Dehumidifier Tips: How to Reduce Humidity and Improve Air Quality
A dehumidifier can help your home feel cooler, prevent mold from growing, and even save you money on air conditioning. Here’s how to use it:
Kate Ames was pregnant with her third child in 2018 and was exhausted. Already the mother of a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old, her friends and family said the fatigue was normal. “You’re a mother, so of course you feel sick and are tired all the time.”
Ames, who lives in Arizona, remembers thinking, “I never thought being a mother would feel like this.”
As her fatigue and depression increased, she went to an obstetrician and gynecologist. They also told her it was normal and suggested treatment.
“I feel like I’ve been sent to different doctors for different reasons,” said Ames, 35. She became increasingly suspicious that something was wrong. “There’s going to be a lot of different things coming up.”
Years later, her relief turned to anger when doctors and air quality experts discovered that her symptoms were caused by undetected mold in her home. Why didn’t they listen to her in the first place?
Ames is one of thousands of women who have felt ignored by medical professionals. There is a long history of women’s pain being ignored by doctors, misclassified as menstrual pain, or rooted in psychological distress. Some women have died as a result of this oversight.
In the 2024 KFF Women’s Health Survey, one in five women said their health care provider ignored their direct requests or questions in the past two years, and nearly one in five women said they did not trust their health care provider to tell them the truth. An additional 13% said their health care provider had suggested they were personally responsible for the health problems they were experiencing.
Ellen Rudolph, co-founder and CEO of Well Theory, a virtual care platform for women with autoimmune diseases, said women are often victims of medical gaslighting. Rudolph became ill in his mid-20s and said mold was one of the triggers for his autoimmune disease. She was referred to a psychiatrist for some of her symptoms, but said the wording from her doctor made her question whether the symptoms she was experiencing, including fatigue, digestive issues and brain fog, were real.
“This is not the doctor’s fault. I don’t think the way our health care system is set up allows doctors to be successful,” Rudolph said, adding that a shortage of doctors is forcing patients to see patients too quickly. “We don’t have enough time or expertise to look into these more complex conditions and illnesses.”
What is mold disease? And how common is it?
Ames said her symptoms continued to expand and worsen after giving birth. She developed a skin rash, digestive problems, and pain in her legs and joints. Persistent ear pain made the area near her eardrum feel “like someone was digging in there with an ice pick.” Eventually, she went to the doctor for an eye infection and was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. Although medication for his autoimmune disease made him feel a little better, Ames continued to feel unwell.
“I was kind of miserable,” she said.
She had heard about mold poisoning but didn’t think it was the cause of her discomfort. In 2024, she jokingly suggested to her doctor that all of her symptoms might be due to an unknown source of mold in her home. Her doctor didn’t laugh. “Well, maybe,” said the doctor. Doctors persuaded Ames to undergo tests.
Results showed high levels of mycotoxins in her body. Ames later had his home inspected, which confirmed that there was mold in the house. There were enough levels of mold in the air that experts told the Ames family to leave the house immediately.
Ames was shocked. How could it have been mold since she was the only one in her family with symptoms?
Naturopathic doctor Marjorie Peek says it’s actually common for people living in the same home to have varying degrees of reaction when exposed to mold. People have different natural detox abilities based on the toxins already present in their bodies and genetic factors, she said. According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, mold reactions vary depending on the type of mold, the amount of mold, and the person exposed.
Peek said mold illnesses, which include chronic illnesses related to toxins and bacteria found in mold, are more widespread than mold poisoning, where people can experience severe reactions such as blindness. She said people with chronic symptoms should be tested for mycotoxins.
Although there is limited data on how common mold is in homes, the Indoor Air Quality Scientific Research Resource Bank estimates that 47% of homes in the United States have mold or moisture. Ames encourages people with unexplained symptoms to get tested and look around their home for mold sources.
“It shouldn’t take you six years to realize that your home is slowly killing you,” she says.
“We deserve better.”
Ames said the family left the house immediately after the inspection and lived with relatives for two months while the house was repaired.
The main source of mold in their home was hidden under the second bathroom and in a small space. “There is 100% no visible water damage for us,” Ames said. The repairs cost just under $13,000, some of which was covered by insurance, she said. According to home services marketplace Angi, the average cost of mold remediation is about $2,300.
Ames said it took about three months for her symptoms to begin to subside after living in a mold-free environment. She said she was no longer in pain and her brain fog and rash were gone. Her ears are still sensitive, but she said her lingering symptoms are mild overall.
Ames said she often thinks about the people around her who have told her they are very tired because they have young children. It still bothers her, and she’s angry that other women’s symptoms are routinely ignored and chalked away as the woes of motherhood. “That’s not accurate. I think we deserve better,” she said.
“I don’t think people would feel that way if they were healthy,” Ames said. “You don’t feel hopeless.”
Madeline Mitchell’s role covering women and the care economy for USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Pivotal and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
Contact Madeline at: memitchell@usatoday.com and @maddiemitch_ With X.
