BeWell Wellness Story: Brittany Johnson
Chronic Inflammation + Mold
Living a healthy life—and truly living it well—is a luxury we often take for granted, but it’s one we all deserve. Like so many others, my health story began by ignoring the signs. Burying symptoms under the weight of being “too busy” and pushing through because that’s just what we do.
In 2018, my dad passed away from Stage 4 Colon Cancer—the day after my birthday. His battle was my wake-up call. I started questioning the long-term effects of stress, inflammatory foods, and lack of movement—and when I heard doctors say that colon cancer can be hereditary due to potential inherited gene mutations, I knew I had to start paying attention. Then, in 2021, we made a huge leap—we packed up our life and moved across the state to start our cattle ranch. That year was spent straddling two homes, traveling back and forth, working full-time jobs, and trying to establish our dream from the ground up. On top of Ranch work, my desk job at the time was high-stress by nature, and even when I wasn’t in the office, I was always on call. And then, my body started to push back.
By 2022, after settling into the ranch, I started to have some symptoms that I would say were out of my ordinary; heart flutters and lightheadedness. Then, one day, I fainted doing chores. That was it, I reached my breaking point. My husband took me to the ER, and I was quickly dismissed. "Maybe it’s just anxiety," they said. "Follow up with your doctor." It had already taken so much for me to admit something was wrong. To finally ask for help, only to be brushed off, was frustrating. But deep down, I knew, this was more than just stress. I knew I couldn’t continue to live like I was. I had chronic migraines, extreme stomach discomfort, was always tired, starting to forget everything, had “wet noodle” legs all the time on top of these new random heart flutters — I was physically and mentally exhausted for seemingly no reason. My body had simply reached its breaking point.
I followed up with a General Practitioner doctor, who echoed the same thing as the ER: "It’s just anxiety. Should we explore antidepressants?" I knew I needed to keep searching. That’s when I found a Naturopath. His approach was extreme, eliminating entire food groups. I went gluten-free and dairy-free for almost a year and while it helped, I knew something was still off. Then, I started seeing a Functional Medicine Doctor—someone who didn’t just treat symptoms but wanted to understand the root cause. We ran extensive testing—Blood Panels along with DNA, Gut, Toxin, Cortisol + Hormone Testing. Now with a proper baseline, many of my symptoms started to make sense. The results? Severe inflammation. High toxin load. Mold poisoning. I had a feeling the mold was coming from our bathroom - and I was right. We ripped it out, down to the studs. And as the mold disappeared, so did many of my symptoms. Healing wasn’t instant. Detoxing is a process.
I swapped out household products, one room at a time—laundry, kitchen, beauty. Not focusing on being perfect, but to be intentional. Because the truth is: we can’t live in a bubble. Toxins exist everywhere. But we can control what we can. Now almost 3 years later, I still see my Functional Medicine Doctor but on a “maintenance protocol” vs. full on addressing serious symptoms. I still do take and change up my supplement regiments and really try to focus on the simple things: getting sunlight, taking walks, eating healthy + balanced and working on my breathing techniques. Looking back, I realize—if we listened to our bodies when they whispered, we wouldn’t have to wait for them to scream. Paying attention to what we put on our body, in our body and even what we consume both spiritually and mentally I believe all plays a role in our overall health. We can’t live in a bubble, so as best as we can, we try and protect ourselves and our families from the major toxins that are in our foods and environments while giving ourselves grace each day because we know our time here is so short — so living a healthy, full life is the best we can hope for.
