What I wish I had known
Something I wish I had known earlier: anxiety was my very first symptom, and it came out of nowhere. I ended up on an SSRI (Lexapro) and stayed on it for about five years. Years later I found out I have a specific HLA gene type (often referred to as HLA-DR / HLA susceptibility) that about 20–25% of people have. This gene makes it harder for the body to clear biotoxins properly, especially from water-damaged buildings, mold, and certain environmental toxins. The result isn’t a “chemical imbalance” in the classic sense, but chronic neuroinflammation.
One of the main symptoms of this inflammatory response is anxiety, along with depression, panic, intrusive thoughts, brain fog, and other psychiatric symptoms. The inflammation and circulating toxins can directly affect the brain and nervous system, which is why it can feel so sudden and so intense, even in people with no prior mental health history.
For me, the anxiety wasn’t caused by a serotonin deficiency. It was my immune system and nervous system being inflamed and overwhelmed.
If this resonates, testing can be done through functional medicine. That usually includes HLA gene testing, mycotoxin testing, and sometimes heavy metal screening. I’m not saying this is everyone’s root cause, but for some of us, treating inflammation and exposure changes things far more than psychiatric meds ever did.
Posting this in case it helps someone connect a few dots earlier than I did.❤️🩹
Treated the mycotoxins and 2 years off Lexapro and life is good again! 🙏🏻
I have been abused by multiple hospitals (mass general, Lahey hospital, Winchester hospital) which are doing a similar thing to me. I’ve had terrible arthritis pain for years because of Lyme disease and now I might have a more serious illness (lupus). None of what I tell these doctors is listened to at all. They act like I am making all of this up and it’s all in my head. I have suffered for years because they chose to act this way. They should have their licenses taken away and never be allowed to practice medicine again because they aren’t even doing that to begin with.