Ellie, 25, had debilitating symptoms that were dismissed by doctors for 20 YEARS. Then they made a grim discovery inside her ears...

For 20 excruciating years, Ellie Randazzo suffered from debilitating chronic illnesses that no doctor could explain. The now 25-year-old, from NSW, had spent most of her life wondering when she would ever get better after a recurring ear infection first appeared at age six.

Over the years, her condition escalated, causing her body to 'slowly fall apart' from a 'cascade' of symptoms, including sinus infections, breathing difficulties, gut issues, burning or itchy skin, severe periods, agonising flare-ups and allergic reactions.

After years of living with misdiagnoses, a doctor made a disturbing discovery when he found mould growing inside her ears in 2022 - but he laughed it off, brushed the symptom aside, and sent her home with antifungal cream. 'I felt dismissed and confused but at the time it was the least of my worries compared to my other health issues,' Ellie told FEMAIL.

'I didn't realise this was a crucial finding that could have provided answers for both me and my doctors about why I was experiencing such a broad range of symptoms. 'He laughed when he saw the mould. I was so regularly dismissed that I didn't think much into it apart from the fact it added to the compounding worthlessness I was made to feel. And it wasn't the first occasion I was laughed or eye rolled at.'.

What she didn't know at the time was the mould lurking inside her home posed a major health threat, one that would leave her seriously ill and doubting her own sanity. Ellie Randazzo has a mould illness, but she only learned about the condition recently - after spending 20 years suffering from excruciating symptoms no doctor could explain.

'If I had known years ago, I could have prevented this nightmare before it destroyed my life,' Ellie said. Before learning about the mould exposure, Ellie's life 'spiralled through a medical nightmare' - ranging from multiple surgeries and invasive procedures to medications 'that only made things worse'.

'I spent every dollar I had, draining my superannuation, selling everything I owned and devoting my entire life to fixing myself. Nothing worked. The pain only got worse,' she said. She was given multiple diagnoses, including central sensitisation syndrome, endometriosis, adenomyosis and fibromyalgia.

'A lot of these conditions do have very similar symptoms but they are not an explanation for the many developing health issues I was experiencing,' she said. By 2021, she had her fourth laparoscopic surgery after doctors were convinced she had endometriosis and that her previous surgeon had missed it.

'But when I woke up from the procedure, something was horribly wrong,' she said. 'A searing, electric pain ripped through my pelvis, coccyx, and down my legs. I later learned that my pudendal nerve had been severely damaged when they aggressively removed scar tissue from my uterus.

'When the biopsy came back negative for endometriosis, they still insisted it was the cause of my crippling pain.'. The now 25-year-old had spent most of her life wondering when she would ever get better. In 2022, Ellie said she was so 'desperate for relief' that she underwent surgery for a spinal cord stimulator implant after being 'assured it was my best chance at treating the pain'.

After the procedure, her body began shutting down when she lost mobility in her feet, leaving her to resort to a wheelchair because she struggled to stand for more than a few minutes. She was in such excruciating pain that she couldn't sit on anything hard and any 'wrong' move could cause the healing tissue around her implant to tear. Eventually she opted for surgery again to have the implant removed.

'I now live with regular pain from the damage and even though it's still very sensitive, it's better out than in. At least now, I can walk again, for that I am grateful,' she said. As the years went on, her condition worsened, reacting to foods, chemicals, fragrance, pollens, medications and so many unknowns.

She has stress fractures in her ribs from chronic vomiting, her feet would burn every time she ate food or was around mould, and she would be bedridden from the pain. It wasn't until December 2024 she realised the two decades of unexplained symptoms she had endured were linked to toxic mould exposure.

'I was shocked, resentful and angry but also I didn't think it was possible that all these symptoms were connected to the same thing,' Ellie said. 'I had moved to the Northern Rivers where unfortunately it's not hard to find mould-ridden buildings, and that's when things started to click.'.

This is the mould that's currently in Ellie's bedroom inside her rental property in NSW. Her turning point came when she was talking to a friend about her rapid weight loss and her fear of losing her hair again. 'She mentioned a male friend who had experienced similar issues and put me in contact with him. That conversation changed everything,' Ellie recalled.