Jenny McCarthy says a two-year health crisis that began with a toothache ended with her living in a tent as she battled what doctors diagnosed as mold and mycotoxin poisoning.
The former television host described the ordeal on an episode of “The Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg Show,” telling viewers the experience had been “absolutely fricking insane.”
“Some of you guys already know that I’ve been dealing with mold and mycotoxin poisoning,” McCarthy said. “I’ve talked about pieces of it before.”
McCarthy said the trouble started in 2024 with a simple toothache that spiraled into a cascade of medical problems. “And somehow that led me down a rabbit hole of doctors, surgeries, teeth being pulled, mysterious growths popping up in places you are not expecting, implants literally falling out, and eventually realizing my immune system was fighting something so much bigger,” she said.
Over the following months, she experienced severe dental infections, repeated surgeries, jawbone damage and recurring eye cysts, along with leg cramps, facial swelling, worsening food allergies and insomnia. She said testing eventually pointed to mold poisoning, which she believes compromised her immune system’s ability to fight off infection.
At her lowest point, McCarthy said she moved out of her home entirely. “At one point, you know, I was just so desperate to heal that I literally was living in a tent,” she said. “That’s right, living in a tent!”
The physical strain brought on intense anxiety about her surroundings, she said, describing herself as feeling “like a freaking paranoid schizophrenic.” “I thought everything was poisoning me at this point, because look at me, I was a freaking hot mess, okay?” she said.
A doctor’s urgent call
McCarthy said her functional medicine doctor first suggested mold testing after watching her health deteriorate repeatedly, though McCarthy initially dismissed the idea because she believed her home was clean.
Around Christmas, she said, the doctor called with alarming results.
“[My doctor] was like, ‘No, I need to talk to you now, you better get on the phone.’ So I get on the phone with her, and she says, ‘Jenny, you’ve got serious mold. You’ve got the type of mold that causes seizures. If this thing crosses the blood-brain barrier, I’m going to be talking to you in hospital. You’re going to start seizing.'”
McCarthy said she then began an extensive treatment regimen, including daily infrared sauna sessions, vitamins and supplements, a powdered drink, nasal spray treatments and lymphatic castor oil packs.
“I’m still in my mold detox, you guys,” she said. “I’m still in it, like, I’m knee-deep in it. I’m in month seven of detox, and I’m too paranoid to honestly live anywhere else other than a tent.”
McCarthy said she is still grappling with the psychological aftermath of the ordeal. “I’m still in the traumatic part. I’m not even in the post part yet because I feel like now everything is mold,” she said. “I can detect mold honestly like a mold dog. Like I can walk in a building, I have to walk out of it immediately.”
