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I saw an opthomalogist the last day my eyes puffed up on me -- seriously they were so puffed up you couldn't see my eyes and people thought I was blind. My whole upper face. There wasn't an exact diagnosis except a 'systemic allergic reaction' which of course I'd had three times before during that last year. This happened around the first of October, three months or so after the 'eye thing' set in.
The eye symptoms, as I described to him then, as he couldn't actually see what I was talking about, was said to be 'blepharitis,' which I'd seen online and thought it may be that myself, but the symptoms did not stay the same.
(That particular eye-puffing thing, which is rare but recurring, may not be from the same cause, but it is one of the symptoms that can be caused. Just as, any one or all of my symptoms can be caused by something else, but with the ceiling situation being there, and all these symptoms being on me, together, who has never had any kind of problem before, makes me pretty sure that is the problem, or at least 99% of the problem.)
One thing I do have, which may be interesting to persons who know what it means (I can not say I am sure I do!) is 'elevated antibodies' to a number of types of mold, in my bloodstream, including the aspergillus and pennicilin ones. Which means, according to the latest doctor, only that I should stay away from any place that has mold present, but then again, shouldn't we all. It does not prove, according to her, that I am being exposed to it now. And that makes sense from what I have read, you can not prove cause and effect even though you might be able to prove effect with the right kind of doctor doing the proper diagnosis, but then, we live in rain country and mold is pretty pervasive in general.
I should be working on some detoxing things too, but have been on and off with that since as of right now I do have to go back into that environment so long as that's where I work!
Pinkeye! Well, surely I would have passed it around by now if that were it. I did have that in junior high school, and I remember well how miserable it was. No scratchy feelings under the eyelids or anything with this; it seems to be under the top layer of skin, on the lids, around the bottom of the eye, and clear up to the eyebrows. Sometimes itchy, sometimes not, very often red and dry flaky skin, and in the inside crease of the eyelid a tendency for paper-cut type openings in the skin to form which make me very nervous about infection.
It sounds like you know what you gotta do. Relocating is a PITA but it is probably the lesser of two evils here, though it's your workplace and not necessarily your home that's the problem here. But by the same token it's the constant wet environment of SE that's probably caused the problem at your job.
Just be glad you don't live on Prince of Wales, where you get a recording when you call 911 at certain hours...
I'd suggest that you concentrate more on getting yourself into a better situation right now rather than trying to prevent it from happening to anyone else. After you take care of yourself you can always follow through with those secondary things. If it's Portland you're interested in, there are a couple of places that have an online application process for the type of work you do. You can google Miller Nash and Stoel Rives for a couple of firms.
Of course Portland's climate is conducive to mold et al as well but I do know that my son hasn't had nearly the problems there that he did in Southeast.
Last edited by Metlakatla; 02-17-2008 at 08:57 PM..
Yes, I know taking care of myself first is important. I need to get out of the building, not the town I live in, though, for now. Although the idea of living in a dry (***SUNNY!***) location is sounding appealing. Portland was good! Rain, sunshine, things to do, roads to drive away on, great bus system.
Well, I'll post in this topic again when I have some **good** news, how does that sound? <img> Anyways, I am still interested in anybody elses' stories, good or bad. I guess I wouldn't have found it all so interesting if it hadn't happened to ME.
I have mold sickness and it is VERY VERY REAL- we built a house that wasn't constructed correctly and mold grew inside-We did not know what was wrong with me -I had severe migraines, tacycardia ,rapid heartbeat and I was in hospital 7 times before we moved out of our home.Unfortunately due to our immune ststem being so slammed we all are sick now-I have a MCS (multiple chemical sensitivity) and cannot be around any thing with perfume or chemicals,one of my daughters is 11 and she also has it to a leser degree, my husband has developed severe Asthma(he used to run 100 miles a week) and my youngest daughter was having chronic nosebleeds. Here are a few websites to check out Mold Madness - Home and Indoor Air Quality | Air | US EPA there are certain types of mold Aspergillus,Penicillium,Stacybotrus and others that produce mycotoxins these get in through your skin and inhalation. Please please don't ignore this-our health will never be the same. Another site is Biotoxin Illness (CFIDS, Fibro, Lyme and Mold) Information and Testing Center. Please send me a private message,so those people who think they are smarter than the EPA don't have to participate-
This is one reason I keep beating over the head "don't rent anything in Juneau sight-unseen".
Mold is a very real thing here, and whoever had the idea of dumping a couple dozen trailers here thinking they would last as long a spruce logs had to be high or something.
Some apartments are just as bad. And housing is so thin here that they rent them, and not cheap either.
Yes, I know the danger of long-lasting serious, or even deadly, effects. I had just come back to work after two weeks off and my eyes were just getting kinda normal-looking, not really, but a lot less wrinkled than they were. Still lacking much in the way of eyelashes or eyebrows but my doctor said I should get those back and recover. I can't wait to get started and find out for sure.
My previous apartment, also, had a black mold problem in the bathroom closet, which I didn't really see for too long, and at first didn't know the danger of that either, knowing nothing until after I got sick. So I could have been getting a 'double-whammy' til I moved.
No help from OSHA! Surprise surprise. No regulations, no guidelines, nothing to do about it, apparently even if the toxic variety of mold spores are in the air.
Of course there's no such thing as 'nontoxic' mold spores, just that some are far more dangerous than others.
The latest update is my health has greatly improved due to burning up a bunch of vacation hours, I have a nice air cleaner in my office which helps alot, and am still planning on leaving the building once and for all while they begin to ponder actually testing the air for real, now, because I am no longer the only one complaining.
"Complaining." I have visibly over the last 2 years, give or take a few months, become sicker and sicker looking, big crusty red areas all around the eyes, blotches going up my arms, everyone could see I had gone from a plainly healthy person to a dreadfully sick person.
But I was the only 'complainer' so there was nothing to investigate.
This has all been very interesting, in a dreadful sort of way.
But now I know I'm not 'terminally mold-stricken' --- yet, and that has relieved me of an enormous amount of fear I had been carrying around.
We need to get some laws in place up here in Alaska, California has been the one-and-only trail-blazer on that so far.
We are still in the dark ages on this, who'da thunk it, in this day and age?
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