V. R. Roadifer lived, worked, and went to school in moldy environments most of her life. After being disabled in 2010 from Intracranial Hypertension, Spasmodic Dysphonia, and Dysautonomia, she started looking for answers outside the usual medical circles. She found an Integrative/Functional Medicine MD and, through lots of reading, vigorous testing, and unconventional treatments, is finding her way to a healthy life for the first time.
This site gives details about her personal health journey as well as resources and information for others suffering with similar chronic illnesses. V. R. Roadifer is not a qualified health provider, only a professional patient and nutrition student. Nothing within these pages are meant to replace qualified medical advice. Please speak to your doctor before trying any of the treatments mentioned here in.
Moldering Health: 
Dear VR
You have described exactly what is happening to me at the moment. Years on thyroxine meant I was no functioning as I could have been (mainly hypo) so in desperation about 6 months ago I went to a doctor who (allegedly) knew about these things and he prescribed synthetic T3. It made me become hyper and thats when the headaches started. I have stopped taking T3 but those headaches still persist in the way you have described them and I am hoping they will eventually dissipate.
Can you tell me what you did to help relieve those headaches? I live in Melbourne, Australia
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It took me years to get rid of them, unfortunately. It mostly involved reducing systemic inflammation and getting my thyroid meds properly balanced with T4 & a tiny dose of T3. I wrote a research paper for one of my grad school classes on IH earlier this year. I’ll try to remember to post it on this blog soon. Take care of yourself & best of luck!
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I very much appreciate your quick reply and I would very much like to read that paper you wrote.
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Dear Ms. Roadifer,
I currently have Spasmodic Dysphonia.
I just did the Shoemaker Protocol labs and apparently, I have an issue with mold biotoxins.
At what point did you treat your mold problem and what effect did that have on your Spadmodic Dysphonia?
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Liza, my spasmodic dysphonia was a result of intracranial hypertension (IH) and possibily thiamine deficiency. It resolved nearly a year prior to starting the Shoemaker protocol while I was taking a bunch of supplements to reduce inflammation & fatigue and improve nutrient deficiencies. I believe acetyl l-carnitine was most helpful for my SD as it increases energy production in the brain, but it’s difficult to know since I started taking so many supplements that year.
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Thank you so much for replying to my post! How long did you have Spasmodic Dysphonia and did you have Adductor or Abductor SD? Also, how did you figure out that you had a thiamine deficiency?
Thank you, Liza
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Your replies have been very helpful! Thank you so much for responding. What other nutrient deficiencies did you discover besides Thiamine? I am trying to figure out if I should get a NutrEval test from Genova Diagnostics. I would like to check nutrient, amino acid, and neurotransmitter deficiencies but I don’t know which tests to get yet.
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I had what they called atypical spasmodic dysphonia for around 2 years (it ended up being 22 months, I think). After 4 doctors missed my thiamine deficiency even though I had classic symptoms (small fiber neuropathy, muscle cramps, cognitive problems, & dysautonomia) & was on a medication that causes thiamine depletion, I saw a functional medicine MD who ordered broad range nutritional testing. The tests showed I had critically low levels of thiamine plus a few other less severe nutrient deficiencies.
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NutraEval from Genova was the test my MD ordered. I detailed my health history & testing in a series of early posts on the blog entitled Mold & Me. Here’s the excerpt about my testing results from those posts:
“I was in critical need of Alpha Lipoic Acid and Thiamin (B1) and had low levels of Vitamin C, Riboflavin (B2), Folate (B9), Cobalamin (B12), and Glutathione. My mitochondrial function wasn’t quite critical but wasn’t good, either. Neither was my toxin exposure (specifically styrene, aka plastics, and MTBE, a gasoline additive). My body’s ability to methylate was compromised and I had elevated levels of bacterial markers and borderline yeast/fungal markers. Out of the six beneficial gut bacteria they test for I was missing three.”
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Dear Ms. Roadifer,
I just got my NutrEval test and the only thing that I was severely deficient in was GLYCINE. Apparently, detoxing overtime uses up a huge amount of Glycine. Is Glycine deficiency something that you have encountered? I am wondering if it has anything to do with the Spasmodic Dysphonia. I am currently on antibiotics for Lyme so I don’t know if that has anything to do with the huge amount of detoxing.
Thank you, Liza Rebelo
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I love the article on Crohns
And all the information about it very informative thank you so much I will be sharing with friends and family to help them understand
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