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Wondering if you have a skin rash from mold? This episode is for you!
If you or your child has a skin rash and you can’t figure out the cause, you may start to look at mold illness or mold toxicity as a possible trigger.
And if you suspect that you live or spend time in “fungally” environments with a high likelihood of mold, perhaps doing a mold test has crossed your mind.
I’m often asked if mold testing is necessary or if a chronic skin rash (and other health issues) could be caused by mold. So in this episode, we’ll discuss mold illness vs mold allergy, sneaky places mold likes to hide, signs of mold exposure, and much more.
Joining me to talk about whether you’ve got a skin rash from mold is Jennifer Brand, MS, MPH, CNS. She’s a clinical nutritionist who helps babies and children with chronic rashes navigate the journey to healthy skin so they can enjoy a childhood free from disruptive skin symptoms. As one of the most trusted pediatric skin-focused nutritionists, Jen is passionate about helping families get to the root causes of the problem through her unique method called Conquer Your Child’s Rashes™.
So let’s dive in!
Or, listen on your favorite app: iTunes (Apple Podcasts) | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneIn | Subscribe on Android
In This Episode:
- Is your skin rash from mold (and how could you know for sure)?
- What is mold (and what’s its relationship with candida)?
- How common are mold problems?
- Current mold exposure vs previous mold exposure (which matters more?)
- Crazy client stories with sneaky mold symptoms
- Mold toxicity vs mold allergy (and what does mold testing show?)
- Surprising places mold hides
Quotes
“I think one of the things that gets chased nowadays, and it's popular to go down this rabbit hole, is mold. Now, yes, it absolutely can be a problem and I have seen it be a problem. However, what I tell parents is that it really isn't the place to start.”
“When it comes to mold testing, we are talking more about a mold toxicity, where the mold is in the person's body. That's what that's detecting, versus a mold allergy, which is like another environmental allergy. So you could be allergic to mold that's in the grass outside of your home.”
Links
Find Jennifer Brand online | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok
GOT RASHY KIDS? Register for Jennifer Brand’s free training – http://www.ConquerYourChildsRashes.com
Healthy Skin Show ep. 166: Mold + Histamine Connection w/ Dr. Jill Crista
Healthy Skin Show ep. 164: Mold Illness vs. Mold Allergy w/ Dr. Kasey Holland
Healthy Skin Show ep. 208: Surprising Sources Of Mold You Haven't Thought Of w/ Brian Karr
367: Is Your Rash From Mold (And Should You Get Mold Testing)? w/ Jennifer Brand, MS, MPH, CNS {FULL TRANSCRIPT}
Jennifer Fugo (00:54.16)
I'm excited to have you back on the show, Jen, so we can talk about mold (and if you have a skin rash from mold). Welcome back!
Jennifer Brand (01:03.018)
I'm so excited. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here to talk about this. I get so many questions about it. And so I think it's going to be really nice to have this in a place where I can refer people to give them my thoughts on the subject because I do have some maybe somewhat strong opinions about it.
Jennifer Fugo (01:22.76)
Well, I will say, you know, we get a lot of questions like, first of all, what exactly is mold? What is mold toxicity? How to clean mold? What is kind of like, in that family, which a lot of people don't think about, where it hides, are there sneaky ways to kind of figure out if you have mold? Do you have to be or live in an entirely mold-free environment? Thoughts on mold test, especially the environmental versus the body, looking for mycotoxins. We're going to talk about a lot of things today, so I'm super excited. Actually this was your idea that we are now going to dive into, what I like to say is the conversation about the “fungus among us.”
Jennifer Brand (02:04.418)
“Fungus among us.” Yeah.
Jennifer Fugo (02:05.011)
Exactly, the fungus among us. You get asked a lot by parents who are super panicked, they're super panicked because their kids are having a meltdown. And naturally so, because I feel like children have less bandwidth to be able to emotionally cope with what they're experiencing with their skin is all out of sorts.
What do you tell a parent who is like, oh my gosh, my child's skin is freaking out, do I have mold? Like, do you think it's a skin rash from mold? What do you think I should do here? Is it mold? Do I need to leave my home?
Jennifer Brand (02:48.96)
Yeah, really good question. You know, with kids also, I see kids that are so young and they can't even communicate why they're so upset or what's happening, but it's obvious because their skin is just on fire, you know, weepy, raw, red, itchy. I will say this too, I am not a mold expert, if you do have mold, suspect mold, what have you, definitely work with somebody who is a mold specialist. I do work with my clients who have developed a skin rash from mold, however, it's not why they initially come to me. It's something that can be contributing to what's happening with their child's skin, in which case I can help with that. But, you know, there's a point where depending, and we can talk about this today too, depending on the exposure, if it actually is a problem, how severe that problem is, where you really need to see a specialist.
That said, I also feel like right now there's always kind of like the sexy trigger out there, right? Like there's something out there that people are chasing. And I think one of the things that gets chased nowadays, and it's popular to go down this rabbit hole, is mold and mold test. Now, yes, it absolutely can be a problem and I have seen it be a problem. However, what I tell parents is that it really isn't the place to start. If you see it, suspect it, what have you, that is a conversation that we can have. If you don't see it in your home, don't really have any reason to suspect that it is an issue, it's really one of those things that's reserved, in my opinion, for a little bit farther down our healing journey. So that's really where I start with parents having that conversation.
I also have a lot of parents that come to me with already having gotten the, I won't say the name of the test, but there are certain tests and mold test out there that are really popular right now that are easy easy to get, where you can check dust in your home, swab samples and things like that to see if there is mold in the dust, in the air, things like that. And something to keep in mind with that too, just because you do find it, it doesn't necessarily mean it is a problem either. So it can kind of go either way. And then the other way I look at it also, is like, well, is it actually coming from inside the home, like dust, air, whatever, or is it in the environment, trees, whatever is happening outside your home? You open the door, things come in. So it's kind of ambiguous.
Jennifer Fugo (05:27.938)
Right. So I think that's to my point in saying there's fungus among us, right? So I think first of all, I always say we've got to understand what mold is. Mold is fungus. And I think people get caught up with like, they're really interested in Candida, and then they're really interested in mold. But they don't really connect the two. Because they're all fungus, it's all together, the same family. They're different organisms, but they're all fungus. And so that's a really important point.
And for me, I work with adults, and it is not uncommon that someone is living, to some level, not all clients, but some, are living in a fungally environment. I do like to look at what's happening in the home, the workplace, and I'm happy to talk, too, about some of the, I don't know, maybe we'll talk about some mold hiding spots. I found some really sneaky mold hiding spots, I know we're gonna try and touch on some of those today. But a fungally environment, in my view, contributes to and influences the gut microbiome, can trigger a small to even systemic skin rash from mold exposure, and so for me, I do wanna know if that's going on. But your point, I think, is fair. When people think that their home is under attack, because that's how it feels when somebody says, I have mold exposure. I can tell everyone here I have mold exposure. I have mold probably, I would guess, a little bit in my basement, because I live in the Northeast and it is very common where I live that when we have really, really heavy torrential downpours, we get like a little stream through the basement that drains into the drain. So I wouldn't be surprised if we have some mold in our home. But I've done testing, I know that there's not a whole lot there, and my husband and I are not genetically prone to have trouble being in that environment. But it's a different story if literally the walls are covered in mold, the floors are covered in mold, it's all behind the walls, it's under the roof. We have to think about the degrees, and then how susceptible we are, so I think there's a variety of considerations.
But I just want to say very clearly, I think the conversation that many have online scares people to a point where they don't even want to bother to look, because this is your home. Your home is a place where you want to feel safe. And when you have mold, this invisible kind of thing that's lurking, that could be making you ill, all of a sudden, you're now afraid of your books, you're afraid of your sheets, you're afraid of your carpeting, you're afraid of your sofa, you become afraid of everything in your home, and that is extremely unsettling. I'm not saying that that's not a problem, but I think the way we have conversations about this has to change because, for many people who are ill, their nervous system is already on overdrive. And then to have that lumped on top becomes so overwhelming that you just can't even process it at that point. Like I said, I want to have a balanced conversation. So that's why I love that you brought this up and said we should talk about this, because it's something that there's a lot of fear, right? Don't you get that from your parents when you talk to them, like this level of panic? Like, I don't know, is it panic that you hear in their voice? Fear?
Jennifer Brand (09:10.924)
Absolutely. Actually, I can tell a little story around this. And I want to talk about some of the points that you made too. I was taking little notes because some of the things that you said, I think, are really important to touch on, so I'll go back to that. So I actually have a client now who is just getting started. We did some testing, know the child has significant Candida overgrowth in her gut, also urinary organic acids, so in the urine as well, which is actually a better indicator of fungal dysbiosis coming from the gut specifically. So this kid has really high levels of fungal dysbiosis. And they did the home dust testing, found you know, there were some levels, but it wasn't anything where I would even have said like, my God, you have to get out of the house. But they're just really grasping at straws, very panicky, very terrified. It's a very young child who's extremely uncomfortable and her skin is in very severe condition, so it's understandable that the parents are panicked. So bad to the point, and you know, we'd been talking, we just got started with things, just got started with a plan. It's going to take time to resolve some of this.
And my stance on this is that there were other imbalances as well, it wasn't just high Candida. There was a lot happening with this child. So the level of mold that was found on the testing, in my opinion, is not what's causing the problem (so I don’t think it’s a rash from mold). Can it be triggering and making things worse? Maybe. However, they're so panicked that in the midst of me trying to talk them down and, you know, just hey, we're gonna get there, we've just got to go through the process, they moved out of their home and they're in an Airbnb now and they're going to be there for three months. After being out, and this is the thing too, if the environment is something that's really triggering for what's happening with somebody's health, typically when somebody leaves that environment, they're going to start to feel better pretty quickly. So it had already been about three weeks in this other place. No changes with the child. So just an example.
Jennifer Fugo (11:34.01)
Can I just insert for a moment? There's been so many stories I've heard where Airbnb's are loaded with mold in their AC units and all sorts, because they're not cleaning it to the level and checking for that. So just an FYI.
Jennifer Brand (11:41.44)
That too! Yes. You know what? That's a really good point. I have had some clients. You know what, this is reminding me of all kinds of experiences with this now. I have somebody else, they're actually up north, so in an area where it is more moist. And this child is severely impacted by fungally, moldy environments, and we know this. Like they've moved around, and they've moved around to the point, and they're in a location now where the environment is OK and things are better under control, but literally anytime he's exposed to anything fungally, including at the grandparents' house for like an hour, their skin symptom just really flare. We're still working on clearing things out for him and cleaning up his skin rash from mold, you know? But at the beginning, they found the mold and they moved. And then they were there for a little while, they found mold there, they moved, they found mold again. So it continued to happen. I mean, I can't even imagine what this family was going through, because you're dealing with health issues, your child's skin, all of this stuff, and now you're moving from place to place to place. It does happen.
Jennifer Fugo (12:51.625)
Can I ask you, did the child also have a mold allergy?
Jennifer Brand (12:59.126)
That's a really good question. Yes, he did have a mold allergy.
Jennifer Fugo (13:03.046)
Yeah, that complements it, or complicates it.
Jennifer Brand (13:08.584)
It does. And that’s, too, there is a difference between, like when we're talking about the mycotoxin testing and seeing things in the urine, when it comes to the mold testing, we are talking more about a mold toxicity, where the mold is in the person's body. That's what that's detecting, versus a mold allergy, which is like another environmental allergy. So you could be allergic to mold that's in the grass outside of your home. There are a lot of nuances to this, so it does make it a very tricky rabbit hole to go down.
Jennifer Fugo (13:39.91)
It does. And I think it's worthwhile to mention you can have a mold allergy and be exposed and have high levels of mycotoxins. So those are two separate things that can be true at the same time, which complicates things. I'll share really quickly, I have a client, she has a mold allergy and she's got a lot of allergies to different types of molds and yeasts and all sorts of things. She was very allergic, like her list of allergies when I started working with her was off the charts. So it was very difficult to find supplements and topical products that she could use without reacting to them. And she lived in North Carolina, which is a humid environment, they get hit by hurricanes. So a lot of areas that are more hurricane-prone, you should probably suspect there could be mold in your house, just, that's an FYI. Not guaranteed, but that's a possibility.
So anyway, I said – look, I think you have mold probably somewhere in your house. They got some testing, they showed that an area of the house had a high level of mold. And then, I forget what happened, but she had some discoloration of the rug in her car and it was black. And I was like, how did that happen? And she pulled it back and it was all black. And I'm like, you got black mold in your car. Which, I mean, look, you can get mold in the car, the mold can be in the AC docks, the vents, so that's another problem because we don't clean those things, right? And so, she had to get, I don't remember what exactly happened, but I was like, you're literally driving around in a vehicle that has something in it that you are A, allergic to, and B, for whatever reason, she can't process and handle being around like the rest of, she's got kids and a husband, and they're basically fine. And she can't. And it's likely because I think really there's this genetics piece that makes some people have much more difficulty in clearing mycotoxins. And so the loads build and build and build, and they just can't seem to outrun it or live amongst it. And the level was high and the rest of the family was pretty much fine, which is wild.
But either way, I think there's a lot of places that mold hides, and I've found some of the sneakiest, sneakiest spots with clients. Again, I'm not an expert, but I'm very good at digging. But yeah, I agree with you. And I hate to say that, I hate to throw fear into somebody who's like, my gosh, I'm going on vacation and I love to rent these homes, but just keep in mind there's nobody living there. You don't know. There's nobody, you know what I mean? It's not like the AC is going to be on all the time. They could have a water leak and that could go on for days and nobody's going to know, and then they just clean up the mess and they go about their business and continue renting the unit. So it is possible, even though you think, oh I'm renting this place, it's possible that it could be there too.
Jennifer Brand (16:51.286)
Very possible. I want to touch on the susceptibility because I think it's so fascinating, and I totally agree with you on this too. Everybody's systems are different. And yes, there's absolutely a genetic component to that. Also with kids, their bodies don't detox as well, they don't clear things out as effectively a lot of times compared to adults, genetic mutations or not. So kids can be more susceptible. So I did want to mention that piece.
I also wanted to talk about where some people, exactly like you mentioned, were really affected, but her kids weren't. And you said something earlier too, about how the mold can actually adversely impact the gut microbiome. So I see it, yes it can, and I actually kind of see it the opposite way too. Because the way I look at it, and this is the approach I take with kids, is that 70 to 80% of the immune system is located in your gut. So if somebody is more reactive to something than somebody else, why? Why is their immune system so much more prone to inflammation? Sure, there's a genetic piece, that can always be the case, but I always look at the gut for that.
And I will tell you, even in these cases where I have seen that mold, you know, this is why I consider mold a trigger and not necessarily a root cause. So yes, mold can impact all of these things, but there's a reason why this person is sicker or more impacted than anybody else. And I take it back to, okay, let's see what's happening in their gut. And there's other things, like maybe we don't even see Candida in there, which is very common not to, even if it is an issue. But there's like H. pylori, or just opportunistic overgrowth in general, or all of these other imbalances. And then also to your point, it just made me think, because you said how mold impacts all of that, well, how do we know what came first? Chicken or the egg?
Jennifer Fugo (18:47.595)
That is very true. That is true, you have a good point.
Jennifer Brand (18:47.946)
But then they both impact each other, so then it just becomes a vicious cycle. So who knows what happened first. But I really would have to beg to differ that the gut imbalances would have happened first.
Jennifer Fugo (19:06.391)
Okay, so let's try playing this out and see how each of us…
Jennifer Brand (19:10.55)
I'm just trying to, I know, I'm like, wait, okay.
Jennifer Fugo (19:35.938)
I know. So what happens, this is like what we do when we're looking through a case and I'm trying to figure out what happens. So let's say I have clients that have had rashes since they were a baby, and they're now in their 30s and 40s and 50s and 60s. So they've got like decades of health problems, rashes, maybe they had some periods where they were clear and then it came back. And so I always am very curious when things flare back up and represent themselves. And a lot of times one trigger is usually college. So this is my thought process, and I don't know how you feel about this, but I think a lot of dormitories are loaded with mold, I do. A lot of them are old, not all, I think a new building might be a different story, but I think a lot of buildings, like institutional-type buildings, dormitories, etc., are loaded with mold.
Jennifer Brand (20:11.756)
Well, they smell like they are.
Jennifer Fugo (20:13.562)
I know. And college students, think about it, when we were college students, I lived in dumps. To be honest, I lived in dumps in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and in Canarsie, Brooklyn. And I lived in places that I could afford, but some of them were less clean than others and not in the greatest of shapes, but that's what I could afford. So I feel like college students, unless you really have, you get a really good job out of college or whatever your circumstance may be, most people are probably living in apartments, homes, etc. that are maybe not to the par that we would, at our age, expect them to be. And so there's probably more likelihood for mold and possible rash from mold.
Now, does that mean that they currently still have mold? Well, no. They may have had that mold in the past that could have possibly influenced their environment, and then they kept moving forward in time and now they've got this significant fungal overgrowth. So that's one of the reasons why I agree with you, testing isn't perfect. Even with the mycotoxin test, there's problems with it. But I think institutional buildings, and when I say institutional buildings, I mean, like I said, dorms, I consider libraries, I would say a lot of colleges, hospitals, gyms, churches.
Jennifer Brand (21:38.489)
Churches. Yes. Old churches. Temples.
Jennifer Fugo (21:49.615)
Churches. I would think any type of building, and I will say a lot of office buildings have mold. I mean, look up, how many of us go to an office building with dropped ceilings? When you look up and you start seeing all of those dried, wet spots on the ceilings, there's a high likelihood there was either a pipe that burst, or is leaking, or the roof leaked at some point. Now, how well they actually clean that up, TBD, who knows?
But I will just share, I had a client who was a medical doctor and a surgeon. His situation was very weird, he had some rashes that were his main concern, but then he shared with me that he had migraines. And so I'm going through his case. And you know, this is like a grown man, I think he's in his 50s, early 50s, I mean, he's not like a young kid out of college or whatever. And I go, your cholesterol's low. And he's like, what do you mean, my doctor said the cholesterol's good. I was like, yeah, but it's under 150, and that's weird. Do you have any mold in your house? And he's like, no, no, no, we had issues in the past, we completely dealt with it, everything's clear in the home. And I'm like, OK, but your cholesterol is under 150.
So when total cholesterol is under 150, that can be a sign of mycotoxin exposure, and I was like, I really need you to think about where you spend a lot of time because you're now complaining about every time you go to the office on Mondays, you get these really, really bad migraines. And he's like, you know, come to think of it, my staff also gets headaches as well, they all complain of headaches. And I said, do you have, is it a drop ceiling? He said, yeah, actually, sometimes the ceiling tiles are so saturated with water they fall to the floor. I’m like, you have mold in your office. And lo and behold, the office space that they were in was loaded with mold. And it had not occurred to him. And had it not been for that one thing, I don't know that I would have gotten any further, because he was really insistent that he had no mold exposure.
And so I just think we discount how much we're around mold. Again, it's not to make people panicked. And I do have clients who've had some really, really traumatic experiences and they have come from significant mold illness, which is different than just like, oh I kind of have some mold in my house. Like me, I'm able to be around that, it's not the end of the world. Because I really don't think living mold-free is, I don't think that's practical for most people. I'm just being honest. But I think institutional buildings, gyms, and some of these places that we, and your car is another possible suspect. I think we have to give a good side eye, not necessarily with the intent to be afraid, but as we start thinking about our case history, we don't think about just now, we also have to think about the past. Like I said, that person that started to develop issues during or after college, I wanna think about like, what was that environment? Oh, you also partied, you drank alcohol, you ate tons of pizza, horrible like, you know, carby diet with lots of sweets. That to me is like, that counts.
Jennifer Brand (25:20.62)
Right, it does. And it's interesting too, thinking along those lines, it's kind of like, when do you start to suspect it? When do you start to really go down that rabbit hole? So just some examples, you were talking about the institutional buildings. I had an interesting case where we were working for a while on this child's gut, we did the organic acids, all the other root cause stuff. So we're working on that, getting improvement, so things were moving in the right direction, but just kind of stuck. They lived in a dry climate, they were there in the desert, and new construction, like literally brand new construction, and later found out, they did preschool at the local church, and Mom also worked in the local church. So they spent a lot of time there. So she wasn't just there a few days for preschool, she was there like every day. So I don't even know exactly how they identified it in the church, it was through other reasons, and they found it and the church remediated, and she's fine now.
You know another case, sort of similar, so these are just some examples like if you’re worried about mold, I think this is when you start going down that rabbit hole. Another child I was working with, and this one was it was a long case, we had worked together for about a year. His skin looked great, like you couldn't see eczema, that was gone. We were working, he had eczema. So his skin looked great, but he was super itchy and super constipated. And no matter what we were doing, those things were not getting much movement. There were slight glimpses, but then nothing. And we had talked about exposures, and what else is going on, and doing the fact-finding and the questioning, and had asked about mold? And they're like, no, we don't see any, there was some in the bathroom, but we cleaned it up. And I'm like, probably not then. There was no indication of anything. Then I get a message from the family and it turns out, they were in the Northeast, so winters were very cold. And it was drier so they ran a whole house humidifier basically all year long, which they hadn't told me about that. So they run this thing all year long and the dad had to go in the attic for something. He opens up the attic, hadn't been in there in over a year, the entire attic covered in mold, covered.
Jennifer Fugo (27:51.366)
Wait, so the humidifier, the humidifier was in, wait, so they left a humidifier running in the attic?
Jennifer Brand (28:00.81)
I live in California, so I'm not sure how this works, but they had a whole house humidifier, which was in the attic and it ran all the time. I don't know if that, like we have things here like old-fashioned air conditioners, like swamp coolers, so they run off of whatever. So I don't know if it was something like that, don't know the technology. But they had a whole house humidifier that they kept running all the time that lived in the attic, and it was just, they said, sopping wet and covered with mold. So right there we had our answer. But I will say too, yes, this kid had a lot happening in his gut, he did have some fungal stuff happening in there that we identified, but there were a lot of other things happening too. But that was the piece of the puzzle that had been missing, and there was nothing that could have been done further until they got out of that environment and got that remediated.
Jennifer Fugo (28:52.273)
Yeah, and I just wanna say this, because I do think we're talking about the US, but if you're listening and you're in the UK, there's so much mold in the UK in buildings, I mean, it's a damp, wet environment, generally speaking. So it's no surprise that there are many struggling with chronic skin problems and a rash from mold exposure that's either current or in the past.
Jennifer Brand (29:01.792)
Yes.
Jennifer Fugo (29:13.445)
Every client I have worked with has had issues with that. I've had clients who are in New Zealand, in Australia, who've had issues with mold as well as developing a rash from mold. But it's interesting how other cultures don't seem, and other countries, don't seem to be as savvy about the mold problem. And a lot of times they're like, oh well, in my one client, she's like, oh well, the landlord had the workers come in and just bleach the wall. Which I'm like, no, bleach makes it worse. Do not bleach mold. They don't know. And then she's like, well, it kind of looks clean, so it's probably fine. And I'm like, no, it's not fine, because it keeps just coming back. So I do think that if you are in, if you're outside of the US, and I do think if you look around and you smell, you also don't have to smell mold to have mold. I'm shocked at those people, did they not have a musty smell in their house with that humidifier?
Jennifer Brand (30:14.516)
Maybe. Apparently not, or they lived there so they were used to it?
Jennifer Fugo (30:19.679)
They were used to it maybe. That's so interesting. That is horrifying. See, that's the instance, right? That's what I was saying. I have a stream, a little trickle when it rains a lot, through my basement. I mean, maybe the stream is like two inches wide. That is not to me on a level of being catastrophic where to have that remediated, you need to be out of the house.
Jennifer Brand (30:48.418)
Absolutely. And this is another thing I should mention, too, because we were talking about susceptibility. So in this family, the parents were fine, everybody had some symptoms, but they had two children, the other one also had skin issues. So when everybody in an environment, certainly, is sort of experiencing some, that's another question I ask my clients. Like if they think there's mold and they want to go down that rabbit hole, okay, well, how is everybody else? And again, I really am focused on the person and the person who's feeling unwell because that's where we have the opportunity to make their immune system robust to help them handle anything. Because really the goal, sorry, little tangent, the goal in this type of work is not to make everything perfect externally and internally. The way I look at it is, we've got to knock the triggers down and fix the internal balances to a point, while we're working on improving and making that person's immune system more robust, so then they can handle things that come at them. So it's kind of like this balancing act.
Jennifer Fugo (31:48.957)
Right, so they're more flexible.
Jennifer Brand (31:53.146)
Right. So there's that. But I think too, in the instances where everybody in the household is having some symptoms, then absolutely, I think it's something to explore deeper versus like, well, no, and no, there's no difference when we're somewhere else either. So probably not.
Jennifer Fugo (32:13.941)
Yeah. And I think it's good if you are really dealing with a true mold illness (and not just a skin rash from mold exposure that's rather limited), like that family that had, I can't even imagine opening up the like attic crawl space and just finding, I mean, I would be in such, I'd be like, we're moving today. We're out of here.
Jennifer Brand (32:31.21)
I can't even imagine.
Jennifer Fugo (32:39.602)
When you're in a situation like that, that's where you have to consider true mold illness. That's where you want to really look for a mold-literate doctor, you're looking and considering mycotoxin illness, and especially to help you avoid it. If you're kind of doing okay, you don't want to be in it while they remediate because then you expose yourself to mycotoxins and mold symptoms as they remediate. So you want to be out of that environment while that's happening, and consider other conditions depending on severity. Like really, really, really sick individuals with mol symptoms, you're looking at true mold illness, CIRS, those kinds of conditions, and I think that's where you really want to look towards a mold literate doctor. Not like, you know, let me do some food sensitivity testing, and I'm going to take some binders and do a detox or something. I think that's where you really need to, unfortunately, get some significant help with that process to try and dig yourself out of that hole because there may be medications that are involved. It can be a long journey and you really want to get the support that you need.
My gosh, Jen, I feel like we have so many more things to say on this, so maybe we'll have to do this again. There's so many more rabbit holes to go down and talk about here. But that being said, obviously you have your clinical practice where people can, specifically parents, because you work with little ones with skin challenges as well as skin rash from mold, can find you over at jennifercarynbrandnutrition.com. We'll actually put, I think which would be great, we'll put your website and we'll also put, I know you've got some really great free guides that people can download, especially around itch and whatnot. So we'll put some links into the show notes for you on those. And then obviously I have my practice, I work virtually all over the world with adults who are struggling with chronic skin problems.
Jennifer Brand (34:47.884)
The fungus among us.
Jennifer Fugo (34:48.895)
The fungus among us, but thank you Jen for being here today. I'm glad we could do this.
Jennifer Brand (34:53.622)
Thank you for having me.
