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By Jack Beresford
Senior Reporter
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A New York City woman kept waking up in her apartment “unable to breathe.” Then she looked under her bed and immediately knew why.
Sleep struggles are a common concern in America today. Around 30.5 percent of U.S. adults sleep less than seven hours a night—the recommended minimum, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Amelia Axelrod’s recent sleep issues have been a little more concerning than most. It all started around a week ago.
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“I woke up in the middle of the night because I couldn’t breathe,” Axelrod told Newsweek. “Once I left my apartment for work, my breathing improved.”
The following night, the same thing happened.
“I woke up in the middle of the night again, unable to breathe,” she said. “I was having respiratory issues, and there was a tightness in my chest.”
Increasingly concerned, Axelrod sought medical advice.
“I went to urgent care but got no answer,” she said.
When she came home, Axelrod decided to do a little investigating in and around her bed to see if she could find any clue as to what was going on.
Looking down beside her bed, Axelrod saw something very unexpected—quite literally growing out of the floorboard.
“I pushed my curtain back and saw the mushroom on the floor,” she said.
Using Google, Axelrod was able to identify the mushroom as an oyster mushroom.
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Though not poisonous, oyster mushrooms release large amounts of microscopic spores into the air, especially when mature. These spores can act like airborne allergens, and breathing them in can trigger coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and other asthma-like symptoms.
More concerning, prolonged or heavy exposure to oyster mushroom spores can, according to a 2022 study published in the Journal of Postgraduate Medicine, lead to hypersensitivity pneumonitis, or “mushroom worker’s lung”—an inflammatory immune reaction in the lungs that can cause a persistent cough, breathlessness, fever, and chills.
In chronic cases, it can lead to long-term lung damage or scarring if exposure continues.
Axelrod isn’t sure how the mushroom ended up in her apartment, though she noted that her bed is located next to a set of patio doors.
“It could’ve been that a spore somehow got into my apartment during a rainstorm while I had the door open. It could be due to a leak in the patio doors, or possibly mold,” she said. “Mushrooms tend to grow very quickly in humid or moist environments, so that’s how I think it got so big so quickly. Then again, I just started a full-time job and hadn’t looked back there in a week, so who knows!”
Whatever the case, Axelrod is pleased to report that the mushroom has been removed and, as a renter, she is being well looked after by her landlord, whom she has chosen not to name.
“I have spoken to my landlord about the situation, and they have been very accommodating and willing to work with me,” she said.
For now, she’s happy—and keeping a close eye on what’s under her bed. Just in case.
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