NEED TO KNOW
Mikayla Matthews is sharing more about her chronic illness
In a series of Instagram Story posts, the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star opened up about how she manages her illness while being a full-time mom and revealed the name of her condition
Matthews also shared a few posts about her personal struggle managing the disease as she continues to raise her four children
Mikayla Matthews is sharing more information with her followers about her chronic illness.
In a series of Instagram posts, the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star opened up about the illness she had been struggling with, finally putting a name to the condition that she’s been managing.
The MomToker was answering questions in an Instagram question box when a social media user asked how she handles the day-to-day stress of being a working mom and raising kids.
Matthews’s reply? “I don’t.”
“I’m genuinely just barely surviving: There’s no one piece of advice that will apply to anyone, EXCEPT take time for yourself,” she wrote, before advising, “Don’t forget your hobbies or what you like to do for YOU.”
In a later post, another commenter asked Matthews for clarification on what chronic illness she was dealing with. Matthews explained that the name of her disease is chronic inflammatory response syndrome, or CIRS, and she said it was “brought on [by] prolonged exposures to toxins (mold).”
Mikayla Matthews addresses skin condition on Instagram Stories on March 18.
Credit: mikayla__matt/Instagram
According to the National Library of Medicine, CIRS is an “innate immune dysregulation” involving “a range of symptoms that simultaneously [affect] multiple organ systems.” It’s often caused by exposure to mold and other fungi, usually through “espiratory exposure to water-damaged buildings.”
Following the release of the latest season of Mormon Wives, the momfluencer said contracting mold poisoning has contributed to the worst health flare she’s had in over a “year and a half,” she wrote in a recent Instagram post.
“I’ll be sharing more soon about my journey with mold illness, moving out of my house, and the postpartum guilt I struggled with while going through such a massive health flare filming that wasn’t included in the show,” she added.
On her recent Instagram Stories post, the momfluencer added that “[mold illness] has ruined just everything in my body. Nerves, skin, hair,brain, gut, liver, hormones, etc.”
In another Instagram Stories post, Matthews wrote that her condition had stolen “literally everything” from her.
“I had like a year and half where I couldn’t look people in the eyes, I felt like if I didn’t look them in the eyes then they couldn’t see my skin, it’s something I’m still working on,” she added. “I have said no to SO MANY fun events, premiers and opportunities because of my skin, but I show up when I can because I want you guys that are in similar situations to feel seen and know that life doesn’t have to stop when shitty things are happening to you.”
Mikayla Matthews on her Instagram Stories on March 18.
Credit: mikayla__matt/Instagram
The influencer, who is mom to son Beckham, 8, and daughters Haven, 5½, Tommie, 3, and Lottie June, 8 months, with her husband Jace Terry, also said that, as a result of her struggles with her chronic illness, her “mom guilt” has “eaten [her] alive.”
Matthews first opened up about her chronic illness in a post on Instagram in September 2024, revealing that she had been “fighting for my life” while filming the first season of Mormon Wives, in part because of mysterious skin flare-ups.
Back in 2023, Matthews shared that she’s experienced chronic eczema since childhood, but suspected her other symptoms that would later be diagnosed as CIRS began after getting breast implants in March of that year.
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“I had a whole bunch of issues with my recovery,” she said at the time. “I know it’s easier said than done to just not feel insecure about your insecurities, literally as I sit here crying about my insecurities, but I really am more confident than I’ve been.”
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