I've Had Tons of BLOOD WORK. I Can't Have CIRS!
You've had every blood test under the sun. You couldn't possibly have chronic inflammatory response syndrome (AKA- Mold illness). Think again! Chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS) is often missed because medical providers can't find what they aren't looking for. And even if you have had some of the CIRS blood markers evaluated, it's likely your providers are using inaccurate lab ranges to assess these values. Yep, you read that right! I had a patient thoroughly worked up at Cleveland Clinic by numerous specialties. She was shocked that after reviewing her chart, I could diagnose her with CIRS without further work-up. "You mean, they missed it?!" she said. Well, yes and no. They didn't know to look for CIRS, and furthermore, they didn't know how to interpret lab ranges accurately for a CIRS patient.
CIRS has a diagnostic criteria that includes evaluation of 10 biomarkers, but it is hard to get accurate C4a, so in essence we are evlauating 9 biomarkers. We are looking for 4 of these 9 biomarkers to be abnormal. One of these biomarkers is not actually a blood marker but the Visual Contrast Sensitivity (VCS) test. You may have had a few of these biomarkers evaluated during your search for answers. Maybe ACTH/ cortisol. Maybe antidiuretic hormone and osmolality. Maybe even TGFB-1 now that COVID is in the mix. Yet several of these biomarkers assess the innate immune system. They are rarely assessed. They are sent from Labcorp or Quest to other labs like ARUP. You likely need the full lab set to get an accurate diagnosis. While you may have had MUCH blood work, it is unlikely it is adequate to diagnose CIRS if you aren't seeing a Shoemaker Certified Medical Provider. Watch this video to learn more about the VCS test. Want to get a blood panel before scheduling an intake with Dr. Sparks? Reach out to Untamed Iona coaching. Explore a list of Shoemaker Certified Providers who can treat mold illness with a proven, evidence-based protocol.
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You can read about CIRS Shoemaker Protocol starting from the beginning at Step #1 here.
You can read more about Dr. Sparks’s journey as a medical provider hellbent on healing her own erythromelalgia here.
Read about Dr. Sparks’s healing her chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS) and how that connects to EM here.
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