Chapter 1
Why I am a biohacker

Life has a way of guiding us toward unexpected journeys, leading us to places we never imagined. I truly believe that experiencing adversity gives you an advantage in life. At the time it doesn't feel like it, but once you come through it, there are gifts to be found. I call it the gold in the shit.

My path to becoming a biohacker was forged through personal mental and physical health battles, and a deep commitment to reclaiming my health. Growing up with a forward-thinking mother who championed health, nutrition and low-toxicity living, I was introduced early to the principles of holistic wellbeing. Our home was a haven of organic foods, natural remedies, and no processed foods or refined sugars, shaping my initial approach to health and creating my healthy living blueprint. I like to call my mother the OG biohacker.

Despite this solid foundation, I rebelled against it in my teens and twenties, living at times a hedonistic lifestyle and not looking after myself as well I should: poor diet, lack of sleep and drinking too much alcohol. I thought I was invincible.

I came full circle in my late twenties when my health journey faced a significant challenge with the birth of my first child at 26. After an incredibly traumatic two-day labour, multiple epidurals and a spinal tap that didn't work, my son was finally delivered via emergency C-section.

When I awoke from anaesthesia, I was told I had a baby boy, but I felt as though I'd been in a car accident?-?completely disconnected and in shock. Sadly, I missed out on that initial bond with my son. It was messy and overwhelming. We were both so distressed; his poor little head was so misshaped where they had tried to get him out with forceps and suction. I felt sad a lot of the time after the birth, and my recovery took ages. There were lots of tears.

I was experiencing severe postnatal depression, and that period tested my strength and mental health greatly. I went undiagnosed for a long time. I knew I wasn't well, but I thought I could fix it myself or it would just go away. Only after moving from London to Sydney a year later, did I receive a diagnosis from a doctor.

When prescribed SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), they only worsened my condition. (I was on the wrong ones for me. These medications can help people, so please don't take this as permission to stop taking or avoid them.)

I couldn't get out of bed, I felt hopeless, joyless and useless. I gained weight and struggled to recognise myself in the mirror. I felt like a complete failure as a mother. As a self-confessed recovering perfectionist, I was very hard on myself back then; I wasn't coping with life and being a mother.

After a breakdown caused by me stopping SSRIs cold turkey (not my smartest moment), I found an amazing Chinese acupuncturist in my local town. He was the most kind and gentle man, who held my hands while I cried, and he treated me with needles and Chinese herbs. Week after week, he jabbed me. I got stronger, healthier and found joy and hope again. I will always be grateful for his kindness and guidance; he helped me find my will to live again. This was my first encounter with traditional Chinese medicine, and to this day, I still regularly get acupuncture when my body needs it.

I began seeking solace in nature, walking near the ocean and swimming?-?it was incredibly healing. I realised I needed to be strong for my beautiful boy, who needed me just as much as I needed him.

Another pivotal moment in my journey was a near-death experience due to burnout that resulted in sepsis from a kidney infection. I hadn't felt right for a while, but I kept going, pushing forward, working. I was stuck in survival mode, blaming my feelings of heaviness and tiredness on full moons and mercury in retrograde.

According to the doctor at the emergency department, I was hours away from potentially dying from sepsis. My organs would have started shutting down and I may have slipped into a coma that night if I had gone to sleep. This harrowing experience underscored the importance of self-awareness, intuition and prioritising myself over work and family commitments.

I was a 'rushing' woman, trying to be everything to everyone?-? the best mum, leader, wife and friend. The high achieving perfectionist. This brush with mortality became a catalyst for change, prompting me to leave my corporate career in media and start a mental health and wellbeing business. My mantra now is that I'm always at the top of my to-do list; it's a non-negotiable. My mission post burnout is to help others avoid the pitfalls I encountered, using my experience to guide and support them in prioritising their health.

The most transformative chapter of my journey came when I unknowingly lived in a mould-infested home for eight years. This invisible threat triggered chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS), leaving me physically depleted and mentally exhausted.

I spent years going to see different doctors, having blood tests, and no-one could work out what was wrong with me. Every few months I would get sick, even though I was eating a super healthy diet, exercising and looking after myself. I was gaslit by many people who thought it was in my head, and that I was choosing to be sick.

In the end, I was pretty much bedridden with the mould mimicking arthritis in my body, every bone creaking and in constant body pain. I felt old before my years, and it was so confronting. I had severe dehydration, like a permanent hangover (mould lives off our fluids); eye infections; anxiety through the roof; and constant sickness.

A good friend who worked in mould remediation came over to my house and found mould in my cupboards, bed, blinds, home office?-?in every room in the house. Within 24 hours we had moved out, leaving behind our home and belongings.

But, finally, we knew what had been making me sick. It's estimated that 25 per cent of the population have a mould gene called HLA DR or DQ which is part of the Coeliac gene family. My youngest son and I both have the mould gene, which means we can't detox mould out of bodies properly, so it creates havoc and disrupts all our internal systems. My husband and oldest do not have the gene, which made it very hard to know that it's your home making you sick when not everyone is affected.

It was a dark time, with moments when I felt like I couldn't go on. Losing our home and all our belongings, and enduring 18 months of treatment to detox the mould from my body, was tough. I can only liken it to being a victim of a natural disaster, except you have the added layer of dealing with a chronic illness. But it was a turning point in my life.

Faced with the limitations of conventional treatments and being told it was all in my head, I turned to biohacking - an approach that empowered me to take control of my health by utilising different supplements and treatments. I worked with a functional doctor and incredible naturopath who was also a psychotherapist, which helped me to get through the whole ordeal.

Biohacking became my lifeline. It offered a way to optimise every aspect of my life, from my physical health to my mental resilience. I learned that health is not just about survival but about flourishing - living with vitality and purpose.

Through self-experimentation, I discovered the profound impact that small, strategic, incremental changes could have on my wellbeing and in reducing the chronic inflammation in my body. Saunas were incredible; they really helped me to detox the mould, as did the binders.

Binders are substances used to help the body remove toxins, such as those from mould exposure, by binding to them in the gut and facilitating their elimination. The goal is to poo out the mould!

I also had to do some deep work on my mindset, moving away from the constant fear of getting sick again or coming in contact with mould, to a place of trust and hope.

I came up with the term PTMD (post-traumatic mould disorder) from this experience. The feelings stay with you for a long time, and anyone who's been through something similar will understand.

As I mentioned earlier, I truly believe that experiencing adversity gives us the opportunity to help others and to use it as an advantage rather than a disadvantage. When we struggle, it gives us strength, and, among the challenges, there is that gold?-?a gift for us. Life happens for us, not to us.

I am a change-maker, and I want to make my mark in this world by being of service, advocating to change regulations and policies specifically around mould illness in Australia to better support people's health. This has been the driving force behind setting up my business MouldSafe with my friend who found the mould in my home all those years ago.

As I delved deeper into the world of biohacking, I realised that it wasn't just a personal journey?-?it was a mission to share the transformative power of this approach with others. Biohacking taught me that we all have the power to take charge of our biology; to rewrite our health narratives; and to create lives filled with energy, joy and longevity.

We have the power to heal ourselves. I am living proof that it's possible to reverse chronic illness and not just survive, but thrive. My biological age is 38 (the age of my cells) and my actual...