A Safe House…that wasn’t so safe
He Built the “Safe House.”
And It Made Him Sicker.
There is a particular heartbreak that comes when you do everything right…
and still get blindsided.
This is the story of a 38-year-old husband, father, and business owner who did what many would call responsible, protective, even heroic.
He tried to build a safe home for his family.
And instead, he found himself unable to walk from the bedroom to the living room.
The Beginning
He married in 2013 and moved into a home that had sat abandoned for years.
Like many determined men, he rolled up his sleeves and cleaned it himself.
Within six months:
He couldn’t walk across the house
He developed allergies to nearly everything
He couldn’t tolerate being outside
His world shrank
He was eventually told it might be mold.
He didn’t believe it.
Most people don’t at first.
The Second Chance
They moved.
For a while, things improved.
He gained weight back.
Muscle returned.
Strength returned.
Then another water event — roof damage from hail.
And this time, he didn’t bounce back.
He developed:
POTS
Atrial fibrillation
Severe food sensitivities
Fat intolerance so extreme that even added fat triggered tachycardia
A diet reduced to only a few tolerable foods
His nervous system was on fire.
The Invisible Collapse
He is a business owner — a minority partner in several ventures.
Between 2022 and 2023, he couldn’t make decisions.
Not because he lacked intelligence.
Because his brain would not function.
Inflammation does not just cause fatigue.
It steals executive function.
It flattens cognition.
It erodes confidence.
He described a time when he simply could not think.
The Turning Point
In 2023, he came across educational material on CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome).
He immediately ran the labs.
He had CIRS.
Not anxiety.
Not deconditioning.
Not stress.
Biotoxin-driven inflammatory illness.
The Ultimate Effort
Determined to protect his wife and child — who were also affected — he built a new home designed to be mold-resistant.
They tested it.
It failed.
Scores were in the mid-20s.
Three out of four environmental professionals advised tearing it down.
They gutted it to the studs.
Dust mold remained.
Now the home tests between 10 and 14 — dry mold, not active moisture — and they meticulously control dust levels.
Imagine building your family’s dream home…
only to learn you have to dismantle it to survive in it.
The Body’s Reaction
He is exquisitely sensitive.
Cannot tolerate most fats
Even small amounts trigger POTS symptoms
Cholestyramine tolerated only at 1/8 scoop
Welchol tolerated at 1/4 tablet
Magnesium triggers atrial fibrillation
Blood pressure drops easily
Metabolic and autonomic instability are constant companions
And yet, there are signs of hope.
When he leaves the home:
His shoulders relax
His A-fib decreases
His brain starts to work
He can think again
That is not placebo.
That is physiology.
The Reality of CIRS
CIRS is not simply “mold exposure.”
It is an immune system stuck in a hyper-reactive loop:
Persistent inflammatory signaling
Autonomic nervous system dysregulation
Mast cell instability
Mitochondrial stress
Vascular reactivity
In this case, the mold did not just irritate him.
It destabilized his entire regulatory system.
The Quiet Victories
Recently:
He is tolerating small amounts of Welchol
He can get some red meat down with DAO support
Brain function is improving
Decision-making is returning
His nervous system is less locked in fight-or-flight
Progress in CIRS is rarely dramatic.
It is incremental.
It is earned.
It is fragile.
What Makes This Story So Painful
He did what many fathers would do:
He tried to build a safe place.
And instead, he found himself fighting for his life inside it.
Mold illness does not always look dramatic.
Sometimes it looks like:
A man who cannot stand at the stove
A businessman who cannot make decisions
A father who cannot tolerate basic foods
A heart that falls into arrhythmia
A nervous system that cannot regulate
And yet, on the outside, he “looks fine.”
The Bigger Lesson
If you are building, renovating, or purchasing a home:
Environmental testing is not paranoia.
It is prevention.
If you have unexplained POTS, A-fib, cognitive decline, food reactivity, or extreme chemical sensitivity:
Consider your environment.
Sometimes the trigger is not inside the body first.
Sometimes it is in the walls.
At The Lyday Center, we approach CIRS with:
Careful binder titration
Environmental assessment
Autonomic stabilization
Immune modulation
Patient-specific pacing
Because for patients like this, aggressive treatment can destabilize more than it helps.
Healing requires precision.
And compassion.
If this story resonates with you, you are not alone.
And you are not crazy.
Sometimes the safest house is not the one you build first.
It is the one you rebuild with knowledge.
—
Dr. Tamara Lyday, DO
The Lyday Center