To think our house is making DC sick

[Concernedmum23]

Please, need some urgent help.

DC is 4. She used to be lively, happy and full of energy. Since about late October time she started getting colds. We thought the usual, oh it's that time of the year. Except the colds never went away and kept on coming. Since then she's been ill and "congested" every single day. She now looks pale, yes I know it's winter time but she has this weird tint to her that she gets when is run down. She has big black bags under her eyes, her energy is higher but restless and irritable. Again, we thought it could be down to her age and a phase but now I'm not so convinced. As well as permanently being congested and always choking on it, she's become highly wired at night time. She wakes up multiple times during the night sleep talking/walking. The other day she randomly woke up, complained of pain, vomited and then was fine?

The thing is we live with family and can not afford to move out at the moment. The house, to me anyways, seems riddled with black mold. When I bring this to DH or his families attention I get shut down. But there is evidence of black mold, in the corners by windows. On the floor, in the carpets, in the corners of the wall/skirting. At its worst it can go up into the ceiling and this is all just the visible external part of it, god knows what is happening behind the walls. I'm worried her sudden onset of illness and not seeming to get better despite the diet change, heavy vitamins ect is due to black mold poisoning? DH claims it's common from old homes to get this, but surely not every week/month? We clean the mold and it seems to return with about that time frame. If left untreated it can get really bad. The wall paper in the house in many places is peeling/bubbled but again it gets dismissed from just being an old house.

I feel convinced that unless it's a random allergy she has developed it's the house doing this. Her symptoms align with black mold exposure but no one seems to take me seriously. Also there isn't really anything we can do about it being in the financial predicament we are in.

The drs don't seem concerned. They have referred her to an ent and said her to sols look big but that it's "normal for most kids and she will grow into them". This feels more than that, and I'm scared for my child despite being shut down by everyone. Gp won't even do basic allergy/asthma tests on her. I'm at a loss and so so worried. Help!!!

You need to get out..black mold can cause autoimmune issues, that doesn't look good. Do whatever you can

I grew up in a home built from 1830’s, we had no radiators in bedrooms, single glazing and frost inside the windows in the morning. I developed eczema which goes hand in hand with asthma. I then developed severe asthma (I’m talking multiple icu admissions). I don’t remember mould as a child but I guess it was there.
I moved in my 20’s and suddenly I have no more asthma attacks, despite not being compliant with my medication.

Aged 30 I was diagnosed with MS - autoimmune Illness.

I then moved home again 3 years ago while we built our house - the eczema returned, surprise! We’ve since moved into our new home and the eczema has settled down, with using no ointments.

It’s home and such a beautiful house but it is riddled with Damp and mould - no matter how much scrubbing I did. We had a baby and treated our bedroom with a sort of mould paint, It certainly helped. I also used astonish mould and mildew.

I don’t have any advice but please know that you are right to be concerned about your daughter, please keep doing what you’re doing and move out the second the opportunity arises. Keep asking the Dr for referrals for allergy testing, if they won’t do it go to another doctor, and another and another. perhaps consider having a done privately - I promise you, it’s an investment in your daughter’s future.

Do you have any dehumidifiers? I lived in a horrendously damp and mouldy house with my partner and child for 3.5 years, we were desperate to move but it took us that long to find somewhere else we could afford to rent. We had 2 dehumidifiers going, one upstairs, one down, and moved them around. Found one of them cheaply on FB marketplace but spent extra on getting the other one new. Also found a cheap air purifier on ebay and used that as well. We're now in a damp and mould free house thank god but I kept the good dehumidifier and use it to dry washing which also helps to prevent damp. This is the dehumidifier we have - https://www.vonhaus.com/vh_en/12l-dehumidifier-vonhaus - and the air purifier, which you could have in your child's bedroom, is a fairly old HoMedics AR10 with HEPA filter and it works fine but is a bit noisy. I really recommend spending the money on these if you possibly can as you seem to be stuck in that situation for the forseeable.

OP, you need a plan to get out of there pronto.

Why, after 5 years are you still there?
How low is your joint income?
Can you move further away?

There has to be better options than remaining in that house?
Who are you living with that thinks this is ok?

If you explain your circumstances, maybe MN can come up with a plan?

In the imeadate term, open windows daily, heat rooms daily, don't dry clothes inside unless in a closed room with dehumidifier, buy a dehumidifier for each room you sleep in, wipe mould daily, hire a carpet cleaner, buy the dessicated dehumidifiers too.

I'm so sorry you are going through this- my family and I have recently gone through a similar situation- we lived in a council property for 13 years- the last years were hell- we had black mould covering the whole bathroom and in my children's rooms- we complained numerous times- had treatments to the walls etc but kept coming back. My youngest was ill ALL the time, constant colds, random temperatures, just constantly- I wasn't sure if it was the house as he was poorly as a newborn so put it down to poor immune system. Anyway long story short- it was rising damp- the council had to permanently move us in order to carry out the work required- needless to say since living in our new house my son hasn't been ill! Not so much as a sniffle!
Can't you go to your local council for help?

If it was me, I’d be working every hour I could to get my family out of there & I certainly wouldn’t be bringing a new baby into the situation. You need to help yourself.

You need to get your family out of there.

A little boy died not long ago from black mould.

I'm.ashamed to say my house is bad with mould too and all these comments kicked my ass today to do something about it. So I've had all the windows open and treated it with kilrock mould remover the best stuff ever. Half an hour wipe off and it's gone. Need to ventilate though because it's very bleachy . I hope u read this and it helps you

That's nasty, OP. We have black mould (but not to that extent) and use black mould remover - it's the only product that works for us.
However, ventilation is the key. I don't know how old the property is, but ours is an old stone house. Old properties had sash windows for that reason - to let the air flow.
Not good for your little one (or any of you) to be breathing it in, and you absolutely should be taken seriously.