Dr. Conners had a great discussion with Bridgit Danner on toxic mold and her steps to recovery. She is an expert in the field, with a book (The Ultimate Toxic Mold Recovery Guide: Take Back Your Home, Health & Life) now available on Amazon, and a Free Masterclass (which Dr. Conners was interviewed for!) that you can get access to now.
Toxic Mold Masterclass with Bridgit Danner
Toxic mold can cause mysterious symptoms like unexplained fatigue, brain fog and chronic emotional stress. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to recover from exposure!
Join Bridgit Danner, LAc, FDNP, to learn step-by-step strategies to identify and address toxic mold issues in your body, assess and properly remediate your home and create a low-tox home environment!
Unfortunately, toxic mold illness often goes unidentified for years. Yet most buildings have a history of water damage, which, if not handled properly, can lead to lingering mold spores and mold toxins.
After Hurricane Ian, amongst other natural disasters, it’s important to be prepared to prevent and tackle water damage in your home, and recover your health if you’ve been exposed to toxic mold.
Some clues you could have toxic mold in your home or workplace include humidity over 50%, a sudden flood or burst pipe, a slow leak in the walls or floors, musty smell or visible mold.
And mold isn’t just in our homes and offices… approximately 25% of the world’s crops, including grains, nuts, wine, spices and coffee are contaminated by mold and mycotoxins.
Not everyone reacts to toxic mold in the same way. One person could be symptom-free, and another quite sick. Symptoms can be varied and may include headaches, asthma, chronic digestive issues, weight gain, chronic pain, anxiety, depression and more. If you are experiencing mysterious symptoms, you could be suffering from toxic mold exposure.
This Toxic Mold Masterclass will provide you with all the information you need to:
- Begin recovering from toxic mold exposure
- Recognize symptoms of mold toxicity in adults, kids & pets
- Identify the materials & moisture levels that grow mold
- Manage hypersensitivity to foods, stimuli & supplements
- Utilize supplements & detox strategies effectively
- Home test for mycotoxins
- Understand how genetics influence mycotoxin breakdown
Along with case studies, helpful resources, checklists and step-by-step guides to help you fix your home and address your health concerns, our event experts will discuss essential testing and treatment options for mold toxicity, home assessment methods, strategies for immune system support and at-home mold detox practices.
Join us to learn how you can recover both your health and home from toxic mold!
About Bridgit Danner, LAc, FDNP
Bridgit Danner has been a licensed acupuncturist since 2004 and a certified Functional Diagnostic practitioner since 2015. She has given over 12,000 treatments in her career.
Her interest in natural health grew from an interest in protecting the environment. Even as a child, she was donating her allowance to Greenpeace and writing cosmetic companies to ask about their practices!
Her specialty in the early years of her health coaching career was fertility and female hormonal imbalances.
While busy running a busy integrative wellness center in Portland, Oregon, she developed an environmental illness due to toxic mold in her home. She became acutely aware of the powerful impact of the environment on her health.
She and her family lost their house and everything in it to toxic mold, and they moved 1,000 miles to the Arizona desert to heal.
Bridgit now educates about toxins and detox, and how they impact other body systems, through her online community, and coaches women privately on how to detoxify through a functional approach.
Her specialities include: hormonal imbalance, toxic mold, chemical detox, gut health and infections, and thyroid health.
Stay tuned for Episode 34 (you can see all episodes on the Conners Clinic Live page!)
Listen to or Watch the Full Podcast Episode
Transcript
Dr. Conners
Welcome everybody. This is Dr. Kevin Conners. Welcome to another edition to Conners Clinic Live, our podcast that we try to bring in the best guests, and today’s a perfect example of this. Let’s see, you interviewed me on the Mold Summit. Was that what it was?
Bridgit Danner
Yeah, that’s how we met through the Toxic Mold Masterclass. It’s coming out soon and you have a bonus talk on Cancer and Mold.
Dr. Conners
I just love what you stand for and I know for our members and our listeners, mold is a big issue. Toxic mold is a big issue. But it’s kind of an enigma out there and you’re going to kind of clarify some of that. So that’s the little bit of a biography on you. You started out as an acupuncturist, practiced for over a dozen years and saw people in clinic as an acupuncturist. You started having your own health issues and I’m going to let you carry on the story from there.
Bridgit Danner
Yeah, that is accurate. So I started my practice life in Portland, Oregon. I was having my own chronic health issues and I was working on my diet and working on my sleep and trying to get better. But I just was always cycling through lots of cold and flu and pain and period problems. And after a long time in this same home, about eight years, I think nine years, found out and my symptoms were getting a lot worse. Found out that I had mold in the home. And after kind of dealing with all that, sort of changed the direction of my career because I really wanted to talk more and focus more on all these things I was learning about detox and mold. And in the end I’m sort of thankful it happened because I really love this space. It’s such an interesting topic and it’s really needed and yeah, it goes so deep. I was excited to interview you because mold affects so many things and I’m sure in oncology it’s not being talked about nearly enough. So I think the more we can get it on the radar, the better it’s going to be.
Dr. Conners
So how did you discover you had mold in your house?
Bridgit Danner
I was going to a naturopathic college to get IVs and stuff, and I wasn’t getting better. And they asked me about my home. They said, has anything changed in your home environment? And two things, we had gotten a cat and we had had some water intrusion in our basement. And the basement had always been kind of stinky and it was a finished basement. So they said, have you ever thought about checking for mold? And I sort of knew enough to know I didn’t want mold. It wasn’t too keen on checking, to be honest. Luckily my husband at the time was like, I think we should check. So we got an inspector, we owned the home. So I think an inspector is a great way to go. They check for water in the walls and they check for improper drainage and they do samples of drywall and air and then give you a whole report. So that was sort of our first indicator. He found plenty of stuff and then we started the process of remediating our home. We made tons of mistakes. So I got sicker. So yeah, depending on you, if you own or rent or where you think you’re exposed, there are different options for testing and finding out.
Dr. Conners
Let’s move into the realm of what you did to treat it.
Bridgit Danner
Yeah. At the time I didn’t know much about detox and mold. I mean, I think looking back, luckily those years I didn’t know about it. Working on my diet, working on other things were beneficial. They weren’t ultimately enough. Right. How could they be? But I think setting that foundation of eating whole foods and ironically, I had really detoxed my house of other chemicals. I just didn’t know I had mold. So those things were sort of in place, but I didn’t know anything about detox. I started seeing a local naturopath. She was very keen on treating EBV, which I also had as a way to kind of quell symptoms. So we did like what’s that acid from coconut oil?
Dr. Conners
Lauric acid.
Bridgit Danner
Lauric acid. Yeah, we did some of that. We started on some binders. I think she was my first person. But then I ended up seeing a handful of different people. I got lymphatic massage, was using a sauna. So as now as I teach people, I kind of look back on what helped me the most in those early years and recommend them the most. So sauna helped me a lot, coffee enema helped me a lot, dry brushing helped me quite a bit.
So those are like three of my top techniques. I think the supplements can be helpful, but it can also be sometimes a little slow to move the needle. But I have like my top supplements too. But yeah, looking back, I think a lot of what made me feel the best was kind of moving lymph and just kind of getting it moving.
Dr. Conners
So you made point of if you don’t get rid of the source, I mean, you’re never going to get better. It’s like if you have a glyphosate sensitivity and overabundance of glyphosate exposure, but you continue to eat glyphosates, you’re never going to get better. So if you don’t get rid of the source, you can detoxify all you want and you’re never going to overcome that. Another point that you made is that the physical things like the sauna, the coffee enema, dry brushing, you equate to be the most positive experience in overcoming mold. All of those one could argue as you’re just helping detox pathways.
Bridgit Danner
Occasionally for some people those things can make them feel worse because they’re not exiting the toxins, right? They’re just recirculating so you have to make sure you’re having bowel movements. This is also where binders can help just get it out. But for me personally, I can’t remember ever feeling worse from a sauna and an enema, maybe just once or twice. I usually just always feel better. But yeah, everybody’s different. Some of our clients, like yours, probably are very sensitive now to supplements and different techniques. I have clients who can only be in the sauna like five minutes, that type of thing. So you have to cater your treatment to yourself.
Dr. Conners
Now, I’m curious why other people, everybody else in your house didn’t get sick when you got sick.
Bridgit Danner
So it’s a combination of genetic factors, other exposures, age, stress. It could just kind of hit you suddenly or it could be slowly taking you down. There is one gene, I’ll just give it a start with this, that can tag mycotoxins. And some of us don’t have it. But really, there are many genes at play when we’re trying to detox from mold. It’s not just that one. There’s also how well we recycle glutathione and that kind of thing. So there’s lots of factors at play, but generally because our body recycles bile, we can recycle the mycotoxins that the bile is trying to remove. And then if we’re still in the moldy house, we’re still getting exposed. So generally it’s like a slow breakdown. And then for some people it could be worsening mood, gaining weight, developing asthma, some of your clients could be developing cancer, and you don’t know that’s happening. So often things are happening behind the scenes and I suppose there are some people who really do sort of get unaffected. But I always kind of wonder what’s happening down deep, like what’s going to appear, right? It takes usually ten years to discover an autoimmunity.
So, yeah, everybody’s kind of different. That’s really why. And the levels of exposure can be different too, whether it’s just like one little corner in your house or it’s really kind of everywhere. So, yeah, lots of factors at play and sometimes that’s why there’s some doubt or disbelief. It’s like, why are you so sick and I’m not? But that’s just life, right? We all get sick in different ways.
Dr. Conners
It makes you think about how many people are dealing with bold issues that don’t know it? It just kind of sad. You lived in Portland area at the time, is that what you said?
Bridgit Danner
Yes.
Dr. Conners
Now, I know there’s been a lot said and written about different areas of the country that are more susceptible to mold issues. What would you say to people that are living in areas that are rainier? Is it good to get some plates to get your house checked? Some agar plates that you could check your house with?
Bridgit Danner
Well, yeah, I will say rainy. Also, humidity is another factor, old home factor. New home can be a factor. So lots of factors. I would say the first step is think about your home stewardship. Like, how are you taking care of your home? For instance, I definitely should have been running a dehumidifier in our basement the entire time. I would say before maybe we’ll move into test, but I would say, and I wasn’t a good steward of my home, our gutters weren’t draining correctly. We didn’t run that dehumidifier. Some of the things we wouldn’t have known about because they were in the walls. But are you like, cleaning your gutters and just maintaining the home well? Have you ever checked your crawl space? Is anyone checking your attic? So just be aware of possible water intrusion and how you’re managing humidity. And if you see anything or smell anything, you have like, water staining, film in your basement, musty odor, then it may be a good idea to get inspected or do some testing, I would say, especially if you have some health issues in the home. And then like I said, there’s lots of ways to do it.
You can do the plates you mentioned. There’s a new mail away air test I just learned about. It really just depends on your budget and if, again, you’re a renter or an owner, sometimes starting with the plates could be good even though they’re not perfect just to get an indicator because if they’re off the charts, then you may want to talk to your landlord or do a dust test, do something like that.
Dr. Conners
Yeah, that becomes even a bigger difficulty if you’re renting. It’s expensive to remediate a house. I can’t imagine the cost that you went through. I’ve had patients that have spent, you know, upwards of close to $200,000 to end up tearing all the studs out of your house. And it’s extremely costly.
Bridgit Danner
It’s costly. I can see why a landlord doesn’t want to get involved with it. But at the same time, it’s a hard enough decision if it’s your own home and your own health. And then if you’ve just got tenants, it’s like, well, it’s not really as bad as you say, and why can’t we just like, bleach it and paint over it? Fortunately, a lot of that happens and there is some legislation being proposed for this sort of thing and there are some legal kind of precedents that you can work with. But I also talk to my clients about don’t waste too much energy on different battles because the most important battle is your health, I think.
Dr. Conners
Yeah, it is. Let’s go over if a person is suspecting that they might have mold issues. What are some of the top symptoms that a person would see?
Bridgit Danner
Yeah, I think the top two that I see are brain fog and low energy and really like those kind of chronic deep, you’re not getting rid of it type of thing. Even when you’ve changed your meds or you’re eating right and you’re getting 8 hours of sleep and you’re just dragging. You can’t think clearly. I see those as the top two, but it really can be quite the spectrum because it’s inflaming potentially any organ and depressing the immune system, inflaming the brain. So you can have weight loss resistance, like sudden weight gain, asthma. Kids can have a lot of ADHD. Adults could have depression or rage or anxiety, insomnia. Some of my symptoms, nobody really said to me, oh, it could be mold. I was having, like, breakthrough bleeding on my periods. I was having, like, chronic back pain, just like, getting colds a lot. Yeah, I had some anxiety and sleep issues. Definitely chronic digestive issues, like lots of food sensitivities can really be a sign of mold because the way it’s breaking down your gut, that one gets missed a lot. So lots of potential things. And I think that’s why, unfortunately, it can get missed.
And thinking about what you do, Kevin, nobody wants to get to the point where they’re getting a cancer diagnosis. So I think it’s a great idea, if you are dealing with chronic symptoms and you’re listening to this, to really look at, like, could it be mold? Rather than just let these symptoms go on and on for years, because it can be developing even worse things like cancer, heart disease. So better to really look for those sources. If you are having chronic symptoms of any kind.
Dr. Conners
How would you test a patient that came in with those symptoms?
Bridgit Danner
Well, if you’re looking for mold, there is now a urine mycotoxin test. There’s a couple of companies, maybe three or four actually, so we use one Great Plains Lab. It’s just a urine mycotoxin test. So they didn’t have this test. I’m trying to think how long they’ve had it now. Do you think five or ten years?
Dr. Conners
I think it’s about that.
Bridgit Danner
Yeah. So they didn’t used to, they used to use non-specific blood markers, and even that hasn’t been going on all that long, 20-30 years. So it’s really great that we have this test now. You can just at home urine test, you can run it on a kid. I think the guy who I interviewed even ran it on his dog, so you could do that. And dog food is quite moldy.
Dr. Conners
Exactly.
Bridgit Danner
Yeah. And lots of animals have cancer now too. So yeah, it’s a really easy at home test. It’s fairly affordable.
Dr. Conners
This is a question that listeners would have, if they were to leave their environment. They’re trying to do all sorts of right things with detoxing and supplements and things and dietary, but they’re still not getting better. But they go take a two week vacation down in Florida or Arizona or something like that. Would they notice a change? Would that give them a clue?
Bridgit Danner
I think sometimes, you know, a lot of people will say, do you feel better when you leave your home? But I think that can be a tough test. Right? Because generally we feel better when we’re on vacation, we’re happier, right? We’re resting. So I probably had vacations I went on that I felt better, but I never thought, oh, it’s my house. I just didn’t put the two things together. But, yes, it could potentially be a clue. Maybe especially if you’re having something like a stuffy nose in your house, right. And then you go away for a couple of weeks and it’s not stuffy, but I don’t think it’s perfect because you could still have the toxins in your body, you could still feel the same. So I don’t think it’s a perfect test. And since I’ve worked with more people, I was somewhat surprised to see that you can leave the environment even for years, and then they’re still in your body. So you really have to usually actively clear them even once you leave the environment.
Dr. Conners
Well, that’s what we spoke about with cancer. If you get mycotoxins in the cell, even though you clean up your environment and do everything, it still could be a cause of cancer that then takes ten years to develop. So it’s a nasty thing. Let’s talk about maybe three or five things that you want to leave the listener with when they’re thinking, scratching their head. Could it be toxic mold? What should I do about it? What would you tell them?
Bridgit Danner
I might direct people to our website and this event that you and I are both a part of, because probably you’re not going to walk away just in your head enough to take action, right? You probably want to have a list, so we have, like, a little mold guide with different types of ways to test. I have to think if it’s in that guide, but definitely this is my book coming out, too. This is a picture of it.
Dr. Conners
Hold that up again. There we go.
Bridgit Danner
Yeah, it’s just a paper. I don’t have the book, soon, hopefully, but I have, like, lists of things to check for, right? Like the home inspection. And I’m not the world’s expert on that stuff, but I know enough to say you can look for moldy spots in certain places. You can look under sinks, you can test humidity. So once you have that list, you can go from that or a list of different types of inspectors to go from that, because this is a huge project to take on. So it’s nice to have something kind of in writing to look at.
Dr. Conners
You can do some self inspection.
Bridgit Danner
Yeah, I think self inspection is a great way going over the symptoms. We did some of those, but a light bulb may go off as you, you know, you read more about possible symptoms and, like, maybe timing, as you said, about, like, leaving a house, actually. I think one thing that could coincide more is when you moved in. How long have you been dealing with this? For me, things started within the year of moving in. I didn’t associate that because I also had a baby and had new business and stuff. Usually I say test the space first, but everybody’s coming to me at different points in the process. So sometimes they’ve already tested the body and not the home or vice versa. Always in medicine, if you have like a gazillion dollars, you could test everything at once. But usually we kind of go in an order and go with our budget. Another thing I’d say, if people are listening and they’re not sure if they have any of this, just learning about detox techniques is a fantastic investment. I’ve been out of a moldy home for four years now, and I did a coffee enema today.
That’s how into this stuff…I did a sauna and a castor oil pack together just yesterday. I do this stuff all the time. It’s not stressful. It’s just part of my lifestyle because I’m always getting exposed to things. We all are. So that’s another again, if you learning to be a good steward of your home, whether or not you have mold now, learning how to detox all the time is a great investment. And then just learning how to identify mold and the symptoms in case you are exposed at some time would be like three great things, I think, that can come out of this. Yeah.
Dr. Conners
Well, we’re going to have your information up and maybe by the time this comes out, this podcast comes out, you’re going to have your book ready.
Bridgit Danner
Yeah. Not just in one page. Yeah, it’s actually now on Amazon kind of. We got the Kindle up, but the covered didn’t quite work for the paperback.
Dr. Conners
Well we’ll get a link to your website if people want to look you up and utilize your services. You are a great asset to a lot of people. I really thank you for what you do.
Bridgit Danner
Well, thank you for having me and just giving me a platform to spread the message. And I really appreciate your support of the event as well. It’s been so great to get to know you.
Dr. Conners
Absolutely. Well, thanks everybody for attending our Conners Clinic Live podcast. And Bridgit, we appreciate what you do, and we’ll have you on again very soon. Great topic.
Bridgit Danner
Thanks, everyone.
Dr. Conners
All right, bye.
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Dustin has been passionate about holistic health since he met his wife, Dr Mallory Ranem (Conners) 20 years ago. As the Digital Media Manager, he coordinates content across Conners Clinic’s large online presence, including written, video, and audio.
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