Frequently complains of fatigue. Your head is foggy. You continue to sneeze and have tightness in your chest, while all test results have been “normal”. What if the issue is not within your body, it’s in your house?

In adults, symptoms of mold illness are commonly under reported as they resemble dozens other common conditions. Most people ignore the symptoms, and never try to find the cause. In this guide, they explain the warning signs that will help you guess no more, and act appropriately.

Why Mold Is More Dangerous Than Most People Think

Mold is a living organism which produces microscopic, invisible particles into the air. Regularly breathing them in, your body sees them as a threat. Your immune system makes a constant attack over time and that is why you feel so exhausted all the time.

Where the trouble is, problems from mold are slow to develop in the body. You aren’t suddenly ill in one day. You aren’t sure something is “not quite right” until weeks or months go by. At this stage it can just be stress, ageing or a change of season.

The Most Common Mold Illness Symptoms in Adults

1. Persistent Allergy Symptoms That Won’t Go Away

If the symptoms of your allergy appear to get worse indoors – sneezing, watery eyes and runny nose – then it may be a mold trigger. Whereas pollen allergies occur in the spring and fall, mold reactions can occur at any time of the year because the mold is indoors where you live or work.

Common symptoms associated with allergic reaction to mold include:

• Repeated sneezing (for no known reason)
• Itchy or red eyes which increase in the home environment
• Rash or hives which are recurring and alternating
• Nasal obstruction which improves on traveling or breathing outside of enclosed areas

It’s a red flag to consider if your symptoms have improved when you have been away from home and worsened when you have been home for a long time.

2. Breathing Problems and Chest Tightness

Asthma symptoms in adults are triggered by a variety of factors indoors, including mold, which many people have and did not have asthma before. Your body responds to mold in the airways by contracting the airways, trying to exclude all the irritant material, and that is why you get more sensitive when you breathe it in.

Watch for:

• Wheezing or whistling sounds while breathing
• Shortness of breath with regular activities
• A long, dry, cough that doesn’t get better from cough medicine
• Chest tightness – especially in the morning or at night

However, usually after repeated exposure, symptoms of lung disease can worsen, such as limiting breathing ability and long-term sensitivity of airways. Older adults over 40 years of age, smokers and those with respiratory disease are most susceptible.

3. Brain Fog and Cognitive Slowdown

This is the symptom that everybody thinks of as burnout or stress reactions – however, brain fog symptoms are one of the much more typically reported signs of extended duration mold exposure.

Brain fog with mold is not the “lost my keys” type either. It feels like:

• Have difficulty concentrating, or finishing thoughts/sentences
• Having trouble with focus, on everyday tasks in particular
• Sitting, standing or walking with a feeling of weighed down spirit or slow sensation, without any apparent cause
• The inability to recall, whether initiated or otherwise, is a new symptom
• Some general confusion with an increase in symptoms at home

Your brain needs healthy air and a healthy immune system to perform its best. If an environmental challenge is always threatening this function of the body, then one’s brain function will suffer, and only improve when the environmental problem is taken away.

4. Fatigue That Sleep Doesn’t Fix

Labour induced due to mold exposure is not normal fatigue. After 8 hours of sleep you still feel tired. By mid-morning you are feeling tired. Rest doesn’t appear to help.

This is because mold’s inflammation symptoms cause your body to stay primed for attack. Inflammation is your natural defense system but when it is always ON you are using a lot of energy. Another malady common in adults with mold illness is muscle pain, headaches and joint aches, and chronic inflammation.

Breakthrough stress warning signs to take note of:

• Feeling sleep deprived despite getting a good night’s sleep
• Afternoon crashes that don’t seem as if your level of activity is equal to the crash
• Sore muscles, even when not from exertion or physical activity
• Recurring headaches – especially in the morning

5. A Weakened Immune System That Catches Everything

A weakened immune function – or the susceptibility to infections – is one of the most overlooked mold illness symptoms in adults. If you are sick more often than normal, that may mean you have been downing your body’s defenses from the mold exposure, with more colds, longer recovery times and more infections.

Symptoms that are associated with mold and weaken the immune system include:

• Frequently being sick (4-6+ times/year)
• The bacteria that are not cleared from the body in a timely manner
• Chronic sinus and/or chest infections
• Slow wound healing

It’s like you’re constantly engaged with the mold particles and lack resources against viruses and bacteria. It’s not because you now have a broken health system – it’s because your health system is already under attack.

6. Ongoing Inflammation With No Clear Cause

Most cases of inflammation symptoms in adults exposed to mold can be obscure. Swollen joints. Skin flare-ups. Digestive discomfort. It’s not random – it’s your body telling you that something in your surroundings is causing a continuous immune reaction.

People try so many diet foods and supplements to help them get rid of inflammation for several months before they realize there is something in their home causing the inflammation! The anti-inflammatory strategy may provide temporary relief but will not address the issue until the mold is tackled.

Where Mold Hides in Your Home

It is impossible to tell from the outside that there are mold problems. It hides in:

• Behind walls to below plumbing leaks
• In damp areas such as under carpets or floorboards in moist rooms
• Within air conditioning systems or HVAC ducts
• Should you find this in your basement, crawl space, or attic
• Behind kitchen cabinets close to the sink. Back of kitchen cabinets close to sink

Mold can be found anywhere if your home has been affected by water at any time – even if you didn’t notice the water damage.

What to Do If You Recognize These Symptoms

Step 1 – A test of the environment: Get a mold air quality test kit or hire professional mold inspectors. This step cannot be skipped as it would be overlooking the presence of mold

Step 2 – Inspect for water leaks: Mold requires water to grow. Repair leaks, ventilate well and install a dehumidifier to maintain indoor humidity levels below 50%.

Step 3 – Remove self temporarily: Wait a couple days away from the spaces and see how the symptoms change. If there is significant improvement, there is a strong indication of an environmental trigger.

Step 4 – Consult with a specialist: Your doctor who is familiar with environmental illness may be able to perform certain tests to establish the diagnosis of mold exposure and help on your healing

Step 5 – Remediate properly: Small areas of mold can be removed using the appropriate cleaning agents. If you have an infestation that is large in size, professional remediation is required and then you should not disturb them, without protection