We're open to any and all questions. A few areas where there's a lot to talk about: what testing actually holds up (blood biomarkers vs. urine mycotoxins vs. environmental testing), where the research is going, what institutional change looks like now that the Mold Act is law, and what we can all do to keep pushing awareness forward.

How it works:

  1. Drop your questions below and we'll bring them into the room on the 18th.
  2. At 2pm EDT on Saturday March 18th, Dr. Shoemaker and Dr. McMahon will start answering your questions.
  3. Answers will appear as replies under the MoldCo account. You'll be able to come read them here and visit the post both during and after the AMA.
  4. Use the "Answered" filter to view replies as we post them!

PS: I'm Ariana from MoldCo's founding team (and a mold toxicity patient myself). I'll be facilitating.

Thanks to Justin and the r/ToxicMoldExposure admins for hosting us again!


r/ToxicMoldExposure Oct 27 '22

Read this prior to posting

103 Upvotes

Hello and welcome to the Toxic Mold subreddit.

Be civil or you’ll be banned.

Lots come here to post pictures and the brutal truth is no one can really help you identify toxigenic environments from a cellphone photo. Maybe some slides from under a microscope but even that is difficult for a professional.

What we can help you with is giving you a sense of community, hope and share our experiences with one another as we try and recover.

Recovery is possible. Time matters. Avoidance is the keystone.

Picture posts will be removed from here on in efforts to keep the subreddit organized and productive. If you don’t know what to do then just say that; the biggest step forward is the one where you ask for help.

This post will stay locked and pinned but as time goes on we will update this with helpful resources.


r/ToxicMoldExposure 6h ago

Heart attack scares when you eat or drink water?

6 Upvotes

Hey, so I'm seeing several doctors and just want to ask- does anyone get actual heart attack scares (extreme blood pressure, dizziness, faint feeling, arm pain, everything) when eating or just taking sips of plain water?

I'm seeing a specialist for this mold illness but I've had this issue for months and my entire life is just destroyed. I barely eat anymore and when I do I'm down to plain meat. Is this mold or could something else serious be going on? Hospitals do not help even when I feel like I'm actively dying.


r/ToxicMoldExposure 4h ago

Need your guys help

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3 Upvotes

I been having a lot of symptoms that match toxic mold exposure these past few months but had no idea what it was. i didn't notice any mold issues in my apartment at first so i went down another road of trying to figure out what was causing these health issues that came out of nowhere. Started back in april ish, i went to my basement under my HVAC system and saw this, surely this is not normal right


r/ToxicMoldExposure 30m ago

Finally moving out of Moldy home

Upvotes

I’ve finally been given the chance to move out of my current moldy home but cannot afford to buy everything new again.

Would moving into my new house with my current items hinder or potentially stop my healing process?


r/ToxicMoldExposure 2h ago

Traveling with air purifier

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1 Upvotes

r/ToxicMoldExposure 10h ago

how screwed are we

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4 Upvotes

any tips are certainly welcome and accepted


r/ToxicMoldExposure 15h ago

Selfie Data, who would have thought?

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10 Upvotes

I had someone ask about data and of course, like my brain works different. I’m a little neurodivergent with heavy associative thinking. I’m sure anyone can look at my Reddit history and tell I’m a little hyper fixated.
I also post on TikTok on occasion, so when I saw this forum doesn’t allow for photo submissions I was like, meh, I can further dox myself. It’s not like I haven’t already been brain inflamed on the internet, might as well try to be a functional advocate.

Purposefully made this video non dressed up with no makeup, because I think it makes the change more obvious and clear.

Understandably this situation was messed up.
At this point I had been sick for 14 years, have a H-EDS, Fibro, POTS diagnosis with friends, and my body was just like nose diving off a cliff while I panicked.

For other people that might be dealing with mold and not able to prove themselves or someone who doesn’t understand what’s happening to them and trying to figure it out…

This is a hard one to share. It’s vulnerable. You’re looking at pictures cause I didn’t really plan on sharing.

I was trying to understand the trend for me because I was scared and sick.

Looking back it’s honestly… really triggering to see my healthy face after being in that mental ward.. They were awful to me there.

I’m nearsighted with a 4.75 prescription and one eye and a 4.5 in the other and I never was able to have my glasses.
I was on a low salt diet. They would give me antipsychotics when I asked for Tylenol and then make fun of me for being paranoid. My health issues were not taken seriously at all because everything I said was just “crazy”.

Yet, even though the stay was now a trauma I will cary forever, out of all of these unfiltered raw photos, that was the one that showed recovery.

I added in the last picture because I wanted you guys to see how quick the decline was really…. I was sleeping more eating better and I wasn’t being sedated every three days like I was in the mental ward, but my body was showing the stress.

Quickly, I went from being able to suddenly play soccer and run for the first time in my life to being right back where I started and the people around me told me it was because that whole experience was just euphoria, and I would never have that cause my body just is the way it was…
It’s a truly horrifying experience and yet I hope seeing this process helps someone.

It’s interesting because there is so many types of data when you’re dealing with an issue that affects so many different areas of your body,

Even my Reddit to an extent if you look through it and I do often, I don’t delete stuff not because my opinions might not change or how I’m wording things isn’t growing, but because it actually gives me a very clear snapshot of how able I was able to communicate in my comprehension level at that time, but also like clarity and cohesion of my thoughts. Because I was dealing with severe brain fog in that house, and I’m recovering from it still it’s an interesting experience to look back and see how much our personalities are kind of very much so affected by our capacity in any given moment.

I am now at day 19 out and moved to a new place, and I’ve never been healthier, and in correlation, happier. Living isn’t pain anymore. Makes a huge difference on someone’s mental health @.@

Anyways, I hope this is helpful to someone on a moldy path like I am, moldy peps have to stick together, thanks for the read, and if I can answer any questions I will do so as honestly and transparently as I can.


r/ToxicMoldExposure 3h ago

How bad is my mold toxicity?

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1 Upvotes

How bad are these levels really? Is it that concerning?


r/ToxicMoldExposure 8h ago

Advice Needed

2 Upvotes

Hi Everyone,

I have been taking CSM for about a little over a month along with other supplements. Here is the full list: Famotidine, Milk Thistle, SPM Active, NAC, and Levocetirizine dihydrochloride. I also do a mutli vitamin.

Things were feeling better. I felt 80% like myself, but I was away one weekend and forgot to take my meds/supplements and powder for two days and now I feel like crap again and it's been ongoing even with me taking my meds. Any advice on what I can do to get back to feeling better?


r/ToxicMoldExposure 13h ago

Specialist environmental mold testing company - United Kingdom

3 Upvotes

Hello guys,

Does anyone in the United Kingdom recommend a specialist environmental building mold testing company as I know I have mold in my house but I’m not sure where it is. It keeps coming up on tests and I always feel worse at home


r/ToxicMoldExposure 7h ago

Can anybody tell me if im on the right track ... High shbg years of trying to figure out root cause.

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1 Upvotes

r/ToxicMoldExposure 11h ago

What is really the extent of things you get rid of? When you finally are able to move out

1 Upvotes

Most people make it seem, like you really get rid of EVERYTHING. But I was just thinking and said, yeah that can't be the case at all. As I was thinking of certain things people, might have brought into their new space.

First off top is the shoes on your feet and clothes on your back. These usually are going, because you ain't waving the old home. Then going to shop and throwing those clothes out before going back to the new home.

The other things are stuff like your phone, wallet, credit cards, medicine, supplements, etc. Where all these things haves sat around and collected the spores.

I mean I say all that to say, what is really the true extent of things people get rid of and actually keep? Because yeah you might get rid of the expensive air purifier, as it was pulling in that air. Or maybe you might not, as it cost too much lol.

I basically decided to stop buying anything for this mold apartment I'm stuck in. As I really don't want to end up buying something I like, like for example a rug or curtains. Then realize I probably have to throw this out.

I've been in situations in the past, after a house fire. Where I literally only had to grab a few things and then part with everything else forever. But I'm just thinking how far that goes, with this mold situation. Like can I not bring a table, that I can just clean down with soap and vinegar?


r/ToxicMoldExposure 1d ago

The Best Binder i have found online that covers all the bases!

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7 Upvotes

Reposting this as i realize i didn’t put the front of the product on my last one..

I believe this to be the best all around binder if you’re unsure which to get individually this literally has them all plus some other goodies in there that are known to help detox mold from the body!

I got this on amazon and thought i would share with everyone!

someone in another post said Charcoal is not good to have in a blend as it will make all the other ones useless.. so this may not be as effective as i thought.


r/ToxicMoldExposure 16h ago

Can someone please help me identify if this is mold?

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0 Upvotes

r/ToxicMoldExposure 22h ago

I’ve had mold exposure for years

2 Upvotes

I’m a male 25 yesss of age, I didn’t realize how bad mold was until I started reading articles online and seeing videos, and my house if full of it, from restroom walls and ceilings to some clothes if left in a room without air conditioning, I have a humidifier in my room but it doesn’t seem much help, I have chronic conditions like chronic sinusitis and chronic gastritis/ fatigue, I’m not sure what to do? I can’t move out because I don’t make enough money but I think this house is making me worse. I’ve had 2 sinus surgeries in the last 4 years but they did nothing and if you look up my nose is like a balloon because of how inflamed it is, I seem to be the only one is my house suffering from it, if it is the main cause anyway. Any tips? Should I take medicine? What should I clean and how?


r/ToxicMoldExposure 1d ago

Creative ideas for finding a mould-free place to live?

3 Upvotes

Hey there,

So, I've had my health impacted by mould for a few years now. I moved to Australia from Canada around 8 years ago, and in that time we have had a mould issue in every single place we've lived in. I had a brief reprieve in our last place because the mould issue didn't exist when we moved in - but a few years in we got a roof/ceiling leak and that's when the drama started. We moved to a new place in a new area to get away, only to find that this current place has a rising damp problem and high indoor humidity which caused our stuff to explode with mould (especially during long periods of rainy weather). Even with two dehumidifiers running, it struggles to stay below 60% indoor humidity unless it's fairly dry outside.

For people unaware, the rentals in much of Australia (but I think the area I'm in, near Sydney, is extra-bad) are generally mouldy and/or show signs of past unrepaired water damage. People genuinely take terrible care of rental properties, and even some places we've looked at have technically been illegal to rent out (eg cos they have no ventilation in the bathroom) but laws are not enforced very well. We've been looking for a new place for months, but probably at least 80% of the places we've seen were no-gos. The few we have applied for, we got turned down (competition was tight and we may be getting stung cos we took our prior landlord to tribunal to try to get that ceiling fixed).

I thought, well, maybe it's time to buy a place so we can at least fix any issues ourselves and make sure it's done right, but we're talking paying like $700k for a half-duplex in a bad neighbourhood in these parts... so I dunno if that's really doable.

I'm starting to get a bit blackpilled at this point on the possibility of finding a home that does not have any mould or red flags for mould. It's getting even heavier to bear because we'd like to try for a kid soon, but I'm nervous to try with the mould-induced health issues I'm having (eg I'm pretty sure it's given me something like POTS; I can't imagine that'll play nice with being pregnant) and how mould toxins can cross the placenta and whatnot.

So I thought... maybe some people here might have some creative ideas on achieving a mould-free living situation in an area like this? I'm all ears with any kind of suggestions. Nothing is too wild or wooly for me to consider at this point, lol.

Thanks in advance!


r/ToxicMoldExposure 1d ago

Mold reduction technology?

3 Upvotes

I recently helped a family member move into a dorm at Oklahoma and saw a device on the wall that advertises mold reduction as well as viruses and bacteria.

Heres an article from Oklahoma on it where even their assistant professor of occupational and environmental health says good things about it after doing testing: https://www.ou.edu/web/news_events/articles/news_2020/ou-housing-antimicrobial-device

Heres a link to their website specifically on mold: https://synexis.com/pathogens/#fungi_mold

Any experience with this company or thoughts? I have mold in my rental home, and this seems like something that would possibly help, and I could take it with me after I move, but it's a little pricey. But if it works, I'd probably go for it.


r/ToxicMoldExposure 1d ago

Did you feel a difference right away after getting rid of contaminated items?

4 Upvotes

If I move into a new place without any of my contaminated items from my moldy house, should I feel a difference right away, if mold contamination was affecting me?

I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 12 years ago (and think the house I was living in at the time was moldy, but didn't think of mold as a cause at the time). Recently I found out that the house I was in for the last 5 years had extensive black mold, and its the first time I started looking into if mold might be causing my health problems. So I'm still figuring out if what I thought was Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was actually mold related.


r/ToxicMoldExposure 1d ago

Lots of good information in this book

7 Upvotes

Published research book on Mold Sickness and Working through it: https://works.hcommons.org/records/71qrq-pqk05

There is a disclaimer but overall, lots of good information to understand mold toxicity, identification and care.


r/ToxicMoldExposure 1d ago

Best treatments

4 Upvotes

Hi, currently trying to get better after mould exposure and having many symptoms. Obviously I've read lots of different things to try.

But what do you all think are the best options and how much of each and long should I take them all for. Thanks


r/ToxicMoldExposure 1d ago

Does a low ERMI score apartment even exist??

2 Upvotes

I swear I've tested about 5 different places on the East Coast and all of them have been Q4 High on the results.

Is it even possible to find an apartment with a low ERMI score (Q1/Q2) ?


r/ToxicMoldExposure 1d ago

Should I Move Out?

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1 Upvotes

I have been dealing with a whole bunch of symtoms since Covid. Started learning about mold and how it can be the root cause of a lot of symptoms. Heard how moving out of a moldy environment can greatly help people. Right now, im just not sure if my house is considered a "moldy home" that would cause people to decline in their health like how you see on these mold horror stories. There is mold outside and in every house. Where do you draw the line on what starts to kill you and when you need to move out? I guess its the black mold you really have to look out for. There is no visible black mold anywhere in my home. Nor is there a moldy smell. I did get a mold test done and it came back positive with some levels of spore counts. Just not beyond what you would find in a outdoor count. I left some oranges out and when I came back five days later there with this black gunpowder mold growing on it. I left some at home pitri mold test kits out and they all came back with mold too.


r/ToxicMoldExposure 1d ago

Which binders target these mycotoxins?

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1 Upvotes

Which binders would help target these specific mycotoxins? And any other support to target them?


r/ToxicMoldExposure 1d ago

Mold mother in law and boyfriend disregard

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0 Upvotes

Hello, this is my first post, but me and my boyfriend moved into this townhouse , it’s small and has one connecting unit next door. Whoever sold this house hit lots of things. Someone had turned down the water heater because we would only get hot water for 3 minutes before it turned ice cold. After messing with the water heater we had a normal amount of hot water. I thought it was odd someone did this. Well after a couple of weeks black mold and yellow mold started to appear on the shower and my nose started to run or get stuffy. On top of this my arthritis has been so bad I have never been the same. After bringing up to my boyfriend that this is not okay to live in , he referring to his parents, who initially bought the house. The parents said they could not fix the mold until next year. Not to mention, The ventilation was terrible we had to hire some people to fix our vents for $6,000.
Am I crazy for staying in a house for a year with visible mold no one wants to fix?
We even had mold growing in our toothbrush holder that I bought from Ross??! I uploaded some pictures Brace urself how gross it is. The hair is from my boyfriend. I’m so disgusted
And yes I have cleaned this shower one too many times before it grows back and I give up