Help Becca Recover from CIRS

Many of you will be unaware that the last 4 years have been incredibly difficult for me health-wise... it began with increased fatigue – to the point where I was struggling to stay awake at work – and became so severe that at its worst I was practically bed-bound for days on end because I barely had the energy to walk around the house. I’ve had countless tests (NHS and private) and spent unspeakable amounts of my own savings to eliminate every other possible diagnosis and to also try and support my body from every possible angle (supplements, elimination diets, physiotherapy, etc).

I finally figured out I was reacting to mould 2 years ago and also discovered that I would start to recover when I was staying in a home with little to no exposure. I moved to Wales in September 2023 for an amazing job opportunity, but ended up having to move 8 times to try and find a place that wasn’t making me ill. My symptoms also started increasing (10+ different symptoms) and getting worse – including developing heart palpations/ tachycardia which lasted for months without obvious cause. I have also been getting increasing back pain and over the last 9 months it’s gotten so bad that I’m having to take opioids on a near-daily basis in order to manage the pain.

I had to give my notice in for work last October because I had gotten so ill, I couldn’t even manage 2 days a week. Unfortunately, chronic illness is an area which is massively understudied and underfunded so from an NHS perspective, there’s not much else they can offer me or any hope of getting better…

In the last month however, I stumbled upon a condition called CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) which completely made sense of my experience and symptoms the last 4 years. The basic explanation of CIRS is that people with a certain genetic disposition end up developing an autoimmune response to biotoxins such as – but not limited – to mould (specifically the mycotoxins that certain moulds release) and therefore has to be treated more specifically and rigorously. CIRS has been pioneered by Ritchie Shoemaker with peer-reviewed medical research and studies– it’s even treated at Cleveland Clinic – but is still considered specialist treatment which meant the only option was to go private again. I researched and estimated a cost of $8000 *minimum* but possibly more. Having been unemployed since October due to my health and having already depleted all my savings over the last few years trying to fix my health, I honestly could not comprehend asking my family to borrow that kind of money when they’ve already been so extremely generous with their finances and supported me without question.

As I was grappling with all of this, someone said to me, “Bec, there’s so many people who love you (and your family), if they knew you were in need, they would be more than happy to bless you”. I know that to be true, and being left with no other option I can think of, I decided to go ahead and make a GoFundMe for anyone who would like to support me in this journey… I actually found the only clinic in the States (Christian Medical Ministries) which treats CIRS virtually for free and they were able to get me in almost right away, which was a massive answer to prayer! The reason I still need a GoFundMe is because I won’t get well immediately (it could take 4-6 months) and during that time I need to pay for rent, some sort of transportation, and ideally a few additional blood tests to understand how severe my case is so the clinic can treat me most accurately.

I’m super grateful for all the ways already that I’ve been supported and am getting help; I’ve been so blessed with family who love and support me and so many others of you who have loved me and blessed me over my life. If this is something you feel prompted to support me in, I guarantee you any little bit will make me cry! It has been some of the hardest years of my life and I’ve still got a ways to go before I start feeling better, but the last month has felt like a hundred answers to prayer after years of drought and I’m so grateful just for that!