Do You Ever Feel Like Mold Is Following You?

Damn You, Mold! A Warrior’s Battle Across Continents

Sometimes, it feels like you do everything you can, but around each corner—more mold! For one of my patients, T, this has been the defining battle of her life. A warrior through and through, she has fought against toxic mold not just in one home, not just in one country, but across continents.

Born in the U.S. but spending significant time in the Dominican Republic, where her father and extended family live, T's journey with mold toxicity began early. Her first “psychiatric crisis” wasn’t a typical mental health breakdown—it was her first neuroinflammatory event, a direct result of mold intoxication.

Seeking solace and a fresh start, she left for the DR, hoping to heal. But the relentless humidity, the waterlogged home—where she once had to push standing water out after a flood—created a perfect storm. And at just 14 years old, T experienced an inexplicable darkness. Night sweats drenched her sheets. Thoughts that had never entered her mind before took root. Then came the suicide attempt—completely out of character, completely out of nowhere. She survived, waking up the next morning feeling like a stranger in her own body. Deep inside, she knew something had pushed her over the edge, something beyond her control.

Moving in with her grandmother brought some relief, but then—Dengue fever. The hits just didn’t stop. She pushed through, working with her father while attending school full-time, but the exhaustion never lifted. So, she returned to the U.S., back to her mother’s home—an old Victorian mansion in Massachusetts. Beautiful, yes, but crumbling. Water damage lurked in every corner. And soon, the darkness returned. This time, she found herself seeking faith, turning to the church for strength. But not even that could protect her from what was happening inside her body. Once again, an unexplainable force led her to attempt suicide. And once again, she survived.

Then came the seizure. She could hear everything around her, yet she was trapped, unable to move, unable to respond—just frozen in a body that refused to obey. That’s when the pattern became undeniable. With each new home, with each water-damaged space, her health deteriorated. She bounced from one place to another, always hoping for relief, but always finding more mold. A cracked pipe here. Leaky windows there. Nowhere safe. Nowhere to heal.

Finally, she found stability. A home. A partner. Love. And for a while, life seemed to be coming together. But then—fatigue. Weight gain. Depression. She had never struggled like this before. Her husband encouraged her to exercise, but she could barely muster the energy to get through the day. The future he dreamed of—kids, a white picket fence—felt impossible to her. She was drowning, not in water, but in exhaustion. The relationship crumbled under the weight of it all, and eventually, they separated.

She moved into a new apartment in the same complex, hoping for a fresh start. Instead, she found water running down the walls. Management dismissed her concerns—“It’s just the upstairs neighbor taking baths, he’ll be moving soon.” But her body knew the truth before her mind could catch up. The fatigue deepened. Her thoughts clouded. Her body swelled. And then—a trip to Turkey. A two-week escape from the mold. A brief, beautiful reprieve. But when she returned, her body could no longer tolerate the toxicity it had endured for years. Within days, she was bed-bound. She couldn’t walk. She couldn’t stand. She lost her ability to communicate.

Her manager at work, worried when she didn’t show up, called for a welfare check. The police found her barely functioning, and she was admitted to the hospital. Three weeks passed. And when she was finally discharged, she felt no better than the day she was admitted.

How can a young woman—under 30—be so sick, so broken? How could no one see the pattern? How could doctors miss the signs?

Damn you, mold.

But T is still here. Still fighting. Still searching for healing. And if her story tells us anything, it’s that mold toxicity is real, it’s devastating, and it’s stealing lives in ways most people will never understand.

For those of you battling the same unseen enemy—you are not alone. Keep fighting. Keep searching. Keep hoping. Healing is possible. And warriors like T prove that even in the darkest moments, there is still a way forward.