What Is CIRS?

Cirsy Girl
Oct 11
4 min read

Understanding Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome

Misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and often missed all together, CIRS is a biotoxin illness that affects about 25% of Americans— it is a silent epidemic.

After receiving my official diagnosis in 2023, I began researching CIRS and was quickly overwhelmed. There’s plenty of information out there — but most of it is buried under medical jargon and gatekept by institutions. Finding anything truly useful felt like digging for a needle in a haystack.

I’m not a medical expert, but I’ve lived with this mystery illness most of my life. I want to demystify CIRS so that others like me can feel seen, heard, and find resources to take back their lives.

That’s why I started this series: to cut through the jargon and get down to the basics of CIRS in plain language. If you’re new to this condition and looking for clear, actionable information, you’re in the right place. Let’s dive in.

What is CIRS?

Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) is a multi-system, multi-symptom illness caused by exposure to biotoxins.

In simple terms, it’s when the body’s immune system gets stuck in “overdrive” after exposure to mold, Lyme, or other toxins. Even after the exposure ends, the immune system doesn’t calm down. Instead, it keeps pumping out inflammatory signals, which can cause widespread symptoms.

Common Causes of CIRS

CIRS is often nicknamed “mold illness” because mold exposure in water-damaged buildings is the most common trigger. But other causes include:

Hidden mold in homes and workplaces
Chronic Lyme disease
Toxins from algae blooms (like red tide)
Certain bacterial or fungal infections (such as Mycobacteria or Actinomycetes.)

👉 Note: This is not a complete list of triggers. If you’re worried you may have CIRS but don’t see your situation here, it’s worth seeking professional advice.

Symptoms of CIRS

Because inflammation can affect nearly every system in the body, CIRS symptoms are plentiful and can vary significantly from person to person, even relatives living in the same house. It often feels like you’re experiencing a collection of mystery symptoms that don’t seem to fit together. But if you do have CIRS, I assure you it’s all connected. You’re not crazy. Nor are you lazy, broken, or a burden. You just haven't been able to connect all the dots before.

Common symptoms include:

🧠 Brain fog and memory issues
😴 Fatigue that doesn’t improve with rest
🌙 Sleep issues (insomnia, waking up often)
💪 Joint and muscle pain
🤢 Digestive problems (stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea)
🌬️ Breathing issues (shortness of breath, cough, asthma-like symptoms)
😔 Mood changes (anxiety, depression, irritability)

CIRS Symptom Clusters

Because CIRS presents with a great number of symptoms across various body systems, experts have grouped CIRS symptoms into clusters that help distinguish it from other illnesses:

Cognitive: brain fog, memory problems, poor concentration
Neurological: headaches, dizziness, numbness/tingling
Musculoskeletal: joint and muscle pain, weakness
Respiratory: cough, shortness of breath, asthma-like symptoms
Digestive: abdominal pain, diarrhea, appetite changes
Temperature & Autonomic: feeling too hot/cold, sweating problems, heart rate changes (palpitations, POTS-like symptoms)
General: fatigue, mood changes, disrupted sleep

✅ Score yourself: Here is a symptom cluster checklist you can use to score yourself before seeking medical advice.

How Do You Know If You Have CIRS?

Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker, who first coined the term CIRS, created specific diagnostic criteria. It includes:

History of exposure (living/working in a moldy or water-damaged space)
Symptom clusters (a certain number of symptoms across multiple body systems)
Lab testing (inflammatory markers like C4a, TGF-β1, MMP-9, and genetic susceptibility)

For an official diagnosis, you will need to find a Shoemaker Protocol certified physician. Visit MoldCo or check out this list to get started — note: this list may be out of date.

At-Home CIRS Screening: The VCS Test

One affordable tool is the Visual Contrast Sensitivity (VCS) Test, available online for about $15 (SurvivingMold.com).

It includes an exposure/symptom survey + visual screening.
Not a definitive diagnosis, but is used by mold experts as a first step.
Helpful tip: have someone assist you, since the test requires a fixed distance from your computer screen.

You can take the VCS test here.

Why CIRS Is Often Misdiagnosed

Despite decades of research and medical conferences, CIRS is not fully recognized by mainstream medicine — or by most insurance providers.

Due to its obscurity, CIRS is often misdiagnosed by conventional doctors. Patients may get labeled with one (or several) other diagnoses before CIRS is ever considered. Many of these conditions can coexist or be caused by CIRS — but without investigating biotoxin exposure and the genetic/immune markers that define CIRS, the root cause is often missed.

As a result, many patients are diagnosed with conditions that overlap with CIRS symptoms, including:

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)
Fibromyalgia
Depression or Anxiety
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Post-concussion Syndrome
Long COVID
POTS

Click here for an expanded comparison chart between CIRS and common overlapping illnesses.

What To Do If You Think You Have CIRS

If you suspect you have CIRS, you have two main options:

Option 1: Seek an official diagnosis

Work with Shoemaker-certified doctors or clinics, like MoldCo.
Requires labs and sometimes imaging.
Can give you access to targeted treatment and support groups.

Option 2: Start addressing it on your own

Take the VCS test.
Reduce mold and biotoxin exposure.
Make lifestyle changes to open detox pathways.

There’s no wrong choice — many people combine both. Even if insurance doesn’t cover everything, there are practical steps you can take while seeking professional help.

I highly recommend checking out MoldCo's Free Mold Guide (attached below). Written by leading mold experts, it expands upon what I have covered here and includes some treatment options available through their clinic.

👉 Next in this series: I’ll share actionable steps to reduce biotoxin exposure in your home and lifestyle (coming soon).

Final thoughts and follow-ups

Living with CIRS is no cake walk. But hopefully this series will help you find the resources you need to recover and rebuild your resiliency. You deserve a normal, joyful life. We all do.

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