Re: My Symptoms ? Sick Building Syndrome?

[Guest guest]

Welcome to our group, but I'm very sorry to hear that you are so sick. I'm

not a Dr. but everything you mention sounds like it could very well be what you

think it is. The first thing I would do is go to

_www.chronicneurotoxins.com_ (http://www.chronicneurotoxins.com) and read,

read, read! Then take the

VCS test to see how you test. It is a vision test only costs $8.95 and you get

instant results. The test is explained on the web site, has been used for

yrs., is 98% accurate and is a first screening for a biotoxin illness which

affects the optic nerve. Then I would highly recommend that you order a copy

of

Mold Warriors by Dr. Shoemaker. Make sure to read, Chapter 4, The Biotoxin

Pathway and Chapter 7 about the group of people from the Baltimore Washington

Methodist Conference. I think about 30 people out of about 50 were very sick

including the bishop!

I am a former teacher and got very sick 4 yrs. ago with debilitating

fatigue, blinding headaches, severe muscle/joint pain, muscle twitches, slurred

speech, blurred vision, dirt like taste in my mouth, itchy crawly skin, racing

heart, shortness of breath, sleepless nights and the list goes on and on. I

honestly was so sick I thought I was dying & it took me months to find a Dr.

that could help. After many tests (all negative) my local Dr. told me that I

must have a virus that would eventually go away. Oh! I forgot to mention the

memory loss! I couldn't spell simple words, remember my students names, where

I

parked my car, I could hardly get out the door without a list! I drove up to

the bank once (it was on my list) but then didn't have a clue what I was

there for!! I was afraid to tell anyone for fear I was getting Alzheimer's!!

Four yrs. into this nightmare I can tell you that not many Drs. know what to

do but it is VERY real. It is a multisystem/multisymptom illness and can be

life threatening!

If you have any other questions please let me know & I'll try to help.

You've found the right place with lots of good people here!!

Sue

I am new to this group; found the link on a website. I have worked

in the same medical office building for 17 years. We have always had

leaky ceilings. An employee recently found a black colored mold

growing in several places (ceiling panels, behind wallpaper, etc.) in

the building. She reported her findings to me since I am her

supervisor. This lead me to research mold, and WOW was I surprised.

This got me thinking ~ over the past 17 years I have developed

[Guest guest]

Welcome to our nightmare..

You don't have any skepticism from us here but you also need to not be

naive, like we all were once, and

think several steps ahead on how this might play out for you and your

co-workers. Most of these stories don't

have happy endings where the problem is fixed, everybody gets better and

justice is served,

thanks to the way the current legal situation is.. But you probably

already know that too.

A lot depends on who owns the building and how they typically respond to

this kind of issue..

(things that hurt people that could also cost them both a lot

of money to fix and also which they might get sued over by people like you

who are sick.)

Many employers and landlords are responsible and will do what it takes, even

if it costs them thousands of dollars.

Many also are not. Really toxic mold situations require high humidity

caused by leaking that doesn't occur in well maintained buildings. If you

work in an older building, and budgets are already tight, your supervisors

might be aware of the situation but they may have made a conscious decision

to pretend they don't know about it. They may fire 'complainers', for

example. Suddenly, your exemplary service and years of coming in on time and

working overtime will count for naught and they will find fault with

everything you do or set up an impossible situation for you that you can't

help but fail at and you could get fired. Then, forget about your pension,

its back to square one. It happens all the time.

However, as an employee in the medical field, I think your chances are

better than most that there will be a

response, but nonetheless, you should prepare for the worst but not do that

obviously.

The most important thing is to document the situation well before orders

come down from on high to do anything but . Do that quickly but well. Have a

third party take samples, and fill out the chain of custody form. You should

also take some samples

to verify their results with later if you need to. Do this quietly. (Be

aware of the institutional tendancy to attack bearers of bad news.)

Then - after you have the documentation you need to get a good job done, you

need to try to get the situation cleaned up which means first, eliminating

the sources of moisture, and then cleaning up the mold and everything which

is contaminated with it as best as you can.

If the cause of the mold - water intrusion, leaks, flooding, condensation,

etc. is not addressed, eliminating the mold won't fix the problem as it will

come back.

Don't rely on laws, OSHA, etc. as there are no standards for mold in the US.

Suing is not a viable alternative in this legal climate, either, unless you

see it (as many of us do) as an important moral issue that needs to be

fought, despite a low chance of winning.

(Even people who get very ill have trouble finding lawyers as the cases are

difficult without the health industry behind us.)

cleaning up the mold and everything it has contaminated.

If the causes of the ongoing problem are not fixed first