Why Indoor Air Sensitivity Can Increase After Remediation Attempts
When “fixing the problem” doesn’t immediately calm the body.
I thought remediation would be the turning point.
The source addressed. The threat removed.
Instead, my body felt more alert than it had before.
It made me wonder if I had made things worse.
Increased sensitivity didn’t mean remediation failed.
Why the nervous system doesn’t reset on the same timeline as a building
Physical changes can happen quickly.
Biological recalibration takes longer.
My environment changed faster than my body could trust it.
This helped me understand that safety has to be felt, not just verified.
The body may stay vigilant even after conditions improve.
How heightened awareness can follow exposure reduction
When constant strain lifts, perception can sharpen.
Signals that were drowned out become noticeable.
I wasn’t reacting more — I was noticing more.
This mirrored what I experienced during periods of stillness, which I explored in why indoor air problems can feel worse when you’re not “doing anything”.
Awareness often increases before tolerance returns.
Why partial improvement can feel destabilizing
Some triggers eased.
Others became more obvious.
The mixed signals made it hard to know what progress looked like.
This overlap between relief and reactivity echoed what I learned about symptoms shifting without fully resolving, which I explored in why symptoms can shift after remediation without fully resolving.
Change doesn’t always feel like calm at first.
Why increased sensitivity is often misread as regression
More awareness looks like worsening.
Especially when expectations are high.
I assumed progress should feel linear and obvious.
This misunderstanding connects with how healing rarely follows a straight line, which I reflected on in why I didn’t heal in a straight line after mold and how I learned what safety actually feels like.
Sensitivity increasing doesn’t automatically mean harm is ongoing.