Never Been Sicker #32 - Thinking Outside the Box, Interview with Michael Strothers Never Been Sicker

Thinking Outside the Box

Today’s guest is Michael Strothers, a mold survivor, and awareness advocate. Michael’s experience with mold began after moving into a new home with his fiance and immediately experiencing unusual symptoms, including alopecia. While medical professionals decided this autoimmune condition was triggered by stress, Michael continued thinking outside the box and searching for an answer that would explain his other related symptoms.

His demand for an explanation eventually led him to discover mold as the root cause. Unfortunately, though, his battle didn’t end there. From improper mold inspections, failed remediation, and struggling to find a safe indoor environment, he went through it all in an effort to get away from this contaminant. Eventually, he would sell the house and spend the next few years building up his own awareness, creating a safe space to live in, and giving his body the chance to heal.

Today’s Talk:
In this episode, Michael Rubino sits down with Michael Strothers to discuss his battle with mold exposure and alopecia. His journey highlights how mold exposure can be the underlying stressor triggering autoimmune conditions such as alopecia, the importance of thinking outside the box, and how difficult it can be to find a safe space to live in once that sensitivity switch has been flipped. Thankfully, his dedication to building more awareness helped get him the tools he needed to eventually find a place to heal.

His personal battle began after moving into a brand new house with his fiance at the time. Within three weeks, he started experiencing significant hair loss, as well as a list of other symptoms. Medical professionals immediately diagnosed him with alopecia triggered by stress from moving and the upcoming wedding. Something continued to bother him with this diagnosis, though, and he kept coming back to how these reactions only popped up after moving into the new home. This sparked a deep dive into thinking outside the box, leading him down a Google rabbit hole that eventually pointed to mold in the home.

Low and behold, a mold inspector found mold in his new house. Unfortunately, what followed was a failed remediation that would lead to him moving out of the home and bouncing back and forth between places as he tried to find a safe space to live. Between issues with rental management not taking the issue seriously and the high number of homes with a current mold problem, Michael witnessed firsthand just how prominent indoor mold growth is. And, the entire time he was fighting this battle, he was continually told by family and medical professionals that mold was not his problem.

For the next three years, he would continue to struggle before realizing that the best option was to purchase a home so that he could be in charge of correctly fixing any issues that popped up. Using his newfound knowledge, he dealt with a few mold issues that occurred in the house, until finally, it was a safe indoor environment. He’s now enjoying the benefits of a healthy home that doesn’t trigger a long list of symptoms. He’s also using his experience to bring more awareness to the effects mold exposure can have and help as many people as he can find answers to their own chronic symptoms.

"I didn't realize how common mold was. I thought the situation was a one in a million situation. Previously to that, I had lived in the house I grew up in and two different apartments. I never had a problem. So I didn't realize that it was the rule as opposed to the exception to the rule, especially when you're going to buy or live in a property that's a little bit older."

https://www.themichaelrubino.com/
https://www.homecleanse.com/

You can chat more with Michael Strothers at:
@strothers.mike