WEBVTT
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My name is Michael Rubino.
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I'm on a personal mission to make sure you don't get sick inside your own home.
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I knew there was something wrong.
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I'm just so relieved there's something that you can do about it.
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Hello and welcome to another episode of Never Been Sicker.
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I'm your host, indoor air quality expert Michael Rubino.
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And today's very special guest is Dr.
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Eric Potter.
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Dr.
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Eric Potter, thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to be here with us.
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Yeah, it's a pleasure to be here.
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I appreciate those of you who are doing the work you're doing of getting the word out about all that we do on a daily basis of caring for those.
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I run Sanctuary Functional Medicine with a team of providers who are trying to help those who have never been sicker get better, uh, to finding out what the root cause is behind them here in Franklin, Tennessee, and taking care of some patients from around surrounding states as well.
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That's awesome.
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And thank you for all that you do.
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Obviously, it's very important that you see a doctor when you're not feeling well.
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And of course, uh many people that are coming to this show, they're experiencing illness from mold.
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And so mold's a very big important topic that we discuss quite frequently.
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Can I get a sense from you?
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How often are you seeing mold pop up as an issue?
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Uh it's pretty much on a daily basis.
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Uh we go through a history with everyone because mold obviously is not the only toxin out there.
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However, it is something that is coming up more and more as we see uh building materials uh being thrown up a lot faster.
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The in our neck of the woods, houses are going up faster than you can blink an eye, and uh you can see the mold growing on them.
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Uh, and then we've had a big ice storm here recently.
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Uh so it's not just your hurricane season uh around the coast, but we have our weather that will drip a little water in.
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It doesn't take long before mold grows.
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Nobody knows that they're starting to get sick.
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Um and all of a sudden they come in to see us and we're telling them that, yeah, I think mold is behind your illness that you've been struggling with for months or years, and confirming that and then walk them through through uh getting better.
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Now, we see a lot about mold in respects with asthma, allergies, etc.
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And one of the things you don't hear about often enough that I'd love for you to kind of shed a light on is you know the immune suppression, the neurological symptoms, the chronic inflammation that you typically experience when you're exposed to mold.
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Conventional medicine is aware of all the respiratory issues that come along with mold, whether it's allergies, asthma, you know, sinus issues, whatever.
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Uh however, uh most of our patients are not coming to us for those simple issues.
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You know, oh, I just have sinuses.
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Uh they will come to us because, oh, I'm having sinus issues three or four times a year, and I'm breaking out and I'm responding to foods, and oh, you know, at work, I'm having trouble remembering things.
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People are having to remind me a lot more.
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Brain fog, you know, trouble sleeping, neurocognitive effects, oh, I've been more depressed lately.
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Um, and then say, oh yeah, not only am I getting sinus infections, but instead of getting better in a week, uh, those viruses are taking three or four weeks.
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And it's not just because, you know, COVID, uh, but it's your average cold uh is lasting forever.
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So we're seeing those things, the multi-symptom, multi-system, uh, where patients have problems in a lot of areas of their health.
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Um, those are the ones coming to us uh that have been to other doctors who, oh well, they've tried the medicines, they've tried avoiding allergies, you know, they move to a place where um you don't have seasonal allergies like we do in Middle Tennessee, but they're not getting better.
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And they come out ask us, uh, and we help them find those root causes like mold.
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Now, you know, it's so interesting.
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You're a medical doctor, you're mentioning words like root causes and mold.
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As you can see, a lot of people come to you after they've been to doctors that have, you know, just haven't been able to find the answers that they're looking for.
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And then they finally find you and you help them through those issues.
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Why do you think the overall medical community of medical doctors really hasn't caught on to the science behind mold illness, et cetera, uh, to this date?
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I get that, I get asked that question a lot from patients, uh, occasionally from other doctors I talk to.
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Um, like, why is it that what you're doing is real?
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Because the rest of the community doesn't believe in this.
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Uh, there's a few different reasons.
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One, there are a few articles out there that have said, oh, we've looked at all the evidence, we can't find any connection between the two.
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Um, part of the problem with that is every patient's different.
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Uh, there's not the one size, if somebody has pneumonia, they're gonna have cough, fever, some futum, chest x-ray.
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It's easy.
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It they look almost all the same.
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With mold, everybody looks a little different.
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So those articles that claim that it doesn't exist, uh, and just the fact that everybody looks different.
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And then you've got a big system.
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Uh, big medicine uh is looking at ways, things they can diagnose in five, 10, 15 minutes, give a medication uh that is covered by insurance, uh, and they can go in out, somebody's better in a week, a month, you know, maybe three months if it's checking your blood pressure.
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Uh the system is not set up for something that has multiple looks to it, uh, that requires a multimodal approach, meaning we're using different supplements, sometimes medications.
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Uh, we're looking at a lot of different things at once instead of just focusing down on one single thing like uh modern medicine does.
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And again, you know, I mentioned the insurance industry.
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They're not really paying for visits where we're spending an hour, hour and a half, sometimes even two hours on initial visits, digging in to understand and then guiding people through a six-month year, sometimes two years to completely get over this.
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So big medicine, insurance, uh, and then just the word on the street with the articles they've got out there is denying this.
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Uh, whereas, again, we're seeing this every day, and we see people get better.
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Um, so we just keep going and taking care of patients, even if we're told that we're doing things that you know don't really exist.
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No, I think that's a great explanation.
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And you you've used words like big medicine, uh, you know, insurance, the system.
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Uh, and there's so many parallels in what I do.
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When I came up and as an indoor air quality expert before I was an expert, as I'm learning from other experts and coming into this industry, there was a lot of that where basically it was just the way it's always been done.
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And you didn't really challenge things or ask tough questions.
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If you did, you were just kind of told, don't worry about it.
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That's not the direction we're going here.
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And uh, you know, basically there's a whole industry of just cut two feet off the bottom and don't ask no questions.
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Doesn't matter if the water came from the top down, doesn't matter if there's insulation on the wall.
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You just you just do what you're supposed to do, right?
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And so it was asking these tough questions, trying to understand, well, why are we leaving things behind?
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Why aren't we worried about the particles and the toxins created by these species uh of organisms growing inside the walls that really helped, you know, kind of uncover the truth.
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And so what I want to ask you, similar to this, uh similar to what I've been through, like what were the truths that you had to uncover to really get down to the bottom of how this impacts people and how you're able to help people because of it.
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Well, for me, and then for those other uh providers who I've seen kind of come over to this side of understanding, uh, it has been the fact that they really, and this is I really want to help people.
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Uh, and I've had patients who come to me who like, I'm not getting answers.
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This doesn't make sense.
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And I've tried a thousand things.
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I've had one 20-something year old that had seen 99 physicians before, uh, and they'd she'd really exhausted everything under the sun.
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Uh, but for those who are really wanting to try to help their patients, they're willing to look outside the box.
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Uh, and then the the thing is, once you start looking outside the box, willing to look at alternative explanations, you realize, oh, there's actually a lot of truth out there.
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There's a lot of science.
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Um, you know, they say, oh, well, there's no science that shows that mold's affected.
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Well, if you just look in the agricultural industry, there are billions of dollars spent every year trying to keep uh cows and pigs growing faster by limiting how much mold they're exposed to.
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Uh, you look at the research even on some humans where it shows that there are actual measurable objective biochemical findings out there that if you are willing to look at it, you've got the proof.
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Uh, and then when you start applying those principles to your patients, pretty soon you realize, oh, people who have been sick for 10, 20 years are getting better.
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And once you see that, you can't unsee it.
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Uh, there's no way to go back and say, oh no, this is this is just my imagination.
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Uh, once you see it time and time again, but you know, that happened when I was having a you know a family member coming to me for help, uh, other patients again coming to me for help.
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Uh, I was willing to look outside the box, which is what most of conventional medicine isn't willing to do, and probably sounds like what your experiencing was in uh the remediation industry.
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It's like, hey, we've done it this way.
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It works.
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I'm like, well, it works 95% of the time, but there's a bunch of people over here that are really, really suffering.
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Can we just try to look outside the box and try to help them too?
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No, I I I agree.
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I think that's really kind of what it boils down to is like you got to have this care factor and want to look down for the root cause issues.
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I mean, if we're just cutting two feet off the bottom of the floor, we're not really gonna identify the root cause issues, right?
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If we're just looking at a person and putting a label on them and handling handing them a pill, right, that's gonna deal with their symptoms.
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Well, then we're not really addressing the root cause issue.
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So I love how you know you've kind of had that mindset shift, similar to how I had to have that mindset shift in that parallel, you know, in my industry.
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So I really appreciate that approach and what you're doing.
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Because I and I know that the people that are watching, they appreciate it too, because a lot of them, you know, they hear the same story.
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I've been to 20 different doctors.
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I finally found a doctor like Dr.
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Potter who kind of really helped me understand what's going on, right?
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And for for some people, maybe it's mold, right?
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And for some people, obviously they're dealing with other things.
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But it's really interesting how you you know you've kind of shifted, and I really uh applaud you for that.
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Um as we look at just kind of the overall landscape here, how do you how do you help people diagnose whether they uh are dealing with a mold exposure issue or maybe other environmental toxins?
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Yeah, so it's like any other good medicine.
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Uh regardless of whether you're in conventional, functional, it just starts with a good story.
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Uh you sit down and listen to your patients, which is again part of the reason being medicine, if you've only got 10 or 15 minutes, uh, you can't listen long enough to realize, oh, yeah, you've had 20 symptoms, but they all really go back and begin when you moved into this house, you started this job at this new location.
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Uh oh, it happened right after you had a water leak on the roof or a dishwasher leak.
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Uh so when you're listening long enough, it's amazing what you can learn from a patient.
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Uh and from there, you want to just you don't want to assume, uh we want to make sure that we are diagnosing it correctly because there's a lot of lookalikes.
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Lyme, Bartonella, post-COVID these days has a lot of those overlap symptoms.
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So we want to make sure we're targeting the right thing, the right root cause.
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Uh, so we use some different testing.
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Uh, there's different ways out there.
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Uh, and the way I look at it is I don't want to limit myself to one way of testing.
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Uh, so we there's the shoemaker approach, there's a uh urine mycotoxin approach, and there's an antibody approach.
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Uh and I can say I've used each of those at different times in different patients uh because again, our bodies are unique.
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One person, uh, their shoemaker biotoxin labs are gonna go off the charts and it's easy there.
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Another person, those labs, uh they're either so sick those labs go back to normal or they don't react that way, and the urine mycotoxin.
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Uh sometimes neither one of those are really showing things, but the history is like, you know, um living in a dorm, uh there's mold growing on the ceiling, it's going everywhere, uh, and you do the testing for the antibodies, and oh, yep, clearly they have super high-level antibodies, and usually it's a combination of those.
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Uh, but again, we want to make sure we're targeting the right thing.
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Um, and the other thing with mold uh with mold is just because it's mold, I say mold has a lot of friends.
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Uh, a lot of times mold will open up the door to Epstein-Barr virus, open up the door to Lyme.
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Um, a lot of patients who had mild mold illness get post-COVID, uh, get COVID, and then the kind of two, one plus one equals five, uh, so their symptoms are five times as bad as either one.
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Uh, so those testing allow us to say, yes, you have this.
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And then when we treat, not only do we want to see them get better, which obviously is the ultimate thing, is patients feel better after they've seen you for a while, um, is we can say, oh, these labs, they're improving.
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Not only are you feeling better, these labs are going back to normal.
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Um, some secondary things we check as well.
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Uh, but at the end of it, we can tell them, okay, not only you you feel better, uh, but you've got some margin, because ultimately we're, you know, you know, mold is everywhere.
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Uh but if they get, they can handle little exposures here and there uh and be safe as long as they don't get into a big exposure, uh, because we've given them some margin, you know, a little distance from the cliff before their health falls over again.
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Um so those tests come in handy for that as well.
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Now let's say somebody's dealing with uh you know a larger issue inside their home and they're constantly being exposed to it.
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How difficult is it to get healthy or feel better if you're kind of re-exposing yourself every day?
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So that's uh one of the big challenges is I'm dependent on people like you, the remediator world, uh, because I can say, yes, we've got these tests that show that you have mold, uh, you have these symptoms.
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I can do these therapies, but you're only going to get a little bit better.
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Now, some people get 40%, 50% better, but practically never is someone gonna get 90 to 100% better if they're still living in the location that made them sick.
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Um, you know, again, you can tolerate some, even the sensitive ones can tolerate tiny amounts.
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But if you're living in a place that is, you know, the tested levels, whatever method you're using, are high, yeah, that person is not gonna get better until they have a remediator come in, clean those issues up.
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And then that's when all of a sudden we see patients um start like, oh wow.
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You know, it makes a huge difference even after they've been doing other therapies for sometimes years or months.
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Cleaning up the house is what changes everything.
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Yeah.
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No, it makes good sense.
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I think it's important because, you know, obviously people are trying to figure out how do I tackle this.
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And usually it is this teamwork approach where you get out of the exposure, right?
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You work with companies that can help you get out of the exposure, fix your house, et cetera.
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And then you, you know, obviously deal with the body, right?
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You still got to get rid of the the mold out of the body.
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And so when it comes to dealing with mold in the body, you've got obviously the toxins, you got potential bacteria exposures, you know, how do you how do you help people kind of deal with removing the toxins from the body?
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Is there a detox protocol?
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Like what does that look like?
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So let me say once we're sure what we're dealing with, always the first question, then we start looking at one of the things the urine test helps uh is it can tell us which toxins they've been exposed to.
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A little bit of that with some of the antibody tests, but different mold toxins do better with different uh binder therapies.
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So we use therapies that help uh lower the body's reaction and to speed up the excretion.
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Uh, because the biggest issue that you know people face is like, well, why does my spouse, why is my spouse not sick?
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Um, you know, I'm terrible, but he's living in the same house and has no symptoms.
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Well, not everybody's sensitive.
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Uh not everybody gets symptoms uh when they're exposed to mold.
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Uh so for that one that's sensitive, we have to do things that calm their system.
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Uh I say we put out the fire a little bit first, throw a little water on the fire, start turning down those things, and then start bringing the system up to speed, whether it's the liver excretion.
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So there's different fancy words, phase one detox, phase two detox, phase three.
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Basically, we're wanting each of those phases to speed up.
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Um, I describe it like emptying the big event parking lot.
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If you've only got two exits and they're narrow and you've got a thousand cars backed up after the big sporting event, it's going to take a while.
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So our job is to speed, widen those exits, uh, try to open up things as much as we can, uh, and again, put the fires out while we're ushering the toxin cars uh out of the parking lot.
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So those include different binders that are natural to some that are pharmaceutical.
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There are some times where we will pull out the pharmaceuticals that are a little better for certain toxins, uh, but it's including everything from charcoals to clays to probiotics to zeolites to different fibers, uh, using things like glutathione, NAC.
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Uh all of these things, depending on the toxins, once we identify them, are helping to speed that up.
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And then customizing that based on how the person responds over the time.
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Sometimes people are a little reactive to one thing.
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So, okay, you can't take this because it upset your stomach, gave you diarrhea.
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We'll switch over to something else.
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So we start everybody kind of as standard, but by the end, everybody has individualized their program based on uh how they respond to things.
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That's really helpful.
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Thank you so much for that.
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You know, Dr.
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Potter, I'm curious, what are some of the top symptoms that is the second you start to hear them when a patient's saying that, you start to go, I think it might be the house.
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So one of the things that come in, when patients come in and say, Oh, I feel like I'm reacting to everything, especially essential oils.
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Essential oils are natural, they're super safe for the vast majority of people, except small babies and small pets.
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Uh, but they'll come in, you know what, I can't be around citrus oil or lavender oil or thyme oil.
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I just get super sick from it.
00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:16.240
Those things, or you know, the people that go in, oh, I can't walk in, uh, you know, name your big big box store that has all the smells.
00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:24.720
Now, none of those smells are great uh when you're inhaling a lot of VOCs, but these uh particular patients are like, wow, I can't go in these stores.
00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:27.680
Uh those are two of the probably bigger things.
00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:56.400
Uh for kids, a lot of it is when they have hyperallergic, uh, so it's like they have the terrible eczema, uh, they have a lot of asthma, and it's like, you know, I saw um a new patient today, a teenager, who they've tried all the big name medicines, all the fancy ones that have all the you know billion dollars research behind them, uh, but they don't respond to them uh because the mold changes the way a person responds to medicines.
00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:59.440
So when I hear that, that's another thing.
00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:07.759
Uh probably the other uh thing that goes along that same line when somebody says, Oh, my doctor says I have the weirdest reactions to medicines.
00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:12.720
You know, they gave I had depression and they gave me an antidepressant, but then it made me manic.
00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:16.000
And then, oh, they gave me this and I had the opposite effect.
00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:24.960
Uh so it's when you start reacting to the world around you uh in weird ways, um, that is one of the first things I'm thinking, yeah, mold.
00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:33.200
That's that's a um kind of a uh checkbox there that makes me want to go, yep, we need to do some labs for that to confirm that.
00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:40.160
Are there any other common symptoms that you typically associate with the house?
00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:45.279
Uh just kind of half joking in this, but it is true.
00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:51.359
Um I say that mole can cause just about any negative symptom, except uh it doesn't make you feel good.
00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:54.160
Um, so well, it's you know, even cancer.
00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:59.599
It's not the most common thing, but uh if somebody comes in, it's really not the individual symptom.
00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:05.039
Uh it really comes down to, oh, I have five symptoms in five different body parts.
00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:09.519
You know, yes, I've got the sinus issues like everybody else in middle Tennessee does.
00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:12.799
However, I also have irritable bowel.
00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:21.279
Um, I have these weird pains that kind of, I'm like, my the physical therapist can't get me better, the chiropractor can't get me better.
00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:26.160
Uh, I've seen three orthopedic doctors, and I'm still having these weird pains that nobody can make sense of.
00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:40.079
So the when you start putting those things together, you know, that's where I'm like, yeah, we need to, you know, there is something else, not that you have five different diagnoses, but you really have probably one issue behind all of those.
00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:46.079
Uh so it's not the single issue, it's the combination uh that really tips me off in most patients.
00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:53.039
How do you think it impacts people when it comes to time and dose?
00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:59.119
Is the the longer that they're in the exposure, the higher the dose of the exposure, does that play an impact?
00:21:59.519 --> 00:21:59.839
A little bit.
00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:09.119
So for some patients, they can be exposed to a mild to moderate amount for a long period of time, and they'll have kind of a slow onset.
00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:14.400
They'll like, yeah, I can't really put my finger on the exact time my symptoms started.
00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:20.000
But they'll like, yeah, between March and December of that year, I noticed something.
00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:31.119
Or on the other hand, you'll have those patients who have that big exposure, like, oh, I moved into my house or we had a flood, or you know, whatever happened at work.
00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:34.240
And within a week, I was like, something's wrong.
00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:35.359
I don't feel right.
00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:37.599
I'm, you know, all the things go crazy.
00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:39.279
So it can be either way.
00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:53.920
Um, my opinion is most patients who have the mold issues had some along the way, but I will say probably more often, they have that one big exposure, whereas a little bit was kind of filling their bucket up, uh, but then something hit them.
00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:57.119
Um, and that's when it kind of started overflowing.
00:22:57.200 --> 00:23:07.839
And it's kind of um self-fulfilling, meaning that cycle where once your body hits that inflammation mark, it just goes into a loop and you can't turn it off.
00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:19.279
Uh, even if you get out of that big exposure, uh your body is still uh in that chronic inflammatory response uh state that they keep feeling bad.
00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:20.559
Yeah.
00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:31.039
Is there ever concern of things getting worse if they stay in the exposure or if they have big exposures and don't either get out or start treatments?
00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:37.599
Is there any dangers in continuing to be exposed without seeing a doctor like yourself?
00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:43.440
That's part of what we see is patients who have been in moldy houses for 10 or 20 years.
00:23:43.519 --> 00:24:05.359
Uh and even when we tell them they kind of like really, no, it can't be mold, but they keep having symptoms, uh, and they will usually keep adding symptoms, like, oh well, it used to just be respiratory and GI, and then a year or two later they add some hormonal issues, you know, their thyroid gets a little off, then a year or two later they get some autoimmune diagnosis.
00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:10.160
Uh, a year or two later, they're like, yeah, I started having trouble with my checkbook.
00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:20.640
Uh so when they have that chronic exposure, it is a kind of stepwise keep until they find out what's causing it, get out of that location.
00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:35.680
A lot of patients we will see just adding to their list of symptoms and you know, conventional medicine, adding more ICD codes, saying, oh, well, now you have irritable bowel, oh, now you have migraines, oh, now you have fill in the blank when it was mold the whole time.
00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:37.279
Wow.
00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:44.079
And how long does it typically take once they get out of exposure and they start taking treatments?
00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:52.880
I think you mentioned this earlier, it kind of changes for everybody, but just if you had to give it an average, like what's the timeline take to typically start to feel the difference?
00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:59.279
So to start feeling a difference, most patients usually in three to six months are going to have some improvement.
00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:07.200
Uh, how long until they feel, and I will say three to six months out of getting out of it, and that is doing treatment and getting out.
00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:11.039
If somebody is still in mold, I tell them the clock is not really starting.
00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:15.680
Uh, and then it may take another six months to even up to two or three years.
00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:23.599
You know, if somebody's lived in mold for 30 years, sometimes it can take two or three years to see them fully recover to get back to their normal self.
00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:31.759
Uh, but then I've had a 20-something-year-old who in three months was 100, you know, she would tell me she was 90 to 95% better because she left the job.
00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:37.440
You know, you could see the the mold stain in her ceiling uh from the camera that I was talking to her through.
00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:40.880
Uh, and three months later, she's like, I'm running up and down stairs again.
00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:44.160
I could barely walk up a stair, much less run up a stair.
00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:53.440
Uh, but yeah, that three to six month noticing changes, and then hopefully by a year, year to two is when they're like, yeah, I'm I'm good again.
00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:59.839
What do you think really causes people to kind of wake up and say, you know what?
00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:01.680
Uh I think it is my house.
00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:03.599
I really need some change.
00:26:03.759 --> 00:26:08.720
You know, what what are some of the because obviously you see people in the field every day, of course I do too.
00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:15.680
And, you know, very curious, what what does kind of finally wake people up and and get that change that they're so desperately needing?
00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:21.279
It's a little different for different ones, as always, uh, but it usually is when they just say, you know what?
00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:23.359
I'm tired of going through the system.
00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:27.440
I'm tired of being shuffled off to one doctor, one provider after another.
00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:33.759
Uh I'm tired of trying 50 different conventional therapies uh that I feel the same.
00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:35.759
Or, as I said, they keep feeling worse.
00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:38.000
They've added to their list of diagnoses.
00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:39.440
Uh, and they say, you know what?
00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:40.880
I've got to look somewhere else.
00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:43.359
I've got to look, again, look outside the box.
00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:52.079
Um, and once they're willing to do that, uh, and then they sit down with us and we can explain to them here, your tests show this.
00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:57.200
Um, do a test in your house, you know, have your mediator come out or do some different testing.
00:26:57.359 --> 00:26:58.880
Oh, yeah, you have mold.
00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:08.799
Yes, we have studies showing that these things are connected and helping them to the lights, you know, the lights come on, uh, and they're willing to say, oh, hey, I want to do it.
00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:20.960
Ultimately, it comes, they'll they're willing to do whatever it takes to get better, um, even if it means, you know, getting you and me in a team together helping uh to get them better.
00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:38.720
I'm curious because I I know we could probably trade stories all day, and and I think it's it's helpful for those listening to kind of see what the tunnel looks like and the light at the end of the tunnel specifically, because obviously, look, it's what we're educating people to do, it's not easy.
00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:47.920
I mean, it's typically you need lifestyle changes, you've got to fix your house, you've got to go on a three to six month program for even start to feel better, right?
00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:48.480
Typically.
00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:51.920
And so that's not that's not the easiest thing in the world to do.
00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:55.519
And so, what is the light at the end of the tunnel look like?
00:27:55.599 --> 00:28:02.880
What are some of the radical transformations you've seen firsthand that can really help motivate people to go through this journey?
00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:17.359
So, one of the things we talk about a lot for our patients is they come to us with broken bodies and broken lives, meaning their health is interrupted and disrupted them so much that they're having trouble working, they're having trouble enjoying things with their family.
00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:27.039
Uh so one of the things we keep our eyes on is helping to first fix their body, uh, get their body doing what it was intended to do in the first place.
00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:36.640
Uh, and as we see that, they start getting able to exercise, to go to their kids' um sporting events, piano recitals.
00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:42.799
Uh they're like, oh, I can start going back to work again, or I can get off part-time work and go to full-time work.
00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:53.279
So, you know, I have the stories of the, you know, the mom who is like, oh, I can actually, for the first time in a few years, go watch my children play a basketball game.
00:28:53.440 --> 00:29:06.960
Um, you know, the dad who is able to get up and go to work and then still have energy at the end of the day to play with his kids to actually, you know, go out and uh shoot basketball hoops or just go out in the yard and throw a ball around.
00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:13.039
Whereas before they may have to come home from work and take an hour to nap before they can even be functional again.
00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:20.720
Um some of those patients who have such severe food sensitivities that they, you know, they're down to five or ten foods.
00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:25.039
Once we get the mold out of the way, their body's not reacting in these crazy ways.
00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:31.759
They're like, oh, I can actually go out to dinner without worrying about you know my throat closing up and breaking out in hives.
00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:43.119
Um so you know, kids who were struggling in school, uh, were their grades were going downhill, and all of a sudden, oh, the lights come back on, uh, they're able to focus again.
00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:47.359
So things that were ADHD are actually some old symptoms.
00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:52.319
Uh, and they're going back and excelling, playing sports, you know, doing their activities again.
00:29:52.480 --> 00:30:02.000
So it's it really is helping someone whose lives are broken to function again, and or another patient say, you know, feel normal.
00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:04.400
Um, you know, they've felt sick for a number of years.
00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:07.680
They're like, oh, this is how everybody else in the world feels.
00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:08.559
I kind of like it.
00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:15.759
So that's the kind of things we see uh when people are willing to, like you said, go through that what we call the marathon uh of detox.
00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:20.640
Um there's a light at the end of the tunnel, uh, even if it takes a while to get there.
00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:29.119
Now, we we talked about earlier on how mold has you know a couple threats uh that typically come along.
00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:35.039
And um, you know, you you've you've alluded uh multiple chemical sensitivity, you've kind of covered that already.
00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:46.640
Um you've covered Lyme disease a little bit, uh, but just if you had to summarize, what are some of the things that if you have X diagnoses, you might want to check for mold?
00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:47.759
What are some of those things?
00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:54.480
You already mentioned, again, the Lyme, if somebody's treated Lyme five times and they can't get rid of it, mold is going to be one of those things.
00:30:54.559 --> 00:31:07.599
Uh Epstein Barr uh, you know, causes mono in teenagers, uh, but there's a reactivation, uh, and you're like, oh, I've had, you know, I've been told I've had EBV flare every other year for the last five or ten years.
00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:09.039
Uh, those are things.
00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:21.759
Someone who says, Oh, I've been treated, you know, five times now for SIBO, uh, the small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, uh, which we all in the world that take care of SIBO know that sometimes it takes a little bit to get rid of it.
00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:26.079
Uh, it's one of those stubborn um GI issues to deal with.
00:31:26.240 --> 00:31:32.480
However, uh mold will make people prone to that and make it make that even harder to get rid of.
00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:35.759
Um, those are probably some of the bigger things.
00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:52.880
Uh it's just um, and again, just some people like, ah, I'm having an infection, you know, I'm I'm sick five or ten years, five to ten times a year, and all of a sudden, like, hey, they wake up and oh, it's been six months since I've had a single sinus infection because we've gotten rid of it.
00:31:53.039 --> 00:32:02.559
So when people have those weird things that don't make sense um that they can't get rid of in those infections, uh, yeast, that's probably the other one that I was trying to think of.
00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:05.359
It's oh, you know, my doctor's treating me 10 times now.
00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:07.440
Uh I keep getting yeast bladder infections.
00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:10.559
I keep, they tell me I have yeast in my gut, I keep getting thrush.
00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:15.920
Um, I'm having these weird symptoms of gut issues from yeast.
00:32:16.160 --> 00:32:25.920
Often, mold is a thing that's suppressing the immune system, uh, leaving the door open for these different infections or colonizations, even when it's not an actual infection.
00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:28.640
It's the fact that you've got an overgrowth of yeast.
00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:30.000
Get rid of the mold.
00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:37.599
Pretty soon your body wakes up, says, Hey, I want to wipe out the yeast myself, and they stop having those issues for years and years.
00:32:38.720 --> 00:32:41.200
Yeah, I wanted to ask you about this specifically.
00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:42.559
You just touched on it a little bit.
00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:46.160
I want to share a very quick story and kind of get your take on it.
00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:50.079
Uh, buddy of mine's an a former NFL player named Logan Ryan.
00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:57.440
Um, when we became friends, uh, naturally I went over his house and I do what I typically do.
00:32:57.599 --> 00:33:00.880
I poke around, see if I can optimize things a little bit.
00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:03.359
We found some mold in his HVAC systems.
00:33:03.440 --> 00:33:04.799
We got that taken care of.
00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:09.839
I uh got him a better filtration system, put an air purifier in his bedroom.
00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:12.000
He didn't have any air purifiers, right?
00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:18.480
It's just it's not really talked about air quality so much, especially when it comes to human performance and things of that nature.
00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:33.200
But one of the things that he said to me about a week after we made some of these very minor adjustments, but very powerful adjustments, he said, I kid you not, uh I had the best sleep of my life after I put that air purifier in my bedroom.
00:33:33.359 --> 00:33:43.519
And he goes, and you know, uh after things running for a couple of months, he goes, My kids who were sick all the time, they literally haven't been sick once in the past three months.
00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:45.200
He's like, it's it's mind-blowing.
00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:51.440
And so um, I'm curious from your perspective, uh, and I think you you did cover it, but why do you think that is?
00:33:51.519 --> 00:33:55.920
You know, are are we are we developing less of an immune response when that's not in our environment?
00:33:56.319 --> 00:33:57.279
There's a couple of things.
00:33:57.440 --> 00:34:02.559
So, as I mentioned, a lot of times the spouses will be like, ah, I don't have, you know, the spouse doesn't have any symptoms.
00:34:02.799 --> 00:34:09.599
In reality, we'll have a lot of those after they've remediated it for spouse number one, who's actually super sensitive and sick.
00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:19.760
Spouse number two comes back, oh, my headaches are better, I'm sleeping better, I'm not snoring, I haven't had sinus issues, um, kids are less irritable and moody.
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:35.679
Uh so in reality, we all have some sensitivity, uh, particularly in terms of the sinus issues, uh the respiratory immune system, is mold, both the spores and the toxins, will trigger more mucus.
00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:40.639
Uh, so as the sinuses, which we have mucus layer, and that does protect us.
00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:48.320
However, uh, it's interesting, I found this out years ago, is um viruses affect what's called goblet cells.
00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:50.320
Goblet cells make mucus.
00:34:50.480 --> 00:35:01.039
If you've got mycotoxins or mold spores causing more goblet cells, you now doubled or triple the number of targets for viruses to attack.
00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:08.719
So you're like when people have say, oh, I got a virus, then another virus, another virus, is because your goblet cells are so stirred up.
00:35:08.800 --> 00:35:16.239
And if you've got something like mold doing that 24-7, 365, uh, you're gonna be more prone to getting those infections.
00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:33.039
So again, yeah, we see the kids, the uh other family members, because we want the whole family to get better, the person we're seeing, but it is fun to hear that when the spouse or the kids are like, wow, yeah, sleep better, whatever it is.
00:35:33.119 --> 00:35:35.599
Uh and you feel like you, you know, they got a good deal on it.
00:35:35.679 --> 00:35:38.239
We treated four or five people for the price of one.
00:35:38.400 --> 00:35:42.079
Um, and they also can go and enjoy life.
00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:44.880
Again, their lives are better because of what we did.
00:35:46.159 --> 00:35:56.960
Now, we we covered a lot about chronic illness essentially and autoimmune issues and some of that, and how that plays a role into that and how we really start to develop this sensitivity.
00:35:57.119 --> 00:36:05.360
I I'm curious because we touched on it very briefly, but I'd like to fully transition into just human performance, health optimization.
00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:14.320
Why might we not want to be breathing in mold or environmental toxins when we're looking at health optimization and human performance in general?
00:36:14.639 --> 00:36:24.159
So we talked about mold having friends, but mold also sticks its fingers out in a lot of different directions.
00:36:24.320 --> 00:36:34.559
Uh so when you have mold toxicity uh disrupting uh different body functions, your gut system, your GI system is not going to be able to absorb nutrients.
00:36:34.639 --> 00:36:40.239
Uh if it's not absorbing nutrients, your mitochondria are not going to be able to function as well.
00:36:40.559 --> 00:36:43.679
Mold also impacts our hormones.
00:36:43.760 --> 00:36:50.000
Uh so if you're suboptimal and thyroid, you're not going to have as much energy to do that next workout.
00:36:50.159 --> 00:36:54.800
Uh, you're going to need more sleep, uh, and your sleep is not going to be restorative.
00:36:54.880 --> 00:36:58.079
Uh, it in fact uh affects reproductive hormones.
00:36:58.320 --> 00:37:04.320
So, you know, women's estrogen progesterone, but then guys with DHEA and testosterone.
00:37:04.480 --> 00:37:09.840
Uh we all need those in order to build muscle, to improve our cardiac function.
00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:21.840
Uh, and you've got mold toxins that are lowering your levels, you're not you're gonna take an extra, you know, six hours, 12 hours, 24 hours to recover from a workout, so you're not gonna be able to do as much.
00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:24.719
Uh, so you're gonna see performance decline.
00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:35.679
Um, came this was a particular case, was a uh I took care of a high-end athlete that was uh he was a little older, but he was one of the tops in the world in his uh particular sport.
00:37:35.920 --> 00:37:43.920
Uh but his he would use a high-altitude training device, uh, and that had mold was growing in the tubing.
00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:48.800
Uh, and he had noticed his times were slowing and slowing and slowing, feeling short.
00:37:48.880 --> 00:37:54.639
This, you know, a guy whose VO2 max is in probably insane, um, kept getting worse and worse.
00:37:54.880 --> 00:37:58.960
Once we pinpointed mold was issue, he poked around in his house.
00:37:59.119 --> 00:38:07.599
Again, it was just in his, whenever he would do his exercise with a high altitude training with this tubes, these machines, um, he would get worse.
00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:14.079
Once he changed the tubes, he was back on, you know, back on the road again and uh competing at a high level.
00:38:14.159 --> 00:38:26.880
Uh so it clearly in the respiratory, you know, cardiac function, uh, pulmonary function was vastly in fact uh affected uh simply by a tubing full of mold just because all the moisture that was in there.
00:38:27.280 --> 00:38:34.559
One of the somewhat a little grosser ones of stories, but uh, you know, real life is uh always got those fun stories.
00:38:35.599 --> 00:38:36.480
Totally.
00:38:36.880 --> 00:38:42.800
So uh I'm not sure if you've been keeping up on this, uh, but I'm I feel like you might have.
00:38:43.039 --> 00:38:54.400
But infertility has been a growing concern and a very hot topic, specifically the connection with mold, other environmental toxins, and fertility as well.
00:38:54.559 --> 00:38:56.960
And so uh anything to share on that?
00:38:57.119 --> 00:38:58.639
Has that come across your radar?
00:38:58.719 --> 00:39:07.519
And are you seeing some of these magical transformations in people that are taking the their indoor air quality seriously and how that's uh actually playing a role in their health?
00:39:07.760 --> 00:39:08.320
Well, definitely.
00:39:08.400 --> 00:39:18.239
I mean, we can see the fertility rates are going down, and we're having more and more uh people who are coming to conventional medicine and functional medicine looking for help that they can't get pregnant.
00:39:18.400 --> 00:39:23.519
Uh so with that, yeah, it's a pretty few times, four to six times a year.
00:39:23.599 --> 00:39:30.320
Uh it's not one of the things we advertise, but we have patients who come in that are in that 20 to 40-year-old range.
00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:39.840
Uh either they've not having cycles, they're having irregular cycles, or they literally just say, Hey, I've been trying to have a baby for 10 years, uh, and that's not normal.
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:41.760
I'm like, Yeah, you're right, it's not normal.
00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:52.880
Uh so we'll go through our normal process, taking a history, looking for any other alternative things, but we often do find mold uh in those patients uh and we start the detox.
00:39:53.280 --> 00:40:07.360
Um, I will tell them, uh it has such a big impact, I will tell them try not to get pregnant because we want to finish the detox, because if they don't, they are sharing some of those toxins with the little baby uh that would be developing inside.
00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:10.320
Uh so we say, try not to until we're done.
00:40:10.400 --> 00:40:17.840
Um, and we'll have patients who, you know, six months, 12 months later are like, oh, my cycles are more regular, uh, they're not as painful.
00:40:18.000 --> 00:40:24.320
Um, occasionally uh the the fun portal messages when patients message us in our system, uh Dr.
00:40:24.480 --> 00:40:27.360
Potter, uh, my pregnancy test is positive.
00:40:27.599 --> 00:40:29.119
What do I do with my supplements?
00:40:29.360 --> 00:40:34.320
And that was even one lady who I'm trying to remember if it was nine months maybe.
00:40:34.400 --> 00:40:39.920
Uh, she'd not had a menstrual cycle for about a year uh before she even had her first cycle.
00:40:40.079 --> 00:40:44.880
She's able to get pregnant after, you know, three to five years of trying.
00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:46.400
Um, so it's amazing.
00:40:46.559 --> 00:40:51.599
Hormones will wake up uh and do what they're supposed to, again, just function normal.
00:40:51.679 --> 00:41:04.400
Uh, if you just get the junk out of the way and mold, and a few of other, you know, that we call them xenoestrogens, the things that mimic, you know, BPA and plastics, uh, disrupt our estrogen, disrupt progesterone.
00:41:04.880 --> 00:41:15.360
And if we just get that junk out of the way, um, 20 to 40-year-old female bodies tend to do a pretty good job uh of uh fertility waking up again.
00:41:16.079 --> 00:41:17.280
Wow, that's incredible.
00:41:17.440 --> 00:41:22.239
Obviously, you know, people are doing IVF treatments, those could be very expensive.
00:41:22.480 --> 00:41:29.920
And for those listening, you know, if it's mold, and obviously that's part of the problem, that can really impact the infertility.
00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:33.199
And obviously, getting that resolved and going through Dr.
00:41:33.360 --> 00:41:36.559
Potter's program, you know, people are having really good results.
00:41:36.719 --> 00:41:44.880
I think that's really good to share and important for people to know because uh I think that's you know one of the things that we keep seeing is this is a big problem.
00:41:44.960 --> 00:41:48.000
It's it's downtrending, um, you know, and not not in a good way.
00:41:48.639 --> 00:41:49.519
In a good way.
00:41:50.239 --> 00:41:50.880
Yeah.
00:41:51.280 --> 00:41:55.679
So before we end off, I wanted to kind of touch on longevity a little bit.
00:41:55.760 --> 00:42:07.679
Uh, you know, we talked about chronic illness, we talked about obviously just health optimization and human performance, and we've also talked about infertility, and these are really big uh subjects that people are are asking more and more about.
00:42:07.840 --> 00:42:12.559
And I'm curious, longevity is also another subject that's been taking off in recent times.
00:42:12.639 --> 00:42:19.039
And obviously, there's there's uh always a population of people that are trying to live longer, um, things of that nature.
00:42:19.199 --> 00:42:26.719
How do you see the overall picture of you know toxins, environmental issues, mold playing into longevity?
00:42:27.119 --> 00:42:32.079
So our bodies have been designed to handle a certain amount of toxins.
00:42:32.239 --> 00:42:40.400
Um, the problem is our current day uh throws many more at most of us uh than it can reasonably handle.
00:42:40.480 --> 00:42:54.400
Uh and if our bodies are spending a lot of resources and energy towards detoxing, uh, it's going to be more difficult to live to 80, 90, or 100 years old, especially with any significant health.
00:42:54.559 --> 00:42:59.039
Uh another big term in longevity is the idea of oxidative stress.
00:42:59.360 --> 00:43:02.239
And these toxins are causing oxidative stress.
00:43:02.320 --> 00:43:11.039
So the way I describe it is causing your fats and other body tissues to rust, just like you see iron rust when water hits it.
00:43:11.119 --> 00:43:17.119
Um, these toxins are triggering rusting, except in terms of oxidation in our body.
00:43:17.199 --> 00:43:20.000
And when that happens, our tissues are burning out sooner.
00:43:20.159 --> 00:43:27.920
So just like if you are driving your car out there and spinning wheels and pressing on the gas, your burning, your tires are not going to last as longer.
00:43:28.079 --> 00:43:33.440
Our bodies are not going to last as longer when they are being pressed too hard.
00:43:33.599 --> 00:43:37.920
And then on top of that, we talked about just the uh performance aspect.
00:43:38.159 --> 00:43:46.400
If toxins are preventing you from exercising, uh, from exerting yourself on a regular basis, your body needs that exertion.
00:43:46.559 --> 00:43:59.760
If you can't do it, you're also not encouraging what's called your telomeres, which is this kind of how many times your cells can cycle over, and pretty soon you're wearing out, uh, the systems are wearing down much earlier.
00:44:00.320 --> 00:44:17.119
You know, 60s, 70s, rather than being able to last with health into the 80s and 90s, uh, when we see these patients who are taking care of themselves, you know, the so-called blue zones where they've had low toxins, high nutrition, a lot of walking, a lot of exercise uh in their lives.
00:44:17.360 --> 00:44:20.320
People are living into the 80s and 90s looking great.
00:44:20.400 --> 00:44:34.000
Uh, while a lot of the rest of the world, where we, again, live in a soup of toxins, uh, our bodies can't can't live that long in healthy ways uh if they're having to carry a bunch of toxins on our back.
00:44:35.119 --> 00:44:36.960
Yeah, uh that's very important.
00:44:37.119 --> 00:44:42.639
I see that obviously the world of longevity is something that people are getting more and more interested in, right?
00:44:42.800 --> 00:44:48.400
We're trying to not only just prevent disease, but live longer, live healthier and happier lives.
00:44:48.480 --> 00:44:51.280
So I think it's really important that there are things you can control.
00:44:51.440 --> 00:44:54.639
I bet uh I'm not the doctor, so I'm gonna ask you.
00:44:54.800 --> 00:45:02.800
I'm guessing eating clean food, drinking clean water, breathing clean air, these are probably very important for for health.
00:45:03.039 --> 00:45:11.760
And we whenever we take care of a patient, regardless of whether it's mold, whether it's lime, whatever condition it is, we want them to start you know with the basics.
00:45:11.840 --> 00:45:20.239
Uh we'll tell them you can take some supplements, but if it you're putting that supplements on a greasy cheeseburger, it's really not going to help that much.
00:45:20.400 --> 00:45:21.840
Uh, probably not any at all.
00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:26.960
So you've got to do those basics things, the eating well, sleeping well, uh, exerting yourself.
00:45:27.039 --> 00:45:33.519
Uh if you don't do those things, uh we can work at the mold stuff, but you're only going to get so much better.
00:45:33.599 --> 00:45:40.639
You've got to have that foundation, and the mold detox is going to build, and that's when you're going to see the big changes in people's lives.
00:45:41.760 --> 00:45:42.480
That's awesome.
00:45:42.639 --> 00:45:43.039
Well said.
00:45:43.199 --> 00:45:44.159
I think that's very important.
00:45:44.239 --> 00:45:48.079
You know, this does take mindset, this does take lifestyle changes.
00:45:48.239 --> 00:45:57.760
Uh, I'm curious, is there one thing that you hope people take away from today's episode that, you know, to really make a difference in their life?
00:45:58.159 --> 00:46:07.119
If you're struggling with chronic health issues that other providers, other healthcare providers have not been able to help you with, don't give up.
00:46:07.360 --> 00:46:08.800
There are things out there.
00:46:08.960 --> 00:46:18.000
If, again, you're willing to look outside the box uh looking for someone like myself, or there's a growing movement of those who are doing functional medicine out there.
00:46:18.079 --> 00:46:28.000
Um, there are ways that you too can have a normal life and not feel like you're living the rest of your life broken uh anymore.
00:46:28.079 --> 00:46:31.360
So don't give up uh is going to be probably my biggest thing.
00:46:31.519 --> 00:46:34.000
Keep looking for someone who can help you.
00:46:35.039 --> 00:46:35.920
Well said, Dr.
00:46:36.079 --> 00:46:36.480
Potter.
00:46:36.559 --> 00:46:39.920
Well, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to be here with us.
00:46:40.079 --> 00:46:49.199
Can you please tell us where we can find you and how we can work with you if we happen to be in your area or you know, if you cover virtual as well, please let us know.
00:46:49.599 --> 00:46:52.880
Sanctuary functional medicine uh is like practice.
00:46:53.039 --> 00:46:58.719
Uh I have several other providers uh that work with me here in Franklin, Franklin, Tennessee.
00:46:58.800 --> 00:47:01.920
Uh we do take care of patients in surrounding states.
00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:04.639
Uh, we do require that somebody be able to travel.
00:47:04.719 --> 00:47:19.119
Uh we will not see someone solely virtually, just because good medicine, we need to lay hands, do a physical exam, uh, gain as much in understanding of how your body works rather than just trying to do it solely by telemedicine.
00:47:19.199 --> 00:47:21.920
So, but we can take care of a lot after that.
00:47:22.079 --> 00:47:37.760
So we're here in uh Franklin um trying to help as many as we can, and part of my job is to train my entire team uh so our team can do a better, better job taking care of all the people that we're again, the world we live in is full of toxins.
00:47:37.840 --> 00:47:47.599
Um I always thought that one day I'd run out of patients to take care of, but uh at the rate we're going with the world, uh there's just more people out there that need help.
00:47:48.639 --> 00:47:54.320
Yeah, it's an unfortunate truth, and probably why this podcast is called Never Been Sicker.
00:47:54.800 --> 00:47:55.440
Yep.
00:47:55.760 --> 00:47:56.159
Dr.
00:47:56.400 --> 00:47:59.440
Potter, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to be here with us.
00:47:59.519 --> 00:48:00.480
We really appreciate it.
00:48:00.639 --> 00:48:04.480
And thank you for tuning in to another episode of Never Been Sicker.
00:48:04.559 --> 00:48:09.119
I'm your host, indoor air quality expert, Michael Rubino, and I'll see you soon.
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:01.120
My name is Michael Rubino.
00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:05.120
I'm on a personal mission to make sure you don't get sick inside your own home.
00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:07.120
I knew there was something wrong.
00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:10.560
I'm just so relieved there's something that you can do about it.
00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:16.480
Hello and welcome to another episode of Never Been Sicker.
00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:19.600
I'm your host, indoor air quality expert Michael Rubino.
00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:22.480
And today's very special guest is Dr.
00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:23.440
Eric Potter.
00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:23.679
Dr.
00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:27.839
Eric Potter, thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to be here with us.
00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:30.320
Yeah, it's a pleasure to be here.
00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:38.240
I appreciate those of you who are doing the work you're doing of getting the word out about all that we do on a daily basis of caring for those.
00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:54.159
I run Sanctuary Functional Medicine with a team of providers who are trying to help those who have never been sicker get better, uh, to finding out what the root cause is behind them here in Franklin, Tennessee, and taking care of some patients from around surrounding states as well.
00:00:55.039 --> 00:00:55.759
That's awesome.
00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:57.039
And thank you for all that you do.
00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:01.840
Obviously, it's very important that you see a doctor when you're not feeling well.
00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:08.000
And of course, uh many people that are coming to this show, they're experiencing illness from mold.
00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:12.480
And so mold's a very big important topic that we discuss quite frequently.
00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:14.719
Can I get a sense from you?
00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:18.159
How often are you seeing mold pop up as an issue?
00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:21.280
Uh it's pretty much on a daily basis.
00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:28.640
Uh we go through a history with everyone because mold obviously is not the only toxin out there.
00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:35.599
However, it is something that is coming up more and more as we see uh building materials uh being thrown up a lot faster.
00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:43.519
The in our neck of the woods, houses are going up faster than you can blink an eye, and uh you can see the mold growing on them.
00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:46.239
Uh, and then we've had a big ice storm here recently.
00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:53.599
Uh so it's not just your hurricane season uh around the coast, but we have our weather that will drip a little water in.
00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:55.680
It doesn't take long before mold grows.
00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:58.640
Nobody knows that they're starting to get sick.
00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:12.960
Um and all of a sudden they come in to see us and we're telling them that, yeah, I think mold is behind your illness that you've been struggling with for months or years, and confirming that and then walk them through through uh getting better.
00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:20.159
Now, we see a lot about mold in respects with asthma, allergies, etc.
00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:32.960
And one of the things you don't hear about often enough that I'd love for you to kind of shed a light on is you know the immune suppression, the neurological symptoms, the chronic inflammation that you typically experience when you're exposed to mold.
00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:41.680
Conventional medicine is aware of all the respiratory issues that come along with mold, whether it's allergies, asthma, you know, sinus issues, whatever.
00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:46.080
Uh however, uh most of our patients are not coming to us for those simple issues.
00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:47.599
You know, oh, I just have sinuses.
00:02:47.919 --> 00:03:00.800
Uh they will come to us because, oh, I'm having sinus issues three or four times a year, and I'm breaking out and I'm responding to foods, and oh, you know, at work, I'm having trouble remembering things.
00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:03.280
People are having to remind me a lot more.
00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:10.400
Brain fog, you know, trouble sleeping, neurocognitive effects, oh, I've been more depressed lately.
00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:18.080
Um, and then say, oh yeah, not only am I getting sinus infections, but instead of getting better in a week, uh, those viruses are taking three or four weeks.
00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:23.919
And it's not just because, you know, COVID, uh, but it's your average cold uh is lasting forever.
00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:32.719
So we're seeing those things, the multi-symptom, multi-system, uh, where patients have problems in a lot of areas of their health.
00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:47.120
Um, those are the ones coming to us uh that have been to other doctors who, oh well, they've tried the medicines, they've tried avoiding allergies, you know, they move to a place where um you don't have seasonal allergies like we do in Middle Tennessee, but they're not getting better.
00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:52.080
And they come out ask us, uh, and we help them find those root causes like mold.
00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:54.879
Now, you know, it's so interesting.
00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:59.520
You're a medical doctor, you're mentioning words like root causes and mold.
00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:08.080
As you can see, a lot of people come to you after they've been to doctors that have, you know, just haven't been able to find the answers that they're looking for.
00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:11.439
And then they finally find you and you help them through those issues.
00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:21.920
Why do you think the overall medical community of medical doctors really hasn't caught on to the science behind mold illness, et cetera, uh, to this date?
00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:29.600
I get that, I get asked that question a lot from patients, uh, occasionally from other doctors I talk to.
00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:32.800
Um, like, why is it that what you're doing is real?
00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:35.600
Because the rest of the community doesn't believe in this.
00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:37.120
Uh, there's a few different reasons.
00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:44.399
One, there are a few articles out there that have said, oh, we've looked at all the evidence, we can't find any connection between the two.
00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:47.920
Um, part of the problem with that is every patient's different.
00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:54.079
Uh, there's not the one size, if somebody has pneumonia, they're gonna have cough, fever, some futum, chest x-ray.
00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:54.879
It's easy.
00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:56.959
It they look almost all the same.
00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:59.519
With mold, everybody looks a little different.
00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:06.000
So those articles that claim that it doesn't exist, uh, and just the fact that everybody looks different.
00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:08.079
And then you've got a big system.
00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:25.040
Uh, big medicine uh is looking at ways, things they can diagnose in five, 10, 15 minutes, give a medication uh that is covered by insurance, uh, and they can go in out, somebody's better in a week, a month, you know, maybe three months if it's checking your blood pressure.
00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:36.639
Uh the system is not set up for something that has multiple looks to it, uh, that requires a multimodal approach, meaning we're using different supplements, sometimes medications.
00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:43.920
Uh, we're looking at a lot of different things at once instead of just focusing down on one single thing like uh modern medicine does.
00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:46.480
And again, you know, I mentioned the insurance industry.
00:05:46.560 --> 00:06:02.160
They're not really paying for visits where we're spending an hour, hour and a half, sometimes even two hours on initial visits, digging in to understand and then guiding people through a six-month year, sometimes two years to completely get over this.
00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:10.720
So big medicine, insurance, uh, and then just the word on the street with the articles they've got out there is denying this.
00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:16.000
Uh, whereas, again, we're seeing this every day, and we see people get better.
00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:22.399
Um, so we just keep going and taking care of patients, even if we're told that we're doing things that you know don't really exist.
00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:26.000
No, I think that's a great explanation.
00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:31.199
And you you've used words like big medicine, uh, you know, insurance, the system.
00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:33.839
Uh, and there's so many parallels in what I do.
00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:45.839
When I came up and as an indoor air quality expert before I was an expert, as I'm learning from other experts and coming into this industry, there was a lot of that where basically it was just the way it's always been done.
00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:49.519
And you didn't really challenge things or ask tough questions.
00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:52.560
If you did, you were just kind of told, don't worry about it.
00:06:52.639 --> 00:06:54.639
That's not the direction we're going here.
00:06:54.879 --> 00:07:00.160
And uh, you know, basically there's a whole industry of just cut two feet off the bottom and don't ask no questions.
00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:04.240
Doesn't matter if the water came from the top down, doesn't matter if there's insulation on the wall.
00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:06.480
You just you just do what you're supposed to do, right?
00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:11.839
And so it was asking these tough questions, trying to understand, well, why are we leaving things behind?
00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:21.360
Why aren't we worried about the particles and the toxins created by these species uh of organisms growing inside the walls that really helped, you know, kind of uncover the truth.
00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:35.439
And so what I want to ask you, similar to this, uh similar to what I've been through, like what were the truths that you had to uncover to really get down to the bottom of how this impacts people and how you're able to help people because of it.
00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:46.959
Well, for me, and then for those other uh providers who I've seen kind of come over to this side of understanding, uh, it has been the fact that they really, and this is I really want to help people.
00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:51.040
Uh, and I've had patients who come to me who like, I'm not getting answers.
00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:52.079
This doesn't make sense.
00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:53.759
And I've tried a thousand things.
00:07:53.839 --> 00:08:01.680
I've had one 20-something year old that had seen 99 physicians before, uh, and they'd she'd really exhausted everything under the sun.
00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:07.519
Uh, but for those who are really wanting to try to help their patients, they're willing to look outside the box.
00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:17.519
Uh, and then the the thing is, once you start looking outside the box, willing to look at alternative explanations, you realize, oh, there's actually a lot of truth out there.
00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:19.040
There's a lot of science.
00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:22.480
Um, you know, they say, oh, well, there's no science that shows that mold's affected.
00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:34.879
Well, if you just look in the agricultural industry, there are billions of dollars spent every year trying to keep uh cows and pigs growing faster by limiting how much mold they're exposed to.
00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:49.679
Uh, you look at the research even on some humans where it shows that there are actual measurable objective biochemical findings out there that if you are willing to look at it, you've got the proof.
00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:58.879
Uh, and then when you start applying those principles to your patients, pretty soon you realize, oh, people who have been sick for 10, 20 years are getting better.
00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:02.000
And once you see that, you can't unsee it.
00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:06.799
Uh, there's no way to go back and say, oh no, this is this is just my imagination.
00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:17.440
Uh, once you see it time and time again, but you know, that happened when I was having a you know a family member coming to me for help, uh, other patients again coming to me for help.
00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:28.240
Uh, I was willing to look outside the box, which is what most of conventional medicine isn't willing to do, and probably sounds like what your experiencing was in uh the remediation industry.
00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:30.240
It's like, hey, we've done it this way.
00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:30.799
It works.
00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:38.399
I'm like, well, it works 95% of the time, but there's a bunch of people over here that are really, really suffering.
00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:42.559
Can we just try to look outside the box and try to help them too?
00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:45.360
No, I I I agree.
00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:52.320
I think that's really kind of what it boils down to is like you got to have this care factor and want to look down for the root cause issues.
00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:58.000
I mean, if we're just cutting two feet off the bottom of the floor, we're not really gonna identify the root cause issues, right?
00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:05.279
If we're just looking at a person and putting a label on them and handling handing them a pill, right, that's gonna deal with their symptoms.
00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:07.679
Well, then we're not really addressing the root cause issue.
00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:15.919
So I love how you know you've kind of had that mindset shift, similar to how I had to have that mindset shift in that parallel, you know, in my industry.
00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:18.639
So I really appreciate that approach and what you're doing.
00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:24.799
Because I and I know that the people that are watching, they appreciate it too, because a lot of them, you know, they hear the same story.
00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:26.639
I've been to 20 different doctors.
00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:28.720
I finally found a doctor like Dr.
00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:32.320
Potter who kind of really helped me understand what's going on, right?
00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:34.799
And for for some people, maybe it's mold, right?
00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:37.039
And for some people, obviously they're dealing with other things.
00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:43.039
But it's really interesting how you you know you've kind of shifted, and I really uh applaud you for that.
00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:56.639
Um as we look at just kind of the overall landscape here, how do you how do you help people diagnose whether they uh are dealing with a mold exposure issue or maybe other environmental toxins?
00:10:56.960 --> 00:10:59.440
Yeah, so it's like any other good medicine.
00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:04.320
Uh regardless of whether you're in conventional, functional, it just starts with a good story.
00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:22.480
Uh you sit down and listen to your patients, which is again part of the reason being medicine, if you've only got 10 or 15 minutes, uh, you can't listen long enough to realize, oh, yeah, you've had 20 symptoms, but they all really go back and begin when you moved into this house, you started this job at this new location.
00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:28.639
Uh oh, it happened right after you had a water leak on the roof or a dishwasher leak.
00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:33.600
Uh so when you're listening long enough, it's amazing what you can learn from a patient.
00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:42.799
Uh and from there, you want to just you don't want to assume, uh we want to make sure that we are diagnosing it correctly because there's a lot of lookalikes.
00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:48.240
Lyme, Bartonella, post-COVID these days has a lot of those overlap symptoms.
00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:51.759
So we want to make sure we're targeting the right thing, the right root cause.
00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:53.759
Uh, so we use some different testing.
00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:56.159
Uh, there's different ways out there.
00:11:56.320 --> 00:12:01.919
Uh, and the way I look at it is I don't want to limit myself to one way of testing.
00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:09.840
Uh, so we there's the shoemaker approach, there's a uh urine mycotoxin approach, and there's an antibody approach.
00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:17.200
Uh and I can say I've used each of those at different times in different patients uh because again, our bodies are unique.
00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:23.360
One person, uh, their shoemaker biotoxin labs are gonna go off the charts and it's easy there.
00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:31.120
Another person, those labs, uh they're either so sick those labs go back to normal or they don't react that way, and the urine mycotoxin.
00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:49.759
Uh sometimes neither one of those are really showing things, but the history is like, you know, um living in a dorm, uh there's mold growing on the ceiling, it's going everywhere, uh, and you do the testing for the antibodies, and oh, yep, clearly they have super high-level antibodies, and usually it's a combination of those.
00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:52.960
Uh, but again, we want to make sure we're targeting the right thing.
00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:59.120
Um, and the other thing with mold uh with mold is just because it's mold, I say mold has a lot of friends.
00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:04.159
Uh, a lot of times mold will open up the door to Epstein-Barr virus, open up the door to Lyme.
00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:16.080
Um, a lot of patients who had mild mold illness get post-COVID, uh, get COVID, and then the kind of two, one plus one equals five, uh, so their symptoms are five times as bad as either one.
00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:20.080
Uh, so those testing allow us to say, yes, you have this.
00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:31.440
And then when we treat, not only do we want to see them get better, which obviously is the ultimate thing, is patients feel better after they've seen you for a while, um, is we can say, oh, these labs, they're improving.
00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:34.879
Not only are you feeling better, these labs are going back to normal.
00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:37.679
Um, some secondary things we check as well.
00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:49.440
Uh, but at the end of it, we can tell them, okay, not only you you feel better, uh, but you've got some margin, because ultimately we're, you know, you know, mold is everywhere.
00:13:49.600 --> 00:14:03.200
Uh but if they get, they can handle little exposures here and there uh and be safe as long as they don't get into a big exposure, uh, because we've given them some margin, you know, a little distance from the cliff before their health falls over again.
00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:06.320
Um so those tests come in handy for that as well.
00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:13.840
Now let's say somebody's dealing with uh you know a larger issue inside their home and they're constantly being exposed to it.
00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:20.240
How difficult is it to get healthy or feel better if you're kind of re-exposing yourself every day?
00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:34.080
So that's uh one of the big challenges is I'm dependent on people like you, the remediator world, uh, because I can say, yes, we've got these tests that show that you have mold, uh, you have these symptoms.
00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:38.399
I can do these therapies, but you're only going to get a little bit better.
00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:50.000
Now, some people get 40%, 50% better, but practically never is someone gonna get 90 to 100% better if they're still living in the location that made them sick.
00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:56.080
Um, you know, again, you can tolerate some, even the sensitive ones can tolerate tiny amounts.
00:14:56.159 --> 00:15:10.399
But if you're living in a place that is, you know, the tested levels, whatever method you're using, are high, yeah, that person is not gonna get better until they have a remediator come in, clean those issues up.
00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:15.360
And then that's when all of a sudden we see patients um start like, oh wow.
00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:20.960
You know, it makes a huge difference even after they've been doing other therapies for sometimes years or months.
00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:24.399
Cleaning up the house is what changes everything.
00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:25.440
Yeah.
00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:26.799
No, it makes good sense.
00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:31.919
I think it's important because, you know, obviously people are trying to figure out how do I tackle this.
00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:36.320
And usually it is this teamwork approach where you get out of the exposure, right?
00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:40.480
You work with companies that can help you get out of the exposure, fix your house, et cetera.
00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:43.440
And then you, you know, obviously deal with the body, right?
00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:46.080
You still got to get rid of the the mold out of the body.
00:15:46.159 --> 00:16:00.159
And so when it comes to dealing with mold in the body, you've got obviously the toxins, you got potential bacteria exposures, you know, how do you how do you help people kind of deal with removing the toxins from the body?
00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:01.759
Is there a detox protocol?
00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:02.799
Like what does that look like?
00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:14.240
So let me say once we're sure what we're dealing with, always the first question, then we start looking at one of the things the urine test helps uh is it can tell us which toxins they've been exposed to.
00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:22.480
A little bit of that with some of the antibody tests, but different mold toxins do better with different uh binder therapies.
00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:28.639
So we use therapies that help uh lower the body's reaction and to speed up the excretion.
00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:35.039
Uh, because the biggest issue that you know people face is like, well, why does my spouse, why is my spouse not sick?
00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:39.279
Um, you know, I'm terrible, but he's living in the same house and has no symptoms.
00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:41.120
Well, not everybody's sensitive.
00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:46.080
Uh not everybody gets symptoms uh when they're exposed to mold.
00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:50.320
Uh so for that one that's sensitive, we have to do things that calm their system.
00:16:50.399 --> 00:17:01.679
Uh I say we put out the fire a little bit first, throw a little water on the fire, start turning down those things, and then start bringing the system up to speed, whether it's the liver excretion.
00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:06.319
So there's different fancy words, phase one detox, phase two detox, phase three.
00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:10.640
Basically, we're wanting each of those phases to speed up.
00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:14.799
Um, I describe it like emptying the big event parking lot.
00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:22.400
If you've only got two exits and they're narrow and you've got a thousand cars backed up after the big sporting event, it's going to take a while.
00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:34.480
So our job is to speed, widen those exits, uh, try to open up things as much as we can, uh, and again, put the fires out while we're ushering the toxin cars uh out of the parking lot.
00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:39.279
So those include different binders that are natural to some that are pharmaceutical.
00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:57.920
There are some times where we will pull out the pharmaceuticals that are a little better for certain toxins, uh, but it's including everything from charcoals to clays to probiotics to zeolites to different fibers, uh, using things like glutathione, NAC.
00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:04.079
Uh all of these things, depending on the toxins, once we identify them, are helping to speed that up.
00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:12.000
And then customizing that based on how the person responds over the time.
00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:14.400
Sometimes people are a little reactive to one thing.
00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:18.400
So, okay, you can't take this because it upset your stomach, gave you diarrhea.
00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:20.240
We'll switch over to something else.
00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:29.839
So we start everybody kind of as standard, but by the end, everybody has individualized their program based on uh how they respond to things.
00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:32.240
That's really helpful.
00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:33.680
Thank you so much for that.
00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:34.559
You know, Dr.
00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:45.920
Potter, I'm curious, what are some of the top symptoms that is the second you start to hear them when a patient's saying that, you start to go, I think it might be the house.
00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:54.400
So one of the things that come in, when patients come in and say, Oh, I feel like I'm reacting to everything, especially essential oils.
00:18:54.559 --> 00:19:00.559
Essential oils are natural, they're super safe for the vast majority of people, except small babies and small pets.
00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:06.079
Uh, but they'll come in, you know what, I can't be around citrus oil or lavender oil or thyme oil.
00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:08.079
I just get super sick from it.
00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:16.240
Those things, or you know, the people that go in, oh, I can't walk in, uh, you know, name your big big box store that has all the smells.
00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:24.720
Now, none of those smells are great uh when you're inhaling a lot of VOCs, but these uh particular patients are like, wow, I can't go in these stores.
00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:27.680
Uh those are two of the probably bigger things.
00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:56.400
Uh for kids, a lot of it is when they have hyperallergic, uh, so it's like they have the terrible eczema, uh, they have a lot of asthma, and it's like, you know, I saw um a new patient today, a teenager, who they've tried all the big name medicines, all the fancy ones that have all the you know billion dollars research behind them, uh, but they don't respond to them uh because the mold changes the way a person responds to medicines.
00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:59.440
So when I hear that, that's another thing.
00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:07.759
Uh probably the other uh thing that goes along that same line when somebody says, Oh, my doctor says I have the weirdest reactions to medicines.
00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:12.720
You know, they gave I had depression and they gave me an antidepressant, but then it made me manic.
00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:16.000
And then, oh, they gave me this and I had the opposite effect.
00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:24.960
Uh so it's when you start reacting to the world around you uh in weird ways, um, that is one of the first things I'm thinking, yeah, mold.
00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:33.200
That's that's a um kind of a uh checkbox there that makes me want to go, yep, we need to do some labs for that to confirm that.
00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:40.160
Are there any other common symptoms that you typically associate with the house?
00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:45.279
Uh just kind of half joking in this, but it is true.
00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:51.359
Um I say that mole can cause just about any negative symptom, except uh it doesn't make you feel good.
00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:54.160
Um, so well, it's you know, even cancer.
00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:59.599
It's not the most common thing, but uh if somebody comes in, it's really not the individual symptom.
00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:05.039
Uh it really comes down to, oh, I have five symptoms in five different body parts.
00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:09.519
You know, yes, I've got the sinus issues like everybody else in middle Tennessee does.
00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:12.799
However, I also have irritable bowel.
00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:21.279
Um, I have these weird pains that kind of, I'm like, my the physical therapist can't get me better, the chiropractor can't get me better.
00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:26.160
Uh, I've seen three orthopedic doctors, and I'm still having these weird pains that nobody can make sense of.
00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:40.079
So the when you start putting those things together, you know, that's where I'm like, yeah, we need to, you know, there is something else, not that you have five different diagnoses, but you really have probably one issue behind all of those.
00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:46.079
Uh so it's not the single issue, it's the combination uh that really tips me off in most patients.
00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:53.039
How do you think it impacts people when it comes to time and dose?
00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:59.119
Is the the longer that they're in the exposure, the higher the dose of the exposure, does that play an impact?
00:21:59.519 --> 00:21:59.839
A little bit.
00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:09.119
So for some patients, they can be exposed to a mild to moderate amount for a long period of time, and they'll have kind of a slow onset.
00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:14.400
They'll like, yeah, I can't really put my finger on the exact time my symptoms started.
00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:20.000
But they'll like, yeah, between March and December of that year, I noticed something.
00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:31.119
Or on the other hand, you'll have those patients who have that big exposure, like, oh, I moved into my house or we had a flood, or you know, whatever happened at work.
00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:34.240
And within a week, I was like, something's wrong.
00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:35.359
I don't feel right.
00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:37.599
I'm, you know, all the things go crazy.
00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:39.279
So it can be either way.
00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:53.920
Um, my opinion is most patients who have the mold issues had some along the way, but I will say probably more often, they have that one big exposure, whereas a little bit was kind of filling their bucket up, uh, but then something hit them.
00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:57.119
Um, and that's when it kind of started overflowing.
00:22:57.200 --> 00:23:07.839
And it's kind of um self-fulfilling, meaning that cycle where once your body hits that inflammation mark, it just goes into a loop and you can't turn it off.
00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:19.279
Uh, even if you get out of that big exposure, uh your body is still uh in that chronic inflammatory response uh state that they keep feeling bad.
00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:20.559
Yeah.
00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:31.039
Is there ever concern of things getting worse if they stay in the exposure or if they have big exposures and don't either get out or start treatments?
00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:37.599
Is there any dangers in continuing to be exposed without seeing a doctor like yourself?
00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:43.440
That's part of what we see is patients who have been in moldy houses for 10 or 20 years.
00:23:43.519 --> 00:24:05.359
Uh and even when we tell them they kind of like really, no, it can't be mold, but they keep having symptoms, uh, and they will usually keep adding symptoms, like, oh well, it used to just be respiratory and GI, and then a year or two later they add some hormonal issues, you know, their thyroid gets a little off, then a year or two later they get some autoimmune diagnosis.
00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:10.160
Uh, a year or two later, they're like, yeah, I started having trouble with my checkbook.
00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:20.640
Uh so when they have that chronic exposure, it is a kind of stepwise keep until they find out what's causing it, get out of that location.
00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:35.680
A lot of patients we will see just adding to their list of symptoms and you know, conventional medicine, adding more ICD codes, saying, oh, well, now you have irritable bowel, oh, now you have migraines, oh, now you have fill in the blank when it was mold the whole time.
00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:37.279
Wow.
00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:44.079
And how long does it typically take once they get out of exposure and they start taking treatments?
00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:52.880
I think you mentioned this earlier, it kind of changes for everybody, but just if you had to give it an average, like what's the timeline take to typically start to feel the difference?
00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:59.279
So to start feeling a difference, most patients usually in three to six months are going to have some improvement.
00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:07.200
Uh, how long until they feel, and I will say three to six months out of getting out of it, and that is doing treatment and getting out.
00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:11.039
If somebody is still in mold, I tell them the clock is not really starting.
00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:15.680
Uh, and then it may take another six months to even up to two or three years.
00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:23.599
You know, if somebody's lived in mold for 30 years, sometimes it can take two or three years to see them fully recover to get back to their normal self.
00:25:23.680 --> 00:25:31.759
Uh, but then I've had a 20-something-year-old who in three months was 100, you know, she would tell me she was 90 to 95% better because she left the job.
00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:37.440
You know, you could see the the mold stain in her ceiling uh from the camera that I was talking to her through.
00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:40.880
Uh, and three months later, she's like, I'm running up and down stairs again.
00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:44.160
I could barely walk up a stair, much less run up a stair.
00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:53.440
Uh, but yeah, that three to six month noticing changes, and then hopefully by a year, year to two is when they're like, yeah, I'm I'm good again.
00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:59.839
What do you think really causes people to kind of wake up and say, you know what?
00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:01.680
Uh I think it is my house.
00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:03.599
I really need some change.
00:26:03.759 --> 00:26:08.720
You know, what what are some of the because obviously you see people in the field every day, of course I do too.
00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:15.680
And, you know, very curious, what what does kind of finally wake people up and and get that change that they're so desperately needing?
00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:21.279
It's a little different for different ones, as always, uh, but it usually is when they just say, you know what?
00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:23.359
I'm tired of going through the system.
00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:27.440
I'm tired of being shuffled off to one doctor, one provider after another.
00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:33.759
Uh I'm tired of trying 50 different conventional therapies uh that I feel the same.
00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:35.759
Or, as I said, they keep feeling worse.
00:26:35.839 --> 00:26:38.000
They've added to their list of diagnoses.
00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:39.440
Uh, and they say, you know what?
00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:40.880
I've got to look somewhere else.
00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:43.359
I've got to look, again, look outside the box.
00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:52.079
Um, and once they're willing to do that, uh, and then they sit down with us and we can explain to them here, your tests show this.
00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:57.200
Um, do a test in your house, you know, have your mediator come out or do some different testing.
00:26:57.359 --> 00:26:58.880
Oh, yeah, you have mold.
00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:08.799
Yes, we have studies showing that these things are connected and helping them to the lights, you know, the lights come on, uh, and they're willing to say, oh, hey, I want to do it.
00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:20.960
Ultimately, it comes, they'll they're willing to do whatever it takes to get better, um, even if it means, you know, getting you and me in a team together helping uh to get them better.
00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:38.720
I'm curious because I I know we could probably trade stories all day, and and I think it's it's helpful for those listening to kind of see what the tunnel looks like and the light at the end of the tunnel specifically, because obviously, look, it's what we're educating people to do, it's not easy.
00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:47.920
I mean, it's typically you need lifestyle changes, you've got to fix your house, you've got to go on a three to six month program for even start to feel better, right?
00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:48.480
Typically.
00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:51.920
And so that's not that's not the easiest thing in the world to do.
00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:55.519
And so, what is the light at the end of the tunnel look like?
00:27:55.599 --> 00:28:02.880
What are some of the radical transformations you've seen firsthand that can really help motivate people to go through this journey?
00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:17.359
So, one of the things we talk about a lot for our patients is they come to us with broken bodies and broken lives, meaning their health is interrupted and disrupted them so much that they're having trouble working, they're having trouble enjoying things with their family.
00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:27.039
Uh so one of the things we keep our eyes on is helping to first fix their body, uh, get their body doing what it was intended to do in the first place.
00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:36.640
Uh, and as we see that, they start getting able to exercise, to go to their kids' um sporting events, piano recitals.
00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:42.799
Uh they're like, oh, I can start going back to work again, or I can get off part-time work and go to full-time work.
00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:53.279
So, you know, I have the stories of the, you know, the mom who is like, oh, I can actually, for the first time in a few years, go watch my children play a basketball game.
00:28:53.440 --> 00:29:06.960
Um, you know, the dad who is able to get up and go to work and then still have energy at the end of the day to play with his kids to actually, you know, go out and uh shoot basketball hoops or just go out in the yard and throw a ball around.
00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:13.039
Whereas before they may have to come home from work and take an hour to nap before they can even be functional again.
00:29:13.279 --> 00:29:20.720
Um some of those patients who have such severe food sensitivities that they, you know, they're down to five or ten foods.
00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:25.039
Once we get the mold out of the way, their body's not reacting in these crazy ways.
00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:31.759
They're like, oh, I can actually go out to dinner without worrying about you know my throat closing up and breaking out in hives.
00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:43.119
Um so you know, kids who were struggling in school, uh, were their grades were going downhill, and all of a sudden, oh, the lights come back on, uh, they're able to focus again.
00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:47.359
So things that were ADHD are actually some old symptoms.
00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:52.319
Uh, and they're going back and excelling, playing sports, you know, doing their activities again.
00:29:52.480 --> 00:30:02.000
So it's it really is helping someone whose lives are broken to function again, and or another patient say, you know, feel normal.
00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:04.400
Um, you know, they've felt sick for a number of years.
00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:07.680
They're like, oh, this is how everybody else in the world feels.
00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:08.559
I kind of like it.
00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:15.759
So that's the kind of things we see uh when people are willing to, like you said, go through that what we call the marathon uh of detox.
00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:20.640
Um there's a light at the end of the tunnel, uh, even if it takes a while to get there.
00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:29.119
Now, we we talked about earlier on how mold has you know a couple threats uh that typically come along.
00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:35.039
And um, you know, you you've you've alluded uh multiple chemical sensitivity, you've kind of covered that already.
00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:46.640
Um you've covered Lyme disease a little bit, uh, but just if you had to summarize, what are some of the things that if you have X diagnoses, you might want to check for mold?
00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:47.759
What are some of those things?
00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:54.480
You already mentioned, again, the Lyme, if somebody's treated Lyme five times and they can't get rid of it, mold is going to be one of those things.
00:30:54.559 --> 00:31:07.599
Uh Epstein Barr uh, you know, causes mono in teenagers, uh, but there's a reactivation, uh, and you're like, oh, I've had, you know, I've been told I've had EBV flare every other year for the last five or ten years.
00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:09.039
Uh, those are things.
00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:21.759
Someone who says, Oh, I've been treated, you know, five times now for SIBO, uh, the small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, uh, which we all in the world that take care of SIBO know that sometimes it takes a little bit to get rid of it.
00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:26.079
Uh, it's one of those stubborn um GI issues to deal with.
00:31:26.240 --> 00:31:32.480
However, uh mold will make people prone to that and make it make that even harder to get rid of.
00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:35.759
Um, those are probably some of the bigger things.
00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:52.880
Uh it's just um, and again, just some people like, ah, I'm having an infection, you know, I'm I'm sick five or ten years, five to ten times a year, and all of a sudden, like, hey, they wake up and oh, it's been six months since I've had a single sinus infection because we've gotten rid of it.
00:31:53.039 --> 00:32:02.559
So when people have those weird things that don't make sense um that they can't get rid of in those infections, uh, yeast, that's probably the other one that I was trying to think of.
00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:05.359
It's oh, you know, my doctor's treating me 10 times now.
00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:07.440
Uh I keep getting yeast bladder infections.
00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:10.559
I keep, they tell me I have yeast in my gut, I keep getting thrush.
00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:15.920
Um, I'm having these weird symptoms of gut issues from yeast.
00:32:16.160 --> 00:32:25.920
Often, mold is a thing that's suppressing the immune system, uh, leaving the door open for these different infections or colonizations, even when it's not an actual infection.
00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:28.640
It's the fact that you've got an overgrowth of yeast.
00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:30.000
Get rid of the mold.
00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:37.599
Pretty soon your body wakes up, says, Hey, I want to wipe out the yeast myself, and they stop having those issues for years and years.
00:32:38.720 --> 00:32:41.200
Yeah, I wanted to ask you about this specifically.
00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:42.559
You just touched on it a little bit.
00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:46.160
I want to share a very quick story and kind of get your take on it.
00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:50.079
Uh, buddy of mine's an a former NFL player named Logan Ryan.
00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:57.440
Um, when we became friends, uh, naturally I went over his house and I do what I typically do.
00:32:57.599 --> 00:33:00.880
I poke around, see if I can optimize things a little bit.
00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:03.359
We found some mold in his HVAC systems.
00:33:03.440 --> 00:33:04.799
We got that taken care of.
00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:09.839
I uh got him a better filtration system, put an air purifier in his bedroom.
00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:12.000
He didn't have any air purifiers, right?
00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:18.480
It's just it's not really talked about air quality so much, especially when it comes to human performance and things of that nature.
00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:33.200
But one of the things that he said to me about a week after we made some of these very minor adjustments, but very powerful adjustments, he said, I kid you not, uh I had the best sleep of my life after I put that air purifier in my bedroom.
00:33:33.359 --> 00:33:43.519
And he goes, and you know, uh after things running for a couple of months, he goes, My kids who were sick all the time, they literally haven't been sick once in the past three months.
00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:45.200
He's like, it's it's mind-blowing.
00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:51.440
And so um, I'm curious from your perspective, uh, and I think you you did cover it, but why do you think that is?
00:33:51.519 --> 00:33:55.920
You know, are are we are we developing less of an immune response when that's not in our environment?
00:33:56.319 --> 00:33:57.279
There's a couple of things.
00:33:57.440 --> 00:34:02.559
So, as I mentioned, a lot of times the spouses will be like, ah, I don't have, you know, the spouse doesn't have any symptoms.
00:34:02.799 --> 00:34:09.599
In reality, we'll have a lot of those after they've remediated it for spouse number one, who's actually super sensitive and sick.
00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:19.760
Spouse number two comes back, oh, my headaches are better, I'm sleeping better, I'm not snoring, I haven't had sinus issues, um, kids are less irritable and moody.
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:35.679
Uh so in reality, we all have some sensitivity, uh, particularly in terms of the sinus issues, uh the respiratory immune system, is mold, both the spores and the toxins, will trigger more mucus.
00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:40.639
Uh, so as the sinuses, which we have mucus layer, and that does protect us.
00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:48.320
However, uh, it's interesting, I found this out years ago, is um viruses affect what's called goblet cells.
00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:50.320
Goblet cells make mucus.
00:34:50.480 --> 00:35:01.039
If you've got mycotoxins or mold spores causing more goblet cells, you now doubled or triple the number of targets for viruses to attack.
00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:08.719
So you're like when people have say, oh, I got a virus, then another virus, another virus, is because your goblet cells are so stirred up.
00:35:08.800 --> 00:35:16.239
And if you've got something like mold doing that 24-7, 365, uh, you're gonna be more prone to getting those infections.
00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:33.039
So again, yeah, we see the kids, the uh other family members, because we want the whole family to get better, the person we're seeing, but it is fun to hear that when the spouse or the kids are like, wow, yeah, sleep better, whatever it is.
00:35:33.119 --> 00:35:35.599
Uh and you feel like you, you know, they got a good deal on it.
00:35:35.679 --> 00:35:38.239
We treated four or five people for the price of one.
00:35:38.400 --> 00:35:42.079
Um, and they also can go and enjoy life.
00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:44.880
Again, their lives are better because of what we did.
00:35:46.159 --> 00:35:56.960
Now, we we covered a lot about chronic illness essentially and autoimmune issues and some of that, and how that plays a role into that and how we really start to develop this sensitivity.
00:35:57.119 --> 00:36:05.360
I I'm curious because we touched on it very briefly, but I'd like to fully transition into just human performance, health optimization.
00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:14.320
Why might we not want to be breathing in mold or environmental toxins when we're looking at health optimization and human performance in general?
00:36:14.639 --> 00:36:24.159
So we talked about mold having friends, but mold also sticks its fingers out in a lot of different directions.
00:36:24.320 --> 00:36:34.559
Uh so when you have mold toxicity uh disrupting uh different body functions, your gut system, your GI system is not going to be able to absorb nutrients.
00:36:34.639 --> 00:36:40.239
Uh if it's not absorbing nutrients, your mitochondria are not going to be able to function as well.
00:36:40.559 --> 00:36:43.679
Mold also impacts our hormones.
00:36:43.760 --> 00:36:50.000
Uh so if you're suboptimal and thyroid, you're not going to have as much energy to do that next workout.
00:36:50.159 --> 00:36:54.800
Uh, you're going to need more sleep, uh, and your sleep is not going to be restorative.
00:36:54.880 --> 00:36:58.079
Uh, it in fact uh affects reproductive hormones.
00:36:58.320 --> 00:37:04.320
So, you know, women's estrogen progesterone, but then guys with DHEA and testosterone.
00:37:04.480 --> 00:37:09.840
Uh we all need those in order to build muscle, to improve our cardiac function.
00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:21.840
Uh, and you've got mold toxins that are lowering your levels, you're not you're gonna take an extra, you know, six hours, 12 hours, 24 hours to recover from a workout, so you're not gonna be able to do as much.
00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:24.719
Uh, so you're gonna see performance decline.
00:37:24.960 --> 00:37:35.679
Um, came this was a particular case, was a uh I took care of a high-end athlete that was uh he was a little older, but he was one of the tops in the world in his uh particular sport.
00:37:35.920 --> 00:37:43.920
Uh but his he would use a high-altitude training device, uh, and that had mold was growing in the tubing.
00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:48.800
Uh, and he had noticed his times were slowing and slowing and slowing, feeling short.
00:37:48.880 --> 00:37:54.639
This, you know, a guy whose VO2 max is in probably insane, um, kept getting worse and worse.
00:37:54.880 --> 00:37:58.960
Once we pinpointed mold was issue, he poked around in his house.
00:37:59.119 --> 00:38:07.599
Again, it was just in his, whenever he would do his exercise with a high altitude training with this tubes, these machines, um, he would get worse.
00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:14.079
Once he changed the tubes, he was back on, you know, back on the road again and uh competing at a high level.
00:38:14.159 --> 00:38:26.880
Uh so it clearly in the respiratory, you know, cardiac function, uh, pulmonary function was vastly in fact uh affected uh simply by a tubing full of mold just because all the moisture that was in there.
00:38:27.280 --> 00:38:34.559
One of the somewhat a little grosser ones of stories, but uh, you know, real life is uh always got those fun stories.
00:38:35.599 --> 00:38:36.480
Totally.
00:38:36.880 --> 00:38:42.800
So uh I'm not sure if you've been keeping up on this, uh, but I'm I feel like you might have.
00:38:43.039 --> 00:38:54.400
But infertility has been a growing concern and a very hot topic, specifically the connection with mold, other environmental toxins, and fertility as well.
00:38:54.559 --> 00:38:56.960
And so uh anything to share on that?
00:38:57.119 --> 00:38:58.639
Has that come across your radar?
00:38:58.719 --> 00:39:07.519
And are you seeing some of these magical transformations in people that are taking the their indoor air quality seriously and how that's uh actually playing a role in their health?
00:39:07.760 --> 00:39:08.320
Well, definitely.
00:39:08.400 --> 00:39:18.239
I mean, we can see the fertility rates are going down, and we're having more and more uh people who are coming to conventional medicine and functional medicine looking for help that they can't get pregnant.
00:39:18.400 --> 00:39:23.519
Uh so with that, yeah, it's a pretty few times, four to six times a year.
00:39:23.599 --> 00:39:30.320
Uh it's not one of the things we advertise, but we have patients who come in that are in that 20 to 40-year-old range.
00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:39.840
Uh either they've not having cycles, they're having irregular cycles, or they literally just say, Hey, I've been trying to have a baby for 10 years, uh, and that's not normal.
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:41.760
I'm like, Yeah, you're right, it's not normal.
00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:52.880
Uh so we'll go through our normal process, taking a history, looking for any other alternative things, but we often do find mold uh in those patients uh and we start the detox.
00:39:53.280 --> 00:40:07.360
Um, I will tell them, uh it has such a big impact, I will tell them try not to get pregnant because we want to finish the detox, because if they don't, they are sharing some of those toxins with the little baby uh that would be developing inside.
00:40:07.440 --> 00:40:10.320
Uh so we say, try not to until we're done.
00:40:10.400 --> 00:40:17.840
Um, and we'll have patients who, you know, six months, 12 months later are like, oh, my cycles are more regular, uh, they're not as painful.
00:40:18.000 --> 00:40:24.320
Um, occasionally uh the the fun portal messages when patients message us in our system, uh Dr.
00:40:24.480 --> 00:40:27.360
Potter, uh, my pregnancy test is positive.
00:40:27.599 --> 00:40:29.119
What do I do with my supplements?
00:40:29.360 --> 00:40:34.320
And that was even one lady who I'm trying to remember if it was nine months maybe.
00:40:34.400 --> 00:40:39.920
Uh, she'd not had a menstrual cycle for about a year uh before she even had her first cycle.
00:40:40.079 --> 00:40:44.880
She's able to get pregnant after, you know, three to five years of trying.
00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:46.400
Um, so it's amazing.
00:40:46.559 --> 00:40:51.599
Hormones will wake up uh and do what they're supposed to, again, just function normal.
00:40:51.679 --> 00:41:04.400
Uh, if you just get the junk out of the way and mold, and a few of other, you know, that we call them xenoestrogens, the things that mimic, you know, BPA and plastics, uh, disrupt our estrogen, disrupt progesterone.
00:41:04.880 --> 00:41:15.360
And if we just get that junk out of the way, um, 20 to 40-year-old female bodies tend to do a pretty good job uh of uh fertility waking up again.
00:41:16.079 --> 00:41:17.280
Wow, that's incredible.
00:41:17.440 --> 00:41:22.239
Obviously, you know, people are doing IVF treatments, those could be very expensive.
00:41:22.480 --> 00:41:29.920
And for those listening, you know, if it's mold, and obviously that's part of the problem, that can really impact the infertility.
00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:33.199
And obviously, getting that resolved and going through Dr.
00:41:33.360 --> 00:41:36.559
Potter's program, you know, people are having really good results.
00:41:36.719 --> 00:41:44.880
I think that's really good to share and important for people to know because uh I think that's you know one of the things that we keep seeing is this is a big problem.
00:41:44.960 --> 00:41:48.000
It's it's downtrending, um, you know, and not not in a good way.
00:41:48.639 --> 00:41:49.519
In a good way.
00:41:50.239 --> 00:41:50.880
Yeah.
00:41:51.280 --> 00:41:55.679
So before we end off, I wanted to kind of touch on longevity a little bit.
00:41:55.760 --> 00:42:07.679
Uh, you know, we talked about chronic illness, we talked about obviously just health optimization and human performance, and we've also talked about infertility, and these are really big uh subjects that people are are asking more and more about.
00:42:07.840 --> 00:42:12.559
And I'm curious, longevity is also another subject that's been taking off in recent times.
00:42:12.639 --> 00:42:19.039
And obviously, there's there's uh always a population of people that are trying to live longer, um, things of that nature.
00:42:19.199 --> 00:42:26.719
How do you see the overall picture of you know toxins, environmental issues, mold playing into longevity?
00:42:27.119 --> 00:42:32.079
So our bodies have been designed to handle a certain amount of toxins.
00:42:32.239 --> 00:42:40.400
Um, the problem is our current day uh throws many more at most of us uh than it can reasonably handle.
00:42:40.480 --> 00:42:54.400
Uh and if our bodies are spending a lot of resources and energy towards detoxing, uh, it's going to be more difficult to live to 80, 90, or 100 years old, especially with any significant health.
00:42:54.559 --> 00:42:59.039
Uh another big term in longevity is the idea of oxidative stress.
00:42:59.360 --> 00:43:02.239
And these toxins are causing oxidative stress.
00:43:02.320 --> 00:43:11.039
So the way I describe it is causing your fats and other body tissues to rust, just like you see iron rust when water hits it.
00:43:11.119 --> 00:43:17.119
Um, these toxins are triggering rusting, except in terms of oxidation in our body.
00:43:17.199 --> 00:43:20.000
And when that happens, our tissues are burning out sooner.
00:43:20.159 --> 00:43:27.920
So just like if you are driving your car out there and spinning wheels and pressing on the gas, your burning, your tires are not going to last as longer.
00:43:28.079 --> 00:43:33.440
Our bodies are not going to last as longer when they are being pressed too hard.
00:43:33.599 --> 00:43:37.920
And then on top of that, we talked about just the uh performance aspect.
00:43:38.159 --> 00:43:46.400
If toxins are preventing you from exercising, uh, from exerting yourself on a regular basis, your body needs that exertion.
00:43:46.559 --> 00:43:59.760
If you can't do it, you're also not encouraging what's called your telomeres, which is this kind of how many times your cells can cycle over, and pretty soon you're wearing out, uh, the systems are wearing down much earlier.
00:44:00.320 --> 00:44:17.119
You know, 60s, 70s, rather than being able to last with health into the 80s and 90s, uh, when we see these patients who are taking care of themselves, you know, the so-called blue zones where they've had low toxins, high nutrition, a lot of walking, a lot of exercise uh in their lives.
00:44:17.360 --> 00:44:20.320
People are living into the 80s and 90s looking great.
00:44:20.400 --> 00:44:34.000
Uh, while a lot of the rest of the world, where we, again, live in a soup of toxins, uh, our bodies can't can't live that long in healthy ways uh if they're having to carry a bunch of toxins on our back.
00:44:35.119 --> 00:44:36.960
Yeah, uh that's very important.
00:44:37.119 --> 00:44:42.639
I see that obviously the world of longevity is something that people are getting more and more interested in, right?
00:44:42.800 --> 00:44:48.400
We're trying to not only just prevent disease, but live longer, live healthier and happier lives.
00:44:48.480 --> 00:44:51.280
So I think it's really important that there are things you can control.
00:44:51.440 --> 00:44:54.639
I bet uh I'm not the doctor, so I'm gonna ask you.
00:44:54.800 --> 00:45:02.800
I'm guessing eating clean food, drinking clean water, breathing clean air, these are probably very important for for health.
00:45:03.039 --> 00:45:11.760
And we whenever we take care of a patient, regardless of whether it's mold, whether it's lime, whatever condition it is, we want them to start you know with the basics.
00:45:11.840 --> 00:45:20.239
Uh we'll tell them you can take some supplements, but if it you're putting that supplements on a greasy cheeseburger, it's really not going to help that much.
00:45:20.400 --> 00:45:21.840
Uh, probably not any at all.
00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:26.960
So you've got to do those basics things, the eating well, sleeping well, uh, exerting yourself.
00:45:27.039 --> 00:45:33.519
Uh if you don't do those things, uh we can work at the mold stuff, but you're only going to get so much better.
00:45:33.599 --> 00:45:40.639
You've got to have that foundation, and the mold detox is going to build, and that's when you're going to see the big changes in people's lives.
00:45:41.760 --> 00:45:42.480
That's awesome.
00:45:42.639 --> 00:45:43.039
Well said.
00:45:43.199 --> 00:45:44.159
I think that's very important.
00:45:44.239 --> 00:45:48.079
You know, this does take mindset, this does take lifestyle changes.
00:45:48.239 --> 00:45:57.760
Uh, I'm curious, is there one thing that you hope people take away from today's episode that, you know, to really make a difference in their life?
00:45:58.159 --> 00:46:07.119
If you're struggling with chronic health issues that other providers, other healthcare providers have not been able to help you with, don't give up.
00:46:07.360 --> 00:46:08.800
There are things out there.
00:46:08.960 --> 00:46:18.000
If, again, you're willing to look outside the box uh looking for someone like myself, or there's a growing movement of those who are doing functional medicine out there.
00:46:18.079 --> 00:46:28.000
Um, there are ways that you too can have a normal life and not feel like you're living the rest of your life broken uh anymore.
00:46:28.079 --> 00:46:31.360
So don't give up uh is going to be probably my biggest thing.
00:46:31.519 --> 00:46:34.000
Keep looking for someone who can help you.
00:46:35.039 --> 00:46:35.920
Well said, Dr.
00:46:36.079 --> 00:46:36.480
Potter.
00:46:36.559 --> 00:46:39.920
Well, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to be here with us.
00:46:40.079 --> 00:46:49.199
Can you please tell us where we can find you and how we can work with you if we happen to be in your area or you know, if you cover virtual as well, please let us know.
00:46:49.599 --> 00:46:52.880
Sanctuary functional medicine uh is like practice.
00:46:53.039 --> 00:46:58.719
Uh I have several other providers uh that work with me here in Franklin, Franklin, Tennessee.
00:46:58.800 --> 00:47:01.920
Uh we do take care of patients in surrounding states.
00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:04.639
Uh, we do require that somebody be able to travel.
00:47:04.719 --> 00:47:19.119
Uh we will not see someone solely virtually, just because good medicine, we need to lay hands, do a physical exam, uh, gain as much in understanding of how your body works rather than just trying to do it solely by telemedicine.
00:47:19.199 --> 00:47:21.920
So, but we can take care of a lot after that.
00:47:22.079 --> 00:47:37.760
So we're here in uh Franklin um trying to help as many as we can, and part of my job is to train my entire team uh so our team can do a better, better job taking care of all the people that we're again, the world we live in is full of toxins.
00:47:37.840 --> 00:47:47.599
Um I always thought that one day I'd run out of patients to take care of, but uh at the rate we're going with the world, uh there's just more people out there that need help.
00:47:48.639 --> 00:47:54.320
Yeah, it's an unfortunate truth, and probably why this podcast is called Never Been Sicker.
00:47:54.800 --> 00:47:55.440
Yep.
00:47:55.760 --> 00:47:56.159
Dr.
00:47:56.400 --> 00:47:59.440
Potter, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to be here with us.
00:47:59.519 --> 00:48:00.480
We really appreciate it.
00:48:00.639 --> 00:48:04.480
And thank you for tuning in to another episode of Never Been Sicker.
00:48:04.559 --> 00:48:09.119
I'm your host, indoor air quality expert, Michael Rubino, and I'll see you soon.
