What is mold illness?

Mold illness, also called Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS), is a multi-system, multi-symptom illness triggered by exposure to biotoxins produced by mold in water-damaged buildings. It affects the immune, neurological, hormonal, and gastrointestinal systems and is frequently misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia, lupus, multiple sclerosis, or chronic fatigue syndrome.

What are the symptoms of mold illness?

Mold illness symptoms span multiple body systems and include fatigue, brain fog, memory problems, headaches, joint pain, muscle aches, shortness of breath, chronic sinus issues, sensitivity to light, mood changes, anxiety, depression, digestive problems, and sleep disturbances. Symptoms often worsen in water-damaged environments and improve temporarily when away from them.

Why do most doctors miss mold illness?

Most conventional physicians are not trained in Environmental Medicine and are unfamiliar with mycotoxin testing or CIRS diagnostic criteria. Symptoms overlap with many other conditions, and standard lab panels often miss mold illness entirely. Specialized testing including urine mycotoxin panels, inflammatory marker panels, and HLA-DR genetic testing are required for accurate diagnosis.

How is mold illness diagnosed?

Mold illness is diagnosed through a combination of a detailed patient history, environmental exposure assessment, and specialized laboratory testing including urine mycotoxin testing, inflammatory markers (TGF-beta, MMP-9, C4a), HLA-DR genetic susceptibility testing, and visual contrast sensitivity testing. At Deeper Healing, diagnosis begins with a comprehensive intake questionnaire and is confirmed through targeted lab panels.

How is mold illness treated?

Effective mold illness treatment requires first removing the patient from the source of exposure, then systematically reducing mycotoxin burden in the body using binders, detoxification protocols, IV nutritional therapy, cellular cleanse therapies, and immune system support. At Deeper Healing, treatment follows a sequenced protocol that addresses each phase of recovery — elimination, detoxification, and rebuilding — in the correct order.

Do I have to live in Charleston to become a patient at Deeper Healing?

No. Deeper Healing serves patients from across the United States. Many travel to Charleston for the Stay + Heal program, an immersive multi-day treatment experience designed specifically for patients who cannot access this level of care locally. Mycotoxin home test kits can also be shipped to your location before your first visit.

What is mycotoxin testing and do I need it?

Mycotoxin testing is a urine-based laboratory test that measures the presence and levels of specific fungal toxins in your body. It is one of the most direct ways to confirm biotoxin exposure. Deeper Healing offers both in-office and mail-in home testing kits. If you have unexplained chronic symptoms — especially fatigue, brain fog, or immune dysfunction — mycotoxin testing is an important diagnostic step.

Does insurance cover mold illness treatment at Deeper Healing?

Deeper Healing is a self-pay practice. Most environmental and functional medicine services are not covered by conventional health insurance. However, financing options are available to make treatment accessible. Patients frequently find that the investment in root-cause treatment reduces or eliminates the ongoing costs of managing symptoms through conventional care.

Can mold illness cause autoimmune disease?

Yes. Prolonged mycotoxin exposure and the chronic inflammatory response it triggers can activate or worsen autoimmune conditions. Mold illness is frequently misdiagnosed as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and sarcoidosis. At Deeper Healing, we assess environmental toxin exposure as a root cause in all autoimmune presentations.

How long does it take to recover from mold illness?

Recovery from mold illness varies significantly depending on duration of exposure, mycotoxin burden, genetic susceptibility, and whether the patient has been removed from the source. Some patients experience significant improvement within weeks of beginning a targeted protocol. Others with longer-standing illness and higher toxin loads require months of treatment. At Deeper Healing, patients typically report meaningful progress during and shortly after their initial treatment period.

Our Environmental Medical Experts are available for media requests/podcasts – contact wecare@deeperhealing.com or 843.242.9275.

What Is Environmental Medicine? | Deeper Healing

What Is Environmental Medicine?

The science of how the world we've built affects the bodies we live in — and what we can do about it. Get an instant result when you take the free Body Burden Assessment.

Take the Body Burden Quiz

Simply put — how unnatural factors humans have introduced into our world affect the health of the bodies we live in, and the health of the planet we share. Environmental Medicine is the clinical practice of identifying those factors, understanding how they accumulate, and systematically removing them so the body can do what it was designed to do: heal.

"Genetics points the gun. Environment pulls the trigger."

— Dr. Michael Bauerschmidt

The central question is deceptively simple: if you lower the load, does the body recover? In our experience — consistently, across thousands of patients — the answer is yes. But lowering the load requires seeing the whole picture. It requires understanding not just what a patient has been exposed to, but how those exposures interact, accumulate, and overwhelm the body's natural ability to clear them. That is the work of environmental medicine done well.

Deeper Healing is one of the few practices in the country pioneering what this field can become clinically. We don't manage symptoms. We map the full body burden — air, water, food, chemicals, mold, metals, EMFs — and we address it in the right sequence, at the right depth, with clinical oversight at every step. The result isn't symptom relief. It's a body that has been genuinely restored.

Here is a helpful one-pager from NAEM on pesticides — a good entry point into how environmental exposures are being documented scientifically: Download the NAEM Pesticides Overview. Below we have compiled a curated library for deep-diving.

This field needs more practitioners. We are committed to training an army of clinicians equipped to meet the epidemic of environmentally-driven illness head-on. As we collectively make better decisions — about what we put in our bodies, our homes, and our world — we heal ourselves. And in doing so, we begin to heal the planet.

Peer-Reviewed Science

The Science of Body Burden

A curated research library on environmental health — peer-reviewed studies, government agency reports, and institutional sources organized by topic.

Foundational Sources Volatile Organic Compounds Heavy Metals & Lead Phthalates & Endocrine Disruptors Flame Retardants Fragrance & Consumer Products Solvents & Occupational Exposure Seafood & Mercury Cookware & Food Contact General References

Foundational Institutional Sources

Major institutional and government bodies documenting the connection between environmental exposures and human health.

Government & Institutional

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

Indoor and occupational VOC exposure and its links to neurological, respiratory, reproductive, and cellular function.

Government & Agency Sources

Peer-Reviewed Research

Bolla, K. I. (1991). Neuropsychological assessment for detecting adverse effects of VOCs on the CNS. Environmental Health Perspectives, 95, 93–98. Link
Challenor, J., & Wright, D. (2000). Aggression in boat builders exposed to styrene. Occupational Medicine, 50(3). Link
Chang, T.-Y., et al. (2010). VOC exposure and kidney dysfunction in TFT-LCD workers. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 178(1–3). Link
Kampa, M., & Castanas, E. (2008). Human health effects of air pollution. Environmental Pollution, 151(2). Link
Norback, D., et al. (1995). Asthmatic symptoms and VOCs in dwellings. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 52(6). Link
Villeneuve, P. J., et al. (2013). Long-term VOC exposure and lung cancer in Toronto. American Journal of Epidemiology, 179(4). Link

Heavy Metals & Lead Exposure

Foundational and contemporary research on lead and heavy metal exposure: cognitive development, neurological function, cardiovascular health, and aging.

Government & Clinical References

Peer-Reviewed Research

Bellinger, D. C. (2008). Very low lead exposures and children's neurodevelopment. Current Opinion in Pediatrics, 20(2). Link
Bellinger, D., et al. (1987). Prenatal and postnatal lead exposure and early cognitive development. NEJM, 316(17). Link
Eum, K.-D., et al. (2014). Cumulative lead exposure and age at menopause. Environmental Health Perspectives, 122(3). Link
Weisskopf, M. G., et al. (2004). Cumulative lead exposure and cognitive change in elderly men. American Journal of Epidemiology, 160(12). Link
Weuve, J., et al. (2009). Cumulative lead exposure and cognitive function in older women. Environmental Health Perspectives, 117(4). Link

Phthalates & Endocrine Disruptors

Phthalate exposure and its effects on hormonal balance, reproductive health, metabolic function, and developmental outcomes.

Government & Agency Sources

Peer-Reviewed Research

Eales, J., et al. (2022). Human health impacts of phthalate plasticizers. Environment International, 158. Link
Huang, P.-C., et al. (2016). Phthalates exposure and alteration of thyroid hormones in pregnancy. PLOS ONE, 11(7). Link
Kim, S. H., & Park, M. J. (2014). Phthalate exposure and childhood obesity. Annals of Pediatric Endocrinology & Metabolism, 19(2). Link
Trasande, L., et al. (2013). Urinary phthalates and increased insulin resistance in adolescents. Pediatrics, 132(3). Link
Wang, Y., Zhu, H., & Kannan, K. (2019). A review of biomonitoring of phthalate exposures. Toxics, 7(2). Link

Flame Retardants (PBDEs) & Thyroid Function

Brominated and organophosphate flame retardants and their links to endocrine disruption, reproductive health, and developmental outcomes.

Peer-Reviewed Research

Boas, M., et al. (2009). Environmental chemicals and thyroid function. Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes & Obesity, 16(5). Link
Chevrier, J., et al. (2010). PBDE flame retardants and thyroid hormone during pregnancy. Environmental Health Perspectives, 118(10). Link
Gosavi, R. A., et al. (2013). Flame retardants mimic estradiol binding. Environmental Health Perspectives, 121(10). Link
Meeker, J. D., & Stapleton, H. M. (2010). Organophosphate flame retardants in house dust and semen quality. Environmental Health Perspectives, 118(3). Link

Fragrance Chemicals & Consumer Products

Fragrance sensitivity, scented product emissions, and the cumulative impact of everyday consumer product exposures.

Peer-Reviewed Research

Goodman, N. B., et al. (2018). Emissions from dryer vents: fragranced vs. fragrance-free products. Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, 12(3). Link
Potera, C. (2011). Scented products emit a bouquet of VOCs. Environmental Health Perspectives, 119(1). Link
Steinemann, A. (2019). International prevalence of fragrance sensitivity. Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, 12(8). Link
Steinemann, A., & Nematollahi, N. (2020). Migraine headaches and fragranced consumer products. Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, 13(4). Link

Solvents & Occupational Exposure

Perchloroethylene, occupational solvent exposure, and reproductive and developmental outcomes.

Government & Agency Sources

Peer-Reviewed Research

Taskinen, H., et al. (1989). Spontaneous abortions and congenital malformations with organic solvent exposure. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 15(5). Link

Seafood, Mercury & the Food Chain

Mercury bioaccumulation, omega-3 trade-offs, and the health impacts of industrial seafood production.

Government & Agency Sources

Peer-Reviewed Research

Jayedi, A., & Shab-Bidar, S. (2020). Fish consumption and the risk of chronic disease. Advances in Nutrition, 11(5). Link
Rimm, E. B., et al. (2018). Seafood long-chain n-3 fatty acids and cardiovascular disease. Circulation, 138(1). Link

Cookware, Ceramics & Food Contact Materials

Heavy metal leaching from cookware and ceramics, PFAS exposure from non-stick surfaces, and the health implications of food contact materials.

Government & Agency Sources

Peer-Reviewed Research

Luo, Y., et al. (2022). Teflon microplastics and nanoplastics released from non-stick cookware. Science of the Total Environment, 851. Link
Lerner, A. (2012). Aluminum as an adjuvant in Crohn's disease induction. Lupus, 21(2). Link

General Environmental Health References

Supporting research and resources spanning environmental health, sleep, and broader wellness topics.

Sources organized by topic and tier. Institutional and government sources appear first within each section, followed by peer-reviewed studies. All links verified at time of publication. Last updated: 2026.

“We make it our mission to help the body heal itself. We go much deeper and look where many are not trained to go. This is why we get a different result.”
– Dr. Kelly Holes-Lewis, Functional + Environmental MD

Deeper Healing Medical Wellness Center

We have knowledgable coordinators ready to help you at 843.994.9800.