Mold Toxicity: The Great Mimicker Behind a Decade of Chronic Illness
- Davin Soernssen DNP, FNP-BC, DCNP
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
For years, I lived inside a body that no longer felt like my own.
As a healthcare provider, endurance athlete, and functional medicine clinician, I did everything “right.” Yet for nearly a decade, I struggled with symptoms no specialist could explain—fatigue, brain fog, headaches, joint and tendon pain, food reactions, and a sense that my immune system was constantly on edge. Standard labs were normal. Imaging was unrevealing. I was told nothing serious was wrong.
But something clearly was.
This is the story of how mold toxicity—often overlooked and misunderstood—was the true root cause behind years of multisystem inflammation, and how identifying and treating it restored my health.
When Traditional Medicine Finds “Nothing Wrong”
My symptoms began in 2012 after a C-section and a tick bite, while I was working nights in a pediatric skilled nursing facility. There were rumors of mold in the building, and many staff members were unwell, but no formal investigation was ever done that I knew of at the time.
Over the next 10 years, I saw multiple specialists. Autoimmune panels were negative. Inflammatory markers were “normal.” I was labeled with post-Lyme syndrome, stress, or idiopathic inflammation. Treatments focused on managing symptoms rather than finding a cause.
I did feel some improvement when I left that workplace and cleaned up my diet—but I never returned to baseline. Morning headaches, fatigue, muscle weakness and severe joint pain on waking, food sensitivities, and brain fog persisted.
This is where many patients get stuck.
Mold Toxicity: Why It’s Called the “Great Mimicker”
Mold-related illness can look like many things:
Chronic Lyme or “post-Lyme syndrome”
Autoimmune disease
Chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia
Mast cell activation
Hormonal or neurologic disorders
Why? Because mycotoxins—toxic compounds produced by certain molds—can disrupt immune signaling, damage mitochondria, inflame the nervous system, and impair detox pathways. Standard blood work does not test for this.
Unless someone asks the right questions and runs the right tests, mold toxicity is easily missed.
The Turning Point: Looking Through a Functional Medicine Lens
After completing my training in functional medicine, I began approaching my own case differently. Instead of asking, “What diagnosis fits these symptoms?” I asked, “What is driving the inflammation?”
Advanced environmental testing revealed mold growth in my current workspace and, later, hidden mold in my home—particularly within the HVAC system and behind a bathroom wall. The same types of mold showed up repeatedly:
Penicillium
Aspergillus
Cladosporium
Stachybotrys (black mold)
Biologic testing told the same story. My labs showed elevated mycophenolic acid (MPA)—a mycotoxin produced by Penicillium species. Importantly, MPA is also the compound used in prescription immunosuppressant drugs (mycophenolate), yet I was not taking any immunosuppressive medications. My immune system was being suppressed by environmental exposure, not pharmaceuticals.
This alignment between the environment and my labs was the missing link.
Why Mold Can Make You Feel So Sick
The molds identified in my case are known to:
Suppress or dysregulate the immune system
Trigger chronic inflammation
Cause neurologic symptoms like brain fog and head pressure
Worsen joint and tendon pain
Drive food sensitivities and histamine reactions
Create symptoms that are worse in the morning
When exposure is ongoing—especially through HVAC circulation—healing simply cannot happen.
Treatment: Addressing the Root Cause
True recovery required more than supplements.
My treatment focused on:
Removing ongoing mold exposure
Targeted antifungal therapy like amphotericin B nasal spray and itraconazole by mouth with careful liver monitoring
Mycotoxin binding and detox support
Mineral repletion and mitochondrial repair
Advanced regenerative therapies to calm immune overactivation and support tissue recovery
The difference was profound.
When the exposure was addressed and the right treatment applied, symptoms that had lingered for years finally resolved. Energy returned. Pain quieted. My nervous system stabilized. I was able to train, work, and live fully again.
Why This Matters for Patients
If you’ve been told:
“Your labs are normal”
“It’s probably stress”
“This is just something you’ll have to live with”
…yet you know something is wrong, mold toxicity deserves consideration.
Chronic mycotoxin-associated illness is treatable, but it requires clinicians who understand environmental medicine, immune signaling, and systems biology.
Advanced environmental and biologic testing
Individualized treatment plans
Medical antifungal therapy when indicated
Detoxification and mitochondrial support
Ongoing monitoring and safety oversight
Mold toxicity is real. It is measurable. And with the right approach, it is reversible.
Final Thought
Mold is the Great Mimicker of modern medicine. When it’s missed, patients suffer for years. When it’s identified and treated correctly, healing is possible.
If this story resonates with you, you’re not alone—and you’re not imagining your symptoms.
— Dr. Davina Soernssen
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