January 2026

Ava Heartwell mold recovery and healing from toxic mold and mold exposure tips and lived experience

Why Doctors Miss Mold When Symptoms Look Neurological (And Why So Many of Us Get the Wrong Answer First)

My symptoms looked neurological — brain fog, dizziness, pressure, disconnection — so the conversation went straight to my brain, not my environment. This is why mold-related illness so often gets missed when symptoms mimic neurological conditions, and how I learned to recognize what doctors couldn’t easily see.

Why Doctors Miss Mold When Symptoms Look Neurological (And Why So Many of Us Get the Wrong Answer First) Read More »

Ava Heartwell mold recovery and healing from toxic mold and mold exposure tips and lived experience

Why My Body Reacts Before My Mind Can Explain It (And Why That Doesn’t Mean It’s “Just Anxiety”)

I kept searching for the thought that caused the reaction — but the reaction always came first. This explains why mold exposure trains the body to respond before the mind, how nervous system reflexes work, and how I learned to stop arguing with sensations I couldn’t think my way out of.

Why My Body Reacts Before My Mind Can Explain It (And Why That Doesn’t Mean It’s “Just Anxiety”) Read More »

Ava Heartwell mold recovery and healing from toxic mold and mold exposure tips and lived experience

Why I Felt Worse in “Clean” or New Spaces After Mold (And Why That Reaction Caught Me Off Guard)

I expected clean, new spaces to feel safe immediately. Instead, my body reacted — sometimes harder than it had before. This explains why that paradox happens, how sensitization and change itself play a role, and how I learned to tell adaptation from danger.

Why I Felt Worse in “Clean” or New Spaces After Mold (And Why That Reaction Caught Me Off Guard) Read More »

Ava Heartwell mold recovery and healing from toxic mold and mold exposure tips and lived experience

Why Mold Symptoms Don’t Follow a Straight Line (And Why That Non-Linear Path Is Normal)

I kept waiting for recovery to look like steady progress. Instead, it moved in waves — good days, setbacks, strange pauses. This explains why mold recovery is rarely linear, what those fluctuations actually mean, and how I learned to measure progress without panicking.

Why Mold Symptoms Don’t Follow a Straight Line (And Why That Non-Linear Path Is Normal) Read More »

Ava Heartwell mold recovery and healing from toxic mold and mold exposure tips and lived experience

Why Mold Made Me Feel Like a Different Person (And Why That Loss of Self Is So Hard to Explain)

I didn’t just feel sick — I felt unfamiliar to myself. My reactions changed, my personality felt muted or distorted, and I kept wondering who I was becoming. This is why mold exposure can alter your sense of self, and why that experience is more common than people admit.

Why Mold Made Me Feel Like a Different Person (And Why That Loss of Self Is So Hard to Explain) Read More »

Ava Heartwell mold recovery and healing from toxic mold and mold exposure tips and lived experience

Why Mold Recovery Is So Often Misdiagnosed as Anxiety or Depression (And How I Learned to Tell the Difference)

I was told my symptoms were anxiety because the tests were confusing and the story didn’t sound “medical enough.” What I didn’t realize was how often mold-related illness gets mislabeled — and how much damage that mislabeling can do.

Why Mold Recovery Is So Often Misdiagnosed as Anxiety or Depression (And How I Learned to Tell the Difference) Read More »

Ava Heartwell mold recovery and healing from toxic mold and mold exposure tips and lived experience

Why Moving Didn’t Immediately Fix My Mold Symptoms (And Why That Delay Is So Common)

I thought leaving the house would end the story. Instead, my symptoms followed me — not because I moved “wrong,” but because bodies don’t reset on the same timeline as environments. This explains why relief can lag after moving and how to read that phase without panicking.

Why Moving Didn’t Immediately Fix My Mold Symptoms (And Why That Delay Is So Common) Read More »

Ava Heartwell mold recovery and healing from toxic mold and mold exposure tips and lived experience

Why Some Rooms in My House Trigger Symptoms More Than Others (And Why That’s Not Random)

I used to think I was imagining it — feeling fine in one room and awful in another. But room-specific symptoms were one of the clearest clues my body gave me. This explains why certain spaces hit harder, what’s actually different room to room, and how to use that pattern without spiraling.

Why Some Rooms in My House Trigger Symptoms More Than Others (And Why That’s Not Random) Read More »

Ava Heartwell mold recovery and healing from toxic mold and mold exposure tips and lived experience

Why Mold Symptoms Can Change Instead of Improving (And Why That Doesn’t Mean You’re Getting Worse)

I expected recovery to look like a straight line. Instead, my symptoms shifted, rotated, and showed up in new ways. This explains why changing symptoms are common in mold recovery, how to read those shifts without panic, and what they often mean.

Why Mold Symptoms Can Change Instead of Improving (And Why That Doesn’t Mean You’re Getting Worse) Read More »

Ava Heartwell mold recovery and healing from toxic mold and mold exposure tips and lived experience

Why I Still Feel Sick After Mold Remediation (And Why That Doesn’t Automatically Mean It Failed)

I thought remediation would be the moment everything settled. Instead, my symptoms stayed — and that confusion almost broke my trust in my own body. This is why feeling sick after remediation is common, what it can actually mean, and how to figure out your next step without spiraling.

Why I Still Feel Sick After Mold Remediation (And Why That Doesn’t Automatically Mean It Failed) Read More »

[mailerlite_form form_id=1]