The Tran Family and CIRS

Could This Be You?

Ever experience brain fog, poor memory, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, muscle aches, headaches, light sensitivity, sinus congestion, chronic cough, digestive issues, temperature dysregulation, mood changes, anxiety, numbness, or tingling?

If so, you might want to read on…

Our Story & What We’ve Learned

Our family has been affected by Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) — a complex, multi-system illness caused by an ongoing, dysregulated immune response. This often happens after exposure to certain biotoxins, such as those from water-damaged buildings (mold toxins), Lyme disease, or other chronic infections.

In simple terms, the immune system gets “stuck” in inflammation mode, even after the original trigger is gone.

For us, living in a southern state like Texas, humidity is a constant battle — and mold becomes a hidden danger that can quietly impact health over time.

What Makes CIRS Different

CIRS isn’t just about where inflammation occurs — it’s about why your body can’t turn the inflammation off.

Normally, when your body encounters toxins or infections, it mounts an immune response, clears the threat, and then cools the inflammation down. But in CIRS, the genetic and biochemical pathways that regulate inflammation don’t function properly — often due to variations in immune system genes (like HLA-DR).

This means your body continues releasing inflammatory signals long after the initial exposure, leading to widespread, lingering symptoms.

Because it affects nearly every system in the body, CIRS is often misdiagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, depression, or anxiety due to the broad overlap in symptoms.

🧩 Root Causes & Triggers

Common triggers include:

• Mold exposure from water-damaged buildings (the most frequent cause)

• Tick-borne infections such as Lyme disease or Babesia

• Chronic viral infections

• Cyanobacteria exposure (from lakes and water sources)

🧠 The Functional Medicine Approach

In functional medicine, the goal is to identify why the body is stuck in an inflammatory state — and to help it recover balance.
Here’s how we approach it:

1. Identify and remove the source of exposure (e.g., mold remediation or relocation).

2. Support detoxification pathways — helping the body process and eliminate toxins more effectively.

3. Regulate the immune response — calming chronic inflammation through nutrition, targeted supplements, and lifestyle changes.

4. Repair and rebalance — supporting gut health, hormones, mitochondria, and brain function that are often disrupted by CIRS.

How to find out if you have CIRS:

• Visual Contrast Sensitivity (VCS) testing

• Biomarker panels (e.g., MMP-9, C4a, TGF-β1, VEGF)

• HLA-DR genetic testing

• Environmental mold testing (HERTSMI-2)

🌿 The Goal

Managing CIRS means calming chronic inflammation, removing the biotoxin source, and restoring the body’s natural ability to regulate its immune response.

It’s truly a journey — but with the right diagnosis and steps, recovery is absolutely possible.

Lastly, most CIRS recovery programs last 12-24 months. So patience is key and staying the course will ultimately pay off.