The Lab Panel That Led Her to the Answer

Summary

Brandi, a licensed massage therapist in Down East Maine, came to Med Matrix after years of frustration with conventional care. She had gained 50 pounds in a year, hurt all over, had gut issues, was not sleeping well, and had been offered a fibromyalgia medication she declined after researching it. At her first provider visit, Colin Renaud, PA-C ordered a urine mycotoxin panel that came back showing several molds, one indicative of black mold. An inspector then found black mold in her rented house, and she and her two children moved out. Three months on she reports better sleep, more energy, almost no coughing, and one short illness instead of constant ones.

Before Med Matrix

• Gained 50 lb in a year
• Not sleeping well; waking at 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. and staying awake for a couple of hours
• Pain all over her body
• Severe knee and back pain, to the point of double dosing acetaminophen and ibuprofen and still feeling she needed the emergency room
• Severe hip pain that turned out to be bursitis
• Gut issues, including silent reflux that caused a cough, and the cough caused bladder incontinence she was in physical therapy for
• Told by a previous doctor she had fibromyalgia and offered a medication she declined after researching it and hearing from friends who had taken it
• She and her two children sick almost nonstop for 6 months with one respiratory infection after another
• Her children falling behind in school because they could not focus
• Living in a rental home with black mold she did not know about
• Irritability; her daughter told her she had been "a lot nicer" since they left the house
• Told a previous doctor she was going to have to quit her job because her body hurt so badly
• Geographically limited (Down East Maine) and financially limited to what insurance would cover
• Frustration with prior providers: an osteopathic physician who told her to double dose over-the-counter painkillers and who tested her for only two parasites; a doctor who delayed bursitis testing for two to three months; a naturopath who stopped responding to her emails

Results

• The urine mycotoxin panel came back showing about five molds, one indicative of black mold
• A mold inspector she then hired found black mold in the basement joists, growing up the kitchen walls, under the dining table, on the hutch, and under two sinks
• She and her two children left the house two days after the testing and later moved into a newly built home
• In the three months since leaving the mold house, one illness lasting about 2 days instead of 2 weeks
• Sleeping better; waking around 6:00 instead of 2:00 or 3:00
• More energy and more mental bandwidth to multitask
• Hardly coughing at all, and got through the entire interview without coughing
• Less grumpy, which her daughter noticed and commented on
• Lost 7 lb without trying since moving out of the moldy house
• Her second InBody scan numbers had moved in the right direction, where before they had not
• Still dealing with pain and inflammation, which she says is what she and her provider plan to work on next

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