Week of November 21, 2022
QUESTION: Here’s an FAQ that we thought would be helpful through the holiday season:
Can you take CSM (or Welchol) or other Protocol medications as a preventative measure?
It’s important to first understand that the medications alone will not restore or maintain your health. Recovery requires removal (and/or remediation) from the contaminated building/s that triggered the CIRS reaction. These two parts of the recovery equation are necessary for thriving with CIRS.
With this understanding in place, many patients do elect to use low-dose cholestyramine or Welchol as a first-layer of prevention before venturing into a new environment.
CSM is an FDA-approved medication originally used to lower elevated levels of cholesterol. It’s been safely used for extended periods by millions of patients for over 40 years. CSM has a unique binding affinity for biotoxins (as well as cholesterol). Provided there is no re-exposure, a CSM treatment will remove the toxins from the body over time. At the FDA-approved dosage, there are common gastrointestinal side-effects that can be annoying, but are not dangerous. The Protocol and trained practitioners offer practical remedies to prevent these affects or to keep on hand “just in case.”
If you choose to use CSM preventatively, it’s recommended to take it at least two hours before you go into a new building.
It’s also a good idea to call ahead and ask the building owner, manager or maintenance supervisor if there’s been any known water damage, and how old the building is. Most all buildings over 20 years old have had some water damage.
If you choose to visit the new building, do an initial visual inspection before deciding to remain in the environment. Monitor yourself for symptoms for 10 minutes. If no symptoms appear after 10 minutes then it’s likely safe for you to stay, but stay tuned to any physical reactions. If any symptoms appear at any time you are in the environment, leave as quickly as possible and take cholestyramine and Welchol for a week monitoring changes in symptoms.
If no symptoms arise in the new environment, then it’s possible that the home or building is safe for you to visit. Continue on Welchol or cholestyramine for another 72 hours to see if new symptoms appear. Symptoms can arise in just a few minutes or kick in later.
If you do develop symptoms, be sure to take note of the exact symptoms for future reference as they are typically reproduced each time you encounter a toxic environment. You will be able to recognize them quickly in the future.
Some common symptoms to pay attention to are: feeling nauseated, developing a headache, shortness of breath, coughing, a sore throat, feeling “queasy,” or just not feeling well.
If you remain ill beyond one week of treatment then it is time to involve your physician and obtain labs to document where you are.
When taking any protocol medications, always consult with your Shoemaker Practitioner first for accurate dosages and for the best course of action for you.
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QUESTION: Is testing for actinomycetes and endotoxins performed on dust in house or is it performed on human urine or blood sample?
ANSWER: Testing a building is performed on dust and done by the patient.
Although you may find many recommendations for mold/biotoxin environmental testing, it’s important to keep in mind that testing for the CIRS individual is different than testing for the rest of the population.
As for the various methods of testing the building for mold, only the ERMI and HERTSMI-2 account for all aspects necessary for the CIRS patient, including “health safety exposure,” by using the scientific technology of the “MSQPCR” method.
The HERSTMI-2 is used in conjunction with the patient’s biomarker results, and a printable HERTSMI-2 scorecard is available on the Surviving Mold Site.
Because ERMI/HERSTMI-2 testing is the ONLY system that gives a CIRS patient documented results correlated with specific biomarkers to guide the recovery process, it is considered by the CIRS community to have the best reliable outcome.
PART 2: As far as testing for CIRS in the patient, because it affects multi-systems throughout the body, has a genetic component, and has multi-symptoms, the testing process can not be reduced to one urine or blood test.
The Protocol relies on a systematic testing approach beginning with an online Visual Contrast Screening and a HLA-DR test, which identifies genetic susceptibility to CIRS. It is rare to have CIRS-WDB if you do not have the susceptible gene.
The HLA-DR test can be ordered by your Primary Care Practitioner, or in consultations with a Shoemaker Protocol Practitioner.
Additional lab tests for specific biomarkers, as well as differential diagnosis should also be scheduled. A complete Physician’s Testing Roster is available on the Surviving Mold site.
Also to note, urine testing is not a scientifically proven or reliable CIRS test, nor is it a part of the Protocol.
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QUESTION: Where is the normal range for MSH derived from, 35-81 pg/ml. I have found a study on line that shows healthy people below 35 and none above 35.
ANSWER: There are at least 10 separate proteomic assays where the normal range has been altered by LabCorp. Until 9/2006, LabCorp used 35-81 for the normal range for MSH. These data were consisted with papers I (Dr. Shoemaker) published before 2006. LabCorp changed the normal from 0-45 and then 0-40 for unknown reasons in 9/2006. We published a paper in Health in 2013 with case/control data confirming the normal ranges.
