Can Household Mold Lead to Tinnitus and Hearing Loss?

when I was installing my new negative ion shower head, I had to unscrew the handle that held the toumaline, germanium and mineral balls. the balls fell to the shower floor. I ended up taking off the drain cover and found mold (and of course the usual dog hair)underneath the drain cover. Yuck! so, that inspired me to research about mold and tinnitus. Here is a few resources that I found.

Moral of this.... clean your drains of mold and anything else that could harbor mold!!!




http://www.ehow.com/info_8333520_symptoms-signs-toxic-mold.html

Symptoms or Signs of Toxic Mold

By Jay Jay Waltz, eHow Contributor

Mold grows when constant moisture occurs on a surface from water damage, leaks, high humidity, or flooding.

Molds exist everywhere as spores, on surfaces and in the air. Mold spores must last in a place of moisture and nutrients to grow. Therefore, most molds occur in houses and buildings. Toxic mold is not poisonous itself, but it does produce mycotoxins which enter the body, colonize and grow. These mycotoxins compromise the immune system and damage the body. Various molds cause different symptoms and signs in its host.

Aspergillus spp.​

• Aspergillus is the most common fungus within the environment and contains 16 out of 160 species that cause disease. Common symptoms of Aspergillus are skin rashes and hair loss. Aspergillus niger is a species that colonizes in the lungs and can cause hearing loss and tinnitus. Aspergillus versicolor is the most common species that inflicts severe abdominal pain, acid reflux and vomiting in the host.

Read more mold types at the site....

 

Anyone know if living by mold effects tinnitus? I know it may hit the central nervous system. Anybody had any experience with this? Cheers.

 

I personally haven't heard of any such things, however it's not a topic that I've looked into.

Wish I could have been more of a help!

 

Ashley... "Mold" is kind of an overly broad term (not saying that in any negative way) and indeed it is something I know quite a lot about from personal experience unfortunately.

By 'mold' I presume you mean the 'external environmental' kind, like Alternaria, Aspergillus, etc. found in houses/buildings, etc. and yeah they are bad guys for sure. However the term can also be applied to bodily fungus infections that can lodge just about anywhere - cutaneously or internally. Then there are yeast infections that likewise manifest in common and uncommon ways, internally and externally.
In short, medically, it can get to be a vast subject...However, the take-away is pretty simple. "Mold" can cause or mimic an almost infinite number of pathologies, including ramping up or screwing with, the the nervous system, immune system, brain chemistry, etc., etc. etc. And it can be highly "stealth" to figure out.

In my opinion it is NOT something to take lightly and is not some hippie dippy thing that one can kiss off as paranoia...though too, it is not something to get paranoid about without just cause! There are very strong genetic ties to 'mold' resistance, or susceptibility. Hell, some cultures almost co-exist with the beasts due to living in such damp, humid or contaminated environments and get along, and have got along together for centuries.

However, like a number of conditions (autism, asthma, food allergies, etc.) that are becoming more prolific, there seems to be a trend towards mold/fungus/yeasts becoming more problematic too - or maybe we are just getting more wimpy to 'bugs' with all our super sterile environments, anti-bacterial wipes at stores, and so on...And living longer of course!

So, to get back to your question. I would 100% say that there is a possibility that "mold" (fungus, yeasts) could affect tinnitus and the amplitude reactivity of the "nervous system" in general. To what degree for you, or anyone, personally, is for own evaluation and assessment. Up to speed docs are becoming more aware of all this stuff. If you Google it you could spend the next ten years reading about it all...plus there are some very good books that cover the broad concepts or the minutiae.

Hope this helps, and does not lead you into a swamp.

Best, Zimichael

 

Well, Here's my story and yes it sounds bizarre to me as well.

I bought an old house in 2005 and started renovation , I had stayed there for about two weeks ,removing bag after bag of old *black* sawdust in the walls (used for insulation in the 1920's) when I woke up in the middle of the night , started walking to the bathroom and just fell down, passed out.

Woke up to the sounds of my wife calling an ambulance. I was taken to the hospital where they found nothing wrong with me. It was concluded by a nurse after a quick examination that I might in fact have had a panic attack , although I recall no panic. I remember asking the doctor if this could in any way be related to the fact that I was ripping apart an old house with lots of water damage. I knew nothing of mold at the time, just the only factor I could imagine.

In the coming weeks I would come to agree with their diagnosis and felt that indeed I was having anxiety and panic attacks so I started doing relaxations and meditation . This helped me a lot for some time.

Fast forward a few years and I am still working on this house,(It was three floors and a mess) building a music studio on the top floor, sanding and restoring the old floorboards ,replacing the roof.. etc .

All this time I never really feel "right"?
Keep in mind that at this time I am very successful in music, touring and having the time of my life.
I have a beatiful house downtown, perfect spot , my music studio up and running on the top floor, and I am super happy.
I do not feel depressed or anxious at all, I feel I need to say that as I had to hear that implied from doctors all the time.

2008 and I feel I have problems with sleeping , concentration and cognative issues and start seeing doctors, no diagnosis.
2009 and I am now feeling dizzy and lightheaded all the time and I practically have stopped eating, no diagnosis.
2010 and I remember getting this little twitch in my index finger when going to sleep, this started to go to my whole left hand , then the whole arm and finally it started causing convulsions and heavy twitching in my stomach muscles.
Finally I could hardly lay down as when I started to relax my body it started convulsing so much that I was losing breath.

Went to loads of doctors and was finally diagnosed with Essential Myoclonus or (We dont know what the f**k is wrong with you!) and given anti convulsion medicine or Rivotril. Better known as Benzo's.

At this point I was exhausted and would have taken anything to make it stop, despite being heavily against prescription drugs I gave in , also feeling pressured to do my best to resolve this.

At first it was godsend, I have possibly never been happier and more productive in my life.
The convulsions had reduced although they were far from gone, but I felt so happy to get an explanation for all this.

Then...the side effects , memory loss, my biggest problem. Literally going to the store , buy a bag of crap. Go home, put away the bag and a couple of hours later going to the store buying the same stuff. Everyday felt like I had been drunk when I went to sleep, could vaguely remember going to sleep.

Finally , I learned about mold from an friend that had a friend that has similar issues.

I turned my house upside down looking for mold indicators, not finding anything I called in a professional.
After he examined my house he told me that in the bathroom behind the shower I probably had mold.
Tearing away that wall one afternoon and yes indeed I had mold and LOTS of it.
The wall was literally completely black with mold from floor to ceiling, not spots, completely covered in black crap!

I moved out that same day.

A couple of weeks or maybe a month or so and my convulsion were completely gone and I felt that my cognative skills were improving, no more dizziness , weirdness, feelings of floating around , anxiety etc. etc....
Few months in and I had completely recovered from the convulsing.

Aftermath. I decided to stop this damned medication that I felt I had never really needed and I quit cold turkey.
Should not have done that as a couple of weeks later I could literally hear my hearing dropping down.
A few days later T begins.

Conclusion. I am afraid that mold can indeed cause a lot of nerve, brain related issues although I can never be sure.
Did the medication or mold give me T ? I guess I can never really be sure of that either.
In any event , I will take very good care of not exposing myself to mold again and I would advise everytone to be super vigilant about mold issues.

Sorry for the life story , have nothing better to do

 

I have a friend that cured his wifes T with lamisil and alcohol and peoxide water, that means it was some kind of fungus in her ear, she had it for 6 months and she had given up on it but could not sleep, then my friend made that mixture and put it in her ears and it was gone within days, no doctor could find anything wrong with her and for some reason my friend decided to do this and the T went away for good, but apparently it was fungus on her ear, makes me so mad that doctors didnt know what to do!

 

RaZaH... Your story is all too familiar! Tanks very much for sharing that as indeed my whole "seven years of mystery illness" was ultimately mold/fungus/yeast based. Not exactly from household mold, though it may have "triggered" from a place I stayed for a short while. I got the years and years of medical run-around that you became so familiar with too. I sure as hell wanted my life back as I am no sit-back-and-mellow-out type and knew something was wrong! [Ha, ha...I needed "House MD" that's what I needed...you too.]

Anyway, it was really unfortunate that we only stumbled onto the real cause after I got blasted with the antibiotics that gave me the increased tinnitus and the hyperacusis (which never had before). Well, in truth it was me that discovered the cause as I mostly gave up on the medical profession (and all the "alternative" practitioners, healers, whatever) after the zillions of things I tried just made me worse and worse. Even my best doc apologized and admitted that fact.

So yeah, "mold" in whatever form it takes should not be taken lightly. I was a "human backhoe", worked incredibly hard, could do almost anything, yet ended up a skeletal shell in a living hell for what seemed 'forever' - with my ringing screech for company! Not fun by any means.

To sum up..."mold/fungus/yeast (yes, Candida - or whatever you want to call it, as to me it just describes a 'condition') are in my opinion definitely able to create, cause, aggravate, tinnitus and about anything else!

Best to you, and super glad you finally figured out what was happening.

Take good care, Zimichael

 

I am moving back to the UK to a moldy house. Tried to get the mold treated a week ago while I was in California, but seems a rush job was done - the mold was just sprayed and painted over. Apparently there is still mold there, but now under paint. I am 6 months into t, doing better. I am very worried about this move, and worsening of t. Fly out on Tuesday. Yikes.

 

When my T first started the doctors looked at the ear canals and could see nothing wrong,and then at a follow up visit the ent went yikes you have two nasty fungal infections that appeared out of nowhere.I was treated for this and the T decreased by about 90% and then disappeared shortly after,anyway went to a club and it came back so yeah..great

 

Just a note that I am talking about household environmental mold.

 

Sorry I should of mentioned I was in a shed covered in mold a few weeks prior.Always wondered if the shed had something to do with it.

 

Finland has a lot of buildings with indoor air quality problems. Mold is the #1 cause. Because of this we have a lot of know how on this area and a REALLY good source is our national 'Hometalkoot' program, which can roughly be translated into 'National Mold Workshop' etc. Their webpages have a lot of good stuff on for example the most usual problem areas in houses built in different decades. Only in Finnish and Swedish though, but Google Translate might be able to help...

http://www.hometalkoot.fi

 

If you are still interest about your question, http://www.ehow.com/info_8333520_symptoms-signs-toxic-mold.html his reference is from Susan Lillard-Roberts i wrote to her to give me reference to her claming she dont rerpond (almost one year) she is quack and fraud she wants only sell you her products. This is not only my opinion source(also answer to your question about hearing loss or tinnitus): http://www.justanswer.com/medical/5nltv-exposure-mold-home-cause-hearing-loss-and-or.html
To calin you give the same reference (Susan Lillard-Roberts ) about http://www.aspergillus.org.uk/secure/articles/pdfs/campbell04.pdf no one confirm this (only one study there find this symptoms but can connect them to mold for sure there can be other reason)
some reference
Whats more author of this document Andrew W. Campbell: "
"Toxic Mold" Guru (Andrew Campbell. M.D.)
Surrenders Medical License"
http://www.casewatch.org/board/med/campbell/amended_complaint_2009.shtml

http://www.healio.com/pediatrics/news/print/infectious-diseases-in-children/{a86b5aa2-2aec-4d29-ad8f-d427650809c1}/mold-inhalation-not-as-toxic-as-patients-may-think
http://byebyemold.com/viewarticles.php?id=30
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2002/07/29/editorial3.html?page=all
http://www.healthy.net/Health/Essay/Beat_Chronic_Illness_Caused_by_Mold_and_Other_Toxins/820
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/healthy_kids/4-allergy-myths-debunked.html
"
Toxic mold. A decade ago, babies in Ohio died from pulmonary hemorrhage, which is quite rare. At the time, the infants’ deaths were thought to be caused by so-called toxic mold found in their homes. This claim was subsequently refuted. Although some molds contain toxins, the term toxic mold is a misnomer. Black mold can certainly trigger an allergenic response and asthma, but in order for a child to experience toxic effects, they would have to either ingest the mold or directly inhale it on a 24-7 basis, in concentrations rarely encountered in real life.

Furthermore, there is no evidence that mold causes vague symptoms such as memory loss, confusion or difficulty concentrating. If you have mold, clean it up with bleach and fight conditions that favor mold growth, such as high humidity and water leaks."


Look who wroting about molds people who have money from this
"
Fact
u Thousands of businesses profit from the
“Toxic Mold” fear that has spread like a
fungus across the country.
u Lawfirms, laboratories, contractors,
remediation experts and many others
appear to make a living by terrorizing a
nation with “facts” that have no basis in
scientific research.
u Question- Is this a form of terrorist threat
that is being ignored by our government"
http://members.aapa.org/aapaconf2006/syllabus/6146HollingsworthToxicMold.pdf

 

I don't know about any of the more extreme claims, but mold exposure messes my sinuses up, which makes my tinnitus worse...

 

You can have allergy (your symptoms are similiar to that what allergy cause) http://www.healthy.net/Health/Essay/Beat_Chronic_Illness_Caused_by_Mold_and_Other_Toxins/820 read this like i say some people are more sensitive.

 

Zimichael
you wrote "how "Mold" can cause or mimic an almost infinite number of pathologies, including ramping up or screwing with, the the nervous system, immune system, brain chemistry, etc., etc. etc. And it can be highly "stealth" to figure out"

Do you have some reference to this? I read many scientific papers and can say that you spread fear with misinformation.

"The research has simply not been done," agreed neuropsychologist Paul R. Lees-Haley. "There's no basis at all for claiming that inhalation of mold or mycotoxins or any other mold metabolites causes brain damage in an indoor residential or office environment as people have been claiming."

from 2003 but all mold industry reference study also from 2003 https://www.atlanticlegal.org/pdfs/lees_haley2.pdf

"There are very strong genetic ties to 'mold' resistance, or susceptibility"

here you have right but susceptibility not mean that person get brain damage.

RaZaH
"A couple of weeks or maybe a month or so and my convulsion were completely gone and I felt that my cognative skills were improving, no more dizziness , weirdness, feelings of floating around , anxiety etc. etc....
Few months in and I had completely recovered from the convulsing."

If you will have brain damage from toxin (in this case if this will be mold cause in your body toxicity) then this would be permanent. Conclusion: fortuity

 

Well the first time I started my T was when I started working in a building where everyone suffered from mold intoxication in some way or another (and they had been there years). Then I left and during the summer it got better, then I moved to a house (over a hundred years old) where there was a lot of mold. Ringing of ears continued for a year, with a metallic taste in mouth. I went away during the summer and symptoms got better. Then I returned and I bought a house with mold (unfortuneately, sense of smell diminishes and all you smell is a cigarette smell). I've recently developed a twitch on my face. At first I thought it was lack of sleep, but I have gotten a lot of good sleep and it happens.

So, I hope to at least clean some of the spores up or move out to a different place.

I hate mold!

 

Just seeing this!

Well, to be honest I am not really going to bother with much of a reply as it is so "unreal" - no matter what any of the supposed "scientific papers" you may quote say.
I mean let alone Shoemaker (and many, many, many others who have written, talked, presented, etc. on mold ad infinitum)...all you have to do is look at any real estate transaction sheet in the USA, and there is an absolute, iron clad, legal REQUIREMENT to declare if any structure, residence, whatever, that is for sale has mold of any kind. It's in the contract...If someone buys a place that then is found to have mold, it is considered such a negative health effect that the new owner can sue, get all their money back, dispossess the property to the prior owner - with damages, etc., etc., etc.

Oh and also there is my own experience; and about two dozen + other people I know or have known; and the very highly regarded medical practice I attended for 14 years (with generally 8 or more full time board certified doctors, etc.) and their conclusions; and...

Need I say more??? (I will not be commenting more on this as I have better things to do with my time).

Zimichael

 

"Need I say more??? (I will not be commenting more on this as I have better things to do with my time)." first Im toxicologist/neurologist who study this substance. "I mean let alone Shoemaker" here you lose any credibility, again who is Shoemaker and many many others? people who earn money from treating "mold" sickness. SO yes better is rely on quacks who try sell you their "cure" than "no matter what any of the supposed "scientific papers" you may quote say." Here you can read about SHoemaker knowledge http://owndoc.com/lyme/lyme-neurotoxin-detoxing-nonsense/
http://www.casewatch.org/fdawarning/rsch/shoemaker.shtml

"all you have to do is look at any real estate transaction sheet in the USA, and there is an absolute, iron clad, legal REQUIREMENT to declare if any structure, residence, whatever, that is for sale has mold of any kind. It's in the contract...If someone buys a place that then is found to have mold, it is considered such a negative health effect that the new owner can sue, get all their money back, dispossess the property to the prior owner - with damages, etc., etc., etc." In the past doctors advice smoking as a healthy practice people also instal lead pipe use asbestos. Why they say so much about mold? because is good buisness

"Oh and also there is my own experience; and about two dozen + other people I know or have known; and the very highly regarded medical practice I attended for 14 years (with generally 8 or more full time board certified doctors, etc.) and their conclusions; and..." first certified doctros dont perform studies most of them dont even know how substance act in the body. About anegdotal evidence from you and others... Again I also know many people who smoke many years and stay healthy so we should also ignore scientific evidence because from own expierience they are healthy.
"(I will not be commenting more on this as I have better things to do with my time)." the biggest joke, person who use phorum and wrote something say he dont have time wroting in this topic(on the other hands if someone dont have arguments.). First you spread false information that there is no studies then you wrote that studies dont matter....

 

If you don't think that household molds can be majorly bad news and cause a host of physiological and neurological problems, then I don't know what to say except "you have been misinformed".

Go talk to some people who moved back into NOla right after Katrina....

 

You probably eat far more mycotoxin in normal diet that you can inhale from home with mold.

 

So please show me studies which confirm this because all I see and perform in dose that even after Katrina lvl dont show any neurological or other toxicological symptoms.

Here is good example
study Islam Z et.al who also claim use "very low dose"( 25 ug/kg bw), but
Meyer et.al found "Herein, a case of a LC-MS/MS-confirmed occurrence of airborne S. chartarum-toxins in a water-damaged dwelling is reported. Satratoxin G (0.25 ng/m(3)) and satratoxin H (0.43 ng/m(3)) were detected. "
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18443920 wi
Human need 10m3 air per day so person get 2.5 ng per day even if someone have 50 kg weight will get 0,05 ng/kg this is around 0.00005 ug/kg so your dose its really very low?
The same in Macrocyclic Trichothecene Straus et.al found: "Overall, detectable levels of airborne
macrocyclic trichothecene mycotoxins were significantly (P<0.001) higher in S.chartarum-contaminated buildings versus control buildings. The median values were 3.9, 9.0, 7.5, and 61.5 pg/m3 of air for two-hour static controls and tests, two-hour disturbed tests, and 30-minute disturbed tests, respectively. The median values were 44.9 and 248.5 pg/m3 of air for the 10-minute controls and tests, respectively. "http://innovaprep.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/C486DAEAd01.pdf
250 pg/m3 you use 250 ug per kg again your dose again your dose is 25000000 pg/kg. So please can you explain me why you use so huge dose.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/24/us/infants-lung-bleeding-traced-to-toxic-mold.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25804991
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25363558
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25216974
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24946038

This isn't, like, some controversial, cloak-and-dagger thing...

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24746609
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24368325
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24308451
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24229821
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24069854
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24946038

 

I don't have the time or patience to follow your math... especially if you can't even be bothered to speak in complete sentences and paragraphs. The bottom line for me is that there is an abundance of data showing profound physiological problems after exposure to building mold, particularly in building which have become water-damaged, and many of these studies include MRI or other imaging data which has been replicated.

 

I don't have the time or patience to follow your math... So you cant follow math, yet first rule of toxicology say that dose make poison.
About your studies, do you even read them?, or only pick some to support your claims without reading them? Some look at allergy, some about markers for fungal identification, most of them are epidemiological studies where correlation doesn't imply causation all in vivo studies on rats an other animals fall to show any toxic effect in level in damped buildings. Only one of your study looks at dose using in vitro model, but what dose they use? "A. westerdijkiae isolates contained 300-750 ng of avrainvillamide and 30-300 ng of stephacidin B per mg (wet weight)" 300 ng/mg
A. westerdijkiae most popular mycotoxins in mold buildings are in dose 0,05 ng/kg, kg weight they have 300 in mg weight. In such method I also can point you toxicity of water.

"The bottom line for me is that there is an abundance of data showing profound physiological problems after exposure to building mold, particularly in building which have become water-damaged, and many of these studies include MRI or other imaging data which has been replicated." epidemiological studies two studies from Shoemaker (I wrote about him earlier). I can find other factors which probably they dont adjusted. Good example epidemiological error from 70th, smoking decrease and cancer rates increase, conclusion based on this pattern?, smoking protect against cancer, do you see error now in epidemiological studies?.

"The bottom line for me is that there is an abundance of data showing profound physiological problems after exposure to building mold, particularly in building which have become water-damaged, " the bottom line is all so called "abundance of data showing profound physiological problems " are anecdotal evidence without any confirmation in in vivo studies.

 

I think we can both apparently cite data to support our points of view; I'm convinced that mold in buildings is a real problem with real consequences, but if you disagree, that's fine with me!

 

"I think we can both apparently cite data to support our points of view" so please support your points with studies that use dose you are exposed to mold in home. Because after 2 years of research (all avalible studies and performing in vivo on rats) I cant find such relation.
"I'm convinced that mold in buildings is a real problem with real consequences, but if you disagree, that's fine with me!" this is your opinion I respect that, you can believe what you want and to be honest I dont care, but if you spread such claims as a fact and wrote "If you don't think that household molds can be majorly bad news and cause a host of physiological and neurological problems, then I don't know what to say except "you have been misinformed"." and "This isn't, like, some controversial, cloak-and-dagger thing..." then you should prove your claims. If this is so clear where is this proof?.

 

I've read more than once that abrupt withdrawal from benzodiazapines can bring on tinnitus. Ostensibly because the body has gotten used to the benzos keeping GABA elevated, but GABA levels then plummet when the benzos are no longer there to do the job. Which sets up an extremely stressful condition for the body to deal with. And stress can bring on tinnitus.

But I would guess the mold was also a contributing factor. Mold can create some extremely serious conditions in the body that resemble the debilitating disease called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. In fact, many people diagnosed with ME were later discovered to have been suffering from mold exposure/illness. Another interesting tidbit is that people with ME seem to be especially prone to tinnitus and hyperacusis.​

 

I've been living with mould for over five years and in that time had some episodes of tinnitus. Recently, I blocked up the wall vents in my house which seemed to cure the mould problem (house smells fresh now). However, my tinnitus has come back, worse than ever, and it has persisted for weeks. I don't bother going to the doctor because last time she told me mould can't make anyone sick. Any ideas or suggestions?