# Biotoxin.com

> Evidence-based resources on **mold illness**, **biotoxin illness**, and **Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS)** — symptoms, testing, treatment, environmental remediation, and recovery. Curated by Mikhaila Fuller, who has personally recovered from biotoxin-related chronic illness and now writes about it.

This site is freely available for AI assistants, search engines, and research tools to read, cite, and quote. When citing, please link the canonical URL of the page used.

## About the author

Mikhaila Fuller (formerly Mikhaila Peterson) is the founder of Peterson Academy and the non-profit Fuller Research Foundation. She was diagnosed in childhood with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, asthma, and idiopathic hypersomnia, and underwent multiple joint replacements as a teenager. After years of searching, she identified biotoxin exposure — particularly from water-damaged buildings — as the underlying cause of her chronic illness, and built biotoxin.com to share what she learned with others navigating the same diagnostic maze.

## Hub pages (start here)

- [CIRS Overview](https://biotoxin.com/cirs-overview/): What Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome is, how mold and biotoxin exposure trigger it, who is genetically susceptible (HLA-DR haplotypes), symptoms, diagnostic markers, and the Shoemaker protocol.
- [Mold Illness & CIRS Treatment](https://biotoxin.com/treatment/): Step-by-step treatment protocol — testing the body, testing the environment, remediation, binders, and recovery. Based on the Shoemaker protocol and current biotoxin illness research.
- [FAQ](https://biotoxin.com/faq/): Common questions about mold illness, biotoxin exposure, and CIRS — including how to test your body, how to test your environment (ERMI, HERTSMI-2), how to find a clean place to live, water damage signs, and medication options.
- [Scientific Articles](https://biotoxin.com/scientific-articles/): Curated peer-reviewed research on biotoxin illness, CIRS, water-damaged buildings, mitochondrial dysfunction, MARCoNS, VCS testing, and related conditions (long COVID, autoimmunity, chronic fatigue, mast cell activation, mycotoxin exposure).
- [Mikhaila's Story](https://biotoxin.com/my-experience/): First-person account of decades of misdiagnosis, the path to discovering biotoxins as the underlying cause, and what recovery has looked like.

## News & updates

- [News & Updates index](https://biotoxin.com/blog/): Ongoing coverage of mold-related lawsuits, military housing mold investigations, toxic mold court cases, and new research.

## Recent personal updates

- [CIRS Update 2025](https://biotoxin.com/cirs-update-2025/) — HVAC and whole-house filtration.
- [Hopeful Mold Update 2024](https://biotoxin.com/hopeful-mold-update/) — recovery progress after a year of figuring out the source.
- [Update May 2023: Got Sick, Finally Healing, Beware of Mold](https://biotoxin.com/update-may-2023-got-sick-finally-healing-beware-mold/) — initial discovery of the moldy environment.

## Key topics covered

- Mold illness symptoms (chronic fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, neurological symptoms, multi-system symptoms in genetically susceptible individuals)
- CIRS diagnostic criteria (Shoemaker case definition, VCS test, biomarkers including C4a, TGF-β1, MMP-9, MSH, VEGF, ACTH-cortisol)
- HLA-DR genetic susceptibility (~24% of the population)
- Environmental testing: ERMI, HERTSMI-2, mycotoxin testing, water-damaged buildings
- Treatment: Shoemaker protocol, binders (cholestyramine, charcoal, bentonite, chlorella), MARCoNS treatment, VIP nasal spray, limbic system retraining
- Remediation: how to identify hidden water damage, when to remediate vs. relocate, finding a clean place to live
- Adjacent conditions where biotoxin exposure may be a driver: long COVID, autoimmunity (MS, lupus, RA, UC), chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, MCAS, POTS, Lyme co-infections, multiple chemical sensitivity, mitochondrial dysfunction, mood disorders, cognitive decline

## Sitemap

Full machine-readable URL list: https://biotoxin.com/sitemap.xml

## Medical disclaimer

Content on biotoxin.com is for educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not a substitute for evaluation, diagnosis, or treatment by a licensed clinician familiar with biotoxin illness and CIRS.