u/Lil-Miss-Anthropy

I've already tried three rentals in my city that I've had to evacuate in a hurry due to no longer being able to sleep *at all* due to heart palpitations and muscle tremors.

Not sure if I trust petri dishes off Amazon. The HERTSMI thingy people have mentioned looks useful, although a bit expensive.

Even with the data it would give me, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about VOCs and stuff. My most effective data is how I feel after moving in, and that can take a few hours, days, or even weeks to show up.

Is the safest bet then to find a private landlord who's willing to do a flexible trial period arrangement? Or someone who maybe would be okay with me sleeping in a tent in their yard?

Or how do you screen rentals before moving in? Is it just a lot of trial and error like I've been doing? I've lost so much money paying for rent on places I couldn't live in due to toxins. Do I just keep at it until I find something that doesn't make me ill?

Debating the Realtime Lab $399 mycotoxin panel vs the All-Tox for $499:

>Make it a combo with the All-Tox Profile: >Heavy Metals Panel + Environment Toxin Panel + Mycotoxin Panel + Glyphosate

That's only $100 more for three extra tests. I already have the mycotoxin test purchased and ready to collect, but I'm thinking about asking them if I can upgrade. What if there's more I'm missing besides mold in my body? Thoughts??

I've wanted to get out of Portland for the last decade. I hate how cold and damp and full of mold it is here, I hate the insular social mechanics that make me feel like there's something wrong with me, I hate the stagnant air. I'm not a fan of living in such a huge city, but it's useful because I need to see a lot of medical specialists while I heal from mold toxicity. If I could get the same quality of medical care, I'd 1000% prefer to live in a small town that's quiet and slow, and dark at night.

Mostly, I want to live someplace drier and warmer. I use Medicaid, and want to be sure there wouldn't be too much lapse in my care.

Right now I'm thinking of Colorado, New Mexico, or Arizona. Honestly, I would prefer to get out of the USA right now altogether (I especially want to travel to New Zealand and Australia), but I've been staying here for the medical care and the food stamps until I can get on my feet financially and health-wise.

Also preferable would be vegan-friendly, bikable, legal weed/psychedelics, dance community, low-crime, affordable rent, skews young/college-age. I go barefoot everywhere and would prefer a relaxed culture where not everyone is going to make a big deal out of that. Maybe a college town or a beach town would be the vibe. Any suggestions?

I get pretty top-notch care in Portland, Oregon and pay $0 for it. I'm allowed to see as many mental health providers as I like, I get 30 visits a year for specialist treatments such as pain management, there's reimbursement for rides to and from appointments, and a large network of specialists, and most providers support Telehealth visits. I see a great naturopath for my mold toxicity. But I'm looking to move to a drier climate due to the heavy prevalence of mold in rentals here.

I'm wondering what it would be like to switch my care to any of these states? Colorado, New Mexico, or Arizona? (Edit: or California?) How long would it take to switch Medicaid, and to get reestablished? Are there any differences I should know about, such as costs or rules?

Edit: Is it simpler if move to a city in Oregon as opposed to moving to another state?

CareOregon/OHP has been amazing. I never have co-pays, I don't even have to pay late fees, I get 30 visits a year for specialist treatments such as pain management, and there are tons of doctors in Portland. I'm looking to move someplace dryer due to toxic mold exposure, so Denver piqued my interest, but I really need a place with good health care. How is the healthcare over there? And can any other Portland/Oregon transplants weigh in on what it was like to transfer care? Did it take very long and was it hard?

I've already had to leave three of four residences. I just signed a 12 month lease for an apartment, and it's so great to have my own place, but it's undeniable that I'm getting symptoms here.

I didn't sleep all night the first night, and went back to the bed I had left in a friend's yard. He didn't seem to mind, thankfully. Another night there and I was well rested, no more tremors, and decided to tackle the apartment once again. I keep bringing stuff into it, hoping that this is home for me. After a few trips back and forth through the hallways, my lip tremor returned. I know that it's something in the environment, but I've been hoping that maybe eliminating stress and taking Benadryl and eating food will help me.

Now it's 3 am and I'm tired and having trouble sleeping because of the tremors. There's like a hint of heart palpitations and nausea. It's similar to what drove me out of my last rental.

God, I don't want to have to keep moving. It's been 3 months since my life as I knew it fell apart.

It's a very nice place aside from the toxins. I wish I could be flexible enough to handle them. My mom is so kindly supporting me right now, but we're both financially struggling and can't really afford to break the lease and be financially responsible for the place. 😥

I guess I'm just looking for someone telling me it isn't so, even though it is so.

I've been through a huge amount of trauma in the last 3 months. Like, something would happen, and I wouldn't even have time to react before the next thing. Again and again ad nauseum.

I've done psilocybin before but never ketamine. I've wanted to have a psilocybin trip for the last year, but never could find the right time and place, and then things really fell apart for me. I'm afraid to have a trip because I don't really have a stable place I'm sleeping. That's the main thing I'm struggling with. There's the mold displacement, struggling to find home, my Saturn return, my core belief of (not) belonging in this human world, my reckoning with how cold and cruel the world actually is—so unlike the beautiful mushroom trips I've had where it feels like everyone and everything is connected. I'm afraid I'll go on a trip looking for answers and find nothing. I'll just be forced to reckon with my pain, pain I cannot alleviate nor explain away nor understand in a meaningful way. Pain that persists with no clear end in sight.

The truth is, I've been in pain all my life. People have avoided relationships with me or entered roles that didn't serve us because they see me as a mess. Things are coming to a head now. I have this portal to move through. I'm scared.

I could use a guide. I have Medicaid. It doesn't cover psilocybin, and has limited coverage of ketamine. My mom has offered to buy me psilocybin therapy for ages. I've shied away from it because of the cost (she is already struggling to support herself as well as me through this transition!!), and because I presumed I would need to build a relationship with the therapist before getting into it. What if I pick the wrong therapist? What if it doesn't work? What if I need something that isn't there with me? What if I'm an even bigger mess when I take myself home, and my mom's money goes to waste on my failure? What if, what if, what if.

I've just signed a 12-month lease after bouncing between so many places, and I worry I've made a huge mistake. My body has been getting sicker and sicker, it's so reactive to so many environments, I don't even know where on planet Earth to go. I'm exhausted and sleep deprived, and I worry that I'm not in a great state to take a psych-altering substance, but I also have heard from wise friends that there's a trauma underlying everything that might be causing or exacerbating the physical symptoms.

I've even been considering a psych med such as Prozac, but I would really prefer a substance that doesn't have a long-term dependency attached to it, and can truly heal the trauma.

I did have a therapist I was seeing for a while, but that relationship has become increasingly sparse. Long story.

If you have any words of wisdom about my situation or how to support this transition, please share. How close am I to being ready to break out of this spiral? What's a first step I can take?

I've been displaced for the last 3 months. After 1-1.5 months of being displaced, I realized this needs to be a bigger part of my personality and my priorities. Mold was the most unglamorous fucking thing to me, but I've had to kind of make it into a special interest so I can survive.

I started listening to stories on YouTube of people who have been through mold, and videos of people talking about how to remediate mold. I was not learning a whole lot, so I gave up. I did find a few videos that were very informative, but I did not listen to them because I wanted to be more attentive and take notes. But I'm having difficulty being attentive because I've been in a prolonged crisis. How do you learn in a crisis state?

I see a lot of acronyms in this subreddit such as POTS, MCAS, and CIRS. And then I see people talking about different kinds of mold, and ERMI scores? How do you know about this stuff? Is there a specific channel you follow or a book you read? Or is it just from talking to your doctor? Are you diagnosed or just speculating?

My city has a historic district with specific rules around what owners can do to buildings. I've written off looking at rentals in that area, because even if they are freshly remodeled, there are regulations saying they can't tear out walls and things like that. I can only imagine they must have a lot of mold issues (especially considering it's in the Pacific Northwest).

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Today I saw a doctor for the first time and immediately felt airway distress being in her building and her office: icky old-building smell (difficult to describe, but sharp, like dust crossed with old wood, >!plus carpet cleaner with sickening aromatherapy ingredients possibly!<), stuffy, inflamed airways, which in turn made me irritable and restless. It turns out it's in the historic district, and while I've been good at not looking at rentals there, it slipped my mind when it came to medical offices. I told her immediately when I sat down in her chair that I would not be continuing care after today if that is the only location available. It's a shame because I really wanted to try ketamine therapy after a friend recommended her. It's funny how something that could be meant to help you could be so wrong. I toughed it out for the hour and a half, and am now experiencing increased fasciculations. I'm almost certain there's mold in there.

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I'm frustrated at my muscle twitch and at how sick I feel from it. I would have straight up walked out if I hadn't driven so far to be there. I also did a lot of paperwork to get into that clinic. Maybe next time, I should drop by a clinic and check it out in person before going to the trouble. Know where your historic district is if your city has one so you can screen accordingly before visiting doctors, friends, indoor events, or looking at rentals. Lesson learned. I hope my story helps you make informed decisions.

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Rawrgh! Now I gotta wait like 2 days to make sure the fasciculations die down. I'm very fortunate to have been in a stable place where I've been healthy enough that I can notice when these things arise.

Before I knew what was making me sick, I was requesting all kinds of referrals to pulmonology, neurology, otolaryngology/ENT, etc. Now that I know what's making me sick (it was the mold) and have removed myself from the initial environment, my symptoms have quieted down. I don't get heart palpitations as much. My throat isn't quite as achy as before, though it does still ache.

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I already found a brilliant mold-informed naturopath to work with. Is it worthwhile to see the specialists I mentioned? Have any of you found benefit from going to a pulmonologist, neurologist, or otolaryngologist? Or other? Allergist, etc?

I’m trying to decide whether to enter a voluntary up to 30-day residential mental health/respite program, and I’d really appreciate perspective from people who are neurodivergent/highly sensitive and have experience with these environments.

For context: I’m autistic, physically sensitive, and I also have EDS/connective tissue issues that make sleep setup extremely important. Two months ago I had to evacuate my home due to mold exposure, and since then I’ve basically been homeless and sleeping in a tent in a friend’s yard and similar situations. I’m in a major transition point in my life and trying to figure out what kind of environment would actually help my nervous system recover.

I toured Jackson House recently. There are some things I genuinely like about it:

• They allow me to bring my own mattress (this is HUGE for me because I’ve had to leave other respite programs after only a few nights due to soft mattresses causing severe body pain)
• Lots of mental health support and education

There are some issues as well. For instance, I hate having meds managed for me. Rooms are shared with one other person of the same gender, which could make it harder to manage environmental/sensory challenges. The schedules are rigid with many mandatory groups that make it difficult to catch up on day sleep for an insomniac/someone recovering from sleep deprivation like me.

But the biggest issue for me is the lack of windows, sunlight, and outdoor access.

The building felt enclosed and institutional to me. Very little natural light. Not much fresh air. The patio faces a busy street and closes at night. I live in Portland, where summer is basically the only reliably sunny part of the year, and part of me feels almost panicked at the idea of spending an entire month indoors during the best weather of the year.

This may sound dramatic to some people, but I genuinely regulate through sunlight, warmth, fresh air, openness, and connection to the outdoors. Sleeping in a tent has actually made me realize how important that is for my nervous system.

At the same time, I know I need support. I’ve struggled for a long time with anxiety/depression/overwhelm.

I guess what I’m trying to figure out is:

• Has anyone else had strong reactions to the sensory/environmental side of treatment programs?
• Did the lack of windows/sunlight/outdoor access affect you more than you expected?
• Can a program still help if the environment itself feels physically or psychologically constricting?
• Or am I putting too much weight on the environmental aspect?

Would especially appreciate hearing from autistic/HSP people or anyone who’s done Jackson House specifically.

It can't be a coincidence that these similar illnesses are often clustered together in patients with mold illness. These infections are treated often with similar protocols, i.e. doxycycline or Buhner herbal protocol.

Do you go about treating the infection first or the mold toxicity? Would you reach first for Buhner's book about herbal antibiotics for chronic infections, or Shoemaker's books for treating mold illness?

I had to emergency evacuate my mom's condo 2 months ago when the mold ​toxicity reached such a limit in my body (after a year of symptoms) that I could not sleep at all. ​After bouncing from place to place for 2 months, burning through a lot of my mom's money and stressing her out, she's begging me to come back to the condo. She says she has done a lot to remediate the mold. She still insists that I'm over inflating my symptoms, and she keeps wanting to get me on psych meds. But she says she scrubbed the mold with bleach in her room (which was the moldiest room) and used mold resistant paint. She also had the bathroom sink redone because she is sure that the mold smell was in the pipes.

I'm utterly exhausted. I'm scared to go back there. I just can't imagine it's been properly remediated if my window has not been torn from its frame and the walls have not been gutted. She did buy mold testing, and the guy doing the tests said the mold is pretty surface level and can just be scrubbed with some RMR. It doesn't sit right with me. I was so sick living there.

There's no backyard to put a tent in if I have another emergency. What do I do?

The last rental I tried, I got sick again and had to emergency evacuate after getting no sleep due to full body tremors and heart palpitations. The landlord and head tenant and refusing to refund my rent for unused days.

I'm at an Airbnb for the night. Neither my mom nor I can keep affording this. I had high hopes to travel this year, but I'm barely surviving right now and my heart is breaking. I would honestly take off and travel somewhere else if I knew for certain it would heal me. But I don't know that for certain. I don't know where on Earth I am safe indoors, and I'm having trouble being stable enough to make the money to get there.