After Spending 200K Joey Finds His (Simple) Solution

Source of the Story

Internet story

Resource Type

Patient Story

Name

Joey

Diagnosis

1. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Other diagnoses

infectious mononucleosis

Disease Course Over Time

Joey was working 60 hours a week when he became ill while doing a 17 mile Half Dome hike at Yosemite. He became bed-ridden and was diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis. He remained in very poor physical shape (unable to exercise, stand for short periods, read for long, etc.) for 6 years while spending over $200,000 on treatments.

His breakthrough came around 2012 when after practicing extreme mold avoidance (getting new clothes, living out in desert) he found he was able to hike and exercise vigorously again.

Some issues did remain but Joey's recovery was remarkable. It's not clear what his health is now.

Mold Avoidance Approaches That Made A Difference

1. Camp for an extended period of time to decrease exposures to toxins.
2. Use personal reactions to avoid locations, buildings or objects that trigger problematic responses.
3. Use decontamination (such as showering and washing clothes) after exposure to problematic environments.
4. Take care to stay out of moldy buildings.
5. Do a “sabbatical” in a good environment to get unmasked and thus to become better able to identify environmental mold toxins.
6. Put aside or discard some or all belongings exposed to a problematic environment.
7. Take particular care to make sure living environment is free of problematic chemicals
8. Move from a home with a mold/chemical issues to a different home.
9. Move to a trailer/van/portable home

Type of Onset

acute flu-like

Approximate Date of Illness Began

2006-2010

Functionality at it's Worst

Mostly homebound

Symptoms

Fever, extreme fatigue, post-exertional malaise, orthostatic intolerance, chemical sensitivities, extreme mold sensitivity, headaches, poor sleep, difficulty reading

Treatments That Made A Big Difference

Extreme mold avoidance, camping outside in desert, creating mold-free environment in cargo trailer - http://paradigmchange.me/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Toxin-Free-Home-for-7000.pdf

Treatments That Helped

benzodiazepines for sleep

Treatments That Had No Effect

Many, many treatments from prominent ME/CFS/FM doctors

Present State of Health

1. Story taken from web - unable to tell

Suggested Resources

Joey describes how he build his $7,000 mold-free "home" - http://paradigmchange.me/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Toxin-Free-Home-for-7000.pdf