Mikayla Matthews, a star of Hulu's The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, told followers on April 29 that she is moving from Utah to Maui to help manage Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, a condition she has linked to mold and biotoxin exposure. In a tearful Instagram video, the 26-year-old said the illness has driven persistent skin flare-ups, fatigue, and the difficulty of parenting through chronic illness, calling the move "a new chapter."
Matthews said she is working with a team of physicians on her recovery and is planning a follow-up detox retreat in Europe. She also acknowledged that her financial position has given her access to care many CIRS patients cannot afford, saying she felt for "anybody who has to go through what I've gone through and have to worry about how they're going to pay their bills."
Matthews's audience puts an unusually mainstream spotlight on CIRS, a chronic illness that is still poorly recognized by much of conventional medicine despite a growing body of literature on biotoxin-driven inflammation in genetically susceptible patients.