Many of our patients come to Sanctuary Functional Medicine because some other medical provider or providers were unable to fully explain their symptoms. When an exhausted patient and their family walk into our clinic, we want to be able to provide the missing explanations by keeping an open mind and thinking broadly in our search for root causes. We do extensive testing to investigate multiple angles of a person’s metabolic functioning so that we have clear targets for therapy. While empiric therapy (treating to see if something improves without being certain that it is “the” cause) is sometimes necessary for difficult to diagnose diseases (like Bartonella or Lyme), in general the clearer our target, the easier it is to treat.
When we come to believe someone has mold toxicity, we want to not only confirm that mold is affecting them, but also that no other simpler diagnostic explanation makes more sense for some or all of their symptoms. We work to rule out other root cause diagnoses like hypothyroidism, chronic infection, cancer, autoimmune diseases or a metabolic condition. We do not assume that mold is always the root cause explanation for every single symptom. We know that some of these other conditions frequently overlap with mold toxicity in terms of symptoms.
Beyond that, just because a patient has mold toxicity, does not mean they can’t have other diseases active simultaneously. In those situations, we want to treat patients fully for those conditions so they see full recovery. If some symptoms then remain active after other issues are treated, we can be more confident that mold toxicity is the pathologic process still active. Restoration is hindered if we blame mold toxicity for the symptoms caused by a co-existing condition that we or other providers left untreated.
We work hard to find the correct root cause or causes for a person’s suffering. Methodical diligence pays off when we can identify a biochemical root cause for something that was supposedly “all in your head”. We frequently see the relief in patient’s eyes when they realize we are not only taking their symptoms seriously, but that we have real answers which no one else could give them.
This methodical diligence begins with an environmental history asking questions such as: Near the onset of your symptoms were there any major life changes? Had you recently moved? Had you started a new job? Had you bought a new car? Had you or your child changed schools? Prior to the onset of symptoms, were there any major storms, water leaks, or unusual smells? The answers might point at possible mold exposures in your daily life.
Then we begin the testing evaluation to shine light into the darkness of unexplained symptoms.