In the past few weeks I’ve been feeling quite tired and out of sorts, which I also recently shared in a blog post as well. Since then there have been some really strange developments, which are quite important to this scenario. Namely, I’ve discovered mold in my bedroom which is something I never would’ve suspected. So here’s what happened…

Literally yesterday, I was looking to put back some books. They usually reside in a wooden bookcase embedded in a nook in the wall, which is quite important since the nook is quite thinner than the wall itself. As I was trying to put them back, it baffled me that some of them didn’t really fit where they had before. I almost brushed it off as a mere coincidence or mistake on my part and started to rearrange them before it happened — I took out a book and saw something peeking from behind it. It looked a lot like mold and what do you know! It surely was. And I was appalled.

But as I started taking off more and more books from the bookshelf, more and more mold began revealing itself. It was quite uncanny and to be fair, I’m not a huge fan of it in general. I mean, who is?! It freaks me out, so soon after I got all the books from the bookcase and saw the real damage, I called my boyfriend to ask if he knows what we can do to fix it. Turns out, we already had mold spray in our house and he also used flammable alcohol to treat the moldy spots right away, which did end up chipping the paint. If you want to avoid doing that, just use the classic anti-mold spray instead. If you’re wondering about the books, what I did is put baking soda on them and in between their pages. Luckily, none of the books are seriously damaged (or damaged at all, phew) so hopefully the soda will do its utmost to help prevent anything further.

But once that was done, we surely thought it was the end of it. Until I had a thought — since the mold originated from somewhere, what if it came from behind the bookcase and ended up seeping through it? Well, it turns out that’s exactly what happened. We took the bookcase off and oh boy was there mold behind it. Not only on the bookcase wood, but also on the wall itself. No wonder I’d been feeling sick for weeks without a real explanation!

So, based on my research and now personal experience, here’s what to look out for when mold contamination is concerned:

1. Nasal congestion and sore throat

Yes, it mimicks a cold or a flu but without all the symptoms. So, while my nose was continuously congested and my throat felt sore like with post-nasal drip, there were minimal signs of a cold. It didn’t really progress either. I was basically at the same stage of ‘almost sick but not quite’ for quite a while before we found this out. Most recently, I was really wondering what was wrong with me and why I feel progressively better during the day (when I’m not in our bedroom) but get progressively worse until I get to wake up feeling horrible the next morning. My nose having being congested for the entire night.

But there’s more too. The mucus that came from my nose was synonymous with a serious infection that my body was fighting, but I wasn’t nearly as sick compared to other times I’ve had it. It didn’t make any sense, but for more than 2 weeks I kept having dark green mucus coming out of my nose and it didn’t show likelihood of getting any better. Do your symptoms get worse when you spend more time in the room the mold was found in? If the answer is yes, then that’s probably the reason or part of the reason for your woes.

2. Fatigue, brainfog and joint pain

As someone going through burnout recovery, the signs of fatigue and brainfog are not new. However, it’s rare that they get to show up so persistently in the later stages of my recovery. To be honest, I hoped it would all be over by now and while, yes, some days truly feel like that, other days are a lot more difficult to deal with. Over the past few weeks, I thought this was the main issue — just some burnout symptoms coming back again. But little did I know, it was actually caused by mold. As I’m writing this, I’m still recovering. Today has been exhausting to say the least and I’ve done almost nothing excessive. But something I learnt during burnout is to go with the flow and that’s exactly what I’ve been up to. If you haven’t been feeling like yourself and feel like it could be mold exposure, really check out your surroundings. You just might be right.

3. Waking up in the middle of the night

This one is really weird and got me by surprise, but honestly, it was one of the main symptoms that showed me there is an issue. Usually, I’m not someone who wakes up in the middle of the night for no reason. See, when I was a kid I had insomnia. Actually, it continued all the way into my college years, until I was finally able to somehow fix it. But this was different. Even in the height of my burnout, when I would have nightmares about work and wake up in the middle of the night, it wasn’t as weird as this. In this case, all that happened was that without any warning or prompt, I would be wide awake in the middle of the night with my nose completely blocked. No nightmares, no reason. Just me, being fully awake and finding it difficult to go back to sleep. My body was probably warning me I’m being poisoned, as ever since we fixed the issue I’ve been sleeping like a baby.

So if there’s any moral to this story, let it be this — never underestimate the power your environment has in affecting your health. Also, listen to your intuition. I had an incling feeling that there was something to do with moisture or mold in the days leading up to my discovery. Then, a day or two before it, I had a thought that my symptoms weren’t really the normal cold or flu one might experience. And then yesterday, it happened. I made the discovery by simply returning some books that I could’ve easily left behind on my nightstand. At the end of the day, everything is possible and we should always be alert. One thing I’m super happy about though is that we were able to find it on time and fix it sooner rather than later. Because with mold, as with any contaminant, sooner is better than later.

Did I ever think I would be someone worried about or experiencing mold toxicity? No, not really. But I am. And as such, I also feel obligated to share it with everyone who may be reading this with the advice to keep an eye out for the spores.

Peace out,
Alex