When Everything Makes You React

About a decade ago I was at Target, attempting to make it past the laundry aisle without getting super dizzy and developing heart palpitations. It was just my “new normal” to be knocked down with reactions from what I called “Fragrance B*ombs” like the laundry and candle section.

When it got bad enough, I started telling people I was “sensitive.” Because that’s the most accurate word and also the one that gets you dismissed fastest.

Sensitive to what? All of it. In ways that didn’t make logical sense to the average person who is completely clueless about the literally thousands of chemicals that we are exposed to in the modern world. Ways that no doctor could explain and most didn’t try. They certainly don’t teach you anything about mold toxicity, nervous system dysregulation, chemicals, pesticides, fragrances, multiple chemical sensivity, or anything like that in medical school. I have dozens of doctor friends in all specialities and they’ll agree with that.

This is not a niche experience. In 8,000-plus clinical cases over 15 years, I’ve seen the pattern more times than I can count: a client does the work, clears the infections, gets the mycotoxins down, does everything right and then lives with a nervous system that still treats the world like an active threat. The infections are gone. The mast cells are still hyped up. The brain didn’t get the memo that everything is okay and so they stay stuck and sensitive.

If that’s where you are, this post is for you.

There is a structure in the brain called the amygdala. It’s your threat-detection system. Its job is to evaluate incoming signals against stored threat memories and decide how big an alarm to sound.

After acute or chronic toxin exposure (Mold, Lyme, Parasites, Chronic gut infections that elevate histamine, Pesticides, Fragrances, Heavy metals) the amygdala’s threat threshold can shift lower. Less input needed to fire a full fight-flight-freeze response. This process has been described in clinical literature as limbic kindling: repeated exposures progressively reset the sensitivity dial.

Here’s where it connects to mold specifically. Human neuroimaging research shows that inflammation, the kind that comes with chronic mold exposure and active infections, directly amplifies how the amygdala processes threatening signals (PMID 22079507). The mold affects the brain, the inflamed brain affects the threat system, and the threat system starts treating perfume and fragrances and certain foods as emergencies that may affect your blood pressure, vestibular system, or even your vision. When I was at my worst my blood pressure would spike 50 points after exposure to certain fragrances like Tide, so gross. Go unscented or be poisoned.

Doctors see the hyperreactivity if you bring it up during a 7-minute check up. All they run are basic labs which never find anything obvious. They tell you it’s anxiety and send you off to the psych department…

Which is actually pathetic when you look at the history of mental illness. We used to have epic mansions on hundreds of acres to do organic gardening for mental health. Just lookup the history of places like Central State Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky where I’m from…

The doctors suggesting it’s anxiety are not completely wrong… It is truly a brain state. They’re completely wrong, and ignorant, about the cause and about what to do about it.

Did your reactivity start or significantly worsen during or after a mold exposure - even one you weren’t sure was “bad enough” to matter?

Do you react to fragrances, laundry detergents, candles, plug-ins or synthetic compounds that don’t bother most people? (but are absolutely poison to even those who “don’t react, btw)

Do you react to certain foods or chemicals that you tolerated fine before a certain point in your health history?

Does being in natural environments (outside, fresh air, away from urban buildings) feel noticeably different in your body than being inside? Beach vs city, etc?

Do you feel like your baseline stress tolerance has shrunk, like the buffer between okay and overwhelmed is much smaller than it used to be?

If you said yes to most of these, the pattern I’m describing fits. The reactivity isn’t random. It’s the nervous system running a threat protocol that it hasn’t been given the signal to stand down from.

Before I go into this, the two things below are not a substitute for finding and addressing the biological load. They work best as concurrent support while you’re running the protocol, or in the follow-up phase when the biological work is done but reactivity is lingering.

Histamine and Mast Cell Support - this is the formula I reach for in clients who react to everything and feel stuck and overwhelmed. It goes well beyond quercetin, which is what most practitioners default to. The perilla leaf in this formula is a game-changer. I’ve used it personally and I’ve seen it move the needle in the most reactive cases I work with, the kind of reactivity that doesn’t respond to the basic antihistamine approach.

GABA Chews - for the nervous system that’s been in a reactive state for months or years, this provides direct substrate to help settle rather than waiting for self-regulation that isn’t happening. 1-2 chews 30 minutes before sleep, or before any environment with sensory overload - airports, events, public spaces with fragrance and chemical exposure. I reach for them before social situations when I want to feel calm and euphoric without alcohol.

Neither of these addresses the underlying amygdala calibration issue. That takes longer and requires a different approach. But they make the in-between period more livable.

The deep dive goes further into the actual neurobiology, the research on what toxic exposure does to the brain long-term, and the approaches I’ve used personally and in clinic for the clients who’ve done everything and are still stuck.

Including two things I’ve been debating whether to write about: the brain retraining protocols I’ve seen work clinically and used myself, and (the one practitioners don’t usually touch) what ketamine actually does in the brain and why I think it’s relevant to this population.

Both behind the paywall. Both worth reading to help yourself or your family one day.

Be well,

Evan Brand, BCHN, FNTP

The information in this post is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified healthcare practitioner before starting any supplement or health protocol. Full medical disclaimer: evanbrand.com/medical-disclaimer