After struggling for months with a mystery illness, Ryan Sutter appeared on Thursday’s episode of his wife Trista’s “Better Etc.” podcast to reveal the unknown illness he’s been dealing with since early last year has finally been diagnosed as Lyme disease, among other things.
Symptoms of Lyme Disease
Lyme disease can produce a wide range of symptoms, depending on the stage of infection. These include fever, rash, facial paralysis, and arthritis. This, however, can be worsened by exposure to mold in people who are susceptible to mold infection. This is because chronic mycotoxin exposure reduces the body’s ability to fight infection and may reduce the efficacy of antimicrobial treatments. Mold exposure also provokes a robust inflammatory response that may worsen Lyme-related inflammation. This article reveals how Ryan Sutter’s Lyme disease got worsened by his exposure to mold.
How it Started with Ryan
The firefighter and former Bachelorette winner, 46, Ryan Sutter, opened up about his ongoing health issues in a series of posts shared on his Instagram, he stated the various symptoms he has experienced while undergoing tests to determine its cause. According to Ryan, he began feeling ill after starting an 18-week training course with the Denver Fire Department in February. Ryan has Lyme disease that was triggered by high levels of mold in his body, he shared on his wife Trista Sutter’s podcast, Better Etc., on Tuesday. He explained that after going through a litany of testing and blood work over the last year, doctors determined that his body is susceptible to taking in mold toxins, which he is frequently exposed to as a firefighter.
He stated that it is likely his immune system was weakened through exposure to toxins and especially to mold. As the mold toxins brought down his immune system, it likely resurfaced past infections that his body ordinarily would have been able to fight off. Testing determined that along with positives for Lyme disease and mold, he also was positive for COVID-19 and Epstein-Barr virus, a common illness that causes mononucleosis.
How Mold Exposure Worsened the Disease
Due to mold exposure, he was also dealing with exhaustion, dehydration; and all other conditions that weaken the immune system. This immune system weakening made it difficult to fight off infections, or what it seems like, allowing prior infections that the immune system had been able to suppress and keep down, to resurface.
The Effect of the Lyme Disease on the Family
The process of finding a diagnosis, though, was lengthy and difficult for the entire family. Ryan’s wife, Trista expressed how hard it has been for her to see Ryan struggling with this terrible disease.
At different points throughout the year, the Sutters thought that Ryan could have lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or at one point, they considered a lymphoma. They were able to get him in to see an oncologist, but a full body scan was clear. It was a weird feeling because the cancer screening came back negative, but he still couldn’t figure out what the problem was.
How the Recovery from Lyme Disease Started
After that test came back negative, the couple decided to share on social media that Ryan had been struggling for months. That led to comments from people all over the world who had similar issues and offered suggestions for doctors and illnesses that Ryan could have. Though the response was “overwhelming” at times, with people calling their home phone and his firehouse, Trista said it was “instrumental” to finding a team of doctors who could help and, eventually, a diagnosis.
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