My name is Amy Stitt and I am a certified Mould Testing Technician, I am currently completing an Advance Diploma of Building Biology through the ACES. (A fully qualified Building Biologist is able to assess the health of a building; including mould, air pollution, EMF, water pollution etc. and assist in the design and building process).
I have come from a background of teaching and design, so this is a big career change. It was brought on by personal experience with mould illness, from living in a water damaged building.
I moved into a cute apartment in Palm Beach, NSW in 2016. It was freshly painted, close to the beach and most importantly affordable!
After 6 months of living in my beach side home I started to nap a few times a week; I put his down to being a busy single mum of 2 littlies and working 4 days a week. I noticed a slight musty odour when I would get home, but there was no visible mould. Slowly other symptoms crept in; watery eyes, eczema, ringing in my ears. Nothing serious enough to be worried, mostly treated with over-the-counter products. Doctors had tried to pass me off telling me that stress was the cause of my symptoms, which by the end resulted with the skin from my face to my feet peeling off in a red, hot, burn like state. They told me to stop scratching my skin, which felt like I had tiny spiders crawling under it. I was prescribed steroids, antibiotics, creams, pain medication…. I was left with a diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue and given no direction or advice on how to recover. I was given so many recommendations, from Homeopaths to Psychologists. I tried as many as I could afford, but had little to no improvements. A friend had mentioned an integrated practitioner, but by then I had lost hope and my mental health started to suffer. I saved all my energy and smiles for my children, once they were at kindy or in bed I crashed. I had suspected the carpet in the bedrooms was contributing to my allergies, so I requested it be replace by the landlord, but was told that was too big of an ask.
For 3 years my health had slowly deteriorated, ending with around 30 symptoms, the most concerning was my short-term memory loss. My last resort was to booked the integrated practitioner, he specialises in Nutrition and Environmental Medicine. I walked into his surgery with no hope, the skin on my face was peeling off in a hot mess. He immediately told me he suspected Mould Allergy and that he could help me treat it and find the actual cause, I burst out crying as no one had offered to find the actual CAUSE. He recommend I move, I said ‘NO WAY’, I loved my little home. He predicted that I would be in hospital within a week. A few days later I caught Influenza-A and collapsed, my new partner carried me to the car and drove me to the A&E. I had blood tests and a chest x-ray which showed 2 nasty spots of pneumonia and the C-reactive Protein (CRP) test indicated very high inflammation. Essentially, I had very little of an immune system left after fighting all the random symptoms for so long. It took a week in hospital on strong antibiotics and pain killers.
I went back to the integrated practitioner for my post hospital check-up. This man saved me. We went through my allergy results and he told me to move, I again said no way, I couldn’t afford it and I loved my little home, he said I would be back in hospital soon. So, I began the process of packing up and trying to relocate to a healthier home.
I had to break my lease and felt an almighty sense of injustice that my Real Estate Agent made me feel like I was crazy, after all there was no visible mould. In reflection, the apartment had been painted just before I moved in, it had covered water marks and mould; which in itself creates a chemical stew to inhale!
Regaining my health was a slow process; I was originally told it would take 2 years to rebuild my immune system and get 90% of my energy back.
The experience left me knowing that I had to help prevent people from going through what I did. It was the loneliest time in my life and at times literally felt like I was going mad.
A year later I started studying at ACES and now over 2 years on, I feel better than ever.
The one thing about going to so many practitioners was that I learnt so much about my body, my immune system, my diet and what I wanted out of my life. I have adopted a lifestyle that I love; I catch the odd cold, like everyone else but I no longer sleep all night and wake up exhausted, I have energy to run most mornings, my skin is healing and no longer makes me hide under huge sunglasses and hats or at home.
If you feel like mould could be contributing to poor health, please reach out.
