In this first‑person testimonial, Heather recounts her journey from an active fitness trainer and outdoor enthusiast to a severe chronic illness sufferer. About 12 years ago she began developing mold‑related illness after living in a moldy environment, which led to insomnia, chronic fatigue, brain fog, nervous‑system dysregulation, and anxiety. Although some symptoms eased after moving, many persisted, and she was limited to part‑time work as a home baker. A year ago she contracted COVID‑19, which progressed to long COVID, dramatically worsening her condition: she could barely read, walk more than 20 feet, sleep 1–2 hours per night, and perform basic daily tasks. After exhausting countless doctors and costly treatments with no improvement, a doctor five years earlier had mentioned “brain retraining” and the Gupta Program. Remembering this, Heather enrolled in the Gupta Program despite her debilitated state. Over weeks and months she experienced steady improvements—walking farther, driving again, resuming baking clients, biking for an hour, and socializing. She estimates she is now about 80 % recovered, still working on energy levels. Heather attributes her progress largely to the live weekly webinars led by Ashok Gupta, which provide a sense of community and direct guidance, and the daily Gupta “Size” sessions (live or recorded) featuring coaches who share personal recovery stories. The community support and shared motivation have been crucial to her continued healing.
Chapters
My name's Heather, and prior to being unwell with mold illness and then eventually long COVID, I was very active, enjoyed activities like paddleboarding, golfing. I was actually a fitness trainer, um, just very active and really enjoyed outdoors, um, and overall pretty happy. So about 12 years ago, I started coming down with mold illness. from a living situation and gradually over time started developing severe insomnia, chronic fatigue, nervous system dysregulation a little bit, and various other symptoms. And some of those symptoms did subside when I moved out of the moldy environment, but many of them, especially the fatigue and insomnia and the brain fog, Still persisted. I was able to work part-time as a baker from home during that time. However, a year ago when I came down with COVID and then a month later came down with long COVID, and that's when the rug was pretty much swept out from underneath my feet. At that point, I was no longer able to read. I couldn't walk more than, say, 20 feet without having to sit down or lay down. The insomnia was so bad I was only sleeping about 1 or 2 hours a night. I had severe nervous system dysregulation. I had anxiety unlike anything I'd ever known in my life. And overall, it was just really scary because I wasn't even able to talk on the phone or socialize with family and friends or Watch TV or do simple chores such as unloading the dishwasher or a load of laundry, let alone take on baking orders for my clients. And it was just really scary. As far as the mold illness, when I had seen countless doctors across the United States and spent thousands and thousands of dollars on treatments that just didn't work, some of them actually made me feel a lot worse. I was obviously on a bunch of different supplements, and you know, just no one could help me. So there was a doctor about five years ago who did who did mention brain retraining, and they mentioned Gupta program. And now when I came down with long COVID a year ago, it was interesting because although I barely had any cognitive function and I could Pretty much only be curled up on the ball, in a ball on the couch. Something inside me remembered the Gupta program, and I just felt like that, that might be something because all of the doctors told me that as far as long COVID went, you just have to give it time and rest. But I knew that I had to do something because I was not getting better. I was actually getting worse. It seemed like the symptoms were feeding on themselves. And now, as we know, after going through the Gupta program, they were because it was the loop in my brain. So over the weeks and months that followed me starting the program, I started regaining many of my mental and physical abilities. I was able to walk further and further each week. In January, Which was about, you know, 7 and a half months ago. I was able to start driving again. A few months ago, I started taking clients for baking orders again. I can go for an hour-long bike ride with my boyfriend around the lake and, you know, start socializing with family and friends again. And it was just amazing because this time last year, I remember sitting on the couch thinking, how am I going to get through the rest of my life not being able to even do a load of laundry or talk on the phone with family and friends? So obviously financially, how am I going to survive if I can't even function? So as I went further along in the program and I started seeing You know, my my health coming back, it just motivated me more and more. So I would say at this point, I'm probably around 80% recovered. You know, I still have a little ways to go regarding you know gaining more energy, and I would say that some of the things that have really helped me come this. The live webinars are one of the most important things to me because Ashok takes you through the program one week at a time, and you're sitting there amongst several hundred other retrainers. And so you just feel this sense of community in addition to being on a live video call with Ashok where you can see his face and you can hear his voice. You can see his genuine passion and compassion for helping you get better. So the webinars were one of the biggest things for me, in addition to the Gupta Size, because when you do the daily live Gupta Sizes, whether you do it live or watch the recordings, you're able to see coaches who have all gone through the program, recovered from conditions, And they share their own personal stories of themselves and their clients, which then relate to many of us retrainers and kind of gives you even more motivation and belief that, hey, you know, I'm just like everyone else. My situation may seem unique to me, but really it's very much the same as so many other people who have already recovered.
