'Yoga Girl' Rachel Brathen Says Toxic Mold Caused Her Chronic Health Issues
Rachel Brathen, aka Yoga Girl, discovered that the weird health issues she was experiencing were due to a mold problem in her home.
Brathen broke it all down on Instagram, noting that people thought she was “overreacting” before the mold was discovered.
Exposure to damp and moldy environments may cause a range of health issues, although some people are more sensitive to mold than others, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says.
You know when something feels off with your body. And, unfortunately, sometimes you have to advocate for yourself to prove to people that something is actually wrong.
That’s what happened to Rachel Brathen, aka Yoga Girl, who discovered that the weird health issues she was experiencing were due to a mold problem in her home. Brathen broke it all down on Instagram, noting that people thought she was “over reacting” before the mold was discovered.
“GUESS WHO IS NOT CRAZY??!!! ME! NOT crazy! Not over reacting! Not a lunatic! Not exaggerating! Just got a basic inspection done (we didn’t even open up walls or ceilings yet and no actual tests) and we have been fucking swimming in mold,” she wrote, alongside a video of someone breaking out a floorboard that is covered in mold. Brathen said her master bedroom and attic has “visible mold” in several places. “We just found 20+ areas of mold hiding in the house,” she said.
“It’s no wonder I’m sick. It’s a miracle we are not sicker. The worst part of this entire experience is how gaslighted I’ve been,” she said. “For years, no one believed me or took me seriously and even after we got test results back at unacceptable levels people have been kind of looking at me like I’m crazy.”
Brathen said that the mold is “toxic” and “so, so dangerous.” “We are lucky it’s ‘just’ never ending respiratory issues, coughing, eczema, sinus issues, fatigue, endocrine imbalance,” she said. “I’m going to throw anxiety and depression in there as symptoms too because they rate high for people with mold toxicity.”
Brathen said she spent 20 minutes in her car crying over the experience. “Weirdly it’s years of relief because getting the affirmation that it’s not me; it’s not in my head, feels like taking the deep breath I’ve been holding for a long time,” she said.
She ended on this note: “Trust your gut. I wish I would have trusted mine years ago, but here we are. There is no better time to heal than now. #toxicmold.”
Brathen also covered her “mold nightmare” experience on her podcast.
“Three years ago, I had this burnout, I had all these symptoms,” she said. “I got so sick one day and six months later, I was still sick. And it’s these similar kinds of symptoms that I have been dealing with now.” Those include a constant sore throat and needing to blow her nose a lot. “I always have a runny nose every day of my life,” Brathen said.
But Brathen’s blood work came back as normal and her doctors told her that she was actually really healthy. Brathen said several doctors raised the possibility of a mold issue here and there, but she wrote it off.
Finally, after years of illness, she decided to look into it. Brathen tested her home for mold and the results were intense. “They flagged five of them are very high, like really high, like not livable high,” she said.
Brathen shared that she and her family have to move out of their home immediately and find doctors, contractors, and mold experts that can help. They may also lose all of their belongings, including their “perfect” home.
Exposure to damp and moldy environments may cause a range of health issues, although some people are more sensitive to mold than others, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says. For people who are sensitive to mold, exposure can cause stuffy nose, wheezing, and red or itchy eyes, or skin. Some may even develop fever and shortness of breath. Mold has also been linked to cases of pneumonia, the CDC says.
Now, Brathen says, she and her family “don’t have a clear game plan.” They’re staying in an Airbnb and she’s struggling with everything. “The enormity of the loss, it’s like I cannot grasp it,” she said.
Brathen also shared on Instagram that she and her family are sorting through all their belongings to try to look for signs of mold, and getting rid of most of them.
But Brathen said she’s starting to feel better. “I woke up this morning without a sore throat,” she said. “I’m feeling better, and that says something."
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