Do you ever feel like you’re doing “all the right things,” but your health still isn’t improving?
Maybe you’ve been told your labs look “normal,” but you still struggle with fatigue, brain fog, sinus issues, or body aches.
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone — and it may not be “all in your head.”
One often-overlooked cause of chronic symptoms that doesn’t show up on routine lab work is mold-related illness, also known as Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS).
Mold exposure is actually relatively common. An unknown leak in your bathroom or kitchen is all mold needs to flourish in the hidden spaces between walls, and excessive condensation in your basement or HVAC system can cause mold to spread. What’s uncommon is how some people’s bodies react when exposed to mold.
About 20 to 25% of people have genetic variations (HLA types) that make it harder to clear biotoxins like mold effectively. These people are more likely to develop symptoms after exposure to mold.
A lot depends on genetics and your overall immune system health. People with other chronic illnesses or an overtaxed immune system have a higher risk of mold-related illness and CIRS as well. In general, mold-related illness and CIRS are less about the presence of mold and more about the body’s inability to turn off inflammation after exposure.
How Do You Know You Have CIRS?
Because CIRS can affect multiple systems and often doesn’t appear on standard testing, it is frequently overlooked. Symptoms may seem unrelated or evolve over time, making diagnosis challenging.
CIRS is not a simple mold allergy. It’s a chronic immune response triggered when the body is exposed to toxins from mold and mycotoxin from water-damaged buildings. For some people, the immune system can’t properly clear these toxins. Instead, the immune response gets “stuck in overdrive,” causing inflammation throughout the body.
Unlike seasonal allergies where symptoms mainly show up in the respiratory system, CIRS symptoms often show up in multiple systems at once — which is why patients can go years without answers. Recognizing common patterns of CIRS can help determine whether it may be contributing to your ongoing symptoms.
So, what are the symptoms of CIRS from mold toxicity?
CIRS can look very different from person to person, but here are some classic patterns:
- Fatigue that doesn’t improve with rest
- Brain fog – memory lapses, difficulty focusing, slowed thinking
- Sinus problems – congestion, chronic cough, recurring infections
- Muscle or joint pain without clear cause
- Numbness, tingling, or dizziness
- Mood changes – anxiety, depression, irritability or mood swings
- Digestive issues – bloating, diarrhea, food sensitivities
- Unrefreshing sleep or insomnia
- Headaches or migraines
If you see several of these symptoms clustering together, especially if they flare up when you’re in certain buildings, mold exposure could be a root cause.
Is CIRS a real disease?
Yes, CIRS is a real disease recognized by functional medicine. However, in conventional medicine, there is still some debate about how to define, diagnose, and classify mold-related illnesses. Part of the problem is that CIRS can’t be recognized by a single test. Functional medicine doctors use common symptom patterns to classify it. They also use tools like the Visual Contrast Sensitivity (VCS) test, specialized labs like urinary mycotoxin testing, and environmental mold testing to confirm whether mold is playing a role.
What isn’t up for debate is that mold can trigger a sustained immune response in those who are susceptible, and diagnosing that problem is tricky.
CIRS Treatment: How to Detox from Mold Toxicity
If you’re unsure whether or not mold is playing a role in your chronic symptoms, working with a mold specialist (like those at Boulder Holistic Functional Medicine) is the first step. Our practitioners have the knowledge and experience to help you not only diagnose your symptoms, but also come up with a personalized treatment plan based on your unique symptoms and health history.
In general, the CIRS treatment at Boulder Holistic involves a straightforward process to get you out of the moldy environment and support your body as it detoxes from CIRS.
Step 1: Environment
If mold is a contributing cause to your chronic symptoms, the first thing you need to do is get out of the moldy environment or get mold remediation from a specialist who understands CIRS. This may seem simple on the surface, but it can also take some time, especially if the moldy environment is your home.
Unfortunately, recovering is difficult if not impossible if you’re still being regularly exposed to mold, so this first step is essential. Without removing the source of exposure, other treatments are unlikely to create lasting change.
Step 2: Inflammation
After you get yourself out of the moldy environment, or significantly reduce your exposure by starting remediation, the next step is reducing inflammation.
Since CIRS causes your immune system to go into overdrive, detoxing from mold exposure also means calming the immune system back down. For this, nervous system regulation is key. When the body feels unsafe, inflammation stays switched on.
Chronic inflammation and nervous system dysregulation feed off of each other. So, when your body is in fight-or-flight, your immune system stays activated even when you are no longer in a moldy environment.
To regulate the nervous system, you can add in practices like:
- Gentle daily movement
- Breathwork: Alternate nostril breathing or Mazer’s boxed breathing
- Practicing good sleep hygiene
- Vagus nerve healing
Your diet also plays a huge role in reducing systemic inflammation. Rather than following a rigid diet plan, recovery works best when diet is approached as a supportive lifestyle shift. That means:
- Stabilizing blood sugar
- Emphasizing whole, nutrient-dense foods
- Reducing or eliminating ultra-processed foods
- Supporting gut integrity
Consistency and nourishment matter when you are recovering from chronic illness.
Step 3: Support Detox Systems
Instead of immediately trying to force mold from your body, functional medicine takes a gentler approach. Imagine trying to clean out the sink while your drain is clogged. You wash the basin but, because the water has nowhere to go, the dirt stays stuck to the sides.
Boulder Holistic focuses on supporting your major detox systems including your gut, liver, and lymphatic system. By improving how these systems function, the body becomes better equipped to clear toxins on its own. Certain supplements can help support your body’s natural detox systems while recovering from mold exposure.
Work with Boulder Holistic Functional Medicine
If you suspect mold or CIRS, don’t ignore it. Left untreated, mold-related illness can affect every aspect of your health. The good news is that with the right approach — removing exposure, calming inflammation, and supporting detox pathways — many patients see dramatic improvement.
Here are some red flags that mold or CIRS may be contributing to your symptoms:
- Symptoms improve when away from certain environments (like your home or office).
- You’ve seen multiple providers but haven’t found clear answers.
- Your health has declined gradually without a clear trigger.
- Routine labs don’t show anything “wrong,” yet you feel unwell.
You don’t have to keep struggling with unexplained symptoms. If normal test results haven’t explained how you feel, and your symptoms seem to shift based on where you spend time, schedule a consultation with Boulder Holistic Functional Medicine in Boulder, Colorado, to explore if mold and CIRS are the missing piece of your health puzzle.
