An article about exposure to black mold activating Lupus recently caught my attention. It got me thinking, so I googled it and found several articles suggesting a link between Lupus and black mold.
This could possibly relate to me. I didn't have any symptoms of Lupus until I was 58, pretty old for a first time Lupus diagnosis. Thinking back, not only was I under a huge amount of stress at work, I was living in a house where I was pretty sure black mold was a problem. I thought I had taken care of it, but if you don't eliminate the water source, it just keeps coming back.
Anyway, I moved out of that house in 2014 and had active flares for the next year. I was on Plaquenil and aspirin and that usually kept symptoms manageable. By the summer of 2015 I seemed to be in remission, no symptoms, but my inflammation markers were still high. I even had knee replacement surgery in early 2016 and sailed through that with no problems and a fast recovery - no flares. Now its summer of 2016 and I've still had no flares. I'm still on Plaquenil and aspirin. Haven't had my inflammation markers tested for a while.
I can't help but think that the black mold may have had something to do with my developing Lupus at this late stage in my life and moving to a healthier mold-free environment has helped get me into remission.
I'm posting this not only to hear your thoughts but as possible help to anyone who may be living in a house where there could be black mold.