Implementing Your Mold Defense Strategy Effectively

Ann Shippy, MD

Welcome to Mold, Mycotoxin, and Chronic Illness Summit. I’m your host, Dr. Ann Shippy, and today I want to talk with those of you that are really wondering still if you can get better or if you have a family member that you’re wondering if they can get better. So if you’ve made it this far, I know you’re committed to doing what it takes to get well and really committed to your health. And that really is the first step with getting well is really committing to it because it means that you’re learning what it takes to get well and you’re beginning to implement what it takes to get well. And it really is the implementation that can be so overwhelming. So I want to just talk to you about some of the things that I do and that I’ve seen really help with my patients on this implementation side. And the first thing is to really encourage an inner conversation that’s comforting because there’s a part of all this, all of this that doubts, that wonders, and it’s part of actually what helps us to strive to take the steps. But a lot of times we just need to let that part of ourselves. No, that’s afraid and doubting that it’s going to be okay and so when you hear those thoughts come up in your head or in your loved one’s head, just reassure them. They just need that reassurance that everything is going to be okay, that it is possible to heal.

My mantra over time with the health crises that I’ve gone through and that I again encourage my patients, is that it’s one step at a time. We can’t take, we can’t run a mile all at once. It’s a step at a time. So each day just decide and commit to what your step is that day or a part of a step, that step that day. Because we often underestimate what we can actually get done in a day or week. But that commitment to taking that step and taking that step, you’ll be amazed when you look back at how far you’ve come, how many things you implemented. And I really like to take five to 10 minutes to really just listen to my intuition into my body each day, because there’s really some prioritization and amazing information that comes through when you get quiet, when you don’t have all those different messages coming through in your head about what you need to do, what you need to worry about, or what really seems that’s happening on the surface. When you dig a little bit deeper into what the most important needs are and what the most important intuitions are, sometimes that can take five or 10 minutes of just sitting quietly and sifting through the thoughts to see what it is that you can really commit to that day and what really is the most important. So give yourself those few minutes to really connect with your intuition and connect with yourself. 

And if possible, I think it’s really helpful to find an accountability buddy, somebody that you really trust to gently and lovingly hold you accountable. So if you said you’re going to add the glutathione supplement to your stack or you’re going to get rid of all the plastic containers in your kitchen or whatever it is today or this week, that they lovingly help you give you suggestions, but hold you accountable to make sure that you’ve made some progress each day and each week, and hopefully, you can do the same for them. A lot of times it really is showing up for others the way that we want others to show up for us. That is our greatest teachers. 

And then I love BJ Fogg’’s work. I really wanted to interview him on the summit. He’s got a book called Tiny Habits, and he really helps with the neurobiology of how to truly implement new habits and help them stick. So if you’re having trouble getting the new habits and then you want to implement it too, definitely read his book. He’s on a little sabbatical right now, so he wasn’t available, but his work is tremendous. And I know my friend who had read his book said it was the first time he was actually able to implement flossing his teeth. It was that helpful. He’d always he’d do it for a few days and then fall off the wagon with it. But now he flosses his teeth every day. So it really works for even those tiny habits or the big ones that end up being the most substantial building blocks that we really need to get healthy and to stay healthy. 

And I really want you to get into a clean environment. A lot of people I know feel stuck and it feels just overwhelming but get a plan, take some steps, and figure out how to help your environment be clean. It just speeds up everything and the healing process and makes it much more possible. So put that high on your priority list. That should be the biggest takeaway from the summit. And use reliable tests like the black mold screen dot com to test, get plenty of tests, and really make sure that your environment is clean and then test on a periodic basis, especially if you have remediated, and you wanting to make sure that it stays good that something hasn’t happened actually in the remediation. Do the follow-up tests every 3 to 6 months until you have confidence in your environment and you can let that hypervigilant settle down. So that’s been an amazing tool for me and many of my patients, and it’s reasonably affordable compared to some of the other ways of doing it. 

And then some of you may really want to test to see what’s going on in your body. And there is are some labs that you can order yourself on my website. It’s under the resources page DIY Labs. So that you can keep a tool or a, you know, measure your body and see how your body’s responding to the actions that you’re taking, especially if you are not able to get a functional medicine or integrative physician that’s knowledgeable about mold to help you and to guide you. Those tests can be super helpful to help. You know, if you’re on the right direction and what else you can be doing to help your body. And then don’t scrimp on the supplements. Go to sites that you trust like mine or others and really get high-quality supplements. You don’t want to be getting supplements that haven’t been really tested for quality and efficacy. So I’d rather you get fewer things and really get the professional grade supplements to really help you. 

If you need more support you can join my online mold program. Doing this summit has really helped me to realize that really it is a necessary thing. Not everybody can come to see me. So I want to help more people through having a program where you can ask questions and get step by step, not just a lot of information, but to put into the context of whatever you’re doing, but that they’re really people that need that stepwise process to help them implement and affordable way. And then lastly, I really do want to remind you how much hope there is. Our bodies. Your body really is extraordinary and the capacity that it has to heal. And I just want you to know that read into that, your body is extraordinary. It knows what to do to heal when it’s not overwhelmed by environmental toxins and it has the nutrients to run the biochemistry and physiology to truly heal. Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you so much for taking in all this amazing information. And I look forward to hearing your stories and you knowing it is possible and there is hope.